IEW had a lot of opportunities to experience different cultures. In order to advertise the Gala and inform the campus of the richness of culture the campus has the CIE hosted a Mustang Study Abroad information session along with a Taste of Cultures series.
Taste of Culture had a chosen place every day and had students from that place make a presentation on their country and they had a popular food from the presented location. The four places they presented where Taiwan, Sri Lanka China, and Vietnam.
The Mustang Study Abroad information session had a student who was recently in the program talk about their experiences they had while studying abroad.
The campus even played different popular music from different cultures in the Student Center. This was a valuable time to meet more people from diverse backgrounds.
May Lee Moua Vue, Director of International Student Services and Global Studies, said “We want all Mustangs to expand their horizons and explore the many opportunities to study abroad as well as meet with current international Mustangs who are studying right here at SMSU.”
The Gala is a great way to build community and inform people of the opportunities the school offers. Moua Vue said, “This week’s events and the Gala help bring our campus community closer by recognizing our richness in global perspectives and study abroad opportunities at SMSU.”
The Gala was a popular event, having sold out of tickets. The Gala offered many chances to experience an array of cultures. Some of these ways were through the talents show, the fashion show or the food.
The night consisted of a talent show, where performers sang, danced or played instruments. Then everyone that was wearing cultural attire was encouraged to do a catwalk to show off their outfits.
While the Gala Goers were eating a dinner of many different cultural inspired foods, they had the treat to listen to the two panelists, Eric Doise, Associate Professor of English, and Tetta Askeland, Assistant Professor of Theatre.
Tetta’s panel was first, and it was “Storytelling connections: Exploring connections through theatre,” in her panel she talked about the ways that theatre works to transcend borders and through the language of theatre you can communicate even with strong language barriers.
Doise’s panel was “In defense of ‘bad’ English,” in it he talked about his time as a teacher assisting students in learning to speak English and how dialects add diversity and that should be celebrated instead of suppressed.
The night ended with a dance party of music from all over the world.
Mouna Vue said, “the International Gala was the finale for IEW and it was a great way to celebrate international education at SMSU.”
If we want to be able to continue this tradition, we need to support international students as they are not eligible for financial aid and very few scholarships are available to them. Please consider donate to a scholarship for international students. The campus and the community thank you for any donations.
