Author: Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, the Director of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, manages this website.

Dialogue for Intercultural Understanding

“Book NotesMaine, F., & Vrikki, M. (Eds.). (2021). Dialogue for intercultural understanding: Placing cultural literacy at the heart of learning. Springer Nature.

This book is a result of an extensive, ambitious and wide-ranging pan-European project focusing on the development of children and young people’s cultural literacy and what it means to be European in the twenty-first century, prioritizing intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding.

Maine and Vrikki have edited this collection resulting from a major EU funded project, DIALLS (Dialogue and Argumentation for cultural Literacy Learning in Schools), lasting 3 years, and involving 10 partners around Europe. The challenge “was to create a project that could address how children and young people might develop the knowledge, skills and competencies needed for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding. The DIALLS project has met this challenge by working with teachers in different educational settings (pre-primary, primary and secondary) to create cross-curricular resources and activities…In a further innovation and to enable intercultural dialogue in action, the project developed an online platform as a tool for engagement across classes.” (p. 2).

CFP Sociolinguistics Symposium 2022 (Belgium + Online)

ConferencesCall for proposals, Sociolinguistics Symposium 24: Inside and Beyond Binaries, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium (and online), 13-16 July 2022. Deadline: 25 October 2021.

Sociolinguistics Symposium is the world’s main gathering of sociolinguists internationally. This two-yearly event provides a unique opportunity and forum to develop and exchange ideas and research findings about language and society in its manifold connections and manifestations. From its beginnings as a small meeting in the UK in 1976, the tradition of Sociolinguistic Symposia has grown into the largest sociolinguistic networking event in the world. Attracting hundreds of participants and exhibitors, the Symposium is also a stimulating space for networking.

It is with much enthusiasm that organizers announce Sociolinguistics Symposium 24. SS24 will be held in Ghent in July 2022. In close consultation with previous symposium organizers and colleagues in Hong Kong, the tradition of a meeting in even years is upheld. SS24 in 2022 will mark the 20th anniversary of the first Sociolinguistics Symposium hosted on the European mainland (SS14 in Ghent in 2002). SS24 is organized by Ghent University in close collaboration with the Belgian sociolinguistic community. The dates of the conference are 13-16 July 2022.

World Teachers’ Day Oct 5 2021

EventsWorld Teachers’ Day: Teachers at the Heart of Education Recovery, October 5, 2021. Sponsored by UNESCO, UNICEF, International Labour Organization, and Education International.

World Teachers' Day 2021

We honor all the teachers who follow the Center for Intercultural Dialogue. This has been a difficult year and a half for so many. Take a moment to pause, and appreciate all that has been accomplished despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

For those who have the time, World Teachers’ Day celebrations will take place from 4 to 8 October 2021.

SDSU: Asst Prof of Conflict Communication/Civil Discourse (USA)

“JobAssistant Professor of Conflict Communication / Civil Discourse, San Diego State University, CA, USA. Deadline: October 11, 2021 (or until filled).

The School of Communication at San Diego State University (SDSU) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in Conflict Communication/Civil Discourse, at the level of advanced assistant professor, to start August 2022.

Responsibilities: The successful candidate is expected to have a scholarly research agenda examining conflict communication or civil discourse from an interpersonal, organization, group, health, or intercultural, perspective. The faculty member will be able to teach curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate level. Courses include, but are not limited to, topics in communication theory, methodology, and conflict management. The candidate will also have the opportunity to create and teach classes aligned with their particular research interests, including upper division and graduate level courses. The successful candidate will also be expected to provide service to the School, College, University, and professional communication organizations. Faculty members are expected to serve on and chair master’s thesis and comprehensive examination committees, and mentor early career faculty members as appropriate.

Michigan State U: Interethnic & Intercultural Communication (USA)

“JobTenure track open rank in Interethnic and Intercultural Communication, Department of Communication, Michigan State University,  East Lansing, MI USA. Deadline: September 8, 2023; posted September 8, 2021.

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University invites applicants for a multi-position thematic hire with a focus on race, ethnicity, gender, and/or social inequality. They seek scholars whose research, teaching, outreach and/or service seek to address systemic inequities and who will advance the College’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The goal of the thematic hire is to grow our collaborative network of scholars focused on communication and disparities across a broad range of subdisciplines, bringing together new hires and existing faculty experts. Successful candidates will be part of a community of scholars and practitioners working to enhance social justice through research in the fields of communication, journalism studies, advertising, public relations, information science, game studies, and communicative sciences and disorders. The hiring initiative will bring in five new faculty over two years.

One open rank tenure stream faculty position will be in the Department of Communication. The optimal candidate should be able to teach courses in interethnic and intercultural communication as well as a secondary area in organizational, interpersonal, or persuasive communication. They are particularly interested in scholars who contribute to and test communication theory in diversity and intercultural communication contexts. Qualified applicants should have a social scientific focus, a background in quantitative research methods, and expertise to teach both graduate and undergraduate courses. Candidates must have a commitment to mentoring graduate students, teaching, high-quality empirical research, and external grant activity. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Communication or a related field.

NOTE: This is Posting #732271, once you get to the MSU site.

EIUC Electoral Observers Training 2021 (Italy)

Applied ICD

Training seminar for International Electoral Observers, Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice, Italy, 15-20 November 2021. Deadline: 29 October 2021.

