Pre-Congress Development Workshops
Here you will find further details of the Pre-Congress Development Workshops being run at this year’s SIETAR Global Congress. Please note that these workshops do not form part of the main Congress programme and are subject to additional participation fees:
For full day workshops, the cost per participant is €220 (concessions €160).
For half day workshops, the cost per participant is €110 (concessions €80).
NOTE: Concessions are available for full-time students with valid ID, Young SIETAR members and those who have received reduced fee status for the main Congress (ID/evidence must be shown).
To register and pay online, please follow the link at the end of each title.
Track A: Knowledge and Understanding
A1
Presenters: Robert Crane, Luis Rivera and Abdulhamied Alromaithy
Title: Building a Common Cross-Cultural Vocabulary and Network among Religious Professionals
Tuesday, 21 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
Designed for clergy and leaders of various faiths and religious traditions, but also open to all interested stakeholders, this workshop aims to provide a forum for discussing the core values of religious traditions with a view to identifying and working with communalities, contrasts and potential conflicts. Contemporary cultural analysis tools – in particular, the Cultural Detective – will be employed to focus on values and lead toward both a theoretical and practical understanding of the management of those values that tend to encounter each other as inflexible absolutes. The goal is to begin to constitute a global network of clergy from different faiths who are interested in creating a cross-cultural approach to communication and peace building.
Robert Crane is based in Paris, France, and is Professor of “Interculturalité” in a French government sponsored program for the future imams of France.
Luis Rivera is a Professor at McCormick Theological Seminary, Illinois, USA.
Abdulhamied Alromaithy works as a cross-cultural consultant, coach and trainer for Culture Arabia in Dubai.
A2
Presenter: Melville Petrie
Title: Training for Business with 21st Century China
Tuesday, 21 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
This workshop is designed to develop participants’ cultural understanding and cross-cultural training skills for training assignments on Chinese culture(s). Based on research carried out in 2002 and 2008 drawing comparative deductions and supported with relevant historic and contemporary images and handouts, the workshop will focus on the rapid cultural shifts amongst the Chinese and identify the most effective ways to train people for success in interactions between Chinese and non-Chinese. The pitfalls in training about China will be discussed, including misreading the power of traditional culture on how 21st century business is carried out, underestimating the shift towards Individualism in interpersonal behaviour, and cultural stereotyping by both Chinese and Westerners.
Melville Petrie is Director of Petrie Associates International Ltd. Mel runs workshops in the UK and Europe for companies trading with China including B&Q and Tesco and in Chinese for Chinese companies such as Shanghai Automotive and government bodies such as the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs. He is the author of 'Talking with the New Business Dragons’ (2005) and has published articles in both the specialist and general press.
A3
Presenter: Jana Holla
Title: Occidentalism Inside Out: Mutual Perceptions of the Arab "East" and the "West"
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-1 (half day)
Workshop Description
Mutual perceptions play a determinant role in relationships. Unsurprisingly, the difficult relationship between the Arab "East" and the "West" is characterised by many tenacious essentialist and reductionist misrepresentations. This workshop aims to build your capacity to overcome the stereotypes and connect constructively with the Arab “other” by addressing:
- How we (mis)perceive each “other”: we will deconstruct the stereotypes that shape each group’s skewed perceptions, revealing the Arab lens to Westerners.
- The ‘others’ complex reality: we will explore how the “other” conceptualises and experiences reality, hopefully glimpsing the Arab world from “within” – on its own terms.
Jana Holla, training consultant based in Cairo, Egypt, and Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Ethnology of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. She moved to Cairo 4 years ago to work on her research focusing on contemporary Egyptian perceptions of the "West". The research combines an interdisciplinary approach with a broader focus on the perception of the "Other" as well as "East-West" dialogue processes. In addition to her academic interests, Jana has been actively exploring the intercultural communication field, mainly expatriation issues and related training. She works with AFS Egypt managing the support of hosted students as well as helping AFS volunteers in developing their intercultural and training skills. Jana is currently in the process of launching a freelance career in intercultural training and consultancy, focusing on expatriation training and cross-cultural competency.
A4
Presenter: Douglas Stuart
Title: Global Cultural Change is Developmental and Predictable; How Do We Know and What Does This Mean for Interculturalists?
