By Abby Gweon
World Tour Week began at NYU DC this past Monday and will continue until Sunday. Each day of the week features an event involving different cultures from around the world. The week was organized by Hall Congress, the Students of Color Association, the International Student Group, and the Global Equity Fellow. The daily events expose students to foods, languages, and art from different cultures, creating a more inclusive environment at NYU DC. The more students know about other cultures, the more they can accept and embrace them.
Monday’s Food and Culture Fair was a potluck of student-made foods, introducing people to new cuisines. Tuesday was Cultural Collage Night, in which students created their own art pieces. On Wednesday, useful words and phrases were learned in different languages, taught by multilingual students. On Thursday, students were taught how to make dumplings, a food important to many countries and their longstanding traditions.
The events create a place for student expression—not only are people learning about other cultures, they are sharing their own. It is students that are passing on these skills, and at a place far away from home for many, seeing one’s culture understood by a welcoming group of people can make one feel more included and accepted, and can allow for a greater sense of community. Understanding what someone may have grown up eating or speaking can mean more than just learning about a new aspect of their life; it can mean understanding an essential part of their identity.
World Tour Week has brought students together through several nights of events, but is far from over. The events upcoming on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are Latin Food and Dance Night, Crab Boil, and Sushi Art Night. These events will take place in the reading room, lobby, and second floor conference room, and I highly recommend that you attend!
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