I’ve been racking my brain for a while trying to come up with a social cause to stand behind for my Issue Entrepreneurship Project. Many possibilities pop into my head, but I keep dismissing causes as either (1) being already over-represented, (2) being irrelevant or trivial in the grand scheme of things, or (3) requiring more cause-specific passion than I could ever provide.

Of course, if you think some cause is irrelevant, you are going to have a hard time mustering up passion for it. So reasons two and three above are really one in the same. However, if a cause is already over-represented, there still may be some hope. I ask myself, could I add a new slant and add value to the cause? Sometimes we are quick to think “oh I’m sure that’s already been done” without doing any research. If everybody were to think that way, nothing new would ever happen.

So what is a cause I could stand behind and hopefully add value to?

I think international / cultural education is becoming more and more important as the world grows more connected, and should be a top priority for teens and college age students as they establish and build their identity and their role in a globally interdependent world. US politics seems to be increasingly separating us from the rest of the world in a time when the world is growing smaller and the lines separating nation from nation are becoming greyer. If young Americans are to become good world citizens, then they need a good understanding of other cultures. The nationalism that is currently being fed by American politics is a step in the wrong direction.

When I was an undergrad, I spent 6 months abroad as an exchange student in England. It was an experience that changed my life. I stayed in the international dorms and met people from all over the world. It was during that time that I realized how diverse and important other cultures of the world were– I became a global citizen.

Sometimes I look back at the results of our own US elections and I wonder why people vote the way they do. I think back to my exchange student experience and I wonder how different American politics would be if everyone thought about politics on a global scale, and not just on a national scale. As a democracy, would we vote differently if we saw ourselves as world citizens and not just national citizens?

We may not realize it living in the diversity of New York City, but a large part of America couldn’t care less about the rest of the world. I grew up in a rural Florida where many people had never left the country, and had no interest to. I think if their interest had been piqued, and they had first hand experience of other cultures, things would be different.

The question then is, how can social software be used to make a meaningful contribution toward this cause? There are several initiatives out there to encourage international education for many of the same reasons I’ve tried to relay above. But I’m hoping that social software can be employed in a way to garner support among more people, among communities of people. Maybe networks can be set up by exchange student “alums” to raise interest among high school and early college students? Or in true issue entrepreneurship fashion, maybe enough support can be garnered among like-minded people that we can make this a bigger issue, bring it into the limelight as they say, even build monetary support to put toward exchange “scholarships” so less privileged students can experience other cultures?

All of this is just me thinking aloud. I still have a lot to think about. If you have any input, please let me know. I need it!