Posters

Presenter(s): Yuko Abe, Marcin Schroeder

Presentation Description: Globalization and information technology revolution have restored the central position of the Liberal Arts model of higher education. Even in countries which do not have this tradition the model becomes increasingly popular.
If Liberal Arts education is going to become a standard for education in the global scale, it is a highly relevant question what kind of issues may arise when the model of education with the firm roots in the western tradition is introduced in different cultures. The defining characteristics of the Liberal Arts education include development of intellectual autonomy of students, which is not culturally neutral. Intellectual autonomy is intertwined with the idea of individual autonomy and with the authority of reason. The former is highly prized value in individualistic cultures, but it can come into a conflict with the values of collectivistic societies. Also, the pedagogical methods of Liberal Arts education promote and reward the cognitive skills associated with the field independent type of psychological constitution. Students from collectivistic societies are much more likely to have the cognitive style of field dependent type. Curricula based on the patterns developed in the countries of the long Liberal Arts tradition may be challenging for students with different cultural backgrounds.

Yuko Abe, Educated in Japan and United Kingdom, received her Masters Degree from the University of Sheffield. Currently is an Associate Professor at Akita International University, Japan. Formerly Dean of Students at Akita International University. Her research interests include intercultural communication and international education.

Marcin J. Schroeder, Ph.D. Educated in Poland and United States; recently focusing his research on information science, but for many years interested in intercultural communication and education; served at positions responsible for programmatic aspects of the university education. Currently Professor and Dean of Academic Affairs at Akita International University, Japan.

Presenter(s): Inas Alkholy

Presentation Description: The Italian Renaissance was the age of humanism; many changes occurred in life and art including the image of the book in visual art. It became a symbol of secular and global knowledge. For more than twelve centuries, the book was present in art to represent the Holy Bible showing the sacred principles and the power of the church in people's lives. Global, political, social, economic and religious factors prepared people to receive and appreciate multi-cultured knowledge.
The paper discusses Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, which shows a great concern for global education. Raphael represents Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras, Euclid, the Greek-Egyptian scientist and Ibn Rushd, the Andalusian philosopher and physician. This fresco is an official and historical homage to all minds, which enlightened Europe and affected civilizations. It is a remarkable acknowledgment of people who, regardless of race and belief made great contributions to the pursuit of global knowledge.
The paper is also a reminder for Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars of the early twelfth century, who produced many scholarly works in great unity, transcending their differences and the space--time continuum. Raphael's fresco is an ideal representation of globalization in Italian Renaissance.

Inas Alkholy is an Associate Professor of Art, Yarmouk University, Jordan. Among her publications are: Demonstration of Time in Vermeer’s Life and Art; The Atrocity of Wars: Expression of Victory and Defeat; A Middle Eastern Re-reading of Western Narrative Art;" "The Dialectic between the Styles: Gautier's Poem and Couture's Painting."

Presenter(s): Lut Baten

Presentation Description: The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is the practical application of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF), a taxonomy in which 'can do' statements are formulated for skills and competences in foreign language acquisition. Language policy makers in the member states attune their study plans to this CEF. Students define their needs, learn how to assess themselves. Their personal ELP should open the gate to mobility across Europe.
The intercultural skills and competences required for this mobility, however, have been kept vague in the CEF. Therefore an intercultural ELP and on online tool for oral assessment, WebCEF a Socrates Minerva project, was developed (www.webCEF.eu) . The objective is double: develop a tool and create a learning community/network of teachers, teacher trainees and graduates who apply the CEF benchmarking for oral performance.
We will present the problem of how to (self) assess intercultural and oral skills and demonstrate the beta version of WebCEF. How do teachers, teacher trainees and students from different cultures and with different native languages assess themselves and each other?

Lut Baten, full professor at the K.U.Leuven, Belgium,where she teaches Business English at the Faculty of Economics and Commerce, and ESP and FL methodology at the Teacher Training Department. Her research field is Language for Specific Purposes, e-learning and Foreign Language Methodology. She is involved in European projects (Socrates-Minerva) and in capacity building projects (VLIR UOS)for Academic English in developing countries.

