Exploring Other Cultures Locally & at School
Visit local museums and cultural centers. Ask museums in your area about current or upcoming exhibitions that feature other cultures. Also, check with cultural centers in your area for opportunities to learn about cultures outside of your own. You can also look at online exhibits from museums around the globe. Sites like Google Arts & Culture offer virtual museum visits for almost anywhere you could dream up!
Read books about different cultures. Look for books that discuss the history, accomplishments, or challenges that certain cultures, countries, or societies have faced. Read non-fiction books or read fictional stories that take place in the present day or at an important moment in that culture's history. For example, if you’d like to learn more about Nigerian culture and history, read the fictional novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe or the non-fiction book Awo: The Autobiography of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Books are also a great way for kids and teens to learn about other cultures. Look for books that are about kids the same age who are growing up in another culture. Younger kids may like books such as This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe, while titles like All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir are popular with teens.
Check out travel books at your local library or bookstore. They can give you ideas about international destinations, cuisine, and cultural norms. Look for a book dedicated to the country or area you want to learn about to find out more. You can check out a guide to your chosen culture or read travel journals by people who have spent time in that culture. Look for guides that cover information about etiquette, gender roles, festivals, and religion.
Read online newspapers or magazines from other cultures. Subscribe to newspapers from that culture online to know more about what they are reading. Browse websites that offer data on entertainment, outings, politics, or trends. Even if you don’t speak the language, you can usually find an English translation. For example, search for “French news in English.” To find a list of newspapers from around the globe, check out NewspaperIndex.com or ABYZ News Links. You can also read educational sources that discuss numerous different cultures and global current events, such as BBC News, National Geographic, or National Geographic Kids.
Watch movies from different countries. Go to your local library and ask for foreign language films, or look them up on a streaming service. If you don’t know the language, put on the subtitles so you know what’s going on while you watch. You can also look for documentaries about other cultures. These are usually more informative, and you might learn more from a documentary than a film. Families can also find age-appropriate films to watch together in order to explore other cultures and what it may be like to grow up in them. Popular kids movies like Coco, Spirited Away, and Queen of Katwe are great to teach younger kids about culture. For teens and young adults, try films like Under the Same Moon, God Grew Tired of Us, and Real Women Have Curves.
Engage with culturally informative media. Follow cultural organizations on social media by searching hashtags or queries like “(the culture)” + “food,” “cuisine,” “travel,” or “guide.” Look for YouTube channels that offer educational videos and online tutorials. Search questions and phrases like “What do people in India commonly eat?” or “Learn about French culture.” Many YouTube channels talk about subjects like news, history, or gender norms. Search for videos with a specific subject in mind. Alternatively, listen to a cultural podcast that discusses a specific culture or covers global news.
Visit established cultural areas around where you live. If your town or nearby city has cultural neighborhoods like Little Italy or Chinatown, spend some time exploring those places. Learn about (and eat!) the food they serve in local restaurants. Listen to traditional or modern cultural music played in shops and businesses. Visit any markets or fairs where you could support the community by purchasing handicrafts. These areas are officially known as ethnic enclaves. You can view this non-exhaustive list of some of the most notable ethnic enclaves in the U.S. Some states even have whole towns that are representative of other cultures. For example, Lindsborg, Kansas, and Helen, Georgia, are known as “Little Sweden” and “Little Bavaria,” respectively.
Attend a local cultural event or celebration. Look for ethnic restaurants, places of worship, or multicultural community centers, and ask about upcoming festivals or holidays. Ask first before entering a place of worship or inviting yourself to a celebration, and always be respectful of other cultures when attending events. Express that you are genuinely interested in their culture and do not want to disrespect it in any way.
Talk to people from other cultures. Reach out to people in your community from work, school, or other local organizations. Talk to them about how your culture differs from their own, and ask what the biggest differences have been for them. You can share your own experiences to open up the conversation. Make sure the person is comfortable talking about their culture with you. It’s fine to ask questions and be interested, but you shouldn’t force anyone to talk about things they don’t want to. When you approach someone from another culture, you can ask questions like, “So, how different is this country from the one you grew up in?” Or, “Which do you like better: the food here or the food from your home country?”
Take a virtual field trip. Visit iconic landmarks of other cultures without even leaving the comfort of your home! Learning about the important symbols and sites in a different country or culture is a great way to understand their history and belief systems. Start with a virtual tour of the Great Wall of China or Frida Kahlo’s museum and former home in Mexico City.
Learn about your family heritage. Make a family tree and find any genealogical information you can about your family background. Keep track of everything you learn about your ancestors’ cultural history. If you need help finding information, call up relatives or use genealogy websites. Trace your ancestry and find out what countries your ancestors originally came from, if possible. Explore the cultures of those countries to learn more about the customs and traditions that may be important to your family!
