Next week SF State will recognize International Education Week and the campus will turn into a place to experience the cultures of the world.

International Education Week is an eight-year-old, nation-wide celebration of the diverse cultures of the world. Campuses everywhere dedicate the third week of November to distinguish awareness of international education and exchange. Initiated by President Bill Clinton, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education in 2000, IEW aims to connect the cultures of the world to students in an effort to foster world peace.

SF State will hold its ninth annual celebration commencing next Monday and concluding on Friday. The four-day event will feature jazz performances in Knuth Hall every evening, along with nightly international meals at City Eats Dining Center. Films, meditation sessions, dance classes, open classrooms and discussions about international life are also on the schedule of events.

"We have over 100 events going on through the week," said Marilyn Jackson, SF State’s IEW coordinator. "We certainly believe that there will be a big turnout in the sense that we hope that a large number of people on campus will be able to attend at least one, if not many, events."

The Office of International Relations sponsors and coordinates the entire schedule of events, according to Jackson, who said that the costs to advertise and staff IEW are nominally low, thanks to the generosity of the SF State faculty, staff and students who help run the events.

Jackson, who is also the assistant director at the Office of International Programs at SF State, added that the week will also be an opportunity for students to learn about study abroad programs. Every morning, study abroad alumni and international exchange students will hold discussions at the Cesar Chavez Student Center on the topics of culture and lifestyle at the university’s study abroad locations around the world.

Other campuses also recognize International Education Week as an important celebration and learning experience for students. UC Davis has celebrated IEW since 2002, and has had an overwhelming student response, said Jacob Hosier, outreach coordinator at The Education Abroad Center at UC Davis.

“Student response to International Education Week has been great, with over 700 students attending last year's IEW Student Fair,” said Hosier, who added that UC Davis is committed to building an internationally educated student body.

“It is critically important for students to have the opportunity to spend time abroad, and having that diversity on our campus is equally important," UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said. "Diversity leads to new ideas or approaches to problems.”

At UC Berkeley, IEW is used to acknowledge the international character of the campus, said Jennie Akune, director of International Protocol & Exchange.

SF State student and IEW assistant coordinator, Courtney Oxsen, said that students should take advantage of these up-coming opportunities.

“San Francisco is such an international city and SF State is no exception,” Oxsen said. “It’s in our strategic plan to continue the theme of internationalization.”

For more information and a full list of events, visit http://www.sfsu.edu/~oip/iewcalendar2008.htm.