The Seahawk

Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: News

UNCW's 16th annual Intercultural Week (iWeek) was concluded by a festival Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Burney Center. The event lasted from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and included live performances, dancing, ethnic cuisines and educational exhibits.

Performances for the event included Greek dancing by the St. Nicholas Romiosini Dancers, Slovak flute music by Ben Sorensen and Scottish music from Port City Pipes and Drums.

The theme of this year's iWeek was "Global Mobility: Immigration, Economic Development and Cultural Identities." Through an array of lectures, films, brown-bag discussions, workshops and plays, students and staff collaborated in an effort to represent and celebrate the various cultures that make up the Wilmington community.

iWeek commenced on Feb. 9 with "All Around the World," an event sponsored by Housing and Residence Life in which residential lobbies were transformed to depict cultures of different countries. The event was a simple but effective way to begin the six days of intercultural awareness.

Films and documentaries shown during the week included "The Day My God Died," "Letters from the Other Side," "Afrique sur Seine," "Paris c'est jolie," "Les Princes Noirs de Saint Germain des Prés" and "Since Otar Left." Each film was followed by a discussion to generate dialogue about themes presented in the films and applications to society today.

A variety of notable lecturers highlighted topics of immigration and cultural diversity throughout the week including presentations by New York University Professor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, native-born Israeli Tamar Gilad and several UNCW professors.

Junior Stephanie Ford found that iWeek was successful in representing a variety of cultures. She attended the festival on Saturday and was pleased by the activities and food.

"There was always something to see," Ford said. "Everything was really well organized. My two favorite parts were the food and belly dancers."

One of the exhibits which illustrated student involvement was the "Window to the World," displaying photographs from students who studied abroad in 2008. Active involvement and positive feedback from students proves that iWeek was indeed a success.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools