Dr Sanjib Bhakta, Assistant Dean (International and Partnership), School of Science & Chair of the One World Festival Planning Committee, writes on what to expect from the College’s first One World Festival. Booking information for each event is available here.

Globalisation does not mean to forget where you are originally from. London, one of the great global cities of the world, is a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities, languages and socio-economic backgrounds.

In order to celebrate Birkbeck’s positive contribution to the local and global societies, its exceptional international reach, and its rich and diverse cultures, we will be holding our first One World Festival. This will feature public lectures, workshops, film screenings, global art, international food and music, pot-luck picnic, historic walking tours and more, offering the participants – particularly international students – the opportunity to meet, interact, and learn about other cultures.

Birkbeck One World Festival will run from 24-29 September 2018, ending with the College Orientation activities at the Student Central, the University of London’s Student Union building, and a performance from a string quartet entitled Around the World in 45 Minutes. A special international edition of The Lamp and Owl, the Birkbeck Student newspaper, will be published to mark the festival, along with a supplementary international cookbook. Birkbeck’s international students will later have an opportunity to meet with the Master of Birkbeck, Professor David Latchman, on 16 October 2018, at the Keynes Library.

The key objectives of this event are:

• To celebrate Birkbeck’s multicultural community of staff and students from all over the world.
• To increase involvement and solidarity in the celebration of the multicultural community, and to educate others about varied cultures, values and aspirations which are different from their own.

The One World Festival will enable outreach at a community level to work beyond any boundary such as culture, ethnicity, gender and creed, and recognise that Birkbeck is part of only one world in combating inequality and discrimination. Hopefully, this event will motivate activities which would nurture values of unity in diversity and lead to learning, understanding and action for global justice. Finally, this multicultural event week would nourish and replenish the social positivity, enrich culture and help people to combat against any social odds. I would like to thank volunteers from different departments in the College, External Relations, International Office, Birkbeck Student Union, various Birkbeck International Societies to formulate a One World Festival organising committee and meet regularly to plan and launch the event with excitement, fun and colour, and to engage the whole of the College family.

Please join us in celebrating the first ever One World Festival at Birkbeck!

Booking information for each event is available here.