Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow Janet Wallach, noted journalist, author and senior vice president of Seeds of Peace; a performance by the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, and films and discussion groups are among the highlights of Rider University’s International Week, March 27 - 31.

“A World Ready for Peace,” is the theme. Week-long activities will be sponsored by several campus departments and programs. All events are free and open to the public.

“We believe that this is one of the most far-reaching International Week schedules so far since it taps into many outstanding global initiatives already in place at Rider,” said Dr. Mary Poteau-Tralie, associate professor of French and co-director of the week’s activities with Dr. Margaret Schleissner, professor of German. “We hope to raise awareness of these activities, and encourage everyone to become engaged in the international community as a result.”

Wallach will spend the week on campus examining global issues with students and faculty in classroom discussions. On Thursday, March 30, she will give the keynote address, “A World Ready for Peace,” at 5:30 p.m. in the Bart Luedeke Center Theater as part of the University Lecture Series. Wallach has written extensively about the Middle East. She currently oversees Seeds of Peace, a conflict resolution program which brings together teenagers from the Middle East, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Balkans and Greece, Turkey and the divided Cyprus.

The week opens with the showing of the documentary film, “Promises,” at 4 p.m. in the Bart Luedeke Center. A formal opening ceremony will take place at 6:45 p.m. with the reading of the proclamation by Dr. Phyllis Frakt, vice president for academic affairs and provost, followed by the recognition of outstanding students in the foreign languages and literatures department.

Activities resume Tuesday, March 28 at 11:30 a.m. as students in Drs. Roberta Fiske-Rusciano and Frank Rusciano’s global and multinational studies class --- Student Global Village – will examine global issues during a videoconferencing session with students from the American University of Cairo. The event takes place in Sweigart Hall Auditorium in the College of Business Administration. Also in the auditorium later that day at 3:30 p.m., alumni with careers in international business will be featured in a panel discussion. The panel, moderated by Dr. Christine Lentz, associate professor of management and human resources, will include Bob Miglani, '92, senior director of partnerships and communications, Pfizer for Europe, Canada, Africa and Middle East Region and Joseph Campo, '02, AVP, Equities Knowledge Management, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.

Programming includes new highlights this year. Dr. Barbara Franz, assistant professor of political science, will host a panel discussion consisting of participants in a Refugee resettlement program in Trenton on Wednesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. in Sweigart Auditorium. The next day, the noted Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble will give its first performance at Rider at 7:30 p.m. in the Yvonne Theater in the Fine Arts Building.

Other events during the week include: a student panel discussion on their service learning trip to Jamaica, West Indies, a diversity in the workplace student panel discussion, and an art display featuring the work of Cuban artists in the display case outside the Multicultural Center in the Bart Luedeke Center. The week will culminate Friday at 4:30 p.m. with a foreign wine sampling gathering/discussion led by Dr. Thomas Callahan, professor of history, in the Bart Luedeke Center, Fireside Lounge.