Cultural experience on tap Thursday for WWU students

A Nov. 2018 snowfall at William Woods University in Fulton.
A Nov. 2018 snowfall at William Woods University in Fulton.

On Thursday, William Woods University is bringing the world to its Fulton campus.

The event, starting at 6:30 p.m., is one of eight international dinners kicking off a new program called the World Supper Club. This provides students with the opportunity to sample cuisine from a specific nation of the world. The experience will include table conversation about the nation that is the subject of the dinner, plus the showing of a short film about the world travels of Anthony Bourdain, the former celebrity chef, author and CNN travel documentarian.

Bourdain, host of award-winning series "No Reservations" and "Parts Unknown," died last June.

"The World Supper Club will honor Mr. Bourdain and his spirit of adventure, curiosity and good will, which introduced the world to millions of people," said Travis Tamerius, director of the Center for Ethics and Global Studies at William Woods University. "This experience is another example of our unique approach to education here at William Woods, whereby we take the student beyond the classroom and the textbook and into the real world of another culture."

The first World Supper Club (featuring the food of Cuba) will meet in the Ivy Room, inside Tucker Dining Hall, on the William Woods campus. The next meal will be India (Feb. 21), Morocco (Feb. 28), USA-New Orleans (March 14), Greece (March 28) and Japan (April 4).

"Rudyard Kipling held that 'the first condition to knowing a foreign country is to smell it.' He recognized that learning should be a fully embodied, sensory experience," Tamerius said. "We might add that another condition to knowing a foreign country is to taste it, to let the spices and flavors of another culture dance on your tongue. That is what we are hoping to do with this series of dinners which can serve as a gateway to the world."

Tamerius is also director of the university's innovative Woods Around The World program, which marked its 10th anniversary in 2018.

Through Woods Around The World, a cultural education program with a service component, more than 400 William Woods students have journeyed to the far corners of the globe, visiting all seven continents. Experiences have included travel to Cuba, Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and Argentina, as well as destinations in Europe, the Middle East and South America. During the current academic year, World Around The World will be taking William Woods students to Costa Rica and Japan.