St. Clair County Community College has announced its 16th annual Global Awareness Day for Tuesday, Nov. 13. This year’s Global Awareness Day theme is “Intersections of the Global and Local.” Events will highlight the connections between global and local individuals, organizations and businesses. Learn how recent advances in technology, transportation and telecommunications have made it easier than ever for local organizations to interact and compete in the greater global world. All events are free and in the Fine Arts Building on the college’s Port Huron campus. Global Awareness Day is presented by the college’s Global Diversity Advisory Council.
The day’s schedule is:1 to 3 p.m. — Film: Crossing Borders in SC4’s Fine Arts Theatre. Discussion to follow; moderated by Patricia Frank, SC4 history professor. The film is a 70-minute documentary that follows four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel together through Morocco and, in the process of discovering “The Other,” discover themselves. With group travels and frank discussions, the students confront the complex implications of the supposed “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West.
3:30 to 5 p.m. — Panel Discussion in SC4’s Fine Arts Theatre. A panel of representatives from local businesses and nonprofit organizations will present on the many ways in which the Blue Water Area is so closely connected with the larger world. Members of the panel will discuss the international elements of their respective business or organization. Audience members can ask questions following the presentations. Panelists include Stan Arnett, member of the Kiwanis Club of Port Huron; Rhonda Bacyinski, human resources manager at Domtar Paper Co.; Leo Colantuono, assistant manager of mill sales at Biewer Lumber; John Kendrick, president of St. Clair County Gideons; and Joe McCulloch, business development manager with Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County.
5 to 7 p.m. — International Reception with trivia in SC4’s Fine Arts Galleries. Participants can join in a meet and greet with SC4’s international students and foreign exchange students from local high schools. The international students represent several different countries, each with their own unique culture and way of life. International trivia will be hosted by SC4 Student Government. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
7 to 8:30 p.m. — “There is Local in the Global!” in SC4’s Fine Arts Theatre. Keynote speaker Dr. Yener Kandogan, associate dean of management and international business professor at the University of Michigan-Flint School of Management, will elaborate on local aspects of globalization by explaining how integration of markets and productive activities across the globe offer opportunities for local businesses and what multinationals can learn from them. He also will make recommendations to local businesses and local governments in their efforts to take advantage of this irreversible phenomenon benefitting the communities where they operate. Kandogan has 25 publications in peer-reviewed academic journals on international business and international economics. His research has primarily been on the international trade of East European countries, political economy of the European Union, immigration and trade, and the role of culture/language on trade.
For more information about SC4’s Global Awareness Day, contact Angel Niederkohr at (810) 989-5552 orabniederkohr@sc4.edu
