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Birkbeck’s first International Week and Chinese New Year celebrations

Special events, including a careers day and Chinese New Year festivities, are on offer this week

Special events, including a careers day and Chinese New Year festivities, are on offer this week as part of Birkbeck’s first International Week.

The programme of activities from Tuesday 28 January to Friday 31 January is tailored to provide advice about studying and working in the UK.

There will also be opportunities to network with other students and celebrate Chinese New Year by sampling traditional food and watching 11 performers stage a lion dance.

The activities start only four days after Birkbeck was ranked as the 39th most international university in the world by the Times Higher Education. The ranking is based on international student numbers, the percentage of international staff and the proportion of research papers published with a co-author from at least one other country.

Jane Zhang, from China, is studying for an MA in Intercultural Communication for Business and Professions at Birkbeck, and is involved in organising the celebrations for Chinese New Year on Friday 31 January. She said: “The performance will be extremely lively and exciting. There will be two lions played by people in costume and drummers. The dance is a celebration and symbolises wishes for a good harvest and happiness in the New Year.”

Jonah Duffin, Head of Marketing and Recruitment (Home and International), added: “These events are designed to be useful and fun. Students will get the chance to improve their study skills, learn about the UK job market, and see in the Chinese New Year.”

Students are encouraged to attend events throughout the week.

International Week programme

Tuesday 28 January: Careers day
1:30pm-7pm
Room B35, Birkbeck's main building, Malet Street, WC1E 7HX


Workshops and one-to-one sessions provided by the Birkbeck Careers Service. Topics covered include the UK job market, interview techniques and networking skills

Wednesday 29 January: Lecture about multilingual swearing
2pm-4pm
Room B26, Birkbeck's main building, Malet Street,
WC1E 7HX

Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, of the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication,  delivers his ever-popular lecture on why swear words don’t feel as profane uttered in another language

Thursday 30 January: School of Business, Economics and Informatics International Students’ Day
11am-5pm
Clore Management Centre, Room 102, WC1E 7HX

Study skills workshops provided by BEI, including essay writing and critical reading skills. Lunch is provided from 1pm-2:30pm – an opportunity to meet other students and staff from BEI.

Friday 31 January: Chinese New Year celebration
6:30pm-9pm
Room 153, Birkbeck’s main building, Malet Street, WC1E 7HX

This event is open to all students, not just international students

Join the celebration organised by Birkbeck’s Chinese Students’ Society to welcome in the year of the horse! There will be traditional Chinese food and drink, and the opportunity to see and make Chinese crafts. The event will end with a live show, including drummers and performers dressed up as Chinese dancing lions.

New course for international students

Undergraduate international students are also encouraged to think about applying for Birkbeck’s new Foundation Programme for Postgraduate Study. This Graduate Diploma is a bridging course between undergraduate and postgraduate study. It aims to prepare students for Master’s-level study in a UK university by improving language proficiency, and explaining the UK higher education system.

The course has four pathways – Business, Development Studies, Applied Linguistics or Politics – and starts in October 2014.

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