Team SHANUM Multicultural Society for Social Responsibility of Seoul National University Social Responsibility (SNUSR, Director Takyoon Kim) participated in the 2023 Intercultural Festival held at the Gwanak-gu Square on September 23, 2023. The team aimed to promote cultural diversity understanding and the formation of an intercultural community by hosting various activities at the festival.

The Intercultural Festival was organized by the Gwanak-gu Family Center under the leadership of Mayor Jun-hee Park. As an inclusive event, it was designed to foster an understanding of cultural diversity within the local multicultural families and provide a platform for everyone to enjoy the cultures of different countries. Following their participation as an official partner at last year's festival, SNUSR continued their involvement this year. The members of SHANUM prepared passionately for events involving interactions with local community members throughout the regular meetings conducted each week.

In particular, SHANUM adopted an unique approach to operating booths at the festival. Rather than setting up each booth for a specific country, they operated three booths in total with themes related to flags, agriculture, and tradition. Visitors could experience different cultures through the various activities offered at each booth.

SHANUM 6th members organized activities such as understanding flags from various countries and identifying them through flags-drawn duck fishing, experiencing and tasting a variety of global grains and dishes with the idea that ‘Culture’ derived from the word ‘Agriculture’, and learning about traditions through dart-throwing games. This year, SNUSR’s student society ‘Dodam Dodam’ also joined the festival, focusing on delivering information related to prenatal and postnatal care for multicultural women, adding more significance to the event.

The members of the team who actively participated in the festival expressed their satisfaction saying, “it was great to be able to engage with the local community outside of school,” and also that “we prepared themes and activities that anyone could enjoy, and I think we did a good job.”

Translated by Jieun Oh (Department of English Language and Literature)