Presenters(s): Roger Bell

Presentation Description: Spanish business schools over the last twenty years have been opening up to a more active role in globalized business. The student body is increasingly international, open-minded, cross-culturally aware and multi-lingual. Globalization is having a considerable impact on training managers engaged in negotiating and doing business across cultures.
With my masters and MBA students I have been exploring ways to heighten and encourage cross-cultural awareness working through a triangulated approach considering emics or cultural specific knowledge, etic value dimension approach and dynamic learning at cultural interfaces as a third way. The emic/etic distinction is useful but can be frustrating for the students; the etic value dimensions approach has come under attack in the literature: John Berry suggested “derived etics” as an alternative to “imposed etics” in the insider-outsider debate (Berry 1980, 1990); culture-general etics are tested for applicability in specific cultures. The Kulturstandard used bi-lateral cultural perception in line with the culture assimilator tradition of Brislin and Cushner to derive statements about other cultures.
The poster session will illustrate methodologies I have developed over recent years in ESADE, Barcelona

Roger Bell is a full time lecturer in organizational behaviour and cross-cultural management in ESADE Business School, Barcelona. He has the ESADE executive diploma, MMDP from EAMS, Granada and has created and taught numerous courses on cross-cultural management, published, presented and taught in Europe, US and China

Presenter(s): Kate Berardo

Presentation Description: This 2007 study provides a snapshot of the intercultural profession today. It highlights who interculturalists are, where we are doing our work, what we earn, what tools and approaches we are using, and the top issues facing the field today. Highlighting the activities and opinions of over 200 interculturalists worldwide, this study covers both core activities and curiosities such as how many books the average interculturalist reads each year and how much time trainers typically spend preparing for programs. Findings will be shared and discussed and comparisons will be drawn from 2004, when the first edition of this study was conducted.
Participants in this session can expect to gain a greater understanding of our field, ourselves and our work.  Seasoned professionals will be able to connect with colleagues at a collective level to assess their processes and identify new opportunities for growth and development.  Newcomers will learn about the typical backgrounds, qualifications and career paths of interculturalists and hear advice about getting started in the field. All are invited to comment on the findings and suggest additional topics to be covered in future editions.

Kate Berardo, founder of Culturosity.com and co-author of Putting Diversity to Work, has worked as a cross-cultural consultant in a dozen countries with thirty-five nationalities.  Media worldwide has featured her work, including CNN’s Business Traveller and the Gulf News.  She currently heads SIETAR Europa’s Awards Committee.

Presenter(s): Irina Chongarova

Presentation Description: The study addresses the correlation between the self-identification of the children of Russian-Bulgarian intermarriages and the development of their bilingual and bicultural potential in the context of changing relationships between Russia and Bulgaria since 1989. 
Objectives:  1) to explore the variations in ethnic identification among the children of mixed Russian-Bulgarian marriages in Bulgaria during the stage of their late adolescence and 2) to discuss the factors affecting the self-identification of individuals of dual Russian-Bulgarian heritage in the process of changing political and socio-cultural context in Bulgaria after 1989.
Methodology: The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. During the initial phase of the research 15 students at age 18-22 having a Russian (Russian-speaking) mother and Bulgarian father were interviewed to explore the issues of their acculturation and identification. A questionnaire based on the narrative research of these interviews was generated and administered to 51 university students of mixed Russian-Bulgarian origin at the age 18-22, living in Plovdiv - the second largest city of Bulgaria.
Findings: Four variations in ethnic identification among mixed-ethnic individuals were revealed. Several main factors affecting their bilingual and bicultural status were traced proving the critical period hypothesis and the importance of such socio-cultural issues as the social conditions, educational expectations in bilingual families, etc.
The study provided a rich ground for exploring the Russian-Bulgarian bilingualism and intercultural communication, thus provoking additional research questions.

Irina Chongarova, born in St.Petersburg, Russia, graduated the University of Sofia, Bulgaria (M.A. in Russian Studies and English, 1985) and the Institute for Russian Language, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow (Ph.D. in Philology, 1992). Associate Professor in Russian Cultural Studies and Director of the Centre for Languages and Intercultural Communication at the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Presenter(s): Larissa Chuprina

