International Education Week to be held Feb. 9-12

Over 30 events, including a film screening, a community meal and a dance, are scheduled to take place on campus between Feb. 9-12  for International Education Week (IEW).  Returning for its 27th year, IEW features  a variety of presentations and activities focusing on the international community on campus. The events are free and open to the public.  

Professor Alison Holmes, who has been involved with IEW for the past 15 years, describes its special relationship  with Cal Poly Humboldt.  

“Lots of campuses will do an event,”  Holmes said. “They’ll have a speaker,  they’ll do one kind of study-abroad fair or  something. Whereas we’ve always done,  as long as I’ve been here, a whole week of  activity.”  

The week kicks off with a march  starting at the white Peace Pole located  on the lawn in front of the Student Health  Center and ending in the main quad.  Attendees will be handed a “passport”  that will get stamped for every event they  attend.  

Heather Hyde, student and organizer  for IEW, designed the passport and said  that IEW is all about peace, interaction  and community. A theme of peace fills  the entire week as students, Peace Corps  veterans and people from across the globe  share their experiences with campus.  

“That’s why the opening is [at] the  Peace Pole,” Holmes said. “The theme  of the event is, we are all instruments of  peace.”  

Halfway through the week is Webinar  Wednesday, where more speakers will be  able to share their message from other  California State Universities. Webinar  Wednesday is a new development for  IEW and it pushes the borders of the  event even further. Professor Gabi Kirk  is hosting an event where two Palestinian  academics will be speaking from Oakland  about oral history and placemaking. 

Kirk believes that history “can still  teach us broader themes about living through historical moments right now.”  The final event is a community meal  provided by El Centro Académico  Cultural de Humboldt. Leti Phillips Armenta is the food coordinator  representing El Centro at IEW and is  planning on serving mole and speaking  about food sovereignty for students.  Phillips Armenta explained that food  sovereignty is about having the ability  to have a say in what you eat on top of  having access to food.  

The participants of IEW believe that  maintaining an international scope,  especially now, is more important than ever. Holmes hopes this opportunity  continues to ignite a spark for the next  generations. 

“Why we did it before was to try  and reinforce our global connections,”  Holmes said. “Why I do it now is  because somebody needs to keep the  light burning for global engagement.” 

For details about all the events, times  and locations visit humboldt.edu/iew.