One World Week celebrates 20th anniversary

One World Week will be celebrating its 20th anniversary when it returns to Warwick University on 26 January.

The week will aim to celebrate the diversity of cultures on campus and provide students with the opportunity to reflect about contemporary inter-cultural issues.

Open to both students and staff, the festival will comprise of five themed elements throughout the week, including: ‘Days’, ‘Nights’, ‘Sports’, ‘Forum’, and ‘Conference’.

The coordinators Joanne Ong, Luisa Piu and Elaine Meskhi have revealed that a new event, called ‘Performance Day: Showbiz!’, has been added to the daytime category and will offer a range of culturally specific musical and dance styles.

Past events, such as Warwick’s Got Talent and Future Impact Day, in which students learn about future career and volunteering opportunities with interactive workshops, will also be included in the week’s schedule.

The sports activities hosted by One World Week and Warwick Active will consist of five-a-side football, badminton and basketball. The activities will be open to all students and staff, regardless of gender or skills.

On 30 January the Fashion Show is set to return with ‘circuses’ as its theme. It promises an atmosphere that embodies four distinct sections: “Alegria…Be carefree”; “Amaluna…Be romantic”; “Temerario…Be courageous”; and “Zaia…Be wild”.

An after party at a club venue in Leamington Spa follows the show.

The World Party concludes the festival on 31 January together with the involvement of Club MTV and will showcase a number of performances set to take place in the Copper Rooms.

Forums on offer will aim to cover ongoing global questions and debates. ‘National Identity in a Globalised World’, ‘Russia Tomorrow’ and ‘The Future of Food’ will be topics of discussion that encourage students and staff to think about current world issues.

The One World Conference will provide a platform in which students are free to listen and interact in debates with high-profile speakers, successful alumni and people from numerous global industries.

The coordinators have stated that this conference has been given an even more interactive format, providing multiple ways to contribute to discussions both on and offline.