Presentation Description: This poster presentation is based on an international comparative research conducted by five interculturalists, Michael Bietler, Maria Galagan, Lar Mitlacher, Irina Zolotaryova, from different countries and focuses on the cultural-linguistic aspects of measurement instruments, specifically Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (Guglielmino, 1978) administered in the USA, Germany, and Ukraine. The interplay of Language and Culture has a potential for finding possible factors influencing the total scores. These factors are presented in graphs & pictures and are supported by stories and examples.
As measurement instruments are not culture-free and depict expectations of the culture in which they were created, it should be recognized by the educational practitioners administering measurement instruments that cultures differ in perception and perspective on the same concept.  Those who are tested have to work within other cultural values system measured by the instruments, which are often created from one cultural perspective.
Values shape our understanding of concepts and affect our choices when we deal with questionnaires. The understanding of the effect of culture in test-taking and self-assessment will help educators avoid the cultural biases inherent in research traditions based exclusively on quantitative analysis. Research partners include:  Michael Beitler, Maria Galagan,
 
Larissa Chuprina, Ph.D. in Education (concentrations in Adult Education and International Management) from The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN,  and MA in Linguistics/EFL from National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine.  She consulted organizations and individuals on cultural issues of doing business internationally before she moved to the USA. Currently she teaches Applied Linguistics at Seattle University, Seattle,WA.

Presenter(s):  Antonella Corsi-Banker, Jon DeVries, Yuki Tokuji

Presentation Description: As classrooms and workplaces become more globalized, there is increasing opportunity and need for initial and ongoing intercultural training for organization members at all levels of cultural competence.  Our organizations  staff, faculty, managers or colleagues may not see a need for IC skills in their roles.  However, as we encourage more study and work abroad, our organizations must play a role in supporting these sojourners.
At the same time, limited budgets constrain the resources available to deliver cultural competence training.  We set out to address how we can bridge this gap in an affordable, effective, adaptable model.
This workshop provides an overview of a specific training model and underlying theory for preparing staff, scholars and students who are working with people arriving from other cultures and those going abroad.  It also offers specific examples of in-person and online modules we have developed based on this model.  These will help participants understand and apply the model in their own organizations. In the end, participants will take away specific tools and techniques for creating cost-effective training designed to improve the experience both of the visitors and the hosts working with them.

Antonella Corsi-Bunker is a Foreign Student and Scholar advisor at the University of Minnesota, and she has also been involved in coordinating programs that promote the internationalization of the university campus.  She has a BA from the University of Minnesota in Psychology, and is pursuing a Master's Degree in Intercultural Relations.

Jon DeVries, M.A. Program Coordinator for Short Term and Custom Programs in the International Student and Scholar Services Office, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.  Jon has interned at SIIC: Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. He spent fall semester 2007 as a faculty member teaching Intercultural Communication on the inaugural voyage of The Scholar Ship.

Yuki Tokuji is International Student Advisor at University of Minnesota.  Yuki holds M.A. in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Western Michigan University.  Her academic interest includes developing programs that include components of college student development theories and intercultural communication, multicultural counseling, and staff training.

Presenter(s): Leah Davcheva, Richard Fay 

Presentation Description: In UK universities and, for our current purposes, in their Schools of Education and Humanities Faculties more widely - there are increasing levels of international doctoral student recruitment. This growth should be accompanied by an institutional commitment to supporting the students’ development as emerging scholars and researchers, and such support should, in part, take the form of adequate and appropriate training for both supervisors and supervisees. From our institutional links at Durham and Manchester, from the literature, and anecdotally from other institutions, we know that increasing amounts of supervision training are being provided for all those involved. However, we are concerned that these training initiatives are still in their initial development stage, are not universally available, and maybe given by enthusiastic research administrators rather than trainers with a good understanding of what is involved in such intercultural supervision sites. Our contribution to such training results from our exploration of the narratively-generated understandings of the processes taking place within supervision from the supervisors’ perspective. Here, we first present insights emerging from our analysis of supervisor stories and then outline some implications for intercultural training which seeks to assist academic staff and doctoral students in their conceptualisation of and engagement with supervision as a long-term intercultural encounter.

Dr. Leah Davcheva, founder and managing director of AHA MOMENTS (www.ahamoments.eu) a consultancy company for intercultural learning, education, and research based in Sofia, Bulgaria has developed and delivered training programmes for a variety of student, professional and NGO audiences and has been involved internationally in several  research projects.

Dr. Richard Fay, Lecturer TESOL and Intercultural Communication at the University of Manchester (UK), has designed and taught on various under- and post-graduate intercultural courses and been the consultant for several intercultural education projects primarily in the Balkans on which he has published articles and chapters.