The Global Campus of Human Rights has developed a course aiming at providing training to civilian staff in election observation missions at the first steps of their career (i.e. short term observers). Selected applicants will be allowed to become aware of the role, the tasks and the status of international observers, and will be given a theoretical and practical training on election observation and election observation missions functioning. The training will take place in Venice, at the Global Campus of Human Rights Headquarters, from 15-20 November 2021.

After the successful brand new online edition of February 2021, a second edition of the course will offer selected participants a new challenging experience in distance learning education.

CFP Difficult Conversations Concerning Identity & Difference

“PublicationCall for extended abstracts: Difficult Conversations Concerning Identity and Difference, Special issue of Human Communication Research. Deadline: November 7, 2021.

Guest Editors: Srividya Ramasubramanian, Syracuse University and Jordan Soliz, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

From community dialogues about polarizing social issues to managing different ideologies and identities in families to critical conversations about different lived experiences (e.g., differences in experiences of bias and discrimination, experiences with chronic illness and disability), our daily lives are often infused with conversations that can be characterized as difficult, contentious, uncomfortable, or anxiety-inducing often requiring courageous, bold, and vulnerable engagement by individuals, organizations, and communities.

Further, popular conceptions of what constitutes “appropriate” conversations can often silence dissent, suppress voices of marginalized communities, or ignore experiences of individuals. These difficult conversations and dialogue are often necessary to achieve social justice goals, to build inclusive community or relational solidarity, to enhance individual well-being, to critically engage social issues and truth-telling, or to serve as the foundation for community-led initiatives to enact social change. As such, we benefit from additional inquiries, theorizing, and critical examination on what contributes to effective and empowering conversations in these contexts as well as the personal, social, institutional, and cultural factors that influence engagement in and outcomes of these interactions.

Dialogues for Artists in a Changing World (Malaysia but Online)

EventsDialogues for Artists in a Changing World: Florescence, Neuroaesthetics, and Intercultural Art, University Pendidakan Sultan Idris, Selangor, Malaysia, Online, October 1, 2021.

Dialogues for Artists in a Changing World

Florescence is the term used to refer to flowering; a potent image that recurs throughout art history with shifting contexts and symbolism. Lida Sherafatmand, co-author of the Manifesto of Florescencism, will discuss her belief in the power of art to contribute to social and environmental equilibrium, and its ability to resonate beyond geographic borders. Dr. Ramin Hajianfard, Senior Lecturer in Art & Design at the University Pendidakan Sultan Idris, Malaysia, whose research interests include peace painting and intercultural aesthetics, will participate as well. Touching on the importance of art having an awareness of other disciplines, including psychology and social science, the conversation will explore the political power of an aesthetics of gentle beauty and the importance for painting to be in constant conversation with many different spheres, as well as how research into neuroaesthetics can widen the scope of understanding of the ways in which art interacts with and affects viewers.

The event is scheduled for Friday, October 1, 2021. The times are as follows:
Malaysia – 10.50pm / 11pm start
Central Europe – 4.50pm / 5pm start
UK/Ireland – 3.50pm / 4pm start
East Coast US – 10.50am / 11am start
West Coast US – 7.50am / 8am start

(Follow the link in the first paragraph to participate.)

CFP Historizing International Organizations

“PublicationCall for papers: Historizing International Organizations and Their Communication – Institutions, Practices, Changes, Special issue of Studies in Communication Sciences. Deadline: January 30, 2022.

The Thematic Section will focus on the history of international organizations and their communication. Since the second half of the 19th century, for numerous and diverse areas of social life, globally active international organizations of varying degrees of institutionalization and scope, both non-governmental and intergovernmental, have been founded and have dedicated themselves to the global challenges of the first modern age. The most famous of these is certainly the League of Nations, which was established in 1919 as the predecessor institution of the United Nations.

From a media-historical perspective, international organizations played a highly visible role in the transnational intertwining and consolidation processes of journalism, culture, media, politics, technology, and the public sphere in the 19th and 20th centuries. Against the background of the much-discussed boundaries between secret diplomacy and public diplomacy, especially after the First World War, such organizations contributed to the development of the first arenas and forms of international and transnational public spheres whose orientation was toward global governance. To spread their concerns and goals globally, they: constantly used the latest communication technologies and the growing diversity of the media for their communication; organized and professionalized their information work; and developed specific information-policy instruments and strategies for that purpose.

SUNY New Paltz: Communication & Culture (USA)

“JobAssistant Professor of Communication and Culture, Department of Communication, SUNY New Paltz, NY, USA. Deadline: Open until filled; posted September 10, 2021.

The Department of Communication at the State University of New York at New Paltz seeks an assistant professor of Communication and Culture beginning in Fall of 2022. We especially encourage applications from individuals who can bring diverse cultural and ethnic perspectives and experiences to the campus and who can advise and mentor all members of our diverse student body. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses such as: Communication Among Cultures; Storytelling and Culture; Nonverbal Communication; Communication, Culture, and Difference; Qualitative Research Methods; Interpersonal Communication Seminar.

A master’s program in Strategic Communication is being developed, and the successful candidate may also teach courses within that program. The normal teaching load is 9 credits per semester. Although teaching is the primary responsibility at SUNY New Paltz, scholarly work and ongoing service to the department and college are expected.