Nov 14, 2012

Cultural Thursday: International

Eight international students attending Central Lakes College will present the Dec. 6 Cultural Thursday at noon in Chalberg Theatre on the Brainerd campus. The free, public event will feature students from Pakistan, India, and Indonesia. They will present information about their schools, home life, jobs, urban and rural culture, and take questions near the end of the 50-minute program. It is an opportunity for the community to get acquainted through personal reports by Chiranjeet Shah, Zishan Khan, and Richard Andrews from India; Abdul Qadir, Usman Naeem, and Nasir Hussain from Pakistan; and Beatha Astamarindraputri and Elsa Sasmita from Indonesia.

They are one-year students at CLC through Community Colleges for International Development, a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. CLC was the first college in Minnesota approved for participation three years ago.

            The program gives under-served, non-elite young adults from various countries an expense-paid year of education. The students take 15 credit hours per semester at CLC and sign up for 60 hours of unpaid internships and volunteer activities. A key component is leadership and acquisition of knowledge essential to economic and democratic development for their home nations.

           Housed together near campus, the international students are matched with local mentors for support.

            The Cultural Thursday series is coordinated through the Resource Center for Cultures and Languages of the Americas as directed by Spanish instructor Jan Kurtz (218-855-883, jkurtz@clcmn.edu). Programs are held at noon on the first Thursday each month.