Category: Applied ICD

Create UNAOC – apps for intercultural dialogue

Learning Games Network and MIT-Education Arcade, is pleased to announce the results and current updates of CREATE UNAOC, the apps/games for intercultural dialogue challenge.

Late last year programmers around the world were invited to share their vision of how mobile apps and games can raise awareness and enable new opportunities for intercultural dialogue. The winning applications were presented at the 5th UNAOC Forum in Vienna, Austria, since then several of the award winning apps/games have been fully developed and are now available for download.

Among the 5 Winners and 5 Honorable Mentions are apps/games allowing users to improve their knowledge of Arab culture (Ibn Batuta), to experience the world’s cultural diversity through the eyes of children (Touchable Earth) and to become aware of the global crisis for one of the most basic need: Water (Get Water!). Other applications highlight the importance of critical thinking in journalism (Reality, still in development) or invite young people to discover the rich multi-cultural corollary of contemporary Europe (Cultural Shock).

Ed Gragert, The Huffington Post, highlights that “these games are examples of how new technologies can provide global education content in an engaging and fun activity.” Praising “Get Water!”, Jordan Shapiro at Forbes, is intrigued by the effect of these apps: “These are some big human rights issues that Get Water drags out of the invisible shadows and brings into the light of discussion. I’m now having surprisingly sophisticated conversations with my two sons (five and seven years old) about the privatization and commodification of water rights while we swap devices and controllers on the living room sofa…all because of a video game.”

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Intercultural Dialogue and Community Development

The Center for Louisiana Studies and the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette are pleased to host Dominique Sarny, professor and ethnologist at the University of Regina, Canada, for “Dialogue interculturel et développement communautaire : l’expérience des Francophones et des Métis de l’ouest canadien” (“Intercultural Dialogue and Community development: The Experience of Francophones and the Métis of Western Canada). In 2005, Professor Sarny and others began hosting round tables between the Fransaskois and the Métis of Saskatchewan. It is an undertaking of reconciliation and emancipation unique to Canada on behalf of two founding nations that can serve as a model to other communities in the Americas that wish to be brought closer together.

The Francophones and the Métis of Western Canada share a common historical, cultural and linguistic heritage as founding peoples. Since 1885, these two nations have had no direct contact, and their increasing marginalization as minority groups contributes to the loss of their respective identities and to assimilation. Framed in a rigorous methodology, the participants at the round table learn to become aware and profit together from a necessary convergence of identity and community development perspectives, as well as an active citizenship. This round table model is suggested for consideration by researchers and community participants in Louisiana, in a rich context of intermarriage of cultures (Cajun, Creole and Native American) who share a language and traditional cultural practices (music, songs, stories, etc.). This will allow for the sharing of results stemming from this experience, and to discuss a possible adaptation to this model to Louisiana’s reality in the context of an inclusive and united Francophonie, and the necessity to invent new forms of cooperation. This lecture will be held in the Griffin Hall Auditorium on the UL Lafayette campus, 141 Rex Street, room 147, Lafayette, LA at 3:30pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.

The Acadiana community is invited to attend this free lecture en français co-hosted by the Center for Louisiana Studies and the UL Lafayette Department of Modern Languages and sponsored by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and Le centre de la Francophonie des Amériques. For more information
about this event, please contact the Center for Louisiana Studies Programming Division at 337.482.1320.

The free lecture en français will be held on Wednesday, April 24 on the UL campus at 6:30 pm in Griffin Hall Audotorium.

Original message posted to: http://www.katc.com/news/ethnology-professor-to-speak-on-intercultural-dialogue-in-canada/

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Calouste Gulbenkian Prize 2013

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has opened nominations for the CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN PRIZE until next May 31st. The Prize, worth 250.000€, will be awarded to an individual or non profit organization, regardless of nationality, who has made a valuable impact and commitment to foster the universal values inherent to the human condition, respect for diversity and difference, a culture of tolerance and the conservation of the environment in man’s relationship with nature. Please refer to Prize website for the nomination form and Prize regulation.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, based in Lisbon (Portugal) is a non-profit Portuguese foundation, both operating and grantmaking in the fields of arts, science, education and human development.

