The Center for Global Education is hosting International Education Week from Feb. 22 to March 1, filled with numerous events to encourage students to branch out. Students will learn about diversity, traveling abroad and what the Center for Global Education has to offer throughout the week.

“International education is something that encompasses our daily lives,” Outreach Coordinator Erica Cuevas said. “It will be something that affects students as they go forth and work in careers every day.  So this is a way to bring awareness to all of the ways we connect to other cultures.”

This is the first year an entire week will be dedicated to international awareness and showcasing what the Center of Global Education offers students.  Cuevas said the entire office is eager to have a large turnout.

Numerous events will take place throughout the week that students can attend.  Some of the events include a flamenco dance performance, a 1,000 crane campaign to promote cross cultural understanding and a faculty lecture symposium.

There will also be a screening of the film “Crossing Borders,” a 70-minute documentary Moroccan and American students traveling together, at 3:45 p.m. on Feb. 26 in Timmerman Auditorium in Hyland Hall.

An international dinner will occur at 5 p.m. on March 1 in the University Center Hamilton Room.

“The international dinner has been an event that has sold out every year for the past four years,” Cuevas said.  “Recipes are submitted by international students on campus so all of the dishes will be from countries that are represented at UW-Whitewater.”

A global experience fair will also be held during the week in the Center for Global Education office in Hyland Hall, Suite 1227. The fair is for students who have studied abroad to share information from their travels.  The event is intended to give students a chance to learn about opportunities they have to study abroad.

Junior Jared Pahl is in charge of advertising and marketing for International Education Week.

“It’s important that students know all of the opportunities they have to study abroad,” Pahl said. “An experience abroad would open a student’s mind to what else is out there.”

The faculty lecture symposium is designed to expose students to what lies outside our campus and familiar borders.  Faculty will talk about the research they have done and the experiences they have had abroad.

“This would be a way for students to see how going abroad can really affect their future,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas said the week is scheduled for the students’ convenience, and those planning the events are looking forward to a strong turnout.

“The times are pretty convenient for people to fit into their schedule,” Pahl said. “It would be a beneficial thing for students if they’re interested at all in studying abroad. It would open their mind up a little.”

Pahl said he has never been a part of anything like this before, but is looking forward to the planned events being a success.

“It’s really going to be about getting the word out to the campus and letting people know we’re here and giving information to people about what we do,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas said each student who attends these events will get a wider perspective on diversity and traveling abroad and will discover what the Center for Global Education has to offer.