Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
To achieve an understanding of how a Dia De Los Muertos event promotes cultural safety, two curious undergraduate students interested in the event, asked a student, a group organizer, and a professor two intercultural-focused questions. The questions were designed to encourage reflection, invite different perspectives, and explore the broader implications of the context from individuals that are a part of events at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO). A student was asked why they attended the event, to which they answered “I am studying International Relations and I think it is really important to understand different cultures and backgrounds. I am also taking a Spanish class this semester so I think it’s important to attend these events to gain a better understanding of Latin culture,” (Anonymous). The student’s answer gave powerful insight into the importance of attending culturally diverse events. When a group organizer was asked how they thought the event helped promote cultural safety on campus they answered:
UBCO held the Dia De Los Muertos Event on November 01, 2024, where the Day of the Dead was celebrated and discussed in an educational form. During Global Education Week, the Global Engagement Office hosted a series of presentations, informational sessions, and cultural celebrations to honour our international student community, encourage intercultural learning, promote study-abroad programs, and showcase our campus’s commitment to global engagement. Two different presenters described how they celebrated the holiday. One being from the Mayan culture and the other from Centrale Mexico, both provided the various ways people celebrate and honour the dead. The event focused on education and provided food for everyone to try. The event highlights the power of cultural celebrations and fosters cultural safety and inclusivity through sharing presentations and interactive activities. It encouraged students to embrace and discuss multicultural perspectives, creating a foundation for respect and understanding within a diverse academic community.
I think it is important for us in university to learn about different cultures to understand the background of the people that we actually kind of like to live with right? So I think it is a multicultural university and understanding all of these different beliefs kind of gives you awareness of the differences of your own culture and also allows you to kind of like grow and understand the different perspectives of the world and just forget about how conscious you are about your own culture and just clearly from different ones kind of like opens up for like being more able to embrace those differences and just accepting them and living with them and respecting them so I think that it’s important to understand that to kind of like give more respect to the cultures that you actually are having around you. (Event organizer)
Another undergraduate UBCO student was asked the same question and they agreed that “it is more inclusive and it is better to have a good understanding of the culture to be able to appreciate it – so you don’t blindly believe stereotypes and any other things that carry bad connotation.” A professor first appreciated and then thoughtfully responded:
… what I am thinking is that while I was watching this there were so many things that even I didn’t know since I am not Hispanic and I am learning and that this is a way to maybe have a more inclusive view and so students are more aware of different traditions and they are less likely to make offensive or ignorant comments because they are well informed and they are now aware.
By combining education and personal engagement, the event encouraged attendees to reflect on their own cultural perspectives and appreciate the richness of other traditions. Fostering a more respectful and informed academic community, the Dia De Los Muertos Event at UBCO provided powerful insights into promoting cultural safety and inclusivity.
Report by Amelia Ackroyd, Connor Brown, Megan Darley, Daniela Nigg, and Jada Paul
The event was organized by Global Engagement Office, Go Global Global Education Week 2023: Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Altar – UBC Okanagan Events Calendar