Tag Archives: Cultural Awareness

World Arabic Language Day

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Happy World Arabic Language Day!

The World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December and this year it’s falling on a Sunday. Since 2012 it has been created to mark the day in 1973 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the Organization

About the Arabic Language Day

‘Since its very first celebration in 2012, each year on 18 December UNESCO commemorates World Arabic Language Day, highlighting Arabic’s legacy and immense contribution to humanity.’

‘A pillar of humanity’s shared values, Arabic is a language that brings together people from various cultural, ethnical, religious and social backgrounds. ‘

UNESCO

We would like to invite you to join us in its celebration as part of our Celebrating Cultural Diversity at Queen’s, and don’t forget to say “Happy World Arabic Language Day” to who are speakers of Arabic language and who are learning to speak the language.

If you are considering doing an Arabic language course, you are very welcome to sign up for one of our Arabic courses from beginner to intermediate levels starting in January 2023. For more information and registration, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/lc or scan the QR code on the image.

Happy Diwali

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Happy Diwali to all who celebrate it at Queen’s and elsewhere!

Diwali (Deepavali or Divali), also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Hindu religious festival and one of the most important festivals within Hinduism. Falling on 24th October this year, it generally lasts five days, and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika.

“Hindus, Sikhs and Jains both in India and across the world usually take part by decorating houses and public spaces with thousands of lights, candles and colourful designs. As well as the bright colours and glittering lights, there’s music, dancing, delicious food and a cresting wave of community feeling.”

Nimmy john
Lecturer, School of Nursing & midwifery; co-chair of bame & International staff network

Thanks to the Graduate School’s organisation, on Monday 24th October Queen’s students and staff have joined in the celebration of Diwali at the 1st Floor Social Space of the grand ‘Ruskinesque’ Gothic building, with a taste of Indian tea and sweets.

‘Happy Diwali!’ is the most common festival greeting that people use to send their best wishes to each other.

Cultural awareness workshop for QUB Accommodation RA training

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Goodbye, August, and hello, September!

We are very pleased that today, Dr Liang WANG, from the Language Centre, provided a Chinese cultural awareness workshop for the Queen’s Residential Assistant Team who have kicked off their training to welcome international and home students to Queen’s.

While the session had its focus on an understanding of Chinese students, the largest international student body on campus, and the cultures they bring along, the principles of enhancing one’s intercultural awareness and developing intercultural communication skills are essentially applicable to the approach to interacting with all international students, as well as home students from the non-essentialist perspective – embracing cultural diversity, breaking down stereotypes, showing respect, and developing critical cultural awareness.

We hope that our Cultural Awareness training will be helpful to all students, home and abroad, to enhance their life experience while studying at Queen’s. We would like to send our best wishes to the upcoming international students for a successful year ahead.

We are also happy to be contacted for consultation and tailored workshops to suit particular needs relating to language learning and cultural awareness training. For any enquiries, please email us at language@qub.ac.uk.

Cultural Awareness for EPS 2022 Summer School

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Congratulations to the launch of the 2022 EPS Summer School at Queen’s! On Monday morning 25th July, we welcomed some 120 international students from China, India and Malaysia via MS Teams.

We hope that the students find our Cultural Awareness session useful and interesting, and get a taste of the local cultures, although they cannot fly to Belfast in person. We look forward to welcoming many of them, if not all, to study at Queen’s in the near future.

About the EPS Summer School

Since 2014, the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) has welcomed over 500 students from China and across the globe to the annual summer school. In spite of restrictions on travel in 2021, the faculty of EPS successfully launched a virtual summer school. Almost 200 students were welcomed and joined the online programmes.

EPS SUMMER SCHOOL

In 2022, students can pursue their interests in one of six tailored EPS summer school programmes:

  • PSYCHOLOGY
  • CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • ELECTRONICS, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
  • MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS
  • MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
  • CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Africa Day

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Happy Africa Day!

We would like to invite our staff members and students to join in the celebration of the Africa Day and celebrate their cultures, heritage and achievements.