Advocate for multicultural learning and diversity in schools. If you're in school, “take leadership in asking the school to make sure that they’re celebrating different cultures,” advises high school counselor Alicia Oglesby. For example, Oglesby recommends “asking [your] English teachers about the authors that are selected in English class—is there a way for them to be more diverse, so that we can hear different perspectives?” Or, if your school doesn’t already have an International Day, continues Oglesby, talk to school staff about creating an event “where students and families bring in food, play different types of music…[and] spend a very special day learning about each other’s cultures.” If you’re not a student yourself, see if you can get involved in your local school district by sponsoring multicultural fairs or donating books that expand the cultural diversity of the curriculum.
Enroll in a college course or program to study culture or language. To take a single course, sign up with your local community college for a class on a specific language or culture. If you’re still in school or returning for an advanced degree, choose a major, minor, or specialization in programs like: Political Science Cultural Anthropology International Relations International Business Indigenous Studies Africana Studies Global Languages and Cultures
Increasing Cultural Awareness in the Workplace
Learn the cultural norms and customs of your staff. Ask questions from a place of learning and curiosity, and explicitly ask your colleagues or employees if they are comfortable having this conversation with you before beginning. Once you’ve received an affirmative answer, ask questions like: What are the biggest differences between your culture and the U.S. American culture (or the dominant culture wherever your company is located)? What are some of the most challenging adjustments you’ve made living or working here? What do you wish that your colleagues and managers knew about your culture? How do you feel your culture affects your experience as an employee here?
Conduct focus groups or surveys to learn about employees’ needs. Lead culture-specific focus groups to learn more about cultural needs via a group discussion where everyone feels safe and supported. Or, conduct an anonymous survey so employees can tell you where they need more cultural support or awareness. For example, complaints in an employee survey about feeling rushed in the workplace may stem from cultural differences around time consciousness and work-life balance. Understanding and appreciating cultural differences is key to being able to work and communicate with different cultures in the workplace.
Provide opportunities for employees to learn about other cultures. Set aside time at staff and management meetings to discuss important cultural norms and how they should be respected in the workplace. If your office celebrates holidays together, make sure that you’re celebrating all major holidays celebrated by staff members. Privately invite employees from other cultures to share about their customs, but don’t pressure them to do so or put them on the spot if they’re not comfortable. Encourage your employees with shared identities to form affinity or mentorship groups. Cultural employee affinity groups may include Asian American Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Muslim groups, among many others. These groups have been shown to foster more positive work environments and increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Engage with culture-focused business organizations. Seek information from community organizations and business-focused ethnic associations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the National Hispanic Business Group. These organizations are well-versed in educating companies and their employees on the cultures they represent. Reach out to other community groups like refugee resettlement agencies or school districts, especially those with a large English as a Second Language (ESL) department. These organizations may be able to help you better understand the needs of your employees without your employees having to tell you outright, which may make them feel uncomfortable.
Benefits of Learning About Other Cultures
Learning about other cultures increases intelligence and empathy. By studying other cultures, you can stimulate your mind and gain knowledge about the world around you. Learning about other cultures also gives you a better understanding of people from different backgrounds and cultures and an ability to view issues from different perspectives. Students of different cultures are likely to be more open-minded and less likely to develop prejudices at any point in life. Because you’ll have an understanding of the experiences that different racial, ethnic, or cultural groups may face, you may be able to empathize more easily with people who are different than you. For these reasons, you’ll also have a reduced belief in stereotypes, be more equipped to re-evaluate any biases you previously held, and have a decreased chance of contributing to ethnic and racial divisions in society.
Learning about other cultures allows you to connect with new people. By learning a language or being culturally aware, you can have more meaningful experiences when you travel or meet people from other cultures. If you speak the language, you’re more likely to have a meaningful conversation and maybe even become friends with that person. If you’re traveling to a country or visiting a cultural space that you’ve learned about previously, you’ll likely be more observant and tolerant of important customs and traditions. This cultural respect may offer you more opportunities to connect with locals as participants in that culture may be kinder to you than they are to those who don’t make an effort to understand and respect their culture.
Learning about cultures expands academic and career opportunities. As a student, you can use study abroad experiences or language courses as resume boosters to show that you’ve not only achieved something academically but also are able to work with people from different backgrounds. In an increasingly diverse and globalized world, cultural competence is becoming more and more essential in the workplace. In business, having knowledge of other cultures or speaking other languages makes you an extremely valuable employee. Being well-versed in other cultures makes you more qualified to move up in your company because you’ll be able to speak with international clients, understand their customs, or even assist in expansions if your company sets up an international office.
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