Starting today, students on campus can learn to tango from two Argentinean dancers or witness a live simulation of how poverty affects families. Or, then can donate blood to help save lives or absorb Afghani culture by watching The Kite Runner in The Billiken Club.
All of these events and more are available, thanks to the eighth annual ATLAS Week, held from Friday, March 28 to April 4.
“One of the main goals of the ATLAS Program is to increase awareness of the global issues that confront us today, in an effort not only to promote discussion, but to inspire . action,” said Michelle Lorenzini, Ph.D., coordinator of the ATLAS program. “It focuses on what we as global citizens can do to contribute to a better life for all people now and in the future.”
Many events are presentations or discussions about various global issues such as child trafficking, cultural tolerance, poverty, illegal immigration, micro-financing, terrorism, emerging scientific research and women’s rights. Discussions will explore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the genocide in Darfur and the AIDS crisis in Uganda. In one presentation, students will be able to listen to testimony from someone who grew up in an impoverished and uneducated African country and learn about what actions are being taken today to improve literacy in Africa.
The ATLAS Program was first launched in the spring of 2001, proposed as a one-week experience to highlight Saint Louis University’s academic programs and involvement in international service and education. In its first year, the program had 10 events; this year’s program has 72.
It was named “ATLAS” because atlases are used to identify where people have been, discover where they are and decide where they are headed, said Lorenzini.
ATLAS Week brings several groups together from all over campus to create one week focused on global issues and involvement. Today, people from every college within the University participate in ATLAS week. Faculty, staff and students all take positions on the planning committee as well, along with increased student involvement each year.
The program has a different keynote speaker for the Signature Symposium event every year; in the past, every speaker has been internationally renowned with an extensive background in social and political justice, including four Nobel Peace Prize recipients. This year’s keynote speaker is Madame Jehan Sadat, the widow of late Egyptian President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Anwar Sadat. She has dedicated her life to realizing the peace that her husband worked toward. Madame Sadat, a teacher and poetry scholar, founded the Talla Society, an organization that benefits uneducated and underprivileged Egyptian.
Her best-selling autobiography, A Woman of Egypt, has earned numerous international honors and awards.
“International events determine our lives in this world in many more ways than we are aware, and ATLAS Week helps us come to grips with it and how much of a global village today has become,” said Tim Lomperis, Ph.D., a political science professor.
“ATLAS Week was a great opportunity to see the different cultural groups from campus come together,” said sophomore Sarah Macrowski. “In the recreation center, there [was] … really good food from many different countries, and there were really cool performances. It was well worth the experience.”
The week will conclude with the Billiken World Festival and the Parade of Nations.
The festival will have academic, informational and cultural booths with international cuisine and displays, as well as live cultural music, dance and entertainment.
The parade will march through campus, featuring the Beaumont High School marching band and the University City High School drumline, followed by SLU students carrying the flags of the world. The Cross Cultural Center and the International Student Federation are hosting both events.?
All events are free and open to the public.
