International Education Week (IEW), which will feature workshops, chats, game nights, and meetings, will take place from Friday, Nov. 11 to Friday, Nov. 18. The week of events is sponsored by the IEW planning committee, composed of staff from the Fries Center for Global Studies and other departments. All programming was designed to celebrate cultures and academic exchange around the world, and the schedule for events can be found on the Fries Center’s website.

c/o Fries Center for Global Studies

According to the Fries Center’s website, the goals of IEW are fourfold: to promote global learning opportunities, to celebrate the diversity of cultures and languages represented at the University, to contribute to intercultural dialogue, and to discuss global threats. IEW was first established as a national event in 2000 but was not held at the University until the 2017–2018 school year.

“[IEW] was first celebrated in 2000 under President Clinton in a joint effort by the Depts of State and Education to support international education and to encourage students from other countries to study here in the States,” Assistant Professor of the Practice in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), Education Studies, and English Elizabeth Hepford wrote in an email to The Argus. “I think we here at Wesleyan hope to take it a step further.”

IEW will kick off on Nov. 11 with the opening of an exhibit in Olin Memorial Library focusing on global migration. IEW will continue that day with the Oddfellows Playhouse performance of “Journey to the West,” a modern adaptation of a 16th-century epic Chinese novel. at 7:00 p.m. Events throughout the week include a story-sharing circle, the opening of a Chinese found poetry exhibit, an Office of International Student Affairs open house, and a “Taste of Language” learning session with snacks.

Among the events, there will be a potluck on Thursday, Nov. 17 hosted by the Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) to highlight international cuisines and bring students together to learn more about the Fries Center’s offerings.

“As FLTAs, it is one of our main missions to share our culture with students,” FLTA Romane Rousseau wrote in a message to The Argus. “For this reason, International Education Week is an opportunity for us to promote interculturality, especially during the potluck next Wednesday where we will all prepare a traditional dish from our respective countries. This is very important to us as we all come from countries that celebrate regional food, and especially to me since I come from a country renowned for its gastronomy: France.”

Associate Director for Intercultural Learning Anita Deeg-Carlin shed some light on the program’s history and its impacts on the University.

“IEW encourages student groups connected with international education including at Wesleyan and Study Abroad, educating others about international issues, celebrating global diversity and culture, and supporting international students, faculty, and staff.” Deeg-Carlin wrote. “Every year, IEW gives Wesleyan a chance to look at what’s happening globally and locally and respond as a supportive multicultural campus.” 

Additionally, Hepford explained why these particular events were chosen and why this week is important both nationally and to the University.

“There’s usually a lot of pride for people expressing their heritages, which can be magical for a community,” Hepford wrote. “It’s super generous for the event leaders to give in this way to the community, and audiences/participants should expect to learn new things, get inspired by learning about different cultures, and hopefully become more open and interculturally competent people. Intercultural competence is all about knowledge, attitude, and skills, so if people go into events with attitudes of openness, curiosity, and humility, and practice skills of active listening and attentive observation, they should learn some important new insights.” 

Deeg-Carlin also explained the role IEW played early in the pandemic. It allowed students to discuss studying remotely and learn more about their peers’ experiences.

“In addition to the array of events related to culture and education, we created events for a group that was greatly affected by the pandemic – international students studying from home at Wesleyan,” Deeg-Carlin wrote. “These were the students coming to online classes at 3 am their time in order to continue their education. Therefore, we had sessions like ‘Navigating Wes as an International Student’ and ‘Speak Up! Participating in Classes as an International Student.’” 

In the end, Deeg-Carlin encouraged all students to attend the events to honor their peers’ efforts to share personal experiences, as well as to explore subjects they cannot learn about in the classroom.

“There are so many…ways to learn about the world that there’s something for everyone,” Deeg-Carlin wrote. “IEW gives students who might not have time to take a class in a topic of interest to experience a small dose of it.” 

Aris Dashiell can be reached at adashiell@wesleyan.edu.