As part of the 2018 International Week, the International Student Association (ISA) held its I-History event where students presented facts about cultural, historical and traditional backgrounds of different countries.
International Week, also known as I-Week, is an annual cultural exploration and exhibition which showcases the international diversity of Texas A&M’s campus. The event focused on countries subject to President Donald Trump’s travel ban, including Syria, Iran and Venezuela. This year’s I-Week serves as the the 50th anniversary of the ISA.
The ISA wanted to expose students to the histories and cultures of some of the most prominently discussed countries, beyond the stereotypes usually depicted in the popular press, according to Anastasia Fedorova, ISA internal programming director and international studies senior.
“I was thinking that it would be a great idea to invite speakers from banned countries because [there are] over 200 students here from these countries which are affected by the ban,” Fedorova said. “I thought this would be a great idea to invite the students and actually hear their stories not necessarily from [a] political point of view.”
Humam Daas, political science junior, led a presentation about his family’s experience in Damascus before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.
“It’s really amazing the way the city is built,” Daas said. “The center of the city is kind of like the older town and you can even see like a big gate that would open to the town and then most of the city today is modern buildings outside that area and people still live inside that town.”
Andrés Crucetta Nieto, mechanical engineering senior, said he chose not to discuss the economic and political crisis which has engulfed Venezuela since 2012, but instead focus his message on stories of ordinary Venezuelans in civil and public life.
“I think the people are the most important part of Venezuela and a lot of time people focus on the government,” Nieto said. “I like to focus on the great work being done in the country.”
Ahmed Mohamed Gad, industrial engineering freshman, said the I-History event also offered an opportunity to explore some of the less well-known characteristics of various nations.
“People from Egypt are very diverse and that is one thing I am very proud of,” Gad said. “We have people from all over and not many people know that.”
The event also included other presentations of countries not subject to the travel ban. This included presentations by nuclear engineering research assistant Alessandro Venni on Italy, and agronomy graduate student Pramod Pokhrel on Nepal.
I-Week will continue through April 6 and will have a wide variety of events including an award ceremony and a fashion show. Full details on the event schedule can be found at http://iss.tamu.edu/Events/I-week-(1).