Indiana University East will host “Discovering Central Asia: An Evening of Food and Entertainment” at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, in Vivian Auditorium, located in Whitewater Hall.

The event is open to the community. Free tickets are available beginning Monday, January 11, in the Office of the Bursar, located in Whitewater Hall Room 102.

The IU East School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Diversity Committee, Mindful Explorations, and the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center is sponsoring the event.

Kris Rees, assistant professor of political science, is organizing the event and hopes it will provide an opportunity for the campus and community to experience diversity while it contributes to the university’s goals of internationalization and global awareness that are part of the broader IU initiatives

“The performers will all be representing their home countries, which are all part of Central Asia. Central Asia is a relatively understudied and lesser-known part of the world,” Rees said. “The music and dance performances and cultural displays will allow participants to experience, and explore the diversity of the cultures of the peoples of Central Asia.”

“Discovering Central Asia: An Evening of Food and Entertainment” will include cultural presentations and dance performances, authentic Central Asian foods prepared by The Den, and live music provided by students from IU Bloomington. The students will perform songs and dances from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang and Mongolia.

For more information about the event, contact Kris Rees, assistant professor of political science, at kmrees@iue.edu.