Category: Guest Posts

Mingshi Cui: Reflections on the Object Diasporas in Museums

Guest PostsReflections on the object diasporas in museums. Guest post by Mingshi Cui.

Sitting atop a display stand at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, a wooden sculpture of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin, quietly receives admiration from museum visitors. This Guanyin sculpture, originally from a Buddhist monastery in China, was removed and sold in the early 1900s, and then became part of the MFA’s Asian Collection. Now in the Art of Asia gallery room 274, with the same gaze of serenity and compassion once cast down upon the worshippers in the temple, it encounters museum visitors from different parts of the world who come to seek aesthetic pleasure and culturally diverse experiences.

The Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin sculpture at the MFA, Boston
The Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin sculpture at the MFA, Boston
© Mingshi Cui 2025

Part of my research interest involves examining how object diasporas in museums with the same place of origin are classified and displayed differently based on the distinct criteria and missions of the organizations. Using the biographical approach to trace the social lives of displaced objects now held in cultural institutions like museums, I examine how a specific group of objects has been appropriated and integrated into various narrative strands within different social and organizational contexts; and how the objects’ diasporic journeys reflect the complex history of intercultural encounters between nations throughout history.

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Maria Flora Mangano: Standing for Peace Without Weapons

Guest PostsStanding for Peace Without Weapons. Guest post by Maria Flora Mangano.

In 2025, we are celebrating the eightieth anniversary of several events related to the end of World War II, including the launch of the bombs which devastated Japan. Oppenheimer immediately realized the need to avoid global destruction, and soon he stepped back from atomic weapons, instead promoting disarmament and peace among the international community of physicists and scientists. His commitment to peace encountered strong opposition among the political and government contexts of that time. At the end of the war, he was removed from government and academic positions, and he charged with supporting communism through his pacifist ideas. He was rehabilitated, teaching in the US before his death. A few months after the creation of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer delivered a speech in the same place where the group of physicists worked and helped to create the Association of Los Alamos Scientists. They, in turn, mobilized the scientists of the world to support a peaceful use of science and knowledge, arguing for global disarmament.

What may his words suggest to us, in this tragic and dark time for the whole world, when it seems that history has taught us nothing?

Are we really powerless and inexorably in the hands of our politicians’ choices, as the obvious vision of the world seems to suggest? Do we really believe that the end of the wars come from those with the loudest voices and as a result of weapons?

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Maria Flora Mangano: Gratitude is My Attitude

Guest PostsGratitude is My Attitude. Guest post by Maria Flora Mangano.

Thankfulness may become mutual, as it is focused on our approach to the Other.

Working with students can be more than a job; it may become a life choice, an answer to a call, which we choose every day. It may turn into an attitude, a perspective on reality, a vision of the world centered on the Other rather than on us. This approach may also change our relationship to our students, and, far more broadly, with our daily lives.

…If we can shift the center of gravity from ourselves to the Other, we may experience gratitude as a pure feeling which does not depend on us, thus on our abilities, successes, or results. It reminded me of the I-Thou relationship as theorized by Martin Buber (1937), thus, the basic idea that the relationship lies in the between, perhaps in the hyphen between, the I and the Thou (Mangano, 2018, p. 27). It is a space which depends neither on the I, nor on the Thou; it is in the middle, in the between, in the “space of us.”

When we are able to decenter ourselves and put the Other at the center of the scene, we may also see what already exists, rather than what is missing. We may experience wonder, as we do not expect a gift: the Other may already be a gift, and we do not need any additional expectation. This approach, that of an unexpected surprise, may provide a new perspective on reality as a glass half-full; sometimes even completely full. In this attitude, gratitude sounds likely to be close to hope, an endless source of water although just a few drops may be enough, as they can guarantee the strength to carry on.

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Lenehan and Lietz Guest Post: The Need for a Cosmopolitan Perspective

Guest Posts
The need for a cosmopolitan perspective. Guest post by Fergal Lenehan and Roman Lietz.

The very malleability of the cosmopolitan concept – which can sometimes make it seem incoherent – is actually the great advantage of the notion. The concept has the potential to greatly help scholars, as we argue in our book Reimagining Digital Cosmopolitanism: Perspectives from a Postmigrant and Postdigital World, to conceive of the relationship between human beings, their cultural contexts, and the wider communicative world in relation to digital technologies, in new and interesting ways which can potentially advance scholarship. This may be seen in relation to the theoretical re-thinking of the internet as a global and connecting technology, in terms of analyzing of those who use the internet, while the cosmopolitanism discourse also helps scholars when theorizing about the online spaces of encounters and the myriad of digital connections contained by, and possible with, digital technologies.

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Penman Guest Post: Dialogue in the Interests of Justice

Guest Posts
Dialogue in the interests of justice. Guest post by Robyn Penman.

I propose that the dialogic form can act as an aspirational model: it is an orientation to a way of communicating, a commitment to doing it better and, only occasionally, an accomplishment.

In one way, the link between dialogue and justice seems obvious, at least as far as social justice is concerned. As Kathryn Sorrells (2015) noted in her discussion of social justice Key Concepts on Social Justice, intercultural dialogue is critical to both the process and goal of social justice because it enables us to reach across difference to creatively engage with others. Yet, even appreciating how critical that link is, there is so much more that needs to be considered. In particular, as Sorrell sums up, there is a critical need for more interdisciplinary work on understanding the importance of communication in building relationships and systems based on social justice.

The critical need for taking communication into account is reflected in such questions as: How exactly does the key role of dialogue for meeting social justice goals get played out in practice? How is it possible to even create the conditions for dialogue in unjust circumstances? And what does dialogue have to do with the common idea of social justice as the equitable distribution of resources and rights? These questions open up a whole new vista of possibilities, even to a re-consideration of what justice itself can mean.

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Yang Guest Post: The Evolving Field of Multilingual Studies

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The evolving field of multilingual studies. Guest post by Mimi Yang.

The evolving field of Multilingual Studies integrates intercultural and interdisciplinary studies missed in traditional scholarship. Most people are multilingual or interlingual (that is, bilingual, trilingual, or simply polyglots), who cross linguistic frontiers as part of daily life or at times mix different linguistic codes as a second nature, usually to a receptively multilingual audience. Linguistic code switching (moving between languages or dialects in a single conversation) in itself brings cultures together in speech and dialogue, which, in return, stimulate further code-switching. Some of us are multilingual by training and others were born into an intercultural and interlingual environment. Multiple dimensions of multilingualism weave intercultural dialogues inherently and intimately.

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Juana Du & Mingