With around 1,500 international students from over 40 countries, ISU’s campus appears to be a miniature of the global village. ISU provides students with various EMI credit programs in seven domains, including intelligent science and technology, medicine, business administration, engineering, communication and design, languages, and tourism and hospitality. It holds the ISU Cultural Festival, lasting for one month, and the Cultural Ambassador Competition every year, making interdisciplinary and cross-cultural learning part of students’ lives.
The Cultural Ambassador Competition, in particular, is the highlight every year. In last year’s final, competitors from Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, and Saint Lucia tried the whole bag of tricks to show their expression skills, dress and appearance, wit, and spontaneity. The competition was so fierce that over 100 teachers and students from Wu-Shan Senior High School, Kaohsiung Municipal Sanmin Home Economics & Commerce Vocational High School, Kaohsiung Municipal Renwu Senior High School, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Senior High School, and Kaohsiung Municipal Nanzih Senior High School were attracted and deeply impressed with cross-cultural vibes on the internationalized campus. Principal Chung-Chieh Yu of Kaohsiung Municipal Renwu Senior High School sang the praises of the competition, expecting to arrange for more teachers and students to take part in activities held by ISU in the future.
Devierri Vinson Winardy, an Indonesian overseas Chinese student of the Department of Culinary Arts Management under the College of Tourism and Hospitality, won the male championship of the competition, saying that he would like to bridge the cultural gap as a cultural ambassador and provide Taiwanese and international students with more opportunities to communicate and exchange with each other. Inspired by the Wob Dwiyet, the traditional costume of Saint Lucia, the female champion Tannyka Jodie John, a student of the School of Medicine for International Students under the College of Medicine, helped students from around the world learn about different cultures through the exotic costume with the national bird. Tzu-Hsin Huang, representing Taiwan, indicated that she was mesmerized by the all-English learning environment created by ISU when studying at Junyi School of Innovation in Taitung County, which drove her to choose the Department of International Media and Entertainment Management. To her surprise, not only EMI courses but also international activities were diverse and rich.
The host of the competition, Ying-Chun Chen, from the Department of Mass Communication under the College of Communication and Design, said that holding a big cultural event with international students not only improved her English speaking skills and confidence but made an unforgettable memory in college as well. Furthermore, Dr. Chia-Kun Lee, the Dean of International and Cross-Strait Affairs, indicated that ISU provided students with opportunities for overseas exchanges and internships with well-developed internationalization policies. Also, through the organization of bilingual activities, such as the Cultural Ambassador Competition, students with different professions and nationalities were gathered to accomplish tasks, such as programming and live broadcasting, and present interdisciplinary learning outcomes.
