BY KAYLA VALERA | STAFF WRITER

In an effort to help American students understand cultures from around the world through the celebration of international traditions, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education established the International Education Week (IEW) in 2000. KCC has participated in this annual four-day event for the past 17 years alongside colleges and other institutions nationwide. This year’s IEW will be from Monday to Thursday and will take place at different locations around campus.

However, even before the IEW initiative, KCC had arranged an International Festival back in 1988 that serves the same purpose as IEW of promoting cultures from around the world. The department chair for Social Sciences, Dr. Carl Hefner, coordinates both the IEW in November and the International Festival in March, though has only been a part of the latter since 1992 when he first came to KCC.

“The difference between the two is that the International Festival is oriented toward performing arts, while the International Education Week is oriented more toward speakers,” said Hefner about both events. “We celebrate both every year but for the past 30 years, KCC has done the International Festival, which is similar to International Education Week, because we were forward thinking having started off with the ‘Asian Pacific Emphasis.'”

This year KCC will be hosting its 17th annual International Education Week. (Photo Courtesy of Dr. Carl Hefner)

For this year’s IEW, students are invited to attend the weeklong event that will feature a number of clubs and performances that are put together by KCC students and faculty, and will showcase outside speakers and performers. The first day, Monday, at the ‘Ohiʻa Cafeteria will have a KCC campus tour from 9:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. led by the HOST 168 students. Later in the day, 6 p.m. in ‘Ohiʻa 118, there will be a screening of the Japanese film, “Her Love Boils the Bathwater.”

One of the events on Tuesday includes a cultural sport from the country of Myanmar called Chinlone, which will be played at the Great Lawn from 9:15-10:30 a.m. The ESOL 94 class will be hosting two presentations, one at the ‘Ohiʻa Cafeteria from 10:30-11:30 a.m., then another at the Lama Library from 2:30-3:30 p.m., that will cover the theme of “Environmental Activism Around the World.” Then as the last event of the day, a film screening from 6:00-8:30 in ‘Ohiʻa 118 of the Korean film, “A Single Rider,” will be played for students to watch.

At the  ‘Ohi‘a Foyer on Wednesday from 10:00-2:00 p.m., students who have a passport or are interested in obtaining one are encouraged to meet with representatives from the U.S. Passport agency. There students can learn more about the requirements of a passport and those who already possess one can renew theirs at this event. On this day there will also be a follow up demonstration from Takehara’s calligraphy art at 11:00- 12:00 p.m.

The biggest event day of IEW will be on Thursday from 10:00 -2:00 p.m. at the ‘Ohiʻa Cafeteria, where KCC clubs and programs will be displayed to share their purpose and advertise the work that they do. Some interactive events at ‘Ohiʻa cafeteria would be the Ethnomusicology at 11:00-1:00 p.m.with Beryl Yang and his Music 107 class, where students can play instruments from around the world, as well as the Japanese 290 and 297F language class workshops from 1:45- 3:00 p.m. 4:30-5:30 p.m.

For more information about the International Education Week as well as the International Festival, contact Dr. Carl Hefner at hefner@hawaii.edu.