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
This workshop explores the increasing evidence of global cultural change and its relevance for interculturalists in three segments of presentation and discussion. Part 1 focuses on the findings of the World Values Survey, examining evidence for developmental change toward freedom of expression. Part 2 considers cultures as expressions of developmental levels of self and awareness, examining cross-disciplinary evidence for cultural evolution and the implications of an evolutionary perspective for intercultural theory and practice. Part 3 explores how a developmental perspective of culture enlivens and enhances interculturalist theory and its approach to both traditional cross-cultural programs and the challenges of global business.
Douglas Stuart, Ph.D., is Director of Intercultural Training for IOR Global Services. In this role, he writes position papers, develops curricula, recruits and briefs new trainers, delivers programs to business groups as well as families relocating globally, and coaches executives on intercultural issues. Prior to joining IOR, Doug served as an educational specialist in Andersen Worldwide’s Performance Consulting group at the Center for Professional Education. His background in international education includes faculty positions at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, where he gained his Ph.D. and the Economics Institute of the University of Colorado, Boulder, as well as language program management positions in Algeria and the United Arab Emirates. His international work experience also includes Germany, Egypt, and Vietnam. He has made frequent presentations at SIETAR USA and Europa conferences and other professional events, including the 2004 SHRM Global Forum in Chicago.
Track B: Tools and Activities
B1
Presenter: Sharne Van der Burgh
Title: True Colors® – A Versatile Tool for Coaching and Training across Cultures
Tuesday, 21 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
True Colors® is a fun, interactive development tool used to:
- enhance communication, teamwork and interpersonal relationships
- develop self confidence and self esteem
- overcome issues such inter-cultural conflicts
- support the development of career plans and career choices – at any life stage.
Using the concept of “edutainment”, True Colors® has been successfully used in the United States for the past 30 years and in Europe for the past 6 years within cross cultural teams within business. Grounded in Jungian temperament typing theory and derived from the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), it enables people to understand their own and others’ personalities and their impact on relationships. Trainers, Teachers and Coaches are naturally inquisitive learners, always searching for new ideas and products with which to fill their professional “kit bags”. If someone is seeking a new interactive tool to use within their coaching or training business, then True Colors® may be for them.
Sharne Van der Burgh, coach and team facilitator, True Colors UK.
B2
Presenter: Leila Buck
Title: Creating, Exploring and Challenging Global Narratives: Storytelling as a Tool for Crosscultural Engagement
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
What happens when narratives collide and how do we address those collisions? How can individuals and cultures preserve their unique stories in an increasingly globalized world? In this interactive, experiential workshop, we will examine the purpose, use and adaptation of stories as tools for creating, sharing and challenging personal and cultural values in intercultural work. Exercises will be adapted to the specific interests of the group and based in the work of Augusto Boal (which presents and reshapes personal and communal stories to create dialogue about and solutions to social, economic and political conflicts). By sharing simple stories and identifying cultural narratives, participants will explore how the stories we hear, witness, and choose to pass on shape our definitions of self, other and the intersections between them.
Leila Buck is an Arab-American actress, writer and teaching artist who has conducted workshops on storytelling, creating new work, and drama for cross-cultural engagement at conferences, universities, schools and cultural centers in the U.S., Europe and China, including performances and workshops at the SIETAR-Europa 2005 and SIETAR-USA 2007 conferences. For the past ten years she has performed her award-winning one-woman shows ISite and In The Crossing across the country and around the world. Leila's acting credits include film, voice and theater work in New York, Williamstown and Los Angeles and storytelling at the NY Museum of Natural History and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. She is currently New York Theatre Workshop's teaching artist at the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, teaches dramatic storytelling with Al Bustan Seeds of Culture and has guest lectured on the use of oral narrative at Temple University and the New School. She holds a Master’s in Drama for Education about the Arab World from NYU, is conversationally fluent in French, Spanish and Arabic and has lived, worked and traveled in more than 17 countries in Europe and the Arab World.
B3
Presenters: Todd Conklin and Richard Harris
Title: Succeeding with Multicultural Groups: Practical Ideas that WORK
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
Working with multicultural groups requires flexibility and variety, and this workshop will introduce to participants a number of fast, practical, effective, and cheap approaches they can use immediately. Among these will be:
- Appreciative Inquiry, a technique for using positive experiences to create common goals and shared commitment.
- Transformational Language, which shows how the words we use to describe a situation affect our thinking about how to act.
- Conflict Styles, an instrument that reveals the different ways people deal with conflict — and how to benefit from these differences.
- A number of five-minute 'aha' exercises that illustrate cultural difference in a fun, productive way.
Participants will have the opportunity to experience these exercises, discuss them, and apply them to their own situations. A complete set of handouts will allow full participation without time spent in note-taking!
