Monmouth gets cultured

By: Jim Fry
Contributing Writer

Once again, the office of intercultural life is busy getting ready for its 13^th annual Monmouth College Cultural Festival. This year’s festival is being held on Saturday, Sept. 22, on Dunlap Terrace, from noon to 4 p.m.

Students and faculty, representing the many cultures here at Monmouth College, are once again preparing to present their unique cultures to the campus and community.  Some of the countries included are:Costa Rica, China, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Japan, Nepal, Russia, United States and Sri Lanka. 

The participants will be setting up booths to showcase what each of their cultures has to offer. These booths will also serve as areas for visitors to ask questions and find out information about each country.  Anime Club, International Club, CEA, PRISM and Eta Sigma Phi (the classics collegiate honorary society) will be cooking popular dishes from each country for visitors to sample. 

There will be dancing and music throughout the festival. This year’s performers include: Galen, a jazz flutist extraordinaire and AfriCaribe, a Latino cultural group from Chicago. These groups will be playing throughout the festival, with breaks in between performers for the student representatives at the festival to speak to the crowd about different topics.  s. 

Ruby Pentsil-Bukari, director of intercultural life, is really excited about this year’s festival.  Her goal for this year’s festival is to “highlight different cultures, through students and faculty.”  Pentsil-Bukari also says that the faculty and students are very “proud to be showcasing” their different cultures.

Amy Caldwell de Farias, assistant professor of history, hopes that the fair will “create awareness of different cultures and their contributions” and will be “enriching” for the rest of the campus.