NEWS ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: October 4, 2006
CONTACT: Lara Kain, Outreach Coordinator, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA) and Center for European Studies (CES), UW-Madison, (608) 265-6298, outreach@creeca.wisc.edu
Madison, WI – Approximately 175 Wisconsin middle school students, including several dozen from the Dane County area, will participate in the second UW-Madison World Cultures Day, an international education event being sponsored by the Wisconsin International Outreach Consortium. The event is Wednesday, October 18th from 9 am to 2 pm at the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street.
The Wisconsin International Outreach Consortium (WIOC) is a consortium of eight UW-Madison International Institute area and international studies programs which are also federally-funded national resource centers. WIOC provides resources and expertise on world areas to K-12 teachers, post-secondary educators, businesses, the media, and the community at large.
Modeled after the highly successful World Languages Day at UW-Madison, which annually draws several hundred high school students from around the state, World Cultures Day is a pilot project targeted to a middle school audience. It is designed to better acquaint students with the world’s regions, peoples and cultures.
The students will participate in large- and small-group activities on a variety of sessions, including Brazilian martial arts, Turkish culture and folk dancing, traditional Asian theater, origami, Javanese and Indian dance, African drumming. The events are interactive and participatory. The activities are led by UW-Madison faculty, staff and students.
WIOC programs include the African Studies Program, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for European Studies, the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia, the Center for South Asia, the Global Studies Program and the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program. Also members of WIOC are the Center for International Education and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, both at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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