For Immediate Release —October 21, 2008
Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516
irwin@geneseo.edu

SUNY Geneseo Celebrates Cultural Harmony Week   

GENESEO, N.Y. – The State University of New York at Geneseo is celebrating Cultural Harmony Week Oct.  18-25 with events designed to address a wide variety of community and diversity issues, including race, ethnicity and culture.

The college plans an entire week of programming both inside and outside the classroom to deepen students’ understanding and awareness of important aspects of human behavior and social organization and to help augment the college’s Non-Western Traditions graduation requirement.

Among events during the week:

Oct. 20-24

Art Exhibit:  “African American Artists on Paper” at the Lederer Gallery in Brodie Hall – The exhibit presents the work of 20 artists, including painters, sculptors, installation artists, quilt makers and photographers. 

Oct. 20

Cultural Perspectives with Storytellers Karima Amin and Cris Riedel from 2 -3 p.m. in MacVittie Union Room 130 – Amin will share stories from the African and African American oral traditions.  Riedel will tell stories from two Native American nations.

Showing of the film “The Muslims I Know” with film director Mara Ahmed at 5 p.m. in Milne Library Room 104 – Filmed in Rochester, N.Y., the film takes a journey into the Pakistani American community and seeks to examine the lives of “moderate Muslims.”

Address by Grace Chang, associate professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, at 7 p.m. in Newton Hall Room 214.  Dr. Chang’s areas of study and activism are women of color, immigrant women, globalization studies and social justice movements for immigrant and welfare rights.

Oct. 21

Showing of the film “Anyone and Everyone” in which parents across the country discuss their experiences of having  a son or daughter who is gay.  Prof. Robert Owens from Geneseo’s Dept. of Communicative Disorders and Science leads the discussion at 6 p.m. in Newton Hall Room 214.  Connected by having a son or daughter who is gay, parents across the country discuss their experiences in the documentary. 

Oct. 22

Cultural perspectives with Lorna MacDonald Czarnota and the Starlight Storytellers from 2-3 p.m. in MacVittie Union room 130 – Czarnota specializes in Celtic stories.  The people of Ireland, Scotland and Wales have a rich history of storytelling.  The Starlight Storytellers each have used childhood memories, overcoming adversity and humor to develop an individual style.

Address by Brian Goldfarb, associate professor of communication at the University of San Diego, at 3 p.m. in Newton Hall Room 201.  Goldfarb will explore the roles of visual culture and technology in shaping the concept of disability and in the development of techniques for assessing and supporting disabilities relating to the senses and communication.

Oxfam Hunger Banquet at 5 p.m. in the MacVittie Union Ballroom.

Screening of the film “The Sugar Babies,” with producer/director Amy Serrano, at 7:30 p.m. in Newton Hall Room 204.  The film examines the moral price of sugar from the perspective of the conditions surrounding the children of sugar cane cutters of Haitian ancestry in the Dominican Republic and the continuing denial of their basic human rights.  The film is a presentation of the college’s Alan Lutkus International Film Series and the Center for Community.

Oct. 23

“Everyone Loves Dumplings” in MacVittie Union room 130.  Visitors can taste a variety of dumplings, a part of almost all cultures, and learn about the traditions, events or ceremonies where they are served.

“OneVoice” at 7 p.m. in Newton Hall Room 214.  The OneVoice Movement is an international movement of people who support a peaceful solution to the conflict in Israel.