Arts and culture permeate the UWC-USA experience, with theater, dance, visual arts and music programs for both the serious student and the hobbyist, and gastro-diplomacy as a delightful inroad to intercultural understanding.
The arts offer opportunities for self-expression, contemplative practice and persistence in pursuit of mastery. In UWC-USA’s rich mix of cultures, they are also an important avenue for exploration of cultural traditions and development of the student’s own identity.
The arts offer a way for students to accessibly communicate and understand differences.
Learning how culture shapes arts and vice-versa, students connect around this shared language of expression.
Students deepen and embrace their understanding of their own heritage through artistic expression and exploration.
Students pursue arts both through yearlong IB courses and after school activities. In addition to arts faculty members, professional artists are in residence on campus several times per year to offer short, in-depth workshops in various performing and visual arts disciplines.
Arts events are dotted throughout the academic year. In addition to the performances and exhibitions arranged by the school’s arts departments, two student-led Cultural Showcases are held annually, where students highlight arts traditions from their home countries. There are also six “cafes” each year, where students can sign up to perform spoken-word poetry, music, dances or skits as solos or ensembles.
When they arrive on campus, students are assigned to one of six cultural “families” based on the region of their home country (Middle East, Europe, etc.). Independent of residence halls, these groups offer students a way to socialize with friends who share their culture.
Each month, one of the families cooks dinner for the entire community, preparing foods that showcase their regions’ culinary traditions. While participation is optional, most students look forward to this way of sharing beloved aspects of their culture, seeking recipes from family members and deepening their connection to their own traditions.
United World College-USA
P.O. Box 248
Montezuma, NM 87731
