News Releases

November 3, 2010
For Immediate Release
For additional information: 
Barbara Kerr, APR
Executive Director of
Communications and Marketing
Telephone: 360-992-2921
Email: bkerr@clark.edu

 

 

“Voices of the World” 
Unite at Clark College

Parfait Bassale

Photo courtesy: www.parfaitonline.com

From Nov. 15-19, Clark College will welcome the community 
as it hosts a rich array of events in honor of International Education Week

     

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Clark College welcomes the world every day.  From Nov. 15-19, 2010, Clark College will host "Voices of the World," marking International Education Week.  All events are free and open to the public.

Clark College’s main campus is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver.  Maps and parking directions are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

The ability to identify, analyze and demonstrate how culture shapes world perceptions, values and behaviors is one of Clark’s six identified college-wide abilities.  This year, 71 international students are attending Clark.  They represent countries including Canada, France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Romania and Vietnam.  More than 800 Clark students are currently studying English as a Second Language.  During the 2009-2010 academic year, nearly 150 immigrant students learned English as a Second Language through Corporate and Continuing Education classes.

The events are being coordinated by the Clark College Office of Student Life and Multicultural Student Affairs, Clark’s Service Learning Program, and the Clark College Office of International Programs.  Additional support has been provided by Clark’s Developmental Education, English, Communications & Humanities Department; Clark College language instructors; and many of the college’s student clubs.

For updated information, visit www.clark.edu/cc/ieweek.

Schedule of Events

Monday, November 15:  Focus on Human Rights

11:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.                  

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

A Model for Motivating Global Citizenship

Kendra Manton

How do we encourage youth to take ownership of global issues? The Portland Mercy Corps Action Center has created a model for youth to create and execute Action Campaigns around the world.  Through global issue, skill and community mobilization workshops the Action Center educators are building a partnership model with local youth and schools to develop global citizens.  This presentation will examine the transition from knowledge to action and how to empower youth to have a voice in their community and around the world. Please join us for a conversation on our education programs and how they have reached more than 8,000 students in the last year. 

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.               

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

Voices in Exile

Jody Shulnak with Narges Khademi of Iran

Clark College will feature the Voices in Exile project throughout International Education Week this year.  The project includes interviews with individuals from Iran, The Congo, El Salvador, Tibet and Cambodia by Service-Learning & Volunteer Program Manager Jody Shulnak as part of her research through the Conflict Resolution Graduate Program at Portland State University. Shulnak’s goal is to create a greater awareness and deeper understanding of what it means to live in exile in Southwest Washington and Portland. Her research presentation includes excerpts of the interviews in both written and tape-recorded format.  In addition, the interview participants have been invited to share their stories of exile throughout the week.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)

Diwali Festival and Rangoli Art Demonstration

Poonam Nagpal

Poonam Nagpal, Pathways Mentor at the Clark College Town Plaza Center, is a native of New Delhi, India, whose background includes jewelry design and production. She will share a multi-media presentation of Diwali, the five-day Festival of Lights and Hope celebrated in India and other Asian nations. She will also demonstrate the traditional Rangoli art pattern used to decorate doorways during Diwali.

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.                 

Gaiser Student Center

“Shining Spirit,” a documentary followed by a question-and-answer session

Jamyang Yeshi, a talented musician from Tibet, has been living in exile since 1998. In early 2006, the Tara Café Project began work on the Shining Spirit recording and film project which would reunite Jamyang and his brother, Tsundue, (also in exile) together with their family through their music. Over the course of three weeks, members of Jamyang’s musical family were recorded. The Shining Spirit Project is a testament to the power of music, the resilience of the Tibetan culture, and the enduring bond of a family separated by politics and geography. The film was released in September 2009 and is currently on the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour. Digital Himalaya is delighted to host the trailer of “Shining Spirit.”

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.   

Gaiser Student Center

Jamyang Yeshi, a musical performance

Experience in person the power of the music and the beauty of Tibetan culture at this performance by the man who inspired the documentary film, “Shining Spirit.”

Tuesday, November 16:  Focus on Africa

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.    

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)       

These Numbers Have Faces

Justin Zoradi   

"These Numbers Have Faces" invests in the future leaders of South Africa by empowering young people to reduce poverty in their own communities. Through college scholarships and a dynamic Community Impact Model based on service, mentoring, and financial literacy, young people are developing the skills to transform South Africa.

