By Samantha Werkheiser

Editor-in-Chief

The third annual Global Week is kicking off next week on April 2. This year’s theme is going to be mosaic.

“We felt that because of what happened with the election last time, the differences in our campus and our culture had been magnified in a way. We felt that those differences are not something we should fight against, but highlight. A mosaic has many different pieces that come together to make something beautiful,” said Director of Student Engagement Fernando Alcantar of the committee’s choice of this year’s theme.

Global Week will also have different guest speakers who will be discussing a range of topics, from religion to gun laws.

“This year we tried to do more of a homerun with our speakers. We have author Eric Marcus, he’s a gay author and he hosts a podcast called Making Gay History. He’ll be having an interactive presentation about gay trailblazers,” said Alcantar.

Marcus wrote New York Times Bestseller ‘Breaking the Surface’, a biography on gay Olympic diver Greg Louganis, and ‘Making History.

The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945–1990’. He has also commentated on political talk shows like The O’Reilly Factor and MSNBC News.

The Making Gay History event will take place on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Stroud 113.

Another keynote speaker for Global Week will be Dan Barker, the president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation and author of many books about atheism.

Barker will be leading the Good Without God event with local religious leaders.

“The goal is to have a respectful, but intelligent conversation about what people believe or what they don’t believe,” Alcantar said about the upcoming debate.

The Good Without God debate will be on Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Stroud 113.

Another event that Alacantar is hoping will open a timely dialogue among students is the Gun Culture Across Nations, which will be on Wednesday, April 4 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Stroud 117.

This event will feature international students discussing the varying gun control laws and the culture surrounding guns in their countries.

“Global Week is this social, cultural, politcal, religious experiment where people can not just go with the cliche of ‘agree to disagree’,” said Alcantar.

He wants students, faculty and members of the community to be able to express their different opinions in an environment where they will feel safe.

Many popular Global Week events will be making a return as well.

“We have some of our popular traditions coming back. Some of those include the World Fair, the tunnel of oppression, the disability simulation, Relay for Life, and the International Festival,” said Alcantar.

The World Fair will take place on Tuesday, April 3 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in College Circle.

The fair will have live animals like camels and goats, in addition to the interactive activities and cultural displays put on by different clubs and organizations.

While last year’s fair featured a display by Native American’s, this year’s event will feature a Chinatown Café.

The café aims to educate people about Chinese culture and history.

Art Slam, a competition for a variety of ESU art groups, will reappear for Global Week too.

The art displays must fulfill the theme of “mosaic” to enter and compete. This competition will take place in the Cecelia Cohen Recital Hall on April 2 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The tunnel of oppression and the disability simulation will take place on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Shawnee Basement and Linden Lounge respectively.

Another successful event coming back for Global Week is Relay for Life, which  will begin on Friday, April 6 at 7 p.m. and conclude on  Saturday, April 7 at 7 a.m.

Another event that the university is hoping will draw a crowd is the First a Warrior, Then a Hero: Armed Forces Careers on April 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Dansbury Patio.

This event will also feature military vehicles in Laurel Parking Lot and several displays from each branch.

There will also be a physical competition amongst the branches towards the end of the displays.

Global Week will conclude with the International Festival, which will include foods from different cultures, a fashion show, presentations, performances and a DJ.

The closing festival will be held in the University Center from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 7.

These are just some of the Global Week speakers and events, to find the full list of activities, visit www.esu.edu/globalweek.

Email Samantha at:

Swerkheis4@live.esu.edu