Dr Todd Conklin is a senior advisor for human performance improvement at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is interested in organizational culture, especially the culture that seems to arise around workplace power and communication in multicultural settings. Todd lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and works extensively in his home state with community groups, schools, clubs, and non-profit groups with special social impact.
Dr Richard Harris, born in London, U.K., is a tenured professor at Chukyo University, Japan, where he has lived for twenty-eight years. He teaches intercultural communication in Japanese at graduate and undergraduate levels, and travels extensively, out of personal and professional curiosity. Richard has published several papers on the cultural impact of different spaces, and is the author of Paradise: A Cultural Guide, a study of cross-cultural concepts of the ideal.
B4
Presenter: Joseph Shaules
Title: The Deep Culture Approach to Intercultural Training and Education
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
This workshop will introduce the Deep Culture approach to intercultural training and education. Participants will: 1) learn about deep culture theory and its implications for intercultural learning, 2) be introduced to the PICO profiling instrument, 3) receive an assessment of their intercultural learning style, 4) learn to use the Deep Culture Learning Model, a conceptual tool that allows trainers to better understand cultural adaptation, 5) learn about the Deep Culture Values Survey Instrument, an online educational tool, 6) receive a materials packet containing readings and learning tools, and 7) explore how this approach can be applied in their professional context.
Joseph Shaules (PhD) is the director of the Japan Intercultural Institute, an associate professor at the Rikkyo University Graduate School of Intercultural Communication, Japan, and a consultant/trainer for Intercultures, Germany. He has published extensively and is the author of Deep Culture – Hidden Challenges to Global Living (Multilingual Matters, 2007), numerous articles, as well as language and intercultural education textbooks. He was for six years co-presenter of the NHK television program Crossroads Café. He teaches courses in intercultural education at the International Center at Keio University. He does intercultural training in Japan and is currently working with the International House of Japan to develop seminars in leadership skills for intercultural professionals. He holds a PhD from the University of Southampton, where he carried out research on intercultural adaptation. He created the PICO (Personal Intercultural Change Orientation) profiling instrument, developed under the auspices of the Japan Intercultural Institute. He has lived and worked abroad (Mexico, Japan, France) for more than 20 years and is proficient in English, Japanese, French and Spanish. Currently, he lives in Tokyo and Paris.
B5
Presenter: Bjørn Z. Ekelund
Title: Introduction to Diversity Icebreaker™
Wednesday, 22 October, 2.30-6 (half day)
Workshop Description
This Development Workshop will introduce a questionnaire and concept called Diversity Icebreaker™. Diversity Icebreaker™ is a 42 item questionnaire with 3 dimensions, called Red, Blue and Green. The 3 dimensions can be linked pedagogically to different objectives:
- Personality differences
- Team roles
- Preferred communication styles
- Categorisation of self and others, prejudices
- In-group and out-group processes
- Taking social positions in opposition to others
- Different contributions in different stages of business processes
- Creating a psychologically safe climate of openness and learning
- Not least, collective reflection regarding language used in groups and organisations.
The concept is most often used in:
- Training of relevance for team, projects, communication and negotiations
- Starting off seminars where openness, feedback and learning is important
- Before learning groups are established in personal development programs
- Cross-cultural training
Bjørn Z. Ekelund studied Psychology at the University of Oslo, Norway, and gained an MBA from Henley Management College, UK in 1997. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in International Management at the University of Agder, Norway. He has been managing consultation companies since 1987 and has been managing director of Human Factors AS, Norway since 1993. He has built up and executed certification seminars for a range of different psychological tests since 1995; 16PF5 in Norway, Global Personality Inventory (PDI-concept), Emotional Intelligence (BarOn), Team Climate Inventory (ASE-NFER Nelson; West & Anderson), Cultural Perspectives Questionnaire (Maznevski & DiStefano, IMD). He has developed his own test-portfolio relevant for team work; Team Performance Inventory and Cross-professional Checklist. He started the development of the tool called Diversity Icebreaker in 1995.
To register for this event, please click here
Track C: Practitioner Development
C1
Presenters: Philip O’Connor and Adrian Pilbeam
Title: Training for the Many Cultural Identities of Learner: Learning Styles and Training Activities
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
We all learn in different ways. These differences are individual, but there are also tendencies for different cultures to have preferred learning styles.
In this workshop we will look at Kolb’s model of learning modes and its implications when working with people from different cultures. Participants will participate in a variety of training activities, and analyse their effectiveness from the point of view of the cultural identities of learner.
