Highly-popular Global Week celebrates its tenth anniversary

DIVERSITY and integration were at the heart of a week-long series of events as the University of Huddersfield’s campus came alive with activity as students from around the world united to celebrate their cultures and create international friendships.

Global Week is an annual programme of events, hosted by the University’s Global Student Societies and Global Campus Events Team, that continues to grow in popularity with more students than ever before coming along to take part in the activities. This year was made even more special with the event celebrating its tenth anniversary.

The highlight of the week was the Global Food and Culture Festival where students provided traditional dishes from their homelands for others to taste.  This was followed by an evening’s entertainment of traditional song and dance, that showcased the diversity and array of cultures that make up the University’s student population.

The University has over 20,000 students from 100 different nationalities on its campus and is continuing to grow on an international scale.  In recent years the University has been voted within the top ten institutions in the world for its student experience and best places to live and study in a global student survey.

Global Week 2020 highlights included a World of Sport Tournament where teams of students came together to compete in four sports which included basketball, volleyball, table tennis and badminton.  France and Poland shared the podium for first place after the two countries tied with an equal number of points to be announced as the tournament’s joint winners. 

There was a ‘Futsal’ (football) Tournament – won by Poland, a Global Careers Fair and a ‘Chinglish’ event organised by Chinese and British students to communicate and relate to one another using the power of culture.

A Global Fashion Show showcased traditional costumes and styles from around the world and the Hispanic and South Korean student societies hosted a dance competition called Daebaila.

Again proving popular was the Global Tea Party demonstrating there are more ways to brew a cup of tea than with a Yorkshire tea bag, as students enjoyed tea brewed from traditional kettles for visitors to taste.

The week culminated with an awards ceremony where everyone who hosted an event or won a competition was presented with a certificate.

Tabitha Bower is a Huddersfield student currently studying for a BA (Hons) degree in Marketing and said every year she looks forward to Global Week.

“I love taking part in such a wide variety of events,” said Tabitha. “Being a British student, they are an amazing opportunity to meet students from around the globe and learn about different cultures.”

Global Week is one of many international events taking place on the University’s campus and it has gone from strength to strength under the supervision of the University’s International Student Experience Manager, Alan Tobi.

“Ultimately, these events create friendships and memories,” said Alan. “They give our students the best experience possible whilst allowing them to develop a global mind-set and better understanding of other countries in the world.  This also helps them to be better prepared for the world of work, once they graduate.

“Everyone who hosted and participated throughout the week helps to make Huddersfield a wonderful place to be and I would like to thank all of the students who took part and made it all happen,” he added.

To find out about future global events on campus, email the Global Campus Events Team on campusevents@hud.ac.uk or visit their Facebook page.