Zoe Covey
Features Editor
International Education Week (IEW) is back again this year, and though the Culture Show is by far the most publicized event of the week every time it rolls around, many seem to forget that it is only the kick-off to a week full of events put on by both the College and student groups.
Starting this year at The College of Wooster on Nov. 2, IEW began just as it does every year with the beloved Culture Show. IEW is significant in that it focuses on various aspects of being an international student, showcased in many different forms: a film was shown by the German Film Exchange, a panel on the experiences of international students was held, and WooStories was hosted by Asia Supporters in Action (ASiA) and the Soft Power Project. WooStories focuses on the diverse experiences of Asian people in the United States. Many food events were put on, both by student groups such as the South Asia Committee (SAC) and campus dining.
Other groups chose to share a part of their culture through more artistic methods, including karaoke with the International Student Association (ISA), a craft night hosted by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and a dance party with the foreign language teaching assistants (complete with international music). The latter two events will be happening tonight, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. and 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. respectively. Finally, IEW will close out tomorrow afternoon with the Japanese Culture Association’s (JCA) guide to traveling in Japan from 1:00- 2:30 p.m. in the Pit.
All of these events were the culmination of the hard work by people trying to create opportunities to share cultures that are meaningful to them and underrepresented in our everyday environment here at Wooster. When putting together an event like this, during a week with limited time and resources, student groups must be intentional about what they want to showcase to the campus. The variety of styles in which the above presentations were made shows just how vast and complex every culture is, and distilling a part of a culture into one event can be challenging.
Henry Mai ’20, the president of ASiA, discussed his group’s goals for their IEW event. “Because we’re ASiA club, we wanted to highlight the diversity of Asian experience on campus. Of course we can’t be comprehensive; there are no South Asian speakers at our event which is something I hope we can work on in the future. We thought collaborating with Soft Power Project for a WooStories event would be the perfect opportunity to give narrative to a usually ambiguous racial category. The title is ‘Asians in America’ and not something centered around Asian Americans because the distinction is important. We have on campus international students, people born in China and adopted by parents in the U.S., and people who are mixed like me. All these disparate experiences get blended together into this homogeneous narrative which can be difficult to navigate,” said Mai.
These events are powerful because they provide a way for some students to write a love letter to home, and for others to open their eyes to someone else’s culture. However, IEW still has a way to go. Nashmia Khan ’20, president of SAC, would like to see more academic involvement, among other things. “I would include events that educate the campus about more intersectional experiences of international students, faculty and staff at Wooster. I would also try to incorporate various academic departments and programs in the events hosted during IEW,” said Khan.
With each passing year, however, it seems that students are becoming more engaged. “Over the past two years I think campus culture has shifted towards a more participatory community — which is awesome — and more people are showing up to events that don’t just serve food. It’s not a change insomuch as something that we should continue to be intentional about doing. It’s not totally for me to say, I’m not an international student and this week is all about them,” said Mai.