Complete the Cultural Diversity Survey

African presence at Queen’s

About Africa Day

Africa Day commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now known as the African Union) on this day, 25 May, in 1963. Formally known as African freedom day and then African Liberation day, its origin lies in the collective African resistance to colonialism and economic exploitation. The day was, and is, intended to highlight Africa’s continued collective struggle against adversity. 

The African Union today strives to represent a vibrant continent of 1.2 Billion people. Today is a day to celebrate how far Africa has come against the odds and to recognise how much more needs to be done to ensure that all Africans can live healthy, happy lives.

Global dimension

Related reading

Multiple cultural celebrations and Easter break

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April is a busy month with many important days and festivals to reflect cultural diversity at Queen’s. While we wish all those who celebrate Ramadan well on their fasting during the month, we would like to invite you to join us in sharing our greetings and best wishes to the communities at Queen’s and elsewhere who celebrate their traditional New Year on and around today 14/04:

Bengali / Cambodian / Hindu / Lao / Myanmar / Nepali / Tamil / Thai

Happy New Year! We’d be pleased to if you are happy to share your photos/videos of celebrations with us in your posts and use hash tag #CulturalDiversity #LoveQUB.

Calling QUB international staff and students –

Tell us what cultural festivals and days you celebrate by filling in the form below and we will do our best to help with circulation and celebration at Queen’s.

Cultural Diversity at QUB Survey

We also wish you all a happy and healthy Easter Break. While our office will be closed during the holidays, our course enrolment remains open until Thursday 21st April at 5pm. Visit Language Centre April Enrolment page and do not miss out!

International Nowruz Day

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Happy International Nowruz Day to all those who celebrate!

Nowruz, meaning the ‘new day’, has its spelling varying from country to country, marking the first day of spring (usually occurs on 21 March) and celebrated as the beginning of the new year by more than 300 million people across the globe, with over 3,000-year-long tradition of celebrations in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.

Nowruz is a rite dating back to at least the 6th century BCE, marking the new year and ushering in spring. Variously known as Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz, this historic rite is observed on 21 March in many countries along the Silk Roads, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

UNESCO

As such, The UN perceives Nowruz as “a significant role in strengthening the ties among peoples based on mutual respect and the ideals of peace and good neighbourliness”, a bridge between “the civilizations of the East and West, which influenced those civilizations through the interchange of human values”, to achieve “life in harmony with nature, awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labour and natural cycles of renewal and a solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life. (UN – International Nowruz Day)

The UNESCO also marks the significance of Nowrus through their platform Celebrating the New Year on the Silk Roads.

Calling QUB international staff and students –

Tell us what cultural festivals and days you celebrate by filling in the form below and we will do our best to help with circulation and celebration at Queen’s.

Cultural Diversity at QUB Survey

Happy Holi

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Happy Holi to those who are celebrating!

Holi, or the festival of colours, is a religious occasion considered the second biggest Hindu festival after Diwali. It marks the beginning of spring after a long winter and signifies the triumph of good over evil.

Typically spanning two days, the eve of Holi is when traditions commence with singing and dancing, while the actual day is the fun time that family and friends gather to playfully throw colorful paint and bright powders at each other and in the air.

Calling QUB international staff and students –

Tell us what cultural festivals and days you celebrate by filling in the form below and we will do our best to help with circulation and celebration at Queen’s.

Cultural Diversity at QUB Survey

Cultural Awareness Session for AHSS Students

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If you are an Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences student, then our Cultural Awareness Workshop is for you! Next Wednesday, 23rd March, the Language Centre will be facilitating an interactive session on cultural awareness and sensitivity – we hope to see you there! You can register by using the following link:

Registration

International Mother Language Day

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Happy International Mother Language Day!

The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference and has been observed throughout the world since 2000.

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The theme of the 2022 International Mother Language Day, “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”, will discuss the potential role of technology to advance multilingual education and support the development of quality teaching and learning for all.

UNESCO

This day is celebrated annually to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity. Why not further your own linguistic and cultural awareness by signing up for one of our third semester language courses?

Registration will open on 1st March on our website for courses beginning in April.