Harvard U.N. Week Kicks Off

The sound of a Turkish flute filled the dark lecture hall in Maxwell Dworkin, and images of the jagged Himalayan Mountains flashed onto the screen in front.

Harvard's first annual United Nations Week had begun.

Last night's screening of the movie "Baraka," a film that portrays cultural and natural images from around the world, kicked off the weeklong celebration of the U.N., co-sponsored by the International Relations Council (IRC), the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA) and the Woodbridge Society of International Students.

Zuzanna M. Olszewska '01, an international student from Poland and a board member of the Woodbridge Society, had seen the film in Singapore and, overwhelmed by its power, brought the movie to Harvard.

"What I most want [others] to get out of the movie is the ideals of the U.N., with the tremendous variety of human experience around the world," Olszewska said.

While attendance was low, with about 30 students watching, the event was designed as a small introduction to U.N. Week, with much larger and more intense events to follow, organizers said.

"[This] film is ideal to start off U.N. Week because it was filmed in 24 countries...and is the best known documentary that captures the nature of the world," said Zhong J. Chen '01, a Woodbridge board member from China.

Harvard's U.N. Week is scheduled around International U.N. Day, Oct. 24, which is celebrated by countries across the world but receives little attention in the U.S.

This is the fourth year that the Woodbridge Society has celebrated U.N. Day, but this is the first time that the organization combined with the IRC and WCFIA to plan a week of events rather than a single day.

"The integration of the IRC, WCFIA, and the Woodbridge Society is an exciting collaboration of students with similar interests," said IRC member Sarah E.M. Wood '01. "I hope U.N. Week will serve as a catalyst to create networks that will hopefully spawn future activities."

The WCFIA is hosting a UN Security Council Reform forum in Coolidge Hall from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight, featuring Sumio Kusaka, executive secretary to the chief cabinet secretary of Japan, Pramathesh Rath, Indian ambassador to Colombia, and Klaus Rupprecht, director of the German Foreign Office's East Asian division.

A panel of students will follow these international politicians with a discussion entitled "Student Perspectives: Problems and Prospects facing the UN," slated for tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Emerson 105.

U.N. Week culminates on Friday with a large cultural show in the Leverett Old Library from 3 to 5 p.m.

Originally the only event for U.N. Day, this year's cultural event, designed to celebrate the cultures of Harvard's international students, will feature student group performances and poetry, followed by an international food fair.

"The purpose of U.N. Week is to celebrate the principles that the U.N. is supposed to stand for, not necessarily the organization itself," Darryl C. Li '01, a Woodbridge board member.