UB to celebrate International Education Week

International Education Week, the annual event that offers the UB community the opportunity to learn about other cultures and celebrate the rich diversity on campus, will take place Nov. 13-17.

“Making International Education Week a truly campus-wide celebration of our diverse community and many cultures is a high priority for us,” says Nojin Kwak, professor and vice provost for international education. “We are excited to see the strong response to our invitation to participate from many quarters at UB — academic departments, student clubs and associations, and service offices. We look forward to a great IEW this November.”

International Education Week is particularly relevant at UB. With more than 6,700 international students (including those on Optional Practical Training), the university ranked 25th last year among 2,700 accredited U.S. universities in international enrollment, according to the Institute of International Education. UB has exchange agreements with 111 institutions in 37 countries. UB’s international students hail from 100 different countries.

UB’s International Education Week celebration includes more than a dozen events — both in person and virtual — that are free and open to the public.

A key participant this year is the Department of Indigenous Studies, which is presenting several events during IEW, which falls during Native American Heritage Month. Among them:

• A talk on Nov. 13 titled “Design Aesthetics of Black and Native Social Movements since the 1960s” by Sebastian Ebarb, associate teaching professor in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University. A former design director for the city of Boston, Ebarb is a member of a mixed Choctaw Apache Tribe of Ebarb and a co-owner of the design studio Nahi (meaning “we” in Apache).
• A talk on Nov. 14 titled “Nestle Infringement on the World’s Water Supply and Six Nations of the Grand River” by Six Nations environmental activist Makaśa Looking Horse, who is known for her activism on water security issues, including the resistance to Nestlé. Nestlé has drawn what activists estimate to be 3.6 million liters of water from the aquifers of Grand River, Ontario, reselling it to Indigenous communities at artificially inflated rates as part of its bottled water operations. Looking Horse has been at the forefront of this issue, working alongside traditional government that has included handing Nestlé a cease-and-desist letter on behalf of the Confederacy. The talk is an Indigenous Environmental Justice Guest Lecture.

The Intercultural and Diversity Center is also presenting several events to mark Native American Heritage Month, including a “Tough Topics” session on “Preserving Native American History” on Nov. 14, and a Dessert Hour on Nov. 15.

Another highlight of IEW is the Global Gallery photo exhibition on Nov. 16 — an event that has become a tradition of the week. During this exhibition, alumni of UB’s study abroad programs share their overseas experiences through photos that shows the wide range of study abroad programs offered at UB, and the impact the experience has on students. It is resented by the Office of Study Abroad Programs.

And on Nov. 17, Neriko Doerr, assistant professor of anthropology, Ramapo College of New Jersey, will give a talk on “Phantom Japan: Unit Thinking, Fetish and Productive Illusions.” It is co-sponsored by the Asia Research Institute, Department of Linguistics and Asian Studies Program.

Details for all events can be found on the IEW website.