Celebrating Purim March - 2022

March 2022 Dickson Faculty Fellow, Dr. Jodi Cohen, hosted an opportunity for Dickson/McLLU residents to learn about the Jewish holiday of Purim. She brought along with her Hamantaschen cookies, which are heavily associated with this holiday.

Purim commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman who, in the 5th century BCE, was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed (as recounted in the book of Esther). Haman was the royal vizier to Persian King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes. Haman's plans were ruined by Mordecai and his cousin Esther; Esther had recently become the Queen of Persia through her marriage to the King.  Hamantaschen cookies are triangular filled pocket pastry. The name refers to Haman and is symbolic of his defeat.

Celebrating Diwali November - 2021

Our wonderful Faculty in Residence, Professor Connie Yuan, has always opened up the chance to students to celebrate their cultures and their holidays in the Dickson/McLLU Complex. Here she hosted a student to celebrate Diwali with her!

Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs. It usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). Diwali symbolizes the spiritual victory of light over darkness.

Filipino Cooking Night - October 2021

Filipino Cooking Night in honor of Filipino American History Month hosted by Dickson Community Fellow, Dr. Nancy Martinsen. Nancy is an Associate Dean of Students and the Director of the Asian and Asian American Center here at Cornell.

In 1991 the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) board of trustees proposed the first annual Filipino American History Month to commence in October 1992. October was chosen to commemorate the the arrival of the first Filipinos to arrive in this land. They first came to what is now known as Morro Bay, California.

In 2009 U.S. Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month in the United States.