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Atlantic International School

Senegal is one of the favorite destinations of west Africa, particularly Ngor, a traditional village close to the isle of Cap Vert,  only 10 Km away from the capital. This has become an important pole  due to the fact that tourist from all over the world prefer this location to others in Dakar, for its geographical location  and also for its many cultural and natural advantages. This is why, having all this advantages, we decided to set up here our project, the Atlantic International School.

Our aim is also to
–         Promote social cohesion and encourage the pluralism and the dialogue of cultures.
–         To live in a mixed environment of foreigners and locals despite the social, religious differences where they will have the chance to realize their potential in a positive and durable way.

The service we wish to give will allow to students and locals to take advantage of the stay based on a cultural exchange through the language courses (French or Wolof), religious debates, guided visits etc., but also to create a rich contact with the local population with a particular friendship and human exchange.

The student who wish to make this experience with us will be welcomed directly at the airport and accompanied to his host family. He will join life with his family during all his stay, having the chance to eat with them for all the meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). During his stay he will attend the course in the language he has chosen to learn in our school located in Ngor village. Having the possibility to be close to the school, to enjoy a friendly and safe environment.

Through life in a Senegalese family, the student will naturally explore the lifestyle, cooking, music, rhythm of life and the beautiful resources of landscape and people. Our courses are designed to provide a full intercultural perspective, though local debates, songs, guided trips to places of interest and local traditional shops.

The language will be taught with an intercultural perspective. It will be learned by the students developing the four main activities required in a language. The passive ones: listening and reading and the active ones: speaking and writing.

To enable our students to have these abilities we will use the heritage of culture itself, learning songs, poems, traditions, articles, stereotypes, etc. in an interactive way.

Irene Manos
Atlantic International School

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Venice Academy of Human Rights 2013

The Venice Academy of Human Rights will take place from 8 – 19 July 2013. The theme of this year’s academy is ‘Obligations of States.’ Online registration is open until 5 May 2013. You can view the detailed programme here.

Faculty of the Venice Academy 2013

General Course
Jeremy Waldron
University Professor, New York University School of Law

Christian Reus-Smit
Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland

Malcolm Shaw
Senior Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and Research Professor (formerly Sir Robert Jennings Chair) in International Law at the University of Leicester

Brigitte Stern
Professor of International Law at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne

Françoise Tulkens
former Judge and Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights

Neil Walker
Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh

Key Facts
Participants: Academics, practitioners and PhD/JSD students
Type of courses: Lectures, elective seminars and optional workshops
Number of hours: 24 hours of compulsory courses (plenum), min. 16 hours of elective and optional courses (smaller groups)
Location: Monastery of San Nicolò, Venice – Lido, Italy
Fees: 600 €

The Venice Academy of Human Rights is an international programme of excellence for human rights education, research and debate. It forms part of the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC).

The Academy offers interdisciplinary thematic programmes open to academics, practitioners and doctoral students with an advanced knowledge of human rights.

A maximum of 60 participants will be selected.

Participants attend morning lectures, afternoon seminars and workshops and can exchange views, ideas and arguments with leading international scholars and experts. This includes the opportunity to present and discuss their own “work in progress” such as drafts of articles, chapters of doctoral theses or books and other projects.

At the end of the programme, participants receive a Certificate of Attendance issued by the Venice Academy of Human Rights.

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Intercultural Dialogue: Saudi Arabia

Guest PostsListening carefully to intercultural dialogue in Saudi Arabia
by Trudy Milburn.

Asked to travel to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia last March to conduct training sessions at a local university I felt some trepidation, but ultimately agreed to go.  Fear of terrorist activity against foreigners was my main concern.  However, since I study intercultural communication, I was excited to learn first-hand about a culture and a region that seemed to only be in the news because of oil and war.

One interaction I witnessed in a public square has remained somewhat of a mystery.

Our guide escorted my colleague and I to the old city-center that functions as an historic landmark and museum. As we arrived, we heard the call from the loud-speakers near minarets to prayer time.  Everyone began moving in the direction of the nearest mosque. Some women knelt to pray on prayer rugs in or near the shops. I asked about the difference, and was told that the women can pray anywhere, it is only men who must go to the mosque. Our guide himself was exempt for two reasons, he was still a student and because he was working.