Presenter(s): Helen Harnett

Presentation Description: Literature searches revealed that little or no material exists on ‘international’ immigrants providing services to a ‘majority’ community.  Emphasis is placed on ‘majority’/’local’ group/s delivering services to ethnic minorities. The impact of the recruitment of staff from other cultures is felt particularly strongly in the residential healthcare sector where older people, people with psychiatric problems and physical and intellectual disabilities depend on staff for a large percentage of their daily communication. Nurses, Care Assistants and Household Staff  from a wide range of cultures have very different values, attitudes and beliefs about  how to communicate with older people, their families and friends.
The poster will describe a pilot project being carried out in a residential centre for older people in Dublin from January 2008 to March 2009. It will display findings from staff questionnaires and focus groups with residents in the Needs Analysis phase of the project, describe training strategies used to address intercultural issues raised and outline plans to review of the effectiveness of the intervention. The presenter is very keen to meet and share perspectives with other interested parties.

Helen Harnett is a Director of Harnett Tannam Consultancy, a leading providing of intercultural training and consultancy in Ireland (www.htconsultancy.com).  She lectures in Dublin City University on Intercultural Communication and Management and is Intercultural Consultant for the Hospice-friendly Hospitals Project. Helen is an accredited Mediator specialising in intercultural conflict resolution.

Presenter(s): Thomas Hüsgen,  Anikó Urbán

Presentation Description: During a power-point presentation, based on a Poster, a Master Programme in Intercultural Communication developed by seven European academic institutions will be explained to interested students, colleagues and professional who could be open to invite students of such a programme to participate in their work. The presented programme was financed and accepted in 2007 by the European Erasmus New Curriculum Development Project and is planned to start at Porto University in September 2009 as fully integrated into the respective post-graduate national study programmes. It will offer students a comprehensive and wide-ranging view of the European dimension of intercultural communication.

Thomas Hüsgen has been teaching translation theory, intercultural communication, linguistics at the University of Porto, since 1986.  He coordinated the Curriculum Development of a European Masters in Intercultural Communication among seven partners from Porto, Dublin, Bradford, Flensburg, Kortrijk and Rezeknes.

Anikó Urbán has been teaching intercultural communication, communication theory, translation and cultural studies at the University of Miskolc, Hungary, since 1996. She took part in the Curriculum Development of a European Masters in Intercultural Communication among seven  partners from Porto, Dublin, Bradford, Flensburg, Kortrijk and Rezeknes.

Presenter(s): Jane Jackson

Presentation Description: This poster displays an ethnographic case study of advanced foreign language students from Hong Kong who participated in a short-term sojourn in England following intensive pre-sojourn preparation. During their five-week stay, they lived with a host family, took literary and cultural studies courses, visited cultural sites, participated in debriefing sessions, and conducted fieldwork. Data consisted of surveys, interviews, an intercultural reflections journal, fieldnotes, and a sojourn diary; the Intercultural Development Inventory measured their intercultural sensitivity at three intervals. The findings supported the primary assumption that underpins the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity: as one’s experience of cultural difference becomes more sophisticated, one’s competence in intercultural relations increases. The relationship between language and culture learning is, however, more complex than what is presented in Bennett, Bennett, and Allen (2003). In the case of foreign language learners, intercultural sensitivity may lag far behind language proficiency. This presentation aims to raise awareness of the multifarious internal and external factors that may impact on students’ language and cultural learning. While this poster focuses on the intercultural development of Chinese sojourners, elements of their stories should reach across ethnic, linguistic, and geographic lines and resonate with border crossers in other parts of the world.

Jane Jackson, Ph.D. is a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her book, Language, Identity, and Study Abroad: Sociocultural Perspectives was published by Equinox (London) in 2008. Another monograph, The Discourse of Interculturality: From Study to Residence Abroad, will be published in Palgrave MacMillan’s Language and Globalization Series.

Presenter(s): Yan Jiang, Hua Zhu

Presentation Description: This study examines the effects of participating in an intercultural educational programme on children’s development of intercultural communicative competence. Thirty-six 11-year-old British children, who participated in one-month-length summer camps organised by CISV (an international children’s charity specialised in intercultural education), were asked to complete an Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) questionnaire before their departure for the host countries; immediately after and nine months after their participation in the programmes. The profiles of CISV participants and their answers were compared with those of a control group of 38 children from a secondary school in UK (matched by age). The qualitative and quantitative analysis shows that there is positive and significant development in some measures of children’s ICC as a result of the participation in CISV camp. However, the development slowed down and in some cases stayed at the level comparable to the control group who has not been to the camp. Components of intercultural communicative competence that are mostly responsive to intercultural experience are identified. This poster ends with a discussion of the implications of the study for the rationale and practice of intercultural exchange organizations, as well as education policy.

