By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
The second-annual Global Cultural Fest was held from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Hankamer School of Business. The event was sponsored by the Dean’s Office, Department of Economics and the McBride Center for International Business as a way to bring the business school together to learn about different cultures and countries.
Dr. Cindy Wu, associate dean for diversity and belonging, said the Global Cultural Fest is one of the biggest events that her office sponsors each year, and it would not be possible to host it without the other business school departments.
“At this event, we’re hoping to educate the business students as well as anybody who might be interested in learning about global cultures, different national cultures and how these national cultures influence business practices to come,” Wu said.
Students led the event and were coached by faculty to learn about specific countries. The fest allowed for students, faculty and staff to interact with the students who studied designated countries and enjoy food from those places. Overall, the event represented 16 countries across six continents.
Wu said the 16 countries represented are mainly the countries where Baylor offers study abroad and mission trips or the countries that have major trade partnerships with the U.S. She said the goal was to familiarize students with these countries because it allows them to become aware of the opportunities that are awaiting them and get rid of the hesitation of getting involved in another country.
Highland Village senior Wesley Jordan said he and his fellow students are in an international business course which allowed them to research a particular country and its business practices.
“We were assigned a country, and our job is to figure out the market — what the market is, business practices in that country and just how it relates to the U.S.,” Jordan said. “[The event] is just good for people that are thinking about doing international business. They can learn a little bit about 16 different countries and just what it takes to do business there.”
Wu said what originally inspired the idea of the event was thinking about the beauty and diversity of different cultures and finding a way to promote it for people to become aware of the “complexity and the beauty of cultural diversity.”
“One thing is to raise that awareness,” Wu said. “One way is to invite more students to go on study abroad, and the other way is to bring the international experience into the classroom. Another thing we’re doing is just to put together a fun event that’s celebratory and that’s fun for students to come and visit and learn.”
Wu said her favorite part about sponsoring the event is being able to see people come together and work on a project that celebrates the diversity of different cultures.
“I love to see the students taking the initiative to put up this event to educate other fellow students,” Wu said. “I love to see that they put their heart and effort into it and the enthusiasm and the excitement to represent their country.”
