Increased attendance at OWW 2011

Throughout the week Warwick was host to a variety of events designed to foster a spirit of cultural diversity, appreciation and acceptance.

Coordinator Conor Rooney took time to praise the efforts of the One World Week (OWW) team. “I think the passion, commitment and effort of the students who organise the events can often be overlooked but they really are a supremely talented bunch,” said Rooney. “I believe that the array of OWW 2011 events has been phenomenal in terms of both quality and diversity so it’s quite hard to pick a favourite.”

Among the most notable activities on the schedule were the week’s festival events, including Warwick’s own Eurovision Song Contest, belly dancing and a variety of workshops.

The 2011 Fashion Show ‘Evolution to Utopia’ provided the platform for a fusion of dance, fashion, culture and history.

“Being involved was immensely stressful at times and it felt like it was taking over my life,” said second-year Management student Jawad Safdar, one of the official models, “but the support of our organisers, the amazing creativity of our choreographers Chloe and Fabienne, the friendship of fellow models… and let’s be honest, the prospect of having some stunning Facebook profile pictures at the end of it, kept me going! It’s been the best experience of my University life, and will be difficult to top.”

Forum was also pronounced a success by chair Kristina Pacinskaite, who commented: “We wanted to reach out to more students this year by having a more diverse array of topics, such as physics, which I believe we achieved. I think the turnouts at our events, which have been higher than in previous years, reflect this; the fact we were able to completely fill a room like the Ramphal lecture theatre speaks for itself.”

First-year History and Politics student Andre Schaffrath praised this year’s forum, saying: “I personally really enjoyed it, particularly as it raised awareness of things I normally would not have come across. Although I think more could have been done to encourage debate amongst the various panellists, I thought the audiences were very effective at challenging their views.”

World renowned DJ Mark Ronson headlined the week’s evening events. Second-year English student Aranya Rauff-Nisthar described the Thursday night event as “amazing”, while first-year Biomedical Science student, Katy Braddick, said: “I had a really good time at the beach party on Friday. I liked the inflatable palm trees and the monkey had some great moves.”

The anticipated grand finale, the World Party on Saturday night, showcased performances from all over the world, with this year’s solar system theme reflecting the characteristics of the Sun, Moon, Venus and Mars.

Saya Tsujimoto, a first-year Classics and Ancient History student and a dancer performing as part of Warwick Japanese Society described the World Party as “fun and exciting”, adding: “I loved the internationalism of it, although I thought the concept was a bit strange.”

“I thought £8 was a bit expensive for the One World Party,” said first-year Maths student Vivasvan Paranjpe, “but I still enjoyed it.”

While One World Week has previously attracted criticism, it seems the event is still able to cultivate enthusiasm among students. “Although I think some events came close to stereotyping, overall I think it reflects the reality at Warwick,” said ERASMUS student Gaia Milanesi, adding: “It gave everyone the opportunity to express their identity.”

“We’ve addressed some of the major criticisms, increased attendance and society participation, received better feedback from both team members and externals all without any major issues,” said Rooney. ”I’d like to think we’ve set the bar pretty high for the OWW 2012 team.”