Yan Jiang is a doctoral candidate at the School of Languages, Linguistics and Culture, Birkbeck, University of London. Her Ph.D. research is an investigation of children’s intercultural communicative competence development. Her research interests include intercultural education, children’s multilingual interaction and cross-cultural pragmatics.

Dr Zhu Hua is a Senior Lecturer in Language and Communication at Birkbeck, University of London. She has published extensively on child language development, cross-cultural pragmatics and intercultural communication. She is currently serving as Deputy Chair of Educational Development and Research Committee of CISV (an international children’s charity).

Presenter(s): Annette Karseras Sumi

Presentation Description: What changes can be foreseen in Japan-based companies as they respond to demographic challenges of diminishing workforce brought about by Japan’s sharply declining birthrate and the gradual retirement of its baby-boomer generation? How can business processes be organized to ensure employees are able to be both fully committed at work and also able to enjoy being parents; to ensure that the company remains competitive and that society as a whole functions in a healthy, sustainable way? This poster session is structured around key questions designed to explore near-future prospects in Japan: How are the “work-life balance” needs of a workforce increasingly staffed by working-parents to be reconciled with the omnipresence of overtime culture? What are the ripple effects of more women entering the workforce for child- and elderly-care in a society characterized by informal welfare support through gender role specialization? As the baby-boomer generation layers of management give way to the ‘prosperity generation’, and subsequently the ‘global generation’ (Sugimoto, 2003) in what ways are value sets keyed to shift? And importantly, how is attitudinal change cultivated in a society where tacit approval and reading the “kouki” or atmosphere is a basic social literacy?

Annette Karseras Sumi teaches Japanese Society (Nihon Kenkyuu) at Tsuda College and Cross-Cultural Distance Learning at Waseda University International. She also provides relocation training for professionals and their families transferring into Japan and the UK. Her publications are in the area of continuing professional development and culture change.

Presenter(s): Oleg Khukhlaev

Presentation Description: Nowadays traditional approaches to education (especially to education of specialists who work with other people, e.g. psychologists) are not satisfactory, because cultural diversity has become a part of everyday life.  In this paper, we present a model of teaching psychologists to work in the globalized world. This model is used in social psychology department   of Moscow city university of psychology and education.  The organization ofeducational field is based on three main positions: 

1. Profound teaching of theoretical basis of social psychology, ethno sociology,  ethnology & anthropology. 
2. Development of  emotional decentration abilities (as the base of intercultural sensitivity). 
3. Mastering multicultural approach in practical psychological work.

Training of our students is aimed at practical work in the following directions: 

• Psychological guidance of the education in the multicultural environment. 
• Technologies of efficient intercultural communication in business, education, health service and culture. 
• Cross-cultural psychology in state and municipal management: the management of migration processes and ethnic differences. 
• Cross-cultural psychology in NGOs and public movements:  contribution to the culture of peace distribution. 
• Social-psychological conflict management: efficient conflict resolution in big groups.

Oleg Khukhlaev, since 2003, is the head of the chair of  cross-cultural psychology and psychological problems of multicultural  education in Moscow City University of Psychology and Education.  Nowadays our chair is the only academic structure in Russia which  teaches cross-cultural psychologists as an independent profession.

Presenter(s): Márta Konczosné Szombathelyi

Presentation Description: The aim of this research is to get a picture of the communication practices, experiences, self images, opinions, negotiation habits, motivation, difficulties, work contacts as well as the language and cultural knowledge of Hungarian and foreign managers working at foreign companies in Györ, Hungary. Our further aim is to get to know more about the interactive communication of the participants of international business life, who have got different nationalities and cultures. I also intended to give an overall picture of the language knowledge and the language prestige of the employees; of the special fields to be improved; the effect of foreign interests on work and civilian life; of the experiences of work contact with the foreigners; of the readiness of intercultural co-operation and of the language and cultural influence of the change of the ownership. I will show that cultural differences not only between cultures, geographically situated far from each other, but between neighbouring nations´cultures, the national culture is a dominant factor in negotiation habits, the presence of foreign companies motivates foreign language learning, intercultural skills prevent the miscommunication, it is possible to teach and learn positive attitudes to own and foreign cultures.

