At Plymouth State University, the third week in November is warmer than the rest. Campus is bustling, colorful. People are surpassingly sociable and open. There is a sense of oneness.
From Mon., Nov. 14 through Fri., Nov. 18, PSU will, for the fifth consecutive year, celebrate diversity, ethnicity, individuality, and multiculturalism in honor of International Education Week.
International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. State Department and U.S. Education Department that dates back to 2000. Its efforts, according to U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan’s Statement on International Education Week, are to celebrate “the benefits of understanding the world around us” and to “inspire students to broaden their horizons through global learning, foreign languages and international exchange.”
2011 marks the fifth year that PSU will be celebrating International Education Week. The weeklong celebration will begin with a welcoming ceremony in the HUB, featuring President Steen and Coordinator of International Education Week Jane Barry, and PSU’s first-ever Parade of Nations.
“We try to plan events that cross all boundaries,” said Barry, “things that are educational, informative, and fun for students.” The whole week will be colored with events taking place across campus, all aimed towards broadening students’ awareness about the lives and cultures of our international neighbors. Barry said, “It is one of the few things that happens on our campus that is truly collaborative.”
This year’s events will include two documentaries, two Brown Bag Lunch Lectures, a merengue dance class, a global coffee tasting, and a PSU World Cup soccer game, among other celebrations. PSU cuisine will also be traversing borders, offering multiple special lunch and dinner events and hosting a Peruvian chef in Prospect Dining Hall all week. In addition to these special events, a number of classes that touch on international matters will be open to all PSU students for the entirety of International Week.
“I think it is important for us as students to share our culture with each other,” said Marys Mata, a senior marketing major at PSU that came to Plymouth from Venezuela. “For me, International Week is like a family gathering, because you have the chance to talk about your background and get to know people.”
Sharon Rodriguez de Santolo, an ELS student from Venezuela, has been here since August. “I think International Week is very important for students… to learn to be more kind and welcoming,” said de Santolo, who is excited for her opportunity to share bits of her culture at the Venezuela table on Thursday’s International Festival and Marketplace.
“It’s easy to talk with another person from another culture because they share your experience,” said de Santolo, for whom International Week will provide a unique opportunity to reach out to fellow PSU students and teach them about her culture.
International Week, though, also endeavors to dissolve the psychological disconnect that often occurs between people of different cultures. Wilson Garcia, a Spanish professor at PSU, praises the week’s ability to “give us a glimpse of a possible future where multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual peoples recognize their common humanity.”