2 to 3 p.m. on the following Tuesdays:

September 2010
9/14 Ellen P da Costa Cruz: Brazil
9/21 Dwi Wijaya & Christian Sianturi: Indonesia
9/28 Nataliia Kasianenko & Viktoriia Teliga: Ukraine

October 2010
10/5 Nathan Lyness & Hyunji Kim: East Meets West
10/12 Tamia Ruiz: Ecuador
10/19 Ekaterina Ganzha: Russia

November 2010
11/2 Jai Singh Sidhu: Inside India: Kashmir, Assam and Beyond
11/9 Andreas Torsvik: Norway
11/16 Social Work Faculty & Students: Summer study experience in Bangalore, India
11/30 Leopoldo Villacorta: Peru

The International Coffee Hour’s mission is to bring people from different cultural backgrounds in the world to share the history, customs, economy, culture, and current situations of their countries. The International Coffee Hour is designed for faculty, staff, and students at California State University, Fresno, as well as for people in the surrounding communities.

Example:

Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Presenter: Ellen P da Costa Cruz, linguistics major

Brazil, the biggest country in South America, is very much a country of contrasts. When someone hears the word Brazil, one thinks of the great Amazon forest, fantastic beaches, great soccer players, Carnival time, etc. Brazil has much more to offer – warm people, fantastic music, great cities, technological developments, a wide range of weather patterns, an awesome mixture of cultures and races – and much more! It is appropriate that the 2014 Soccer World Cup will be held in Brazil,as the game is played to a samba beat that runs through the heart and soul of the entire country.

The 63rd Indian Independence Day was celebrated at California State University, Fresno’s Satellite Student Union Hall. It was a great show of Indian origin living in and around the Fresno area 10,000 miles away from “home.” In a show of solidarity, Indians with origin from different parts of the nation, west, east, north and south Indians, organized, performed, sang, mingled, and enjoyed the celebration together. The whole event was very well organized and a special congratulation goes out to The Independence Day Celebration Committee for their tireless effort.
There were nineteen local organizations, predominantly of Punjabis, who all rallied together for the occasion. Almost all of the various Indian organizations in the central valley channeled their differences in language, regional ties, and religions, and focused on the unifying factor: Being Indian and celebrating this fact together.

There were great speeches from all of the guests which included mayors, assembly members and senators from all over California. The speeches, one after another, genuinely conveyed their admiration of how the Indian community has made a difference by their positive contribution to American society and how proud they were in having us here.

The most powerful speech was by Mrs. Susmita G. Thomas, Consulate General of India, who traveled by road from San Francisco to attend this celebration. She dedicated a large part of her speech to the true Heroes in Indian Independence movement, a fact rarely mentioned by politicians. The speech session was continued by Dr. John Welty, Mayor Ashley Swearengin, Assemblyman Michael Villines, Congressman Jim Costa and many other local dignitaries.

The celebration included classical Indian and folk dances, a short patriotic play, release of a souvenir and light refreshment. It was celebrated with the growing diversity of the Indian community in the Valley.
The event sponsors are the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute at Fresno State and State Bank of India, Fresno.

Music, dancing and the stepping….  A beautiful day for celebrating and enjoying the entertainment.

Presenters: Dalitso Ruwe, Joseph Oloo, Palingwinde Yves Ouedraogo and Marian N Mikhael were excellent!  They brought displays, artifacts and pictures to share with everyone.

Zambia

Ruwe

Kenya

Oloo

Burkina Faso

Yves Ouedraogo

Egypt

Mikhael

This rounds up the ICH in the library but not the semester! 

• April 13th is Switzerland
•  Burma on April 20th
•  New Zealand on April 27th
•  Trinidad & Tobago on May 4th and last but not least, China on May 11th.

These ICHs will be held in USU room 312.

The presenters: Solomon Xiong, Eugene Ng, Arrol Tiw Jun Jie and Dhruv Doshi were outstanding!  They were knowledgeable, interesting and very enthusiastic about their country. 

Laos

Xiong

Malaysia

Ng and Jun Jie

Sudan

Doshi

Inside the Pete P. Peters Ellipse Balcony, 3rd floor in the Library is a beautiful collection of photographs about the artists of Mithila who live in northeastern India. 

For centuries the rural women in northern Bihar and the adjacent southern Nepal have decorated the walls and floors of their humble dwellings on the occasions of the birth of a child, Yagyopavitra (the thread ceremony to initiate spiritual learning), and marriages, among many other festivals.

About the artist: Joan Sharma received a Master’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a BFA degree from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. During her junior year at Temple University, Sharma studied In Rome, Italy. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and India. These experiences have contributed to her awareness and understanding of the interconnectedness of our global community. She teaches color theory, photography, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional design as an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Design at California State University, Fresno.
 
Sharma’s oil paintings reflect her passion for the subtleties of color and light. She recently installed fourteen 9’ x 3’ acrylic paintings on paper in the windows of the Warnors Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Fresno as part of a CCAC public art project. The most recent body of photographs was taken during her Spring 2009 sabbatical trip to visit the artists of Mithila in the Madhubani region of Bihar State, India.

Date: Feb. 22 to March 16, 2010

On Feburary 24, 2010, AFSA (Asian Faculty and Staff Association) at Fresno State officially openned the Exhibit with a Tea Social at noon. Dr. Franklin Ng was the speaker. About 80 people showed up for the reception.

• Date: February 17th and 18th 2010
• Location: Library – Studio 2,  room 2134

The documentary film “Angels in the Dust” was showed and discussion follows.  Bracelets was available (1 for $15 or 2 for $25)

Over 75% of the proceeds of the Orphan Bracelet Campaign go towards helping mother’s and children in South Africa whose lives have been severely impacted by HIV/AIDS.  And 25% will go to Haiti’s Earthquake Survivor.

The film was moving, touching and very informative.  We had 25 people showed up on the first day to watch the film and 18 on the 2nd day.

Update: The event raised over $1000.

The group meets on Friday nights at the Peters building on Fresno State’s campus downstairs in classrooms 11, 12, and 13. There are three different classes taught (Beginning salsa, intermediate salsa, and variety dance). Classes are from 7pm-8pm, and dancing afterward until 10 pm.

There is a five dollar cover charge to help pay for the instructors.