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News Release

Last modified: Monday, November 3, 2008

Indiana University to celebrate International Education Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 3, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University will join with colleges and universities nationally to celebrate its students and scholars from around the world during International Education Week, Nov. 6-16. Receptions, lectures and other events throughout the week will feature the important contribution that the international community makes to education in Indiana.

IU Union Board and the Office of International Services have joined forces again to kick off International Education Week with the second IU World's Fare, which will give the IU and Bloomington communities the chance to share the cultures that more than 4,000 international students and 1,500 international scholars bring to Indiana.

The second annual IU World's Fare opens at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St.. The entire IU and Bloomington communities are invited to enjoy the efforts of 22 international student organizations to share their culture, their food and their history.

"We live in an increasingly interdependent world," said Patrick O'Meara, vice president for international affairs. "Today, political, social and economic changes reverberate from one continent to another. This highlights the increasing importance of a global vision in education.

"Students, faculty and scholars from abroad bring that world to the IU community every day. Indiana students have the opportunity to build the skills and enhance the global knowledge that the future will demand of everyone in the workplace," O'Mear said.

Almost half of all IU international students are from East Asia, and a growing number are from South Asia. IU Bloomington ranked 15th among U.S. universities for the number of international students in the 2006-07 academic year. Enhancing IU's strategic international partnerships and recruiting more highly qualified international students are among the goals of IU's International Strategic Plan, approved in the spring of 2008 by President Michael A. McRobbie.

Chris Viers, associate vice president for international service, added, "International and domestic student leaders have joined staff from the Office of International Service and the Indiana Memorial Union working hand-in-hand in organizing the second annual IU World's Fare in order to showcase the rich international diversity of our student body. I've been looking forward to the event for weeks, and invite the IU community to join us for a wonderful evening."

For more information on Worlds Fare 2008, see https://www.indiana.edu/~intlserv/ic/iew/worlds_fare.php. For a schedule of International Education Week events at IU Bloomington, see https://www.indiana.edu/~intlserv/ic/iew/schedule.php.

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