Standing quite near us, by the entrance to this museum, were about three or four young men, perhaps in their early twenties.  Their dress identified them as Muslim, but since they did not wear head coverings, I could not tell if they were Saudi men.  We watched an elderly woman approach the group of men and speak loudly, gesturing towards the mosque.  From an American perspective, it seemed that she was berating them for not going to the mosque.  Her tone and the volume of her talk made it sound like she was really disapproving of them. She stood near to the group and continued in this manner for some time. In comparison to her, the few others remaining in the square were quiet and you could begin to hear the chanting of the prayer from the mosque’s loudspeakers. She seemed to be causing quite a scene and the men shifted their stances as she approached, backed off, and re-approached.

We asked our guide what she was saying.  From our American perspective, we imagined that she must be chastising them for not attending the prayer with everyone else. What our guide told us surprised us.  He said that she was beseeching them, as good sons, to attend.  To confirm my recollection, I asked my colleague and he recounted that we were told that she was telling the men how much she cared for them and loved them and that they should be good and pray. My colleague was holding the camera taking the video while I was speaking; we saw interaction in the background. Here’s the video, since the individuals are too far away to identify.

The rhetorical choices she made to persuade these men to go to the mosque initially suggested she was breaking the social norm whereby women typically respond to men’s lead.  However, her ability to shift the frame and take the role of a concerned parent who was merely reminding them of their duty to Allah, indicates a rhetorical sensitivity we would be wise to heed.  Perhaps some situations where dialogue seems impossible actually have spaces where, given the proper roles, one can make statements that otherwise would be considered unlikely or impossible.

Download the entire post as a PDF.

Where are you from?

The Where Are You From? Project (WAYF) is a series of video interviews with immigrants, citizens, new and long-term residents, and refugees in North Carolina, USA. The WAYF Project puts a face on immigration and uses technology to understand the human tendency and the right to move. We collect and share stories about mobility using a free and public platform that exposes users to the human aspect of migration, while teaching about multiple places, countries, and cultures.

The premise that everyone has a history of movement and the personal stories of the WAYF Project are particularly salient as the United States and other nations debate immigration reforms and look for alternative policies for all immigrants, from high skilled workers who enter legally to those who cross the border without documents.

Visit our multimedia website, explore the interactive map, and share the WAYF interviews with anyone interested in citizenship, mobility, and immigration.

Cultural intelligence video

Living Institute was established in 2004 to provide cross-cultural training and consultancy services. They’ve posted an absolutely delightful (and quite good, in terms of the research) video on how cultural intelligence can prevent cultural gaffes.

They have several offices in Denmark, and offer intercultural training workshops of various sorts.

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Bridging Cultures Through Film – NEH $

Bridging Cultures Through Film

This National Endowment for the Humanities program supports documentary films that explore international and transnational themes in the humanities. Projects are strongly encouraged to demonstrate international collaboration with scholars based in the U.S. or abroad. Possible topics include, but aren’t limited to:

*An examination of a critical issue in ethics, religion or history through an international lens
*An exploration of a topic that transcends borders
*A biography of a foreign leader, writer, artist or historical figure
*An exploration of the history of culture of a specific region, country or community outside of the United States

The program supports filmmakers in either the production or development stage. Awards range from one to three years and up to $75,000 (for development) or $800,000 (for production). Applications are due June 12, 2013 for projects beginning in January, 2014.

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Building bridges through intergroup dialogue

The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding is offering a practical one-week course for peacebuilding practitioners and educators. Building Bridges through Intergroup Dialogue will be held Feb 25-March 1, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

Many peacebuilders will find themselves engaging with groups who have strained relationships. Intergroup Dialogue is a creative tool practitioners can use to engage alienated groups in safe conversation about their identities with the goal of improving understanding, dismantling perceptions of the “other,” and creating alliances that can help pave the way to greater intergroup cooperation, peaceful coexistence, and equality.

In this course, participants will learn the principles and practice of Intergroup Dialogue through participation in a multiple-session, identity-based dialogue facilitated by the instructors. In addition, participants will learn the fundamentals of facilitating Intergroup Dialogue through presentations by expert dialogue practitioners, course readings, and exercises designed to build facilitation skills.

Course Requirements: Participants are expected to attend the full five days of the course and should be prepared to actively participate in six to seven two-hour dialogue sessions over the length of the course. The topic of the dialogue will depend on the make-up of the participants but will center on experiences of identity (race, ethnicity, nationality, profession, gender, political affiliation, etc.).  Participants will be expected to share and reflect on their own experiences of identity in personal and/or professional life.

The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding is the education and training arm of the United States Institute of Peace.

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