By John Johnson, vice president for diversity and inclusion.
While much of the conversation around the Winter Olympics in Beijing is reasonably focused on the political controversy of the games, the Olympics are not the only major event happening in China right now. An estimated 1.5 billion people across the globe mark the Lunar New Year and on Feb. 1, China and several other East Asian countries began celebrating.
Whitman Professor of History Brian Dott, who specializes in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, says, “For Chinese, the New Year is the most important holiday in the year. It is an important time for family to gather and celebrate together. It is also a time to visit with friends and neighbors.” Lunar New Year celebrations can last for more than a week.
While not all Asian communities commemorate the Lunar New Year, students from Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China would be among those likely to celebrate this holiday. For Whitman’s 35 international students from China, this can be a difficult time to be so far from home. Students might experience increased homesickness and feel the physical and cultural distance of Walla Walla, where only about 2% of the population is Asian.
Next Wednesday, Feb. 16, we will launch the Third Space Speaker Series. The series is part of an institutional effort to advance awareness and appreciation for cultural humility, cultural wealth and cultural pluralism. By embracing these concepts, we will be able to better recognize the value added to our own lives through exposure to those with different cosmological frames. I may not celebrate the Lunar New Year, but I appreciate how meaningful that holiday is for those who do and I am buoyed by the joy it brings to my community.
Happy New Year to all who are celebrating!
Learn more about Lunar New Year.
