In dialogue with Robb Davis, we reflect on the meaning of culture and learn ways in which culture helps us and others with whom we work, “make meaning” in the world, and how it conditions our responses to what we experience. Culture is not merely about understanding how people of different national backgrounds make meaning, but how, within a nation, different ways of making meaning can exist and will influence our interactions within teams, departments, and other programs.

Robb Davis is the Director of Intercultural Programs at the UC Davis Global Affairs Global Learning Hub. Robb is a former mayor of Davis, earning his MPH and PhD in public health from Johns Hopkins University. Robb’s international public health career spanned more than 25 years primarily in French-speaking west Africa and India. He moved to Davis with his wife Nancy and two children in 1999.  Robb has worked on issues related to the needs of homeless individuals, helped start two restorative justice programs, and has been active in bicycling advocacy and conflict resolution programs in Davis. When the COVID-19 crisis began, Robb helped develop an emergency response program with the Yolo Food Bank to enable at-risk populations in Yolo County to receive food at their doorsteps.  The program now provides weekly food boxes to over 5,500 people around the County.