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.                 

Gaiser Student Center

Parfait Bassale, Senegalese/Benin musician

Artist, activist and master’s degree candidate in International Conflict Resolution at Portland State University, Parfait Bassale has impacted youth internationally with his educational model that combines music and conflict resolution techniques. A native of Benin (West Africa) and raised in Senegal, Bassale paints a message of truth, inspiration and hope through his music.  

Wednesday, November 17:  Focus on Asia

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Gaiser Student Center

Asian Interactive Exhibit – Activities, Information and Displays

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.               

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

World Languages Abroad

Clark students’ presentation of summer in Japan

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.                 

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

Voices in Exile

Narges Khademi of Iran and Savuth Penn of Cambodia

Narges Khademi, full-time student at Clark College, fled her homeland of Iran at the age of 25 to escape religious persecution.  Narges will speak about her upbringing in Iran, the factors leading to her decision to leave behind her family and home, and about her experience living in exile in the United States.  Savuth Penn shares his painful life-changing experience with Khmer Rouge in the book Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors by Kim DePaul.  At age 11, Savuth witnessed his father get executed by the Khmer Rouge and was then taken to a labor camp where he endured four long years of torture and nearly starved to death.  He escaped to Thailand at the age of 18 and came to the United States as a refugee.  Savuth will speak about his experience in his native Cambodia and living in exile in the United States. He lives and works in Vancouver.

3:00 – 4:30 p.m.                 

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

Tibet: Murder in the Snow,” a documentary followed by a question-and-answer session

This 52-minute film tells of young Tibetans who risk their lives each year to illegally cross the rugged Himalaya Mountains in an attempt to see their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, or attend school in India. In September 2006, more than 70 young people traveled for three nights in the back of a truck, then walked for 10 more nights, with inadequate clothing and limited food and water, to the base of the infamous 6000-meter Nangpa Pass.  As the pilgrims picked their way up the snow-covered pass, international mountain climbers watched in horror from a nearby camp as Chinese border police opened fire on the refugees. These events were videotaped by one member of the climbing party who picked up his camera when the shooting began. The story broke around the world when this account of the shooting was e-mailed to a popular climbing website, revealing for the first time the sanctioned murder of Tibetan refugees by Chinese border police. 

5:00 – 6:30 p.m.                 

Gaiser Student Center

The Slants, a musical performance and dance  

The Slants are an Asian dance rock band from Portland, OR.  Exploding onto the scene in mid-2007, the band has already toured North America six times, released three albums, turned down a million dollar recording contract and won the hearts of thousands of fans around the world, playing their own brand of "Chinatown Dance Rock". The Slants have been featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and on over 1200 radio stations, tv shows, magazines, and sites.  The Asian Reporter newspaper calls The Slants "The new face of the Asian American generation", and their debut album won several awards, including "Album of the Year" from the Willamette Week, Rockwired Magazine, and in the Portland Music Awards.

Thursday, November 18:  Focus on the Americas

12:15 – 12:45 p.m.      

Cannell Library–Room 103
A Journey on the Ancient Silk Road in the “Information Age”

John Bayer  

Learn how Clark adjunct professor of economic John Bayer worked to establish a school of business and market economics in the Kyrgyz Republic, a country exactly halfway around the world from Washington. John will reflect on the digital realities of living and working in an emerging nation – included days without electricity.

1:00 -2:00 p.m.                            

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

Voices in Exile

Cecilia Martinez of El Salvador and Jody Shulnak of Clark College

Cecilia Martinez will speak about the conditions of conflict she experienced in her homeland of El Salvador and the factors that led her to come to the United States.  Cecilia lives in Seattle and works at Shoreline Community College.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)

World Languages Abroad

A presentation by Clark students showcasing their summer in Quebec.

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)

World Languages Abroad

Professor Julian Nelson previews the summer 2011 German Studies in Berlin Program.

Friday, November 19:  International Friday

10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

PUB 161 (Penguin Student Lounge)               

International Friday

An eclectic international fair including art displays, non-profit organizations, study abroad opportunities and fair trade products.

About International Education Week

International Education Week is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education reflects their efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.

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