The workshop will be very “hands-on” and participants will be able to share activities which they use in their own training situations and learn about others to use for the future.
A British national and Director of LTS in Bath, UK, Adrian Pilbeam has been an intercultural and international communications trainer and consultant for more than 20 years. Adrian has lived and worked in France, Belgium and Portugal and is now based in the UK. He regularly runs training workshops in all parts of Europe, as well as Asia and the US.
An Irish national and a senior training consultant at LTS, Philip O’Connor has been an intercultural and international communications trainer and course designer for more than 15 years. He has been a board member of SIETAR Europa and was the first president of SIETAR UK. Now based in the UK, Philip has also lived and worked in Sweden and Germany.
C2
Presenters: Jeremy Solomons and Monika de Waal
Title: Becoming an Ethical, Competent and Effective Intercultural Practitioner: Best Practices in Getting from Theory to Practice
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
This practical, interactive workshop will help new graduates and career changers within the intercultural field and new or experienced trainers and practitioners in other fields to: Reflect on the functional and ethical responsibilities and duties of intercultural practitioners; Confirm they have both the motivation and the basic skills and experience to launch a successful career in this area; Explore the different freelance and in-house opportunities that are available in the intercultural training field and the associated areas of intercultural coaching, consulting and facilitation; Devise effective marketing strategies and publicity materials for finding full- and/or part-time work; Develop practical skills to network, interview and negotiate successfully.
Jeremy Solomons is the UK-born founder/president of Jeremy Solomons & Associates. He provides customized coaching, facilitation and training in Career Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Global Leadership, Globalizing Organizations and Multicultural Teambuilding to current and future leaders around the world from his base in Austin, Texas. Since 1995, he has co-designed and -delivered many workshops on intercultural career development around the world, including SIETAR conferences in the USA and Europe. He was a founding board member of SIETAR USA, with shared responsibility for Careers and Mentoring.
Monika de Waal is the managing director of Unique Sources, a management consultancy based in Delft, Netherlands, specialising in personal effectiveness and change management. She is a specialist in organizational development, change and strategic management and focuses on creating opportunities for dialogue in complex organizations undergoing change, with a core interest in organizational development and process consulting. She works both in the corporate sector, as well as with local and national governments. Programmes include leadership, business ethics, teambuilding, intercultural negotiations and conflict management.
C3
Presenters: David Walsh and Noel Kreicker
Title: Strategies for Developing an Intercultural Business or Consultancy
Wednesday, 22 October, 9.30-6
Workshop Description
This workshop will provide information essential to positioning and growing a business in the UK, Europe, as well as in the USA. Rarely is there a source or place for Interculturalists to learn first-hand about the strategies, practicalities and realities of entrepreneurship in our field. Helping others succeed will expand the visibility and value of our profession. The topics covered include
- Converting Intercultural Work into Business Language that Sells
- How to be Taken Seriously & Establish Credibility
- Financial Facts: Can I Make a Living?
- Sales and Marketing Techniques Across Cultures
- The Art and Science of Proposals and Pricing
- Ways to Work Smarter; Cost-Savings Suggestions
- Insights into Successes and Failures
- Creating a Network of Others who are on a Similar Mission
David Walsh is the Director of Training of Open Minds, Ireland, a company dedicated to helping individuals and organizations to proactively benefit from the creative potential of each of their staff, clients, and other stakeholders. David has wide ranging expertise and competencies in the area of diversity management. He has conducted research on the issue of policing and interculturalism in the Irish context and has worked/lectured in both Ireland and Europe on diversity issues. He is a Licenced practioner of Neuro Lingustic Programming and is trained in the use of Appreciative Enquiry as a research methodology in managing differences. David holds an M Phil in Ethnic and Racial Studies from Trinity College, Dublin and has third level qualifications in both law and management.
Noel Kreicker is President and Founder of IOR Global Services, Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, and London, England. Noel supports IOR’s Strategic Management Team, provides intercultural expertise to external organizations, generates new business opportunities, and engages in projects which expand the company’s global visibility. She is a Board member of AIPT, Association for International Practical Training, is a writer and editor for HRCI, Human Resources Certification Institute for the GPHR, Global Professional in Human Resources exam, acts as Technology Advisor for SIETAR USA, serves on the Midwest Advisory Board for IIE, Institute for International Education, and recently completed a three-year term on the SHRM Global Advisory Panel. Noel is a graduate in fine arts from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is currently co-authoring a book on global diversity and talent management.
