UNL celebrates International Education Week with a weeklong series of events from Nov. 17-21.

This year’s theme is “International Education: Learning Matters Around the World,” and will focus on sharing information with students about study abroad opportunities, as well as give students on campus the opportunity to experience new cultures.

Dave Wilson, senior international officer and associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said the week is a way to promote and highlight UNL’s international diversity, global engagement efforts, and opportunities that UNL students have to study abroad.

“Increasingly, the world needs people who can move easily across cultures, languages, countries, and international education week is a way of highlighting the importance of those abilities and opportunities for students to develop them,” Wilson said. “It seems to me that a good education now includes some development of global competency, because regardless of where one intends to live — in Beatrice or Beijing — it’s a globally connected world and the ability to understand and operate in a world like that will distinguish our graduates as they apply for jobs or graduate school.”

This is the 15th year UNL has held an official celebration as part of International Education Week, which is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to showcase the efforts of programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.

International Education Week events unofficially open Nov. 14 with “Taste of Africa.” The event, 7-9 p.m. in the Nebraska Union Regency Suite, offers a chance to experience culture from different regions of Africa. Tickets are $3 with a valid NCard and $5 general admission.

Other International Education Week events are:

Monday, Nov. 17

- Info Session: 2015 NU Sponsored Education Abroad Programs, 10:30 a.m., Nebraska Union, Colonial Room. Information about the University of Nebraska’s education abroad programs.

- Global Café: Focus on Spain, 3:30-4:30 p.m., Nebraska Union, Georgian Suite A, Nebraska Union. Learn about opportunities to work, study and live in Spain. Free coffee will be served.

Tuesday, Nov. 18

- Education Abroad GO Session, 3 p.m., Love Library South, Room 127. Information on how students can go abroad to study.

- Edythe Wiebers International Studies Scholarship Presentation, Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center, Unity Room. Presentations featuring students who have earned the Wiebers scholarship to study abroad.

Wednesday, Nov. 19

- Education Abroad GO Session, 10 a.m., Love Library South, Room 127. Information on how students can go abroad to study.

- International Food Bazaar, 11 a.m., Nebraska Union. Foods from around the world prepared and sold by recognized student organizations.

- World Tea Party, 2-4 p.m., Gaughn Center, Kawasaki Reading Room. Sample six different teams from four continents.

Thursday, Nov. 20

- CEHS Study Abroad Fair, 10 a.m. to 1p.m., Henzlik Hall. Information on study abroad opportunities in the College of Education and Human Sciences.

- Education Abroad GO Session, noon, Love Library South, Room 127. Information on how students can go abroad to study.

Friday, Nov. 21

- Chinese Name Pronunciation and Greetings Brownbag Lunch, noon, Gaughan Center, Unity Room. Lessons on how to correctly pronounce Chinese names and say greetings.

- Festival Junina, 6:30-8 p.m., Cather-Pound-Neihardt Dining Room. A Brazilian festival that celebrates the changing of the seasons.

For more information on International Education Week events at UNL, click here.