Spreading cultures

Celebrating international education, the UTRGV Office of Global Engagement and its supporting units hosted a series of events as part of International Education Week, recognized worldwide from Nov. 12-16.

International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Education and State departments and is described as “an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide,” according to the Education Department website.

Samantha Lopez, director of UTRGV International Admissions and Student Services, said during a speech that this is the 19th anniversary of the celebration.

“Schools, colleges, universities, embassies, international organizations, business associations are celebrating and hosting events throughout the week to recognize international students, education abroad and internationalization,” Lopez said during the International Food Festival, held Nov. 15 in El Gran Salón on the Brownsville campus.

As part of IEW, a MultiLingua Fest was held Nov. 14 on the Edinburg campus and Nov. 15 on the Brownsville campus.

On Nov. 14, Dennis Hart, associate vice president for Global Engagement, said the purpose of the MultiLingua Fest is to bring cultures together and celebrate biculturalism.

“What this event does is it brings together the faculty, staff and students in a celebration of internationalization and globalization because the underlying belief behind this event and the mission of UTRGV is that the world is a better place when people and ideas cross borders and don’t build walls,” Hart said.  “The world is a better place when people share their language, their culture and their food and don’t remain ignorant of each other.”

On the Brownsville campus, about 65 attendees learned about different languages, such as Japanese, French, Spanish, Korean, Zapotec and others.

Ana Peña, a lecturer of Hispanic Linguistics and an undergraduate Spanish program degree specialist, participated in the MultiLingua Fest by hosting a table that highlighted the Spanish language with activities and information.

“A lot of people, unfortunately, they don’t believe in the diversity of languages,” Peña said. “A lot of people don’t believe in multilingualism, because they were raised in a society where mostly they try to enforce the use of English. Nowadays, there’s people from all over the world, so it is important that they are aware that there is a lot of language diversity in the United States that co-exists together in the same region.”

Later that day, food samples from 19 European countries that are represented at UTRGV were showcased and served during the International Food Festival: A Taste of Europe on the Brownsville campus.

Food samples included such popular dishes as Spanish gazpacho, Greek salad, Swedish meatballs, Pasta alla Norma, cheese platters, desserts and more, which were provided by Golden Corral.

Katia Perez, a graduate student in engineering management, said she believes these events are a good way for students to interact with and experience other cultures.

“It was a nice way for students to get together and discover several flavors from different places,” Perez said in Spanish. “Everything was delicious and we discovered what we liked and didn’t like.”

The UTRGV Chess Team, along with Chess Coach Bartek Macieja and Program Manager Aleksander Mista, were invited to the event since most of the team members are international students from Europe, Lopez said.

During the event, some attendees played chess with the state and national champions and also learned how to join the chess club.

On the Edinburg campus, the International Food Festival showcased a taste from Latin America with food from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina.

Also, on Nov. 15, an academic panel discussion titled Vaqueros Abroad was held in the Music, Science and Learning Center Building on the Brownsville campus.

Luis Alcocer, an international program specialist, led the discussion in which Vaqueros shared their experiences studying abroad to students interested in the program.

“In order for us to better serve our community, we need to create better leaders, and what better leaders we can have if they are global and they can understand others and make themselves understandable to others,” Alcocer said.

Alexis Vega, a bilingual education junior, said it was nice to hear students’ experiences of going abroad and it motivated her to try doing the same.

“I believe it’s important because they make us, I guess, sort of see, like, the different perspectives just not in one place but in different places,” Vega said.

On the Edinburg campus, the same panel discussion took place Nov. 13.

International Education Week kicked off with an opening ceremony Nov. 12 on the Edinburg campus, where Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina and Matamoros Mayor Mario Lopez Hernandez, along with other distinguished guests, cut a ribbon to inaugurate the events, Lopez said.

The same day, a study abroad fair was held on the Brownsville campus and Nov. 13 on the Edinburg campus.

“We had professors that are leading some study abroad trips to many destinations, either in Europe, in Asia, and the professors were there to explain to the students about how to sign up for the program, scholarship opportunities and the benefits of studying abroad,” Lopez said.

On Nov. 16, a Language Institute World Expo was held on the Edinburg campus.

“These events are very important because we want to prepare our students for a global environment by learning different languages, by being exposed to other cultures, by tasting other foods and the exchange of different nationalities and making friends from all over the world,” Lopez said.

–Zugay Treviño contributed to this report.