Author: Center for Intercultural Dialogue

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

Howard U job ad-Dean

Dean, School of Communications
Under the leadership of President Sidney A. Ribeau, Howard University invites applications and nominations for the position of Dean of the School of Communications.

The School of Communications:
Howard University’s School of Communications seeks to maintain an environment in which students engage in the pursuit of knowledge within a framework of academic excellence, professional ethics and social justice, and prepare themselves for leadership roles in the complex fields of communications, whether as teachers, researchers, or professional practitioners.  The School of Communications is the University’s third largest and currently consists of four academic departments:  Communication and Culture; Communication Sciences and Disorders; Journalism; and Radio, Television and Film.  It offers undergraduate degrees with concentrations in legal communications, speech and applied communications, advertising, broadcast news, print/on-line journalism, public relations, audio production, television production, telecommunications management, and film.

The school also offers an M.F.A. degree in film (and is the only historically Black college/university with this degree offering).  In conjunction with the Graduate School, the School of Communications offers an accredited M.S. degree in communication disorders and speech language pathology and Ph.D. degree concentrations in speech language pathology, mass communications and media studies.  Fifty-five full-time faculty members are distributed among these programs, and another thirty-four part-time faculty members teach specialized courses.  The School also sponsors an endowed undergraduate honors program and a center for excellence in advertising.  Its current student body consists of 1,200 undergraduate students and 160 graduate students.

Duties and Responsibilities:  The Dean is responsible for the overall academic, administrative and fiscal leadership of the School of Communications.  The Dean reports to the university’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer.  Major responsibilities include: maintaining academic programs of high quality; promoting an organizational climate that fosters excellence in teaching, research, professional practice, and service; enhancing the unit’s contribution to communications research; identifying  and securing external sources of support for academic programs and initiatives; fostering the continued professional development of faculty and staff; and recruiting and training students who will serve as future leaders in the communication professions and in the academy. Consistent with the university’s emphasis on interdisciplinary collaborations, the Dean will also be responsible for encouraging their growth both within the school and between the school and the other academic and research units. Additionally, the Dean will be expected to articulate a commitment to shared governance and faculty collegiality as well as advance the academic renewal goals of the university and the school.

Minimum Qualifications:  Preferred candidates will possess an earned Ph.D. in an academic discipline related to communications.  In addition, the candidate will have a demonstrated record of success at senior levels of academic leadership, including responsibility for accredited programs; a distinguished record of scholarship, teaching and service that merits the rank of professor at a research university; and a successful record of budgetary, organizational and personnel management.

Alternatively, candidates may possess a master’s degree in communications or a related discipline and a record of high achievement as a professional in communications, preferably at the executive level, with significant experience leading complex organizations; managing creative, innovative people; and managing operational and capital budgets. The successful candidate has a record that merits the rank of professor at a research university.

Salary and Benefits:  Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The preferred starting date is July or August 2012.

The University:  Chartered by Congress in 1867, Howard University is the world’s largest and most comprehensive university with a predominantly African-American enrollment. Its faculty, staff and student body include persons of all colors, creeds and nationalities. Howard University is a private university accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.  Thirteen schools and colleges offer undergraduate and graduate academic programs in the arts and sciences, business, communications, education, engineering, and health sciences, and graduate professional training in dentistry, divinity, medicine, law, and social work.  The faculty consists of more than 1, 100 full-time and approximately 450 part-time members, whose ranks included nationally and internationally recognized scholars.  Its 10,500 students pursue studies in more than 120 disciplines leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.  The Carnegie Foundation for  the Advancement of Teaching classifies Howard University among the Research Universities with High Research Activity.

Review of Applications and Nominations:  Candidates should address the above criteria in a letter of interest along with current curriculum vitae and the names, telephone numbers, and e-mail and mailing address of four references.  Review of applications will begin immediately.  To assure full consideration, applicants are advised to submit their materials by April 20, 2012.  Nominations and applications should be submitted electronically to:  CommunicationsDeanSearch@howard.edu.  Inquiries and submissions may also be addressed to:  The Search Advisory Committee, School of Communications, Office of the Provost, Suite 405, Howard University, 2400 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC  20059.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Howard University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, sex, marital status, religion, or disability.

LIU Xue Profile

ProfilesLIU Xue, Ph.D., is assistant professor of the School of Journalism and Communication in Wuhan University, China.

Book:

Shan, Bo, Yibin Shi & Xue Liu. (Eds.). (2011). The intercultural turn of journalism and communication. Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.

Journal Articles:

Liu, Xue & Zongping Xiang (2011). The democratic concern in America’s media criticism and its problem. Commentary on China’s Media Development and Media Research (Zhongguo Meiti Fazhan Yanjiu Baogao).

Shan, Bo & Xue Liu (2011). A study of intercultural events in 2011. Commentary on China’s Media Development and Media Research (Zhongguo Meiti Fazhan Yanjiu Baogao).

Liu, Xue (2010). Pursuing the media ethic for intercultural communication. Social Sciences Abroad (Guowai Shehui Kexue), 3, 155-158.

Shan, Bo & Xue Liu (2009). Discourse bias & face-negotiation: Intercultural analysis on coverage of Wenchuan earthquake. Communication & Society (Chuanbo Yu Shehui Xuekan), 10, 135-156.

Liu, Xue & Zongping Xiang (2008). Civic media reform movement in the U.S.A: 1920s-2007. Mass Communication Research (Xinwenxue Yanjiu), 97, 179-229.

Shan, Bo & Xue Liu (2007). The democratic implications, inherent nature and problems of the American media reform movement. China Media Reports (Zhongguo Chuanmei Baogao), 23(3), 4-17.

Liu, Xue (2007). The transition of American media in recent thirty years. Hubei Social Sciences (Hubei Shehui Kexue), 10, 188-190.

Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows

Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute
June 29-July 26, 2012, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

Do you know a teenager (16-18) who is interested in meeting young people from Europe, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia? Do they have an interest in learning more about transatlantic relationships, democracy, and civic engagement?

The Department of Communication at Wake Forest University (WFU) is offering 10 Scholarships for American students to attend the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows (BFTF) Summer Institute. These $3,500 scholarships include the following:

-Designation as Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellow (covers tuition, activities, meals, and lodging in WFU dorm, and partial travel funds to and from Winston-Salem, NC).
-Participation in all Institute events, including classes on: Citizenship, Comparative Constitutionalism, Documentary Film Production, New Media, Public Advocacy, taught by WFU faculty.
-Six-day educational trip to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, PA, including a visit to the State Department and several sites including the Newseum in D.C. and the Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
-Civic engagement activities, local community service projects, and workshops on public advocacy.

The U.S. Fellows will join about 50 Fellows from Europe and Eurasia at Wake Forest University, June 29-July 26, 2012. The international Fellows are from over 40 countries ranging from Armenia to Iceland, Denmark to Kosovo, Malta to Lithuania. Applicants must be U.S. Citizens and 16-18 years old.

For more information and the application form, visit http://blogs.bftf.org/

CFP: New Media

Call for essays: Culture Theory and Critique special themed issue on The “Newness” of New Media

Editors: Ilana Gershon, Indiana University (igershon@indiana.edu) and Joshua A. Bell, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution (bellja@si.edu)

Outside of the West, communities have traditionally innovated and engaged different forms of media, whether using textiles, dog’s teeth, valuables or abacus. These myriad forms remain integral to the networks of communications and relations. Today the new media technologies of the Internet, mobile phones and social networking sites provide another venue for innovation and continuity. Within the Western context, historians of media have demonstrated how new media sparks exaggerated fears that intimate connections will be harmed when a technology is introduced. Thus part of the “newness” of new media is an often-repeated expectation that new forms of representation will disrupt established social organization. In this special issue, we hope to explore how the “newness” of new media is experienced outside of Euro-America, ranging from how communities have and are responding to the introduction of writing to the introduction of mobile phones and social networking sites. This has a strong historical component; many of our questions arise from the aftermath of colonial encounters. Two themes guide these ethnographic explorations: the “newness” of new media for dialogue and the “newness” of new media for representation.

The first theme explores the ways new media is understood to change how dialogue and dissemination are intertwined. In Speaking Into the Air, John Durham Peters argues that in the Western context, people historically feared new media because every new medium alters a precarious balance between dialogue (dyadic conversational turn-taking) and dissemination (broadcasting). As new media becomes incorporated into daily life, each technology becomes valued accordingly. People see each new technology as changing how dialogue or dissemination take place, which introduce new possibilities and new risks to communication. In this issue, authors ask: how are the ways people’s historically situated understandings of how dialogue and dissemination should be interwoven affecting how people responded to new media? How are people’s epistemological assumptions and social organization shaping how they incorporate particular communicative technologies?

The second theme examines how new media become grounds by which communities can challenge misrepresentations, and assert their identities. If new media enable new forms of collaboration and participation, how then have they enabled communities to manage more effectively how their representations travel? How has this shifted historically from colonial to postcolonial moments? What new forms of creative play have emerged in the process, and how have older forms been extended? If the materiality of media matters as argued by Webb Keane and others, how have these new media forms altered or continued existing representational economies? Whose networks are being extended or cut in the process? To what extent is new media understood as re-structuring previously established forms of exchange and knowledge circulation? How have these evolving relationships shifted the ways in which scholarship is being, and or should be done? We welcome essays that address either of these themes.  The questions are not meant to be proscriptive, however, and we welcome queries about possible article content and submissions from graduate students.

Completed essays need to be submitted by June 1, 2012 at which time the editors will make initial decisions. The length of final essays are to be 5,000-7,000 words including notes and please follow the citation style found here.

Send abstracts and essays to Ilana Gershon (igershon@indiana.edu), Joshua A. Bell (bellja@si.edu) or Jennifer Heusel, editorial assistant (ctcjourn@indiana.edu).

Culture, Theory and Critique is a refereed, interdisciplinary journal for the transformation and development of critical theories in the humanities and social sciences. It aims to critique and reconstruct theories by interfacing them with one another and by relocating them in new sites and conjunctures. Culture, Theory and Critique‘s approach to theoretical refinement and innovation is one of interaction and hybridization via recontextualization and transculturation.

Google Fellowship Hong Kong

Google Policy Fellowship Program: Asia Chapter 2012

Are you a student who is passionate about a free and open Internet? Do you love debating technology, media law and Internet policy issues? Then consider applying for a Google Policy Fellowship hosted by the Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong this summer! Hosted by the Department of Media and Communication and the Centre for Communication Research at City University of Hong Kong, the Google Policy Fellowship (Hong Kong) offers successful applicants the opportunity to advance research and debate on Internet policy and freedom of expression issues for a minimum of 10 weeks from June – August 2012 in Hong Kong.

We are accepting applications for the position before April 15, 2012. Sponsored by Google, the research fellow will be rewarded a stipend of HK$58,500 (US$7,500) for ten weeks. The selection will be made by April 20, 2012.

To apply, please send to google.fellowship@cityu.edu.hk the following material:
¬ Statement of Purpose: Provide us with an essay outlining your qualifications for and interest in the program, including relevant academic, professional and extracurricular experiences. As part of this essay, explain what you hope to gain from participation in the program and what research work concerning free expression online you would like to further via the program. (1200 words max)
¬ Resume
¬ Three References

More information about the focus of the work our Google Policy Fellow will take on is described here. More information about the Google Policy Fellowship program is available in the FAQ.

Yu-Sheng Li Profile

ProfilesYu-Sheng Li received his Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of York, United Kingdom, and is currently an assistant professor at Ming Chuan University, Taiwan.

His principal interest is the psychology of social interaction, in particular cross-cultural communication and political communication.  He also has an ongoing interest in the impact of culture on technology use.  His latest English publication is below.

Li, Y.-S.  (2010).  Equivocation in ‘reunification’ for Taiwan and mainland China: Language, Politics, Culture. Lambert Publishing Company.

Recent publications in Chinese follow:

Li Y.-S. (2015). Formosa hakka radio station: The documentary of My Amazing Hakka Sisters. Global Hakka Studies, 5, 225-234.

Li Y.-S. (2015). Golden melody awards ceremony – across cultural communication between Hakka and mainstream. Global Hakka Studies, 6, 309-320.

NEH Fellowships-Bridging Cultures

NEH Call for Fellowship Applications-Due May 1, 2012

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources in the humanities. Projects may be at any stage of development.

The Fellowships program welcomes projects that respond to NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative. Such projects could focus on cultures internationally or within the United States. International projects might seek to enlarge Americans’ understanding of other places and times, as well as other perspectives and intellectual traditions. American projects might explore the great variety of cultural influences on, and myriad subcultures within, American society. These projects might also investigate how Americans have approached and attempted to surmount seemingly unbridgeable cultural divides, or examine the ideals of civility and civic discourse that have informed this quest.

All applications will be given equal consideration in accordance with the program’s evaluation criteria, whether or not they respond to the Bridging Cultures initiative.

View the NEH call for applications.

Head, School of Journalism/Comm, U Queensland job ad

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Head, School of Journalism and Communication
University of Queensland, Australia

The School of Journalism and Communication offers the longest-standing Journalism program in Australia. It also has a distinctive program in Communication for Social Change, and Communication degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with growing higher research degree enrollments. The School is responsible for a number of undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Communication) and teaches majors in the Bachelor of Arts. It is also responsible for the Masters of Journalism and the Masters of Communication. It teaches a student load of 650 EFTSL with an academic staff of 31.

The School’s aggregated research measured through ERA has been assessed by the University at the rank of 4. The School’s strengths are reflected in its awards for teaching excellence, a research centre, and active engagement with industry and the professions. Details of the areas of interest of academic staff in the School may be accessed on the School’s web site. In addition to research conducted by staff the School includes a research centre – Centre for Communication and Social Change. The school is one of six schools within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and is based at the St Lucia (Brisbane) campus.

The Role
The University now wishes to appoint a new Head of the School of Journalism and Communication. The new Head will provide a future vision that will give teaching and research programs in Journalism and Communication an outstanding international profile within higher education. The vision will be implemented by the Head providing academic, research, teaching and organisational leadership to expand research output, increase external funding support, build postgraduate culture, and broaden the undergraduate teaching base.

The Person
Applicants must possess a PhD in a relevant field of study. The successful appointee will have excellent leadership and management skills that will enable the School to develop and realise a vision that builds an excellent teaching and research culture. The new Head will be expected to have and to maintain an international reputation for excellence in research in journalism and/or communication.

Remuneration
This is a full-time, continuing appointment at Academic Level E. The remuneration package will be $151,735 per annum, plus employer superannuation contributions of up to 17% (total package will be $177,530 per annum).

Enquiries
To discuss this role please contact Bill Newton at HigherEd Appointments, the firm assisting the University, by phoning +61 (0)419 275 583 or email search@higheredappointments.com.au for initial enquiries or information on the role. Applications with full supporting documentation should be forwarded to the above email address by 23 March 2012.

Position description

Application closing date:
23 Mar 2012 11:55pm E. Australia Standard Time

U Buffalo-Singapore Inst of Management job ad

Applications are invited for instructors to teach Communication courses in the University at Buffalo’s undergraduate program at the Singapore Institute of Management in Singapore. Positions are available beginning with the Fall 2012 semester, and the individual(s) hired will be employed on a single semester or a multi-semester basis.

Available courses are expected to include, among others, those in the areas of General (Introductory) Communication; Communication Theory; Organizational Communication; and Interpersonal Communication.Position salary will depend on qualifications as well as number and type of courses supported.  Accommodations in Singapore, and round-trip airfare to Singapore are provided.

Qualifications:
A Master’s degree in Communication or a closely related field and experience teaching undergraduate students in a US college or university are required; as is experience teaching Communication courses and experience teaching in an intercultural context.

A PhD degree in Communication or closely related field is preferred, as is additional teaching experience. Experience living and teaching in an overseas environment, especially an Asian environment, are a plus.

For further information, and to apply, please visit https://www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu, and search under Posting 1200135.  Application deadline: March 23, 2012.All applications must be submitted via https://www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu; applications submitted via any other method may not be considered. This is a Research Foundation of SUNY position. The Research Foundation of SUNY is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer/Recruiter

Conference: argumentation, rhetoric, debate, pedagogy of empowerment

THINKING AND SPEAKING A BETTER WORLD
Fourth International Conference on Argumentation, Rhetoric, Debate and the Pedagogy of Empowerment
11-13 January 2013, Doha, Qatar
Qatar National Convention Center
Organized by QatarDebate Center

Affiliate organizations:
-World Debate Institute, University of Vermont, USA
-Za in Proti Institute for a Culture of Dialogue, Slovenia
-International Society for the Study of Argumentation, Netherlands
-International Center for the Advancement of Political Communication and Argumentation, USA

WEBSITE
http://www.qatardebate.org/en/Home/fourth-ICARD-PE/fourth-ICARD-PE.aspx

The conference will welcome scholars and educators from diverse fields for vigorous dialogue and exchange.  This conference will unite scholars of argumentation and rhetoric, teachers, and organizers of local, national and international debating networks to discuss critical thinking and advocacy discourse through pedagogy.  We intend for the conference to welcome all who are involved in public discussions and debates about different issues.

This conference is extremely timely.  A global information society which seeks reasoned solutions to problems through broad citizen involvement needs to develop and refine techniques for criticizing and validating ideas through discourse and then impart these to new generations of citizens if we are to create a better future and avoid looming crises.  This conference represents a unique opportunity to share ideas, network and cross-fertilize with global critical thinkers.

This conference is unique:
-Civilizations will meet and exchange ideas.
-Proceedings will be in English and Arabic, simultaneous translation of all events.
-Hosted in Qatar, one of the most beautiful, safest and international destinations in the world, the center of learning in the Arabic world.
-All accepted presentations will be published in a printed volume.

We welcome presentations, workshops, and poster sessions in English and Arabic from scholars, teachers and active citizens from around the world. Our goal is to open the way for in-depth discussions, debates, and the sharing of ideas that will enable more enlightened discourse in the 21st Century.

The program for the conference will have three themes.  Submissions are encouraged to center their work on one of the three themes and to submit proposals to the appropriate conference division.  Interdisciplinary work that might fit into more than one category is very welcome. All parts of the program will involve simultaneous translation using English and Arabic.
       Argumentation and rhetoric.  The use of logic and reason to criticize and analyze ideas through communication.  Those interested in research on argumentation theory, criticisms of communication acts and scholarship on argumentation practice are encouraged to submit to this division. English – Chair: David Williams, Florida Atlantic University, USA dcwill@fau.edu, committee members Frans van Eemeren, University of Amsterdam, Satoru Aonuma, Tsuda College, Japan. Arabic – Chair: Abdel Latif Sellami, QatarDebate asellami@qf.org.qa
       Debate.  The use of formal argumentation forums to educate and empower citizens. Those interested in work on the practice and theory of debate competition, public debates, research on the impact of debate for participants, and theorizing about debate paradigms are encouraged to submit to this division. English – Chair: Bojana Skrt, ZIP Slovenia bojana.skrt@siol.net, committee members Allan Louden, Wake Forest University USA, Steve Woods, Western Washington University. Arabic – Chair: Abdul Gabbar Al Sharafi alsharaf10@gmail.com
       Critical thinking/pedagogy.  Teaching and the methodology of teaching in the active classroom.  Those interested in using debate, discussion and argumentation in classrooms, discussion of experiences and teaching lessons relating to communication and critical thinking are encouraged to submit to this division. English – Chair: Alfred Snider, alfred.snider@uvm.edu, committee members Debbie Newman, DebateMate, UK, Loke Wing Fatt, SAID, Singapore. Arabic – Chair: Abed Naji Al Sameai aalsameai@qf.org.qa

PRESENTATION APPLICATION
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY THE END OF JUNE 2012
Go to the website and download the application form. Decide which committee to submit your application to, fill out the form and send it by email. Make sure to follow instructions.
US$300 travel grants will be awarded to those with extraordinary presentations who face financial barriers.  See website for details.

REGISTRATION TO ATTEND
REGISTRATION DUE BY THE END OF OCTOBER 2012
Those not making presentations are cordially invited to attend, ask questions at sessions and get involved.
Based on local costs, the registration for the fourth conference is comparable to the third conference. Payment can be by wire transfer or in cash on arrival. See website for details.
Full Registration: $500 (you get a lot for it)
-Four nights in a four star hotel (we are negotiating to upgrade to a five star facility).
-All meals: breakfast and dinner in the hotel, lunch at the conference site, snacks and coffee breaks.
-Transportation to and from the conference hotel and the Qatar National Convention Center.
-Admission to all conference events, panels and workshops.
-Conference formal dinner.
-Visa arrangements ($181 value for USA citizens).
-Field Trips: Islamic Museum of Art, Desert Safari and other choices.
-Conference kit and materials along with personal gifts.
Conference Registration only: $150 ($100 students)
-Admission to all conference events, panels and workshops.
-Transportation to and from the conference hotel and the Qatar National Convention Center, not available to and from other hotels.
-Lunch, snacks and coffee breaks during day sessions.
-Conference formal dinner.
-Visa arrangements ($181 value for USA citizens).
-Proof of student status required for student rate.
-Conference kit and materials along with personal gifts.
Please circulate this information to colleagues and others who might be interested.
For additional questions: (dcwill@fau.edu).