Calvin students craving some culture have a tasty new way to satisfy their appetites. FLAVOR This!, a collaboration of members of Calvin’s Mosaic community, international student body, and multicultural student development and campus events offices, is an informal and open venue in which students learn about and have fun with the wide variety of cultures represented at Calvin.

The acronym FLAVOR comes from the program’s motto: “Fellowship with others; Listen, Learn and Live with an Active mind, exploring Various cultures; with an Openness for Rejuvenated Relationships.” “This!” stands for the ideas, lifestyles, music, and other cultural perspectives participants share with each other at the event.

FLAVOR This! takes place from 5:30 to 7:00 in the CAVE on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, and is formatted like a talk show. After some opening entertainment, a guest expert speaks on the night’s topic and then opens the floor to discussion.

“We want to take issues that are either out there or haven’t been raised on campus, and put them in a setting where people can have some fun, but come away feeling they’ve learned something,” says Nalini Suganandam, director of Calvin’s Mosaic Community and associate coordinator for FLAVOR This!

One recent episode explored stereotypes. Students drawn to the CAVE by advertisements in the student news or by David Tanoor’s enticing pre-show piano-playing shared stereotypes they had heard about various groups, watched a clip from a TV show, and discussed how Christians should respond. One student suggested “not tolerat[ing] racial jokes or ethnic slurs,” while another advised prayer and introspection.

The first FLAVOR installment attracted a crowd of nearly 60 people, thanks in part to the popularity of The Dating Game, that evening’s entertainment. (The lucky bachelor and bachelorette won a gift certificate to TGIFridays). Attendance for subsequent episodes has been in the 15-30 range, but, says Suganandam, “We’re still learning a lot.” One idea in the works is to offer reduced-price meal deals at Johnny’s so students won’t have to worry about missing dining hall hours.

Stay tuned! Upcoming FLAVOR experts and topics include representatives from Bethany Christian Services on minority children and adoption and communication professor Helen Sterk on friendship and gender. And this semester’s final episode will feature international students sharing food, music and Christmas traditions from around the world.