A discussion panel on major religions, a Latin-themed party, a presentation of African music on the Drill Field and a lecture from study abroad expert Mushtaq Memon are all a part of Mississippi State University’s series of cultural diverse events for International Education Week.
The wallyball tournament Sunday and the COPA International Soccer tournament last week were also part of International Education Week.
Each event is hosted by the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center and is free of charge.
Shaz Akram, assistant director of HCDC, said she wants students to attend the events to become more globally aware.
“Students are going to be competing for jobs that are shared globally,” she said. “Future jobs have gone out of the U.S., so they are going to need something more than the international applicant to get a job and bring it back to the U.S. In order to do that, they have to be culturally aware and globally savvy.”
Rasheda Boddie, administrative assistant and budget manager of the HCDC, said International Education Week allows students to become diversified.
“It allows [students] to get out of the realm of what they think and learn about the different cultures here [on campus],” she said.
The Hispanic Student Association and the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers are sponsoring Latin Night from 6 to 9 p.m. today in the Foster Ballroom of Colvard Student Union.
The event showcases songs and dances from South American countries, including salsa and merengue, Akram said.
“It’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser,” she said. “Latin culture is very popular in America. It is very vibrant and rich — the colors, their food, their music.”
Robert Damm, professor of music at MSU, worked as a music consultant for the event last year.
“It went very well [last year]. They served delicious food, and the music was varied and extremely well-done,” he said.
Dining services is providing a Latin meal for the event, Akram said.
Also during Latin Night, prizes will be given to the winners of the soccer and wallyball tournaments, Akram said.
Damm will present African-American and African Music on the Drill Field Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
He said students enrolled in the course African-American Music, which he teaches, will join him to sing Negro spirituals and play instruments.
The live performances include “Amazing Grace” and “Wade in the Water,” among others.
Damm said the event is a cultural celebration of the people of Africa.
The panel on world religions is scheduled for tomorrow from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Foster Ballroom of the Union.
The event has representatives from six of the world’s major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism.
Each representative will discuss the basic concepts of spirituality and the ultimate goal of following faith, Akram said.
John Bohn, the priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Starkville, will represent Christianity in the panel. Seth Oppenheimer, a rabbi in Columbus and MSU professor, will speak on Judaism. MSU professor Jonathan Edelmann will represent Hinduism. Rani Sullivan will represent Islam. Linda Campany will share her expertise in Zen Buddhism, and Gurjot Singh, a graduate student, will represent Sikhism.
Akram said she wants the panel to be an intellectual discourse for students to share their beliefs on what religion fulfills in their lives.
“Students actually are fascinated,” she said. “They might not agree about the belief systems of other religions, but they are fascinated to hear, and they are curious and by knowing about other religions, they will also start [to learn] more about the other cultures and [begin] understanding other people that are around them in classrooms.”
Yesterday, the College of Veterinary Medicine sponsored four lectures from Memon, a Fulbright ambassador.
The Fulbright program sends graduate students to various countries around the world for research and teaching. It currently has 800 graduate students in the program and 125 different participating countries, making it the largest U.S. international exchange program, Memon said.
At 6 p.m., Memon lectured students about the benefits of studying abroad and learning about a different culture.
“We all have interdependence on each other,” he said. “To understand that, we need to understand each other.”
Memon said he wanted to emphasize the job opportunities students may not be aware of in Mississippi.
“[Memon] believes strongly in the exchange of education and education being the tool for spreading peace and diplomacy across the world,” Akram said.
MSU President Mark Keenum said in an e-mail statement events for International Education Week provide students an opportunity to learn more about educational, cultural and religious traditions of other countries, many of which are represented at MSU.
“In addition to being informational, they’re fun,” he said in the statement. “I encourage faculty, students and staff to participate as their schedules allow.”
Throughout International Education Week, there will be flags from various countries displayed in the Union.
“The world has clearly become borderless,” Akram said. “Boundaries of countries have become blurred. The basis of progress now rests heavily on educational exchange [… and] using diplomacy through education that will create a peaceful and sustainable world for the future generations.”