Month: September 2024

A week ago the Center for Intercultural Dialogue called for expressions of interest in expert groups. Thanks to all who sent in their suggestions!

As a reminder, the major goal of having expert groups is to help make connections between followers of the Center. At present, 251 of the nearly 4500 people who follow on one social media platform or another have profiles on the site. As a result, it can be difficult to first, learn who shares your interests, and second, connect with them in some meaningful way. At the moment, we are assuming initial connections would be conversations held on Zoom, for an average of an hour at a time, but final decisions about meetings should be made by members of each group.

Here are topics already proposed. Please think about which would fit best with your own interests.

1. Media and intercultural families/intergenerational cross-cultural relationships.
2. The civic imagination and bridging divides.
3. Fine arts and intercultural dialogue/the role of art in memory’s construction.
4. Youth in the cultural and creative sector.
5. Impacts of digital transformation on intergenerational cultural exchange.
6. The 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026 – reflections upon multiculturalism and multiracialism as part of the US cultural identity.
7. International migration/migrant integration – specifically, issues of migrant wellbeing related to student mobility and highly skilled migrants.
8. Critical approaches to intercultural communication in the context of study abroad.
9. From intercultural to inter-epistemic competence in the global south EFL education
10. Culture’s role in shifting and promoting sustainable lifestyles.
11. Promoting intercultural understanding through education for global citizenship.
12. Gaps and barriers between policy approaches and implementation mechanisms for social inclusion.
13. Exploring trainable communication techniques that can enhance human connection, especially across cultures.
14. Innovations in dialogue design for intercultural communication.
15. Future of tech in intercultural communication.

In addition, there were several requests to establish geographic groups:

1. Africa-Europe relations
2. Latin American cultural studies
3. Caribbean cultural studies
4. American cultural studies
5. Central and Eastern European studies

If you are interested in participating in one or more of these groups, please email (intercult.dialogue@gmail.com) us the following:

• Which of these topics do you want to join? (You may express interest in several, but will be put into whatever group attracts sufficient interest to be established in this first round.)

• Within a topic, is there a specific issue you would most like to discuss? Or a specific action you think it might take (perhaps organizing a conference panel, a journal special issue, or an in-person meeting)?

• Would you be willing to serve as a moderator if asked?

• Tell us a little about yourself. If you already have a profile on the Center’s website, please check to see that it is current, and if not, please send us updates. If you do not yet have a profile, look at what others have included in theirs, and send us comparable information, as everyone who participates in at least one activity of an expert group will be granted a profile.

Please send in your answers by 7 October 2024 if you wish to participate in the first groups established (there likely will be additional opportunities to participate in the future).

We will start with just a few groups, depending on interest, and they will need to be of manageable size, so it is possible that you will not initially be asked to participate in one.

The Center for Intercultural Dialogue is interested in organizing several expert groups, which will hold discussions and facilitate collaborations.

The major goal of having expert groups is to help make connections between followers of the Center. At present, 251 researchers and practitioners have profiles on the site, but that is only a small percentage of the total who follow on one social media platform or another. Specifically, there are 4,491 followers as of today (1,527 on WordPress directly, 2,109 on Facebook, 696 on LinkedIn, and 159 on YouTube). As a result, it can be difficult to first, learn who shares your interests, and second, connect with them in some meaningful way.

At the moment, we are assuming initial connections would be conversations held on zoom, for an average of an hour at a time, but final decisions about meetings should be made by members of each group. If you are interested in suggesting one, and/or participating in one, please email us the following:

• What is the topic of a group you would most want to join? (You may name up to three, but only participate in one, at least initially.) Think of a topic related to your current interests, that would benefit your current endeavors, or something about which you are passionate.

• Within that topic, is there a specific issue you would most like to discuss? Or a specific action you think it might take (perhaps organizing a conference panel, a journal special issue, or an in-person meeting)?

• Would you be willing to serve as a moderator if asked?

• Tell us a little about yourself. If you are one of the 251 people who have a profile on the Center’s website, please check to see that yours is current, and if not, please send us updates. If you do not yet have a profile, look at what others have included in theirs, and send us comparable information, as everyone who participates in at least one activity of an expert group will be granted a profile.

Please send in your answers by 30 September 2024 for the first round (there will be additional opportunities to participate in the future).

We will start with just a few groups, and they will need to be of manageable size, so it is possible that you will not initially be asked to participate in one.