A Movie Night with the Wasserman

Once a month, the international students at SBC get invited to Jesse & Celeste Wasserman's house, a couple from New Life Church in Lynchburg, to enjoy gathering and watching a movie with them. The Wasserman have been doing this for the international students since the beginning of the year. For some weekends also, the Wasserman voluntarily come to pick some of these students to go the Church and sometimes to enjoy "New Life Club's Tea Time".

Last Friday (February 29), the internationals enjoyed a romantic comedy movie called: Sabrina (1996 version with Harrison Ford). Last month, the students watched already the older version of the same movie. While some of the students liked the old version, others enjoyed this one more. What do you think? Have you ever watched these movies? If so, which one did you like the most?

Arabic Music and Poetry at Randolph College

Last Saturday (February, 23)the international students had the chance to visit Randolph College and enjoy a selection of Arabic music and poetry. The event was called "Pathways to Understanding" and organized by UMMAH Club at Randolph. The event was held in the Houston Memorial Chapel of the college and the presenters were different professors of Arabic poetry, ethnomusicology, and Arabic music composers.

In this even, the students enjoyed listening to the music of different types of Arabic musical instruments like, Oud, Qanun and Na'y. What surprised the students was that some of the artists who played these instruments were American artists. Do you think "Music" and "Arts" can establish strong pathways to cultural understanding?

International Students Participate @ SBC Student Leadership Conference

Annually, Sweet Briar College runs a Student Leadership Conference. The theme of this year Conference is "Leadership: Going Global". Last Saturday, February 16, 2008, the Eleventh Annual Student Leadership Conference took place at the Conference Center from 9 am- 2 pm. And for the first time, the International Students presents a session on issues of women leadership at their home countries. The participated students are Elisa from Italy, Brenda from China, Rahma form Oman, Yuko from Japan and Tania from Ecuador.

They talked about how leadership, in general, looks in their home countries and what are the similarities and the differences between the leadership in the United States and the leadership in their countries. They also discussed the women's roles in their countries. Finally, they shed a light on the successes and the challenges women face in other countries of the world. The session was very successful as the attendants were very interested and raised some controversial questions.

International Students @ SBC

Every year, Sweet Briar College welcomes a number of international students from different countries. This year, there are two students from Afghanistan, three students from France, one from Italy, one from Spain, one from Oman, one from China and one from Japan.

In some occasions, these students manage to cook dinner together and spend a night full of different cultures, different languages, different food, international music and a lot of fun. With the beginning of the second semester, and after a long beak away from each other, the students gather again and have a big dinner in Faculty Row house as in the photo.