Month: August 2023

Musser Fund Grants for Intercultural Harmony 2023 (USA)

Grants

Intercultural Harmony Initiative, Laura Jane Musser Fund. Deadline:  October 16, 2023.

Through the Intercultural Harmony Initiative, the Laura Jane Musser Fund supports projects that promote mutual understanding and cooperation between groups of community members of different cultural backgrounds. Project planning grants up to $5,000 or implementation grants up to $25,000 will be considered. Applications will be accepted online through the Fund’s website from September 15 – October 16, 2023.

Priority is placed on projects that include members of various cultural communities working together on projects with common goals; build positive relationships across cultural lines; engender intercultural harmony, tolerance, understanding, and respect; and enhance intercultural communication, rather than cultural isolation, while at the same time honoring the unique qualities of each culture.

NOTE: The geographic areas for this initiative are only Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wyoming, and limited counties in New York and Texas. 

CFP: 8th Int’l Conference on Multicultural Discourses (South Africa)

Conferences

Call for papers: 8th International Conference on Multicultural Discourses: The Choice/Voice of cooperation in the Post-Pandemic World, 26-28 October, 2023, Cape Town, South Africa. Deadline: 30 August 2023.

The 8th International Conference on Multicultural Discourses, under the auspices of the International Association of Multicultural Discourses, will be co-organised by the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa, and the School of Contemporary Chinese Discourse Studies, Hangzhou Normal University, China. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Choice/Voice of Cooperation in the Post-pandemic World.” The event will be hosted by the University of the Western Cape at the Life Sciences Auditorium, University of the Western Cape (UWC), Robert Sobukwe Rd, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa, October 26 – 28, 2023.

Deadline for submission of abstracts and panel proposals: 30 August, 2023. Notification of acceptance will be sent out not later than 10 September 2023 for the abstracts received before the closing date, the rest will receive feedback as they are received.

CFP Thinking Critically about Critical Communication

“PublicationCall for Papers: Special Issue on Thinking Critically about Critical Communication, Review of Communication, to be edited by Uttaran Dutta (Arizona State University). Deadline: 15 September 2023.

Critical theories and approaches to human communication are conceptualized, studied, and applied in a variety of ways by the scholars and practitioners. Conventionally speaking, critical perspectives examine and analyze the relationships of power, forms of domination, and the underlying social structures that constrain human freedom, with an intention of overcoming oppressions and transcending contemporary social realities. However, some contemporary scholars, challenge critical theories and their self-reflexive and emancipatory potentials; they question the credibility and rigor of critical studies and label them as ‘grievance studies’ (i.e., according to them, critical theories are less interested in finding truth, and more invested to make complaints), and thereby, they argued that such approaches corrupting the academic research. On the other hand, ongoing debates on critical communication domain oftentimes focus on engaging praxis and applied aspects, specifically on how to bring about meaningful and mindful transformations and societal justice, particularly in the underserved contexts. For example, how can we (re)envision about advocacy, action, creativity (i.e., creative imagination and expression), relationships (between academia and wider societal stakeholders) and transformative practices in practically addressing emerging glocal challenges.

Thus, this themed issue asks us as a discipline to critically rethink and revisit the concepts, scopes and applications of critical communication. The following topics are of particular interest when considering the interdisciplinary nature of critical communication:

  • (Re)-envisioning/-conceptualizing critical communication
  • Review of critical communication literature
  • New paradigmatic thinking on critical communication
  • Interdisciplinary approaches to critical communication
  • Rethinking on engaged and applied critical communication
  • Newer ways of doing advocacy, and action research
  • Reflection on creativity and creative-turn on critical communication
  • Engaging critical research and role of academia in transforming society

MOOC: Intercultural Competency in Education (Iceland but Online)

“MOOCs”MOOC: Intercultural Competency in Education, offered by the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, through edX. Free enrollment every 6 weeks.

Instructors: Hanna Ragnarsdóttir, Professor of Multicultural Studies at the School of Education, University of Iceland; Fríða Bjarney Jónsdóttir, Director at Reykjavík City Department of Education, Iceland; and Ingebjørg Lundevall, teacher at Oslo VO Rosenhof, Norway.

“Some of the challenges we are facing in the world today are related to the ongoing trends towards immigration and globalization of education and the labour market. Combined with increased numbers of refugees in many countries, this has led to greater interpersonal cross cultural encounters and heightened cultural concerns. All school levels are facing complex challenges in adjusting their services to an increasingly diverse student population, irrespective of their background. It is therefore of great importance that employees at all school levels are culturally competent and can understand and adapt their services when working with people with diverse cultural backgrounds.

The aim of this course is to help the students develop intercultural competence by broadening their understanding of different cultures and different identities, as well as promoting students´ awareness of their own culture, learning from the experiences of international educators as well as professionals at the municipality level in the Nordic countries. An added value is that the course is open to participants from different parts of the world, which creates a cross-cultural learning and teaching environment.

By the end of this course you should have learned practical intercultural skills and increased your understanding of intercultural competence; how to talk about and address intercultural opportunities and challenges, how to develop strategies to respond to diverse and hybrid identities in a fairer way, and how to promote social justice in education and respect for different languages, preventing conflicts and enhancing societal cohesion.”

The course can be taken for free, or with a variable certificate for $69. It is designed to take 5 weeks, with 2-4 hours/week of time.