UC s Worldfest Celebrates a World of Cultures on Campus and UC s Reach Around the World

UC International reports that over the last academic year, more than 835 UC students studied, completed a co-op experience or completed an internship abroad. Their travels spanned 54 countries in destinations such as Germany, Italy, Denmark, France, Australia and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, approximately 11 percent of graduating seniors have spent time abroad as undergraduates.

UC’s Enrollment Management reports that international undergraduate enrollment at UC has doubled since 2007 to 477. More than 2,500 international visitors from over 90 different countries study, teach, conduct research, give lectures and engage in a host of other important activities at UC each year.

All of this internationalism is highlighted at UC’s Worldfest, a celebration of UC’s global connections and an on-campus tradition since 1996. Worldfest 2010 begins on Friday, April 23, and ends with the popular student-organized Taste of India, which gets underway at 4 p.m., Sunday, May 2, in the Great Hall of Tangeman University Center (TUC). The student organization Association for India’s Development (AID) reports that crowds have numbered as high as 1,000 at past Taste of India celebrations.

The Worldfest 2010 keynote speaker, Jonathan Greenblatt, will be featured from noon-1 p.m., Tuesday, April 27, in the MainStreet Cinema of TUC. Greenblatt, a member of the faculty of the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is an acknowledged thought leader on corporate social responsibility, ethical branding and social entrepreneurship.

UC’s Worldfest International Career Forum, sponsored by the Career Development Center, will explore food industry careers for all majors. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 28, in the Great Hall of TUC. Also on April 28, UC International sponsors Passport Day, by appointment, from 1- 4 p.m., in Room 3134 of Edwards Center One.

The most visible Worldfest event – the

Worldfest International Festival – takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday, April 29, on McMicken Commons in the heart of campus.

International student organizations will be serving food from their home countries, plus the event features dancing and music from around the world.

Worldfest is sponsored by MainStreet, UC’s Just Community initiative and Student Activities and Leadership Development, as well as individual programs and offices across the university.

Most of UC’s Worldfest events are free and open to the public. For the full schedule of Worldfest events, click on the link below. Events highlighted in red take place at Raymond Walters College.

2010 Worldfest Schedule of Events