Our institution created an event series where students and faculty share and learn about various cultures around the world. The concept and spirit of the event came from a shared vision of our new Vice President of Academic Affairs, the Library Director, and the Director of International Programs to expose our students to peoples around the globe. With the tagline “All are welcome”, we have established a highly successful campus outreach series that manages to be instructive without feeling like instruction and to build community through food, celebration, and information-sharing. Presenters have been international students studying in the U.S., American faculty who’ve worked and/or lived in other countries, and faculty from other countries working in the U.S. Photos are a popular way of sharing cultures; presenters show videos of musical events, dancing, and their community. Authentic cuisine and relevant displays of books and artifacts make this a robust, multi-sensory experience. By summer 2018, we will have had 8 Cultural Cafes with country spotlights ranging from Japan to the Middle East and Jordan, from India to Nepal and Venezuela. The series has also provided an opportunity to exhibit and communicate opportunities such as the Peace Corp and Fulbright service learning experiences. For our 45-minute presentation, you’ll experience a mini Cultural Café as well as engage in discussion about how they came to be, valuable takeaways regarding best practices for such outreach events at your own campus, buy-in and budgeting strategies, event planning needs, and participant recruitment and audience engagement.
