Is English the World’s Language? • Monday, February 21
An initiative of Bangladesh, International Mother Language Day has been observed around the world since its approval at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference. The spirit of the day is to explore the value and opportunities offered by linguistic diversity. To mark the occasion, the International Relations Council will explore the perception and prevalence of English around the world and the impact this has on other languages. A panel of experts for whom language is a central part of their daily work will offer their perspectives, and we invite audience members to chime in with their own experiences. Click here to register.

International Film Club: The Linguists • Tuesday, February 22
In this documentary, director Seth Kramer follows a pair of language scholars as they journey through rugged lands in order to find isolated civilizations and hear rare tongues. The linguists, who speak a combined two dozen languages themselves, go to Siberia to listen to a language that will most likely disappear in the next few decades. They trek to India to explore how English colonists altered the nation’s culture, and they also visit the American Southwest to talk with Native Americans. Click here to register.

What’s Happening Series • Beginning March 1
With so much going on right now, it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening around the world, especially in places that have fallen out of the headlines or where news stories are increasingly complicated. We can’t predict the future, but we do know the importance of understanding historical background and current global context. No matter your level of expertise, the International Relations Council invites you to join our engaged community and area experts for meaningful explorations on some particularly active parts of the globe. Deepen your global knowledge and nuance your understanding of what’s happening around the world. Click here to learn more.

A Novel Experience: Convenience Store Woman • Wednesday, March 23
Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction ? many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual ? and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action… A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine. Click here to register.