The Isabella Cannon Global Education Center presents "West Africa - International Education Week 2012," with a series of events Nov. 12-16.
All Week
West Africa and the Elon Art Collections
The student curated and designed exhibition West Africa and the Elon Art Collections explores connections between West Africa and Elon through the presentation of selections from the university’s International Art Collection. The exhibit aims not just to highlight aesthetics and academic links; it also encourages critical examination of what it means to display these objects and hopes to raise awareness of other art displayed throughout the campus community. Opening reception Monday (see below).
Isabella Cannon Room, Center for the Arts
Country Displays and Passport Scavenger Hunt
Find displays throughout campus about of the 15 countries of West Africa. Fill your IEW passport with flags from each country and be entered for door prizes at Friday’s fashion show. Get a passport at the West Africa Market or College Coffee.
Belk Library Displays
West Africa book display and display on the Winter Term Study Abroad course to Ghana over the years.
Belk Library, 1st Floor
West African Lunches
West African lunch entrees will be served in McEwen Dining Hall
Monday, November 12
12:30 p.m.: West African Art Exhibit Gallery Opening Reception
Join student curators for the opening of the West Africa and the Elon Art Collections exhibit. Light refreshments and snacks.
Isabella Cannon Room, Center for the Arts.
2:30 p.m.: Peace Corps in Mali and Millennium Challenge Corporation. Beth Roberts, ’07 will share her experiences of serving as a business consultant in the Peace Corps in Mali, being evacuated during last spring’s coup, and her current work with the MCC.
Isabella Cannon Room, Center for the Arts
5:00 – 7:00 p.m. West African Market
Sample West African foods, shop for crafts, jewelry, and fabrics, and enjoy West African music and performance.
McKinnon Hall, Moseley
Tuesday, November 13th
9:40 – 10:20 a.m., West Africa College Coffee
Enjoy West African sweets and music and performance from the region. Learn about study abroad in Ghana and Senegal, African & African American Studies, and other organizations.
4:15 p.m. African/African-American Read-In
Listen to excerpts from books written by our favorite West African authors and learn why they are our favorites. Bring your favorite book, poem, or other work by an African or African-American author to read from and share. Irazú Coffee Shop, Moseley.
Sponsored by the Ghana class of Periclean Scholars.
7:30 p.m. West African Cooking Demonstration
Join Elon students and staff from the region to prepare and enjoy West African dishes. Limited spaces available. Email spanishcenter@elon.edu to sign-up.
Sponsored by the Elon African Society
Wednesday, November 14
6:00 p.m. Carnaval in Ghana: Fancy Dress and Performance Aesthetics
Dr. Courtnay Micots, Assistant Professor of Art History
This talk centers on the lively carnaval masquerade of Fancy Dress in coastal Ghana. Fancy Dress has become an integral part of local celebrations such as Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Day, harvest festivals and at members’ funerals. Fancy Dress street parading incorporates periods of intense dancing in front of chiefs’ palaces, hotels and public squares. In the Winneba city competition, held every New Year’s Day since 1958, four performance elements – a “march pass” and three types of dancing – are judged.
KOBC 101, LaRose Digital Theatre
7:30 p.m.Diali Cissokho & Kairaba — Senegalese Music Performance
Kairaba! is composed of Senegalese griot musician Diali Keba Cissokho, with North Carolinians John Westmoreland, Jonathan Henderson, Austin McCall and Will Ridenour. The band formed after Diali moved to North Carolina and began to look for musicians who shared his love and passion for creating music based on Manding tradition, flavored with local and personal styles. The outcome of this collaboration is an infectious sound reminiscent of West African dance bands full of unison melody, adventurous improvisation, fiery solos and polyrhythmic frameworks. With lyrics in Manding, Wolof, and English, Kairaba! illuminates its listeners with stories of ancient and modern West Africa and how they relate to today’s universal experiences and emotions felt by everyone, regardless of origin. Kairaba! invokes the participation of the audience in the creation of captivating musical moments that often incite spontaneous dancing by the performers and audiences alike, helping to create a peaceful and loving community.
Whitley Auditorium
Thursday, November 15
12:15 p.m. Exploring West African Movement — Brown Bag Lunch Discussion
Join Jason Aryeh, Assistant Professor of Performing Arts, to screen a brief documentary about Elon dance students and their encounters with West African dance in the US. Bring your lunch. Dessert provided.
Linder 206
4:15-5:30 p.m. Africa: Beyond National Geographic
This program will tackle many stereotypes connected to West Africa, and Africa as a whole. The goal of the program is to highlight the diversity of Africa as its own entity. We will do so by exposing the origins of these stereotypes we’ve seen through media and other sources, presenting them through an educational journey unlike any other program offered at Elon!
Lindner 106
Sponsored by Diversity Emerging Education Program (D.E.E.P.)
4:00-7:00 p.m. West African Dinner
Come enjoy a full menu of West African dishes at Colonnades Dining Hall.
Friday, November 16
6:00-8:00 p.m. West African Fashion Show
Come join D.E.E.P and Elon’s African Society as they host the first all West African attire fashion exhibit. In addition to the beautiful clothes, there will be music, performances from our very own Elon’s Finest, and most importantly philanthropy. The event is free of charge, but there will be door prizes and the proceeds from these will go towards Education for Liberia- nonprofit organization that supports students in West Africa through the donation of school supplies, and school fees. Bring your completed IEW passport for free door prize entries.
Elon Community Church
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 is part of 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.
International Education Week 2012 at Elon is sponsored by the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center, in collaboration with Aramark, Cultural and Special Programs, Department of Performing Arts, Department of Art & Art History, African and African American Studies at Elon, the Multicultural Center, Belk Library, Elon African Society, Student Activities, and Project Pericles.
More information on international education week can be found on the National International Education Week website.