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Full menu of events slated for International Education Week
By PATRICIA DONOVAN
Contributing Editor
When UB joins schools, colleges and universities across the country in the celebration of International Education Week, being held Saturday through Nov. 21, there will be plenty to eat, watch, listen to and dance about.
UB will present a full schedule of free public events in recognition of the important cultural, academic and economic contributions of international education to Western New York and the nation. So line up for your fried chilies and Sugarbun Nasi Lemak.
Throughout the week, 14 different international student clubs and associations representing students from Iran, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Taiwan, Greece, Malaysia, India and other nations will present sessions that showcase their countries or cultures. There will be several live performances, "Sapno Ki Raat" (Night of Dreams) a semi-formal gala sponsored by the Indian Students Association, cultural presentations and more—all illuminating the importance of international educational exchange.
Notable recent films from Canada, France, Iran, Palestine, Taiwan and Vietnam will be featured as part of a weeklong international film festival.
Various Asian cuisines can be sampled during "A Taste of Asia" from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Student Union Lobby. Several different Asian student clubs sponsor this event.
A special performance of "Dongnae Yaryu: A Korean Masked Dance Play" will take place at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.
Another highlight of the week will be the U.S. premiere of the documentary "The Will To Live: A Notebook About Love, Hate, and Reconciliation." The filmmaker will be in attendance at this event, along with Chanrithy Him, the award-winning Cambodian-American author who appears in the film. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Screening Room of the CFA. For more information on the documentary, see the story in this week's issue of the online Reporter.
Buffalo/Niagara World Connect will co-sponsor a presentation by local residents who traveled to Afghanistan to assist in the reconstruction of that country. "Rebuilding Afghanistan: Buffalo Residents Discuss their Experiences," will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Student Union Theatre, North Campus.
J.M. Coetzee, a former UB faculty member and winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, will be the subject of a lecture, "JM Coetzee: Voicing the Heart of the Country," by Shaun Irlam, professor and chair of the Department of Comparative Literatures and a former student of Coetzee's in Capetown, South Africa. The lecture will be at noon Nov. 20 in 145A Student Union.
At noon on Nov. 21, Mark Ashwill, director of the World Languages Institute, campus Fulbright Program adviser and founding director of the U.S.-Indochina Educational Foundation, will give a talk, "Vietnam and America: Overcoming the Past," in 280 Park Hall, North Campus, as part of the Asia at Noon lecture series, sponsored by the Asian Studies Program.
On Monday, selections from the Study Abroad Programs' First Annual Photo Contest will be on display from noon to 3 p.m. in the Student Union. The photos were taken by UB students during recent study-abroad experiences.
There will be two sessions during the week, entitled "Living on Campus: An International Perspective," that will highlight the experiences of international students in this regard and compare their experiences here to living on-campus back home.
A full schedule of events for International Education Week may be viewed at http://wings. buffalo.edu/intlservices/edu.pdf.
International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education designed to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study in the United States.
"International Education Week is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the diversity of our campus community, celebrate the contributions of the many cultures represented at UB and highlight the many benefits of cross-cultural interaction," says Ellen A. Dussourd, director of International Student and Scholar Services, pointing out that there are now almost 3,500 international students at UB.
Stephen Dunnett, vice provost for international education, points out that it is widely recognized throughout the world that students who study outside their native countries develop important relationships, perspectives and a tolerance of global similarities and differences that serve them and their countries well throughout their lives.
IEW 2003 is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Education, the Council on International Studies and Programs, the Graduate Student Association, HSBC Bank, M&T Bank, Key Bank, Global Ambassadors, 10 different GSA clubs and four Student Association clubs.
For more information, contact the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at 645-2258 or intlservices@acsu.buffalo. edu, or visit http://wings.buffalo.edu/ intlservices.
The International Education Week Web site at http://exchanges.state.gov/iew provides more information regarding the ways in which International Education Week activities are being celebrated throughout the world.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that people-to-people diplomacy, created through international education and exchanges, is critical to our national interests.
"Americans who study abroad expand their global perspective and become more internationally engaged," he says. "Foreign students and individuals who participate in citizen exchanges return home with a greater knowledge of our democratic institutions, and America's enduring values."