International Week Fall 2019

Each year, Brenau University gives its students a unique opportunity to expand their global awareness through activities hosted during “International Week”. Throughout this special week, the University centers these entertaining and informative events around a particular country and its culture. Last year, International Week focused on the Republic of Ireland. We now invite the Brenau community to help us select the next country for our fourth annual International Week at Brenau.

Question Title

* 1. Which country would you like to learn more about during International Week?

China: With more than 1.4 billion people, China is the most populous nation in the world. Since 1949, China is known as the largest East Asian country led by a communist party. After 1978, however, China moved to a market-oriented system open to foreign trade and investment. In 2014 China surpassed the US as the largest economy in the world. The current President, Core Leader, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China is Xi Jinping. Many Brenau students come from China.

Dominican Republic: A Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west, it is known for its beaches, resorts and golfing. Its terrain comprises rain forest, savannah and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain. Known for warm and hospitable people, the Dominican Republic features astounding nature, intriguing history and rich culture and is the setting for the common reader for FYE in the fall of 2019.

India is a country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. It is a constitutional republic consisting of 29 states, each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs; 6 less fully empowered union territories; and the Delhi national capital territory. With roughly one-sixth of the world’s total population, India is the second most-populous country, after China. It is known from archaeological evidence that a highly sophisticated urbanized culture—the Indus Civilization—dominated the northwestern part of the subcontinent from about 2600 to 2000 BC. From that period on, India functioned as a virtually self-contained political and cultural arena, which gave rise to a distinctive tradition that was associated primarily with Hinduism, the roots of which can largely be traced to the Indus civilization. Other religions, notably Buddhism and Jainism, originated in India—though their presence there is now quite small—and throughout the centuries residents of the subcontinent developed a rich intellectual life in such fields as mathematics, astronomy, architecture, literature, music, and the fine arts.

Japan is an island country in East Asia, located in the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of 127 million, with about 90.7% of people living in cities, with Tokyo being the capital, and 9.3% living in the countryside. Japan has a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet. Japan is considered a great power, being the world's fourth largest exporter and importer, and being a leading nation in scientific research, especially in engineering.

Nepal is a small country with 147,181 square kilometer area and about 33 million population. It is located between two rapidly growing countries: India and China. Nepal is a unique country with its natural resources and vegetation. Nepal is the second richest country in the world in water resources after Brazil. It is a land of Mt. Everest and birthplace Lord Gautam Buddha. Nepal has never been a colony of any country in the world. British India attempted to overtake Nepal three times because the British rulers in India were so much fascinated by the beauty of Kathmandu valley. However, they lost the war each time. In addition, the travel experts at Lonely Planet named Nepal as the No. 1 best value destination for 2017.

South Korea emerged as one of the Asian Tigers with a well-educated and productive workforce and a highly developed economy after the Korean War. Currently, South Korea is a liberal democracy with the fastest internet connection speed in the world and is the home of global brands such as Samsung, Hyundai, KIA and LG Electronics. South Korean-owned businesses in Georgia directly account for more than 10,000 jobs in the state. Moreover, Georgia companies export nearly $1 billion a year worth of goods and services to Korea and import $6.2 billion. Each year more than 80,000 South Korean students attend American universities which adds more than $2.5 billion to the U.S. economy. South Korea is equally known for its centuries-old traditions, green countryside, coastal fishing villages, sub-tropical islands and global cities such as Seoul, which hosted 1988 Summer Olympics and 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and borders China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east with a population of about 95 million people (world’s 15th most populous country). In the past, colonized and occupied by the Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, French, and Americans, Vietnam gained its own independence in 1976. The country governs as a one-party socialist republic and is led by President Trần Đại Quang with the capital of Hanoi. Today, Vietnam has mainly an agricultural and service economy but manufacturing is on the rise as it exports much of the world’s textile apparel. Vietnamese tourism is rising and flourishing, and nearly 21,000 Vietnamese now study in the United States.