The Cultural Attaché Program helps connect international ƽians with the ƽ community through its local schools and community venues, as well as on campus opportunities through the "Middle of Everywhere" series, in the hope of facilitating authentic cultural exchange. It invites international students to share things and topics they love from home while also allowing members of the ƽ community to welcome students into new environments. Cultural attachés have visited local spaces like school classrooms, the ƽ Arts Center, and the Mayflower Community. These attachés have shared anything from food to music, politics to sports, and language to pop culture. In this work, the Cultural Attaché Program hopes to make the world a bit smaller, a bit smarter, and a bit kinder.
If you are a ƽ student interested in becoming a cultural attaché, please fill out the form below. If you are a local venue and have a presentation idea, please fill out the Community Partner form. Please email OISA with any questions.
Cultural Attaché Testimonials
ƽ Area Arts Council
Momoka Murakoshi ’27
Through my presentation at the “Art Around the World” summer camp with the Arts Council, I introduced the children to the art of origami, explaining its cultural background in Japan and helping them fold paper cranes for their 1000 paper cranes project. Since it was a very small group, I was able to interact with each child, which made the class more interactive. This experience taught me how to adopt explanations for young learners and showed me how art can connect people across cultures in a very practical way.
The Lyceum Program, Mayflower Community
Aaryan Lodaya ’27
Southern India
I presented about Golu, the South Indian festival that is celebrated during Navratri. Presenting at Mayflower for the Lyceum Program was a very heart-warming experience. The folks at Mayflower are curious and ask very insightful questions. They were also able to connect with Golu with their own personal experience, in a way bridging South India and the United States. I had a great time learning about some of the people at Mayflower and most of all, I was honored to have had the opportunity to witness the marvelous 60,000-piece world map puzzle in the sports room.
ƽ High School
Gabriela Roznawska ’26
Poland
As a cultural attaché, I had the pleasure to meet with ƽ High School students and introduce a traditional Polish dish: pierogi. After a brief presentation on the importance of the dish for the hearts (and stomachs!) of all Poles, we moved to the most exciting part — making pierogi! With incredible speed and organization, guided by their teacher Amy Skouson, the students quickly picked up the preparation process — from rolling the dough and folding it into shape, to frying, and of course, eating them! I was really happy to share a piece of my culture and was truly impressed by the enthusiasm and genuine interest of the students. It was an honor to be so welcomed and given a chance to connect more closely with the ƽ community.
ƽ Middle School
Parikshit Roychowdhury ’26
West Bengal, India
I presented on India and a few South Asian calendars with Mr. Mient’s sixth grade social studies class. It was an amazing opportunity to both share and reflect on my home. The students were curious about the differences in calendars (like celebrating the New Year in April!) and I talked about the mythology and astronomy that helps shape why different calendars exist. I was asked some really interesting questions (about Indian food and even housing prices) and we ended the day imagining the possibilities of new calendars that we would all love!