Celebration of Cultures

Goals

The goals of Celebration of Cultures at Eleanor Roosevelt College are:

• To celebrate and raise awareness of the diversity within Eleanor Roosevelt College, as well as that of the global community, through social and educational programs and activities.
• To emphasize a more varied range of programming, not only showcasing cultures through their food and arts, but also through discussion, workshops and featured speakers dealing with both historical and current cultural issues.
• To ensure that programs dealing with domestic and international cultural issues, as well as issues of gender, religion, and sexual orientation related to culture, are prominently featured in the calendar of events.
• To incorporate all aspects of the Eleanor Roosevelt College community - residents, commuters, faculty, staff, and student organizations - in the planning and facilitation of programs throughout the year.

Program

In order to provide a focus for the programming efforts throughout the year, each month in the academic calendar is designated to focus on a different region of the world. While the month is focused on a particular global region, individual cultures within that region are highlighted during monthly coffeehouses, educational programs, and study breaks.

Global Marketplace

Each month features a large-scale social and educational program, the Global Marketplace, as a thematic highlight. The Global Marketplaces are planned by groups of students and Resident Advisors interested in specific geographic regions. The students are encouraged to learn about the region and highlight a specific country or cultural theme of the region.

The Global Marketplace sets up a milieu that allows students to simulate cultural immersion. Representative foods, entertainment and speakers provide a co-curricular experience as a supplement to material covered in the Making of the Modern World core study sequence. As an example, programs which highlighted the Middle East have been catered by local Middle Eastern restaurants, with representative music and decoration and a panel discussion that focused on the political relationship between Israel and the Arab States, as seen through the eyes of religious leaders familiar with the region.

2007 - 2008 Celebration of Cultures Programs

October 17 - Latin America Global Marketplace
November 14 - North America Global Marketplace
January 23 - Middle East Global Marketplace
February 20 - Africa Global Marketplace
March 12 - Oceania Global Marketplace
April 16 - Europe Global Marketplace
May 21 - Asia Global Marketplace