UNITY IN DIVERSITY 2018
From November 5th to 7th, the Unity in Diversity Global Mayors Conference 2018 was held at the historic Palazzo Vecchio in the city of Florence. The conference gathered over sixty mayors representing cities from all over the world to discuss major issues such as migration and democracy, and how cities can create better policies that foster unity and social cohesion in their communities, using diversity as a resource to strengthen those goals.
The end of the conference included a series of presentations, including one from NYU Florence students, about the importance of international education where they expressed how their own global experiences, particularly as international students studying abroad at NYU Florence, have shaped their views on diversity and globalization.
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NaTAlia Bafia
"I’ve learned to see how travel has been a blessing and a curse because it is difficult to know if the local or global perspective is the true depiction of the city we are in, so what if it isn’t worth leaving the local for the global? That’s a risk not all are willing to take."
samAntHa O'doNNELL
"My global involvement has given me the opportunity to experience a piece of the local community, and therefore be a part of it. I have found through these adventures that my place in the world is everywhere."
MICHAEL alloGgIAmEnto
"Am I defined by my home and how I was raised? Conversely, am I defined by where I am now?
In reality, when we study abroad, we gain not only a sense of self, but a sense of self in the world and we evolve."
XIN mU
"Local identity becomes the most important distinction between me and other students from all over the world. Without this uniqueness, globalization becomes assimilation. There is no conflict between cosmopolitanism and patriotism."
DOUGlAS GErtner
"These past two months have taught me that I have been living in a cultural bubble for the past 20 years of my life. The most important element of this growth is seeing how small we actually are when put on a global scale."
Page designed by Devanshi Khetarpal
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Devanshi Khetarpal is a sophomore at NYU majoring in Comparative Literature with a minor in Creative Writing. She is from Bhopal, India. At La Pietra Dialogues, she serves as the editing intern and edits student writing for LPD platforms. Her poetry collection, Small Talk, is forthcoming from Writers Workshop India this year. After graduation, Devanshi hopes to attend the University of Oxford and work towards a Master’s and a subsequent PhD in Comparative Literature. She wants to pursue a career as an academic and translator, while continuing to write creative nonfiction and poetry on the side. While at NYU Florence, she has been working on a research project on Pasolini's last film, Salò o Le 120 giornate di sodoma. Her website is: www.devanshikhetarpal.co.