Nearly 60 countries will be represented during Wartburg College’s annual Culture Week, March 22-28. The theme for the week is #WeAreOne.

The celebration kicks off with the Culture Fair Sunday, March 22, 6:30-9 p.m., in Knights Ballroom in Saemann Student Center. The interactive event includes student performances, food samplings, calligraphy demonstrations and a world music instrument petting zoo. A $5 donation per adult is suggested.

Helen Leong, director of international student services, said Culture Week is important for the campus and the community because of the opportunity it presents to reflect on the interconnectedness of our world.

“Our campus community reaches every corner of the globe, and this is our chance to celebrate that,” Leong said. “Culture Week leaves a lasting impact on those who participate, from the students representing their culture to the community members learning from that student; each one walks away having given a piece of themselves to the experience, and that sharing is what brings reconciliation and peace to our world.”

Other Culture Week activities include:

• Monday, March 23 —“LGBTQ at Wartburg – Culture Shock,” roundtable discussion, 4-5 p.m., Whitehouse Business Center 214 (Buckmaster Room).
• Tuesday, March 24 — “Can $25 Change People’s Lives? Microfinance and the World’s Poor,” a poverty presentation by Tamrat Gashaw, assistant professor of economics, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m, Whitehouse Business Center 214 (Buckmaster Room). A sack lunch will be provided for the first 25 attendees.
• Tuesday, March 24 — “Peace Dialogues: The Black Experience in America and Around the World,” roundtable discussions, 6 p.m., Wartburg Chapel Commons. Co-sponsored with Black Student Union.
• Wednesday, March 25 — “Coffee & Teas from Around the World,” 7 p.m., Vogel Library.
• Wednesday, March 25 — “Eucharist: International Student Perspective,” 9:30 p.m., Wartburg Chapel.
• Thursday, March 26-Saturday, March 28 — “Follow the Sun: Children’s Stories from the South Pacific, Central Asia, Africa, and South America” presented by the Wartburg Theater Department has been canceled.

“The beauty of Culture Week is that it helps us realize that we are all different in the way we were raised and thus in the way we perceive the world. It is this realization that makes it easier for us to interact, understand and communicate with each other,” said Christian Campbell, a sophomore from Sierra Leone.

All events are sponsored by Wartburg’s International Student Programs Office.