Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet for short, is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in Lunar Calendar, Tet’s celebration is the longest holiday which may last up to seven days (with the exception of Tet 2012 when the holiday is expected to last for 9 days!). Vietnamese New Year in 2013 will last from February 10-13, and in 2014 from January 31st to Feb 4th.
Full detail: http://www.vietnamonline.com/tet.html
Seollal, Korea’s favorite holiday, is just around the corner. Koreans usually celebrate two New Years: one on January 1st in accordance with the solar calendar, and the Lunar New Year (called Seollal), which falls this year on February 3rd. Continue reading
Chinese New Year celebrations were born out of fear and myth. Legend spoke of the wild beast Nien (which also is the word for “year”) that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used to scare the beast away, and the Chinese New Year celebrations were born. Continue reading
A moment of peace, Kelowna BC
When at home, conversations about Islam, the sight of other people praying and the sound of the greeting assalamu alaykum (peace be upon you) are commonplace. But when I travel, or am in an unfamiliar environment more generally, encountering the same moments become vital for personal health. I need a quiet place to pray and meaningful conversations about faith to process my surroundings or to decompress from frequent questions about my background. Continue reading
Are you a manager at UBC interested in strengthening your skills to lead diverse teams, empower staff and support the university’s commitment to inclusive workplace practices? If so, then this program is for you!
UBC Human Resources is opening a Managing@UBC Intercultural Stream for experienced managers through a partnership with UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Intercultural Communication. The University’s goals to fulfill the UBC Place and Promise plan led to the envisioning of this program that combines elements of successful management practices with diversity and inclusion toolkits designed specifically around the needs and functions of UBC managers.
For full details: http://www.cstudies.ubc.ca/intercultural-communication/managing-at-ubc-intercultural-stream/index.html
“Really?” Campaign is looking for a team of 15 ART (Anti-Discrimination Response Training) Workshop Facilitators to help build an inclusive living and learning environment at UBC. The role of the ART Workshop Facilitator is to increase student awareness and understanding of issues surrounding intercultural competency. They will do this by instilling among individuals the skills and confidence needed to respond to discrimination. By facilitating ART workshops throughout the year, they will empower members of the UBC community to intervene when they witness comments or behavior that targets others on the basis of differences in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, ability, age, nationality or any other distinction.
Please click to link for full details: Really-Workshop-Facilitators-Position-Description-February-2014
On Sunday December 1, 2013 at the Ismaili Centre in Vancouver, John Stackhouse delivered the 2013 Ismaili Centre Lecture on the topic of “Canadian pluralism at a crossroads.”
For your reference, a video of the speech, along with a transcript and article may be found at the following link:
John Montalbano’s gift will establish a professorship in leadership studies at the UBC business school.
“The son of immigrant Italian working-class parents who now runs a company that manages nearly $300 billion in assets around the world has donated $2 million to the Sauder School of Business at the University of B.C.
John Montalbano said Monday that he was donating the money to help women and minorities achieve positions of leadership in business. His donation will establish the Montalbano Professorship in Leadership Studies: Women and Diversity.”
Members from UBCIA Exec, the Turkish Students Association, the Russian Club, the Pakistani Students Association, the Arab Students Association, the Caribbean African Association, the Tamil Students Association and the Taiwanese Association.
The UBC Intercultural Alliance (UBC IA) is a student run organisation that was founded in September 2013 with the aim of bringing together the cultural clubs across the UBC campus to foster intercultural understanding and promote cross-cultural collaboration.
In November, they held their first event: the Mix and Mingle. Continue reading