Márta Konczosné Szombathelyi, Assistant Professor of Széchenyi István University, at the Department of Regional Sciences and Public Politics. Her PhD dissertation was written in the topic of intercultural communication. Fields of her research are the communication, especially the intercultural communication and business communication, as well as manager's communication, women in management positions, public relations.

Presenter(s): Marie Myers

Presentation Description: Innovative ways to understand learning and meta-learning challenges (Carneiro, 2007) are key. We examined the Council of Europe (2008)’ s Compasito-Manual on human rights education for children and the Diversity Youth Forum (Surian, 2008) within the framework “All Different-All Equal” of the European youth campaign for Diversity, Human Rights and Participation “to bring together, motivate and galvanise young people representing the diversity of minorities and majorities”.
Situated cognition as a theoretical model served as a basis for our investigation (Wenger, 1998; Lave and Wenger, 1989; Barton and Tusting, 2005) as well as needs analysis (Long, 2006). The cultures in contact were scrutinized  in order to solve existing problems while also gaining a sophisticated understanding of connected sub-cultures.We  uncovered how procedures are established for co-operation and co-ordination for mediation (Levison, 1983; Myers, 2004). Grice’s (1975) and Searle’s (1969, 1979, 1980) theories served as a background for the discussion. Kant’s theories on “reflexive judgementability” were reexamined from the angle of action- and knowledge-based  competencies. A way of collating the strategies used and a tabulation of sets of conventions identified (Wunderlich, 1982) are presented to create a world repository on such information which could be refered to for strategizing

Dr. Marie J. Myers is a Professor at Queen's University in Canada. She has published approximately 100 articles and book chapters and has given papers at local, national and international conferences in Asia, Africa, Europe and America including South America,often with an intercultural perspective.

Presenter(s): Brid Ni Chonaill

Presentation Description: In a short space of time Ireland, traditionally a country of emigration, has become one of immigration. The Blanchardstown area, Dublin 15 has been particularly marked by migration as according to the 2006 census, 21.75% of its population are foreign nationals, double the national average.
Funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS), I am currently carrying out a qualitative study of the views of local people - both Irish people and migrants themselves - on migrants and their impact on the Blanchardstown area.
The poster presentation aims to communicate the findings of the analysis of the impact of migrants on participants' sense of identity in the context of globalisation and increased migration.
First, I will give an overview of the project, the rationale for choosing Blanchardstown and a brief outline of the methodology used. Then, I will present the findings of the analysis of the construction of national identity at a local level, giving examples from the data of boundaries people draw, such as language and cultural difference, to delineate how 'we' are different from 'them'. I will consider the role of the state in the process, in addition to and the impact of globalisation.

Brí­d Ní­ Chonaill lectures in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown on culture and society in France and Ireland, particularly cultural diversity, linguistic diversity and policy. She is currently researching perceptions of migrants in the Blanchardstown area, funded by the IRCHSS (Irish Research Council in Humanities and Social Science).

Presenter(s): Paula J. Pedersen

Presentation Description: Findings from a controlled comparison of three groups of student participants in a year long study abroad indicate that it is not enough to send students to study abroad without intentional pedagogy focused on outcomes of intercultural effectiveness.
Action research assessing the efficacy of intercultural pedagogy using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI, Hammer & Bennett, 1998) was conducted in a year long study abroad program.
This poster will review the research design and results, share additional variables implicated in the findings, and illustrate samples of the intercultural classroom pedagogy.
As study abroad efforts take on a roll of increased importance in colleges and universities, it is vital that we use the resources of the academy to research the impacts and effectiveness of these programs (Lederman, 2007).  As Vande Berg indicates, to simply send students to a location abroad for academic study is not sufficient toward facilitating the larger goal of creating effective global citizenship. His call is to not simply “send students on any program, but let's fund programs that have been proven to be successful." (In Lederman, 2007, p. 2). This research lends empirical support for this assertion and asks questions for further research in study abroad.

References:
Hammer, M.R. & Bennett, M.J. (1998. The intercultural development inventory (IDI) manual. Portland, OR: Intercultural Communication Institute.
Lederman, D. (2007) Quality vs. quantity in study abroad. http://insidehighered.com

Paula J. Pedersen received her EdD in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Minnesota. An Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, USA, her research focuses on teaching and learning. Her current work looks at the pedagogy of study abroad and impacts on intercultural effectiveness.

