The UW Bangladesh Students’ Association (BSA) invites UW students to immerse themselves in the unique South-Asian culture, joining the celebration of the annual Bangladesh Night.
The event will take place on Saturday, March 10 from 4-11 p.m.
“It’s important for them to be able to share their culture, and their cuisine and their fine and performing arts,” the Associate Director of International Students Association Jill Johnson said. “I am glad, that they are all interested in sharing it with us. And it’s important for us to welcome that and enjoy that because it just brings the world to Wyoming. Most of us never had an opportunity to experience Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh Night is the annual showcase event of Bangladeshi culture and cuisine, organized by the BSA.
“From our RSO we organize Bangladesh Night every year to promote our culture and our language, our food, our traditions,” the President of BSA Muhammad Yasin Ahmed said. “This is the only public event we organize to promote our culture to UW community.”
The event has two parts, the cultural show and then a dinner. The cultural show will take place from 4-6 p.m. at the Arts & Science Auditorium. It will include traditional Bengali songs, dances, mime and much more.
“In the cultural part there will be dance performances, songs, mostly related to the culture of our country,” Ahmed said. “There will be different kind of things, like [a] mime. Moreover, there will be four performances. Talking about songs part, most of the songs will be mostly modern, like Bengali dancing songs.”
BSA has invited special guests from the faculty members to give speeches during the cultural portion of the evening.
“For the cultural part we invited some distinguished guests, Ahmed said. “One of them will be ASUW Advisor Aaron Lozano, then ISS Assistant Director Jill Johnson. And there will be a special guest, the Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Bret Hess, Ph.D. He will be our special guest. And there will be our BSA Advisor Anowar Islam, Ph.D.”
The performance portion will be followed by a dinner, which will start at 7 p.m. in the Yellowstone Ballroom of the union.
“Our food is similar to India, and Nepal as well. So, there will be typical Indian cuisine,” Ahmed said. “There will be 14 courses. We ordered veggie food. We provide halal options for Muslims. Few of the examples of dishes, that I can call now, are butter chicken, cold curry.”
The typical Indian food is usually spicy, however, BSA members understand that not everyone at UW is used to such food.
“You know, our food is a little bit spicy sometimes,” Ahmed said. “This year we will try to keep the spice level moderate. Even though we are reducing the spice level, the food will still be same tasty, as it cooked in our country [sic].”
After the food is served, guests will be welcome to stay for the dancing party, which will start at approximately 9 p.m. and last until 11 p.m.
There are more than 30 Bangladeshi students at the University of Wyoming, and all of them are enrolled in graduate school.
“The Bangladesh student population has been really growing very quickly,” Johnson said. “Just a few years ago there was just a small group of students from this country on campus. And now we have over 30 students, and their families as well.”