National Swiss Week at the University of New Hampshire
National Swiss Week at the University of New Hampshire
"Putting Switzerland on the map". That could have been the motto of the annual week of the French language organized by the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This year, the French Department of the School decided to choose Switzerland as the guest country.
For a week, the UNH campus in Durham hosted various events around a wide range of topics related to Switzerland, going from a talk on Rousseau's and La Fontaine's writings or a presentation of Saint-Bernard dogs to a Swiss cooking lesson.
The innovative side of Switzerland was also presented, especially through the speech of James Sullivan, Director of Human Resources at Lonza, a life science-driven company based in Portsmouth, NH. Mr. Sullivan insisted on the necessity for a Swiss chemical and biotechnological company to extend its activities abroad and to be internationally connected, especially with science/business hubs like New England.
swissnex Boston was the main partner of the week. Besides providing chocolate and other materials, we organized a talk around the topic "putting Switzerland on the map." On that occasion, Hadi Barkat, creator of the board Game " Helvetiq" led an original interactive discussion about Switzerland beyond its stereotypes stressing in particular the entrepreneurial mindset of the country. swissnex also sponsored the projection of the Swiss film "L'Heritier" that raises the questions of mountain farming in Switzerland as well as intergration in a traditional alpine environment. After the projection, the students had the oppurtinity to discuss those issues with Caroline, Jacqueline, Pascal and Pierre from swissnex Boston.
