For my Advocacy Project, I want to encourage people to learn about other cultures and backgrounds. The world is so wonderfully diverse and rich with information and values that I feel people miss out on discovering fascinating traditions simply because they are not exposed to it or are apathetic to learning about other people.

I’m not entirely sure what avenues to take this idea, but I have a few goals in mind. I want to help people realize the depth of culture and how there is a range of connectivity each individual has with their roots. I also think that self exposure to cultures that they haven’t encountered before is crucial in people becoming well-rounded in their world view. I, of all people, understand that learning a new language is incredibly difficult, but I think that just learning about the existence and background of other languages is incredibly valuable. My primary goal is simply to push people into learning more about other people, either or both by bringing awareness about other cultures or advocating for self-education of them.

My target audience can really be anyone. I believe (or at least hope) that most people are willing to be more well-rounded in their knowledge of others and simply need the motivation to put in the work to learn. To be more specific, I think the groups that would be most perceptive to my message would be people in the education system, such as students, instructors, and faculty. Since they already actively engage in an environment designed for learning, they would be the most enthusiastic about encouraging people to learn about others, especially given their obligations to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

My advocacy can target knowledge because it encourages learning about other cultures and expanding/adjusting current understandings of other people. By targeting knowledge, especially given that my primary audience is people within education, I can further encourage self-educating and awareness of other backgrounds.

Another motivation is compassion because in learning about other cultures, people become sympathetic towards their traditions and values. This can be inspiring because not only would people learn about others on a factual level, but they can become empathetic towards the traditions different cultures preserve.

I think the most important value in becoming culturally aware is recognition. In acknowledging other cultures, and not just in a surface level way of knowing they exist but truly understanding where it originated from and the traditions of the people who belong to it, people can help preserve the history and depth of diverse customs.

Around the world, cultures are dying out as many smaller groups of peoples are losing their homes and dying from diseases. On the other hand, cultures are also losing their depth as many are slowly foregoing ancient traditions to adopt Western culture. I find it incredibly important for people to learn about other cultures, not just so that they can better understand other people’s perspectives, but so that we can remember them before they’re gone for good.