Presenter(s): Piotr Przybysz

Presentation Description: Globalization processes, most advanced in the economic and technological spheres (functioning of the global market, spreading of trans-national corporations, unification and standardization of technological processes and their products, etc.) also penetrate into the sphere of culture and, consequently, into the world of art. A large variety of popular art forms and art-like products rooted in the show business attract the attention of millions of people, full up their free time and cut them off from systematic contact with the Haute Art. The effects of these processes are the increase of importance someone attaches to the appearance, the cult of the body, the role of the style and the so-called image. The manifestation of globalization in the cultures of the consumer societies is accompanied by de-aesthetization of art and, on the other hand, aesthetization of everyday life, which lead, according to some opinions, to unaesthetization. Does this lead, as Christina G. Allesch suggests, to the formation of a new aesthetic sensitivity (Aesthetic experience in the age of globalization)? Will the effect of this be homogenization, hybridization and creolisation of cultures and, as a consequence, homogenization, hybridization and creolisation of art?

Piotr Przybysz is the professor of contemporary philosophy and aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Gdansk. He has received his academic education at the University of Gdansk.   Piotr Przybysz is member of the International Association for Aesthetics, Polish Association of Aesthetics and Polish Society for the Study of Religions.

Presenter(s): Debbie Schallock

Presentation Description: The value of difference in diversity is examined in a Space for Gray. The original model demonstrates how difference can inform the communicative practice of global organizations.
A Space for Gray is where the collective of different voices occurs to feed the genesis of dialogue. Difference is encouraged to exist on the merit of its own standards without seeking commonalities to justify those standards. Organizational communication and global practice are enriched when the dialogic exchange occurs without persuasion through power or logic. In a Space for Gray, alternative perspectives are promoted to deepen awareness and cause radical encounters with cultural otherness.
A Space for Gray provides a framework for understanding how diverse identities are constructed through life experiences and how this influences communication with others. It encourages mutual adaptation or redefinition in dialogue and thought among individuals. Ultimately, a Space for Gray can link leadership communication and diversity to organizational change.
To test the model’s applicability, a textual analysis was conducted on several on-line texts for BASF, the world’s largest chemical company. The analysis demonstrated how a Space for Gray is communicated and created at BASF. To close, practical implications are shared for BASF and global organizations.

Debbie Schallock received an MA in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and serves as the university’s Director of Marketing. Her undergraduate degree is in Mass Communications from Elon University. She is a member of SIETAR, the International Communication Association and the American Marketing Association.

Presenter(s): Ljiljana Simic

Presentation Description: Intercultural Participatory Art Projects (IAP)1 will be presented and analysed in the workshop enable diversity of cultural expressions to persist, but also to bring something important for the creation of new informal social networks and shared values within one territory. The goal of IAP is to raise common experiences within communities, contributing to the development of social/cultural capital which guarantee long term impacts – sustainable, quality development. IAP projects generate opportunities to reinforce diverse identities, creating a sense of shared purpose, and motivating citizens involvement and strengthen social cohesion.
Are communities really transcultural, sharing identities and values based on similar experiences and gathering various cultural expressions, or are they living parallel lives, valuing differences and tolerating « the others » in  a conscious management of diversity? IAP model stresses that a community’s vitality and quality of life are closely related to the vitality and level of its cultural engagement, expression and dialogue. The many cultural elements of a community, both tangible and intangible, are avenues through which its socio-cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions are embodied. This is what a community – its history, resources, stories, hopes and dreams – mean to the individuals. It means the landing of interculturalism through IAP within private relationships thanks to proactive engagement far away from official discourses.
Very recent European IAP projects that will be presented in the workshop address spatial, social, artistic and economic frames of action of marginal groups bridging sustainability and cultural diversity through the arts. They are characterized by a sense of responsibility towards the community within which the interaction takes place.

Ljiljana Simic, an anthropologist, creative adviser,and action-researcher in intercultural projects, is based in Brussels. She focuses on the aesthetic, political and educational contribution made by art and cultural initiatives to community formation and the development of multiple identities in European cities, especially on Eastern European countries. She is project coordinator of Oracle--the European Network of Cultural Managers--SUS.DIV.partner, and intercultural trainer at KulturKonzept(Austria), Lookadok(France), AIM(Belgium), Berlitz(Europe/USA).

Presenter(s): Katherine Strous

Presentation Description: In today’s globalizing world intercultural mergers are becoming a necessity for many organizations. Along with those mergers come the realities and difficulties of trying to integrate not just two organizational cultures but also two national cultures. Much of the research done on mergers and acquisitions indicates that the majority of them fail due to the lack of consideration for the ‘human factor’ especially in terms of cultural influences. This study looks at the process of a Dutch-French company, who after forming an intercultural mega-merger, looks to create a new common organizational culture through a top-down rollout of corporate values. While corporate values are often perceived as an effective way of creating a new common culture, the effects of national cultural values on the perceptions of “values” cannot be underestimated. Using a cultural lens this study looks deeper into the cultural formations of trust especially in terms of leadership, expectations of leadership exemplarity, and acceptance processes of new corporate values.

Katherine Strous, currently working for Air France-KLM on various integration projects was previously based the last six years in China working as a Corporate Training Manager. With a BA in International Development, she is presently completing an MA in Intercultural Relations with a focus on the integration of intercultural theory with organizational development/change and adult education.

Presenter(s): Jolanda Tromp

Presentation Description: Global virtual teams have emerged in response to demands on organizations to coordinate long distance collaboration. The technology that enables global virtual teamwork promises to reduce travel cost and time, improve the development cycle time, reduce redundancies across organizations and provide a more level playing field than real world teamwork. Age, gender, class, race and status are less visible and therefore potentially less rewarded, while competence, motivation and effort are more visible. However, the success of global virtual teams is challenged by complex factors inherent to the technology, the geographic dispersion of the team, lack of opportunity to communicate in the traditional style of face-to-face meetings, time delays in replies, lack of synergy among cross-cultural team members, communication breakdowns, unresolved conflicts among members, limited hours available for collaboration due to different time zones, differing national holiday-dates; leading to a breakdown of trust in the team. These potential pitfalls can be avoided by analyzing how well the technology supports the type of teamwork that needs to take place, the type of communication that the team needs, how the multi-cultural nature of the team is acknowledged and the project management develops and provides leadership adapted to the virtual nature of the teamwork.

Jolanda Tromp is a psychologist and has a Phd in the design and evaluation of collaborative virtual environments. She has worked for 15 years in large geographically dispersed multi-cultural teams on Virtual Reality and Telecommunication projects. She is specialized in providing rapid user requirement analyses and specifications for new technologies.

Presenter(s): Tony Young

Presentation Description: The main questions addressed by this study were:   Are successful language teachers, and successful language learners, also interculturally effective  and, are interculturally effective people also good language learners and teachers.
Participants were 176 teachers and learners of a ‘global’ language – English -  from 21 different countries worldwide.  Van der Zee and van Oudenhoven s (2001) Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) was used as a measure of intercultural effectiveness.  Teachers self-rated their pedagogical effectiveness, learners reported the actual level of language learning they had achieved.
Findings indicated that higher level English language learners tended to score more highly on the MPQ’ s Cultural Empathy, Open-mindedness and Flexibility subscales.  Teachers who rated themselves as highly effective also tended to exhibit more Cultural Empathy and Open-mindedness:  in addition they tended to report more Social Initiative.  The study therefore showed powerful associations between aspects of intercultural effectiveness and the ability to be a good teacher, and a good learner, of languages.  In doing so it strongly reinforces the idea that there is a central place for intercultural competence in language teacher education, and in language learning.  These, and other key implications for interculturalists, will be outlined.

Dr Tony Young has over 20 years of international experience as a teacher, manager, teacher educator, researcher and writer in the fields of intercultural communication and language education.  He currently directs postgraduate programmes in Cross -Cultural Communication at Newcastle University in the UK, where he also teaches and supervises research.

Presenter(s): Young SIETAR

Presentation Description:
A "wallpaper session" where passersby are asked 2 questions:

1. What is good in the intercultural field (be it theory, teaching, research, training, training methods/methodologies, organizing principals so.) and should be kept?
2. What should be changed?  Where do you see the future?

Young SIETAR, as the organization of the newcomers to the intercultural field wants to bridge the gap between the fresh wind of youngsters and the well established and well founded ways of the more experienced players in the field. This session should put this thinking in a more formalized way and offer materials to go on working on this complex issue.
The session is also designed as an experiment to integrate the “real” with the “virtual” world. An issue that will become more and more pressing.
An online platform will be created for the continuation of the project.