WorldVIU Days Showcases Culture in Series of Virtual Events

WHAT: 11th annual WorldVIU Days 

WHEN: Monday, November 2 – Friday, November 6, 2020 

WHERE: Various virtual online events including Facebook live and Zoom sessions

NANAIMO, BC: WorldVIU Days is a week-long annual event that explores how culture influences our world view. This year organizers have developed new, virtual ways to create a connected community, showcasing efforts that students, staff and faculty are making to bring together people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and providing opportunities for people to have conversations with each other. 

“The pandemic has shown us how important it is to stay connected,” says Darrell Harvey, VIU’s Manager of Global Engagement. “We benefit from learning from people who come from different backgrounds and have different experiences. WorldVIU Days helps us expand our horizons and deepen our connections as a community that celebrates diversity.” 

Anyone is welcome to attend WorldVIU Days activities scheduled throughout the week, including the popular Intercultural Hip Hop Forum, which will explore identity, culture and community building through hip hop. Other events include a special online film screening of Nations United,  which tells the story of the world as it is, as it was, and as it could be as we navigate and emerge from the pandemic. It will take place via Zoom followed by a panel discussion. Special guest lectures include a talk with author Catherine Clement, who takes a look at the photos of Yucho Chow, who chronicled the lives of early Chinese and many other marginalized communities from 1906-1949 who struggled to make Canada their home. Civic Mobilization and the Global Refugee Crisis will feature a conversation with Meghan MacIver, who was on the front lines of the European refugee crisis, assisting refugees fleeing violence and poverty who were arriving by the thousands on the Greek island of Lesbos. 

WorldVIU Days kicks off Monday, November 2, 2020. The festival finishes on Friday, November 6 with a virtual Global Fashion Show, featuring a special compilation of videos submitted by VIU students and staff wearing traditional and contemporary clothes representing their culture and heritage. 

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

Annette Lucas, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University

C:  250.618.7296 | E: Communications@viu.ca