Cultural Expo 2024

SAVE THE DATE for the 61st Expo!

Thursday, April 4, 2024 - Schools Day

Saturday, April 6, 2024 - Food and Entertainment Day (live stream here: TBA)

Beck Ballroom, Surbeck Center - 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

  • Watch this video for more information on the different activities
  • Interested on attending? RSVP will be made available in January 2024.

For the different activities and downloadable information, see 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.

  • Food sampling begins at 11:30 am until food runs out. Cost is $10 per person.
  • Cultural performances and displays from around the world and in the U.S. will be highlighted. There is no cost for these.


Educational Activities

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

Storytime Corner

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.

Living Library

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.

Contact Us:

Ivanhoe International Center
South Dakota Mines
501 E Saint Joseph Street
Rapid City, SD  57701-3995
Email: International@sdsmt.edu
Phone: 1.605.394.6884
FAX: 1.605.394.6883
WhatsApp and Google: 1.605.388.2003
Skype: sdsmt.international

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