Cultural Expo 2024
SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Schools Day
Saturday, April 6, 2024 - Food and Entertainment Day (live stream here: TBA)
Surbeck Center Ballroom - South Dakota Mines campus
About
The Cultural Expo is a two-day showcase and celebration of cultural and international diversity through education, entertainment, and food! This event is hosted by groups from the South Dakota Mines as well as the community. Cultural groups from the community
are encouraged to participate in this annual festival, which is sponsored by international students, faculty and staff, the Student Association, and the Ivanhoe International Center at South Dakota Mines, along with International Students Inc., and
Black Hills Energy.
Thursday's Event
Thursday is geared towards area schools, with educational exercises for students. We have a lot of cultural activities. The hours of the event are from 9 am to 2:30 pm
For the different activities and downloadable information, see the accordions below.
Saturday's Event
The general public is invited to attend the Expo on Saturday between the hours of 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. Cultural displays from around the world and in the U.S. will be highlighted. Food sampling begins at 11:30 am.
Thursday's educational activity was completely reimagined in 2019 by some of our very own SD Mines students! The Passport Activity still gives attendees the chance to learn about many different countries from community members and college students
representing their own cultures but in a new interactive and engaging approach! Please see the linked PDF below to read the instructions of the activity (instructions vary by grade).
Passport Activity Instructions
This is an integral part of Thursday's event programming. Stories, including oral retellings, are one of the basic and fun ways to communicate. Learning about different cultures and countries can be done through those children's stories. It shows
the cultural and gender norms of that culture/country and creates basic images of that society.
Here at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, we try to re-create this in out Storytime Corner during the Cultural Expo. Along with our community partner, International Students, Inc. and out students, we try to give visitors another
avenue to learn about cultures/countries that are different from what we know. It also gives visitors a chance to ask questions to a native of that culture/country.
For more information, please see our
Children's Story and Cultural Learning handout and a
question sheet for meaningful discussion of a story.
Started in Denmark in 2000, the Living Library was a tool to breakdown prejudice and discrimination. Nowadays, it has expanded to challenge not only prejudice and discrimination but also stereotypes and stigmas around the world. Here at the South
Dakota School of Mines & Technology, we want students to learn more about a culture or country that is of interest. Our volunteers consist of SD Mines students and community members from different backgrounds.
How it Works
- Take this excerpt from the
Council of Europe, "It works just like a normal library: visitors can browse the catalog for the available titles, choose the book
they want to read, and borrow it for a limited period of time. After reading, they return the book to the library and, if they want, borrow another. The only difference is that in the Living Library, books are people, and reading consists
of a conversation."
How to Evaluate
- It's good to debrief with your students after they have finished 'reading'. If you would like us to develop something more specific
for your class, please let us know. We want to make the Cultural Expo a great learning tool for you and your students.
See the 2023 Cultural Expo video
For further information, please contact the Ivanhoe International Center at
605-394-6884 or by email at
international@sdsmt.edu.