Faces of CulturalFest: Let's Meet the Turkish Captain
As the FIUTS CulturalFest gets closer, let’s take a moment to read about some of our wonderful Booth Captains and learn why they want to be part of this incredible event. We had a lovely interview with our Turkish Booth Captain and this is what she had to say..
What is your name?
Şulenur Demirbaş
What country are you representing?
Turkiye
Tell us a bit about yourself!
I am a Fulbright Teaching Assistant from Turkiye. I teach beginner and intermediate Turkish at the University of Washington for this academic year. I am also an English language teacher in Turkiye, holding a BA in English Language Teaching and currently doing my MA in the same field. When I am not engaged in teaching, I take walks in nature, read books, and listen to podcasts!
What inspired you to participate in CulturalFest this year?
As a scholar, my main responsibility is teaching Turkish to the students at UW. In addition, I have a cultural ambassador role here; therefore, I would like to represent my culture in the best way possible across different contexts. In my opinion, attending FIUTS CulturalFest is a great opportunity to achieve this purpose, since it enables volunteers to introduce their cultures to others and in turn interact with other cultures. In this way, it aims to bridge the gap between cultural differences and create an inclusive environment for all individuals.
What does it mean to be a Booth Captain?
If I were to describe being a Booth Captain with several words, I would choose the following: leadership, interaction, authenticity and kindness.
Introducing your culture to others does not indicate a superficial knowledge transmission. It takes more than this and requires you to explore your assumptions and misbeliefs towards your own culture as well as to take a critical stance before interacting with others and their cultural experiences. In this sense, you are a leader, and your aim is to expose people to the unknown aspects of your culture rather than basics and provide a deeper-level engagement so that they can appreciate it fully. The best way to do this is interacting with others and showing your authentic self as you are already a part of your culture.
Can you describe the cultural aspects you are showcasing and why they are important to you?
In the Turkish Booth, you can expect to see many cultural and colorful artifacts, ranging from the national flag, evil eye amulets to Turkish coffee and some delicious snacks like baklava! As opposed to what people know, Turkish culture is more than its cuisine. Its richness and complexity can be only showcased with various attributes. Therefore, what I bring to the Booth will help me represent my cultural identity as a Turkish student.
In addition, all cultural artifacts will enhance others’ understanding of Turkish culture and allow them to experience this lovely culture by interacting with it. You might see some surprises in the Booth, like marbling painting, trying traditional clothes and a trivia quiz with a prize!
In what ways do you believe events like CulturalFest contribute to fostering cultural understanding within the community?
Even though we can connect to anywhere around the world thanks to technology, bringing people of different backgrounds together in an authentic setting is not an easy task. In this context, events like CulturalFest aim to strengthen the bonds between different people in a community by offering a culturally inclusive environment for others to explore and appreciate what’s represented.
Trying to explore my culture from different perspectives has helped me become more aware and sensitive towards other cultures and appreciate them more. Culture is dynamic, thought-provoking and fun! Events like FIUTS CulturalFest have the potential to transform people personally and culturally, ultimately fostering greater appreciation for the multicultural and multilingual society they live in.
FIUTS CulturalFest will be held on April 19th at Benaroya Hall. Get your FIUTS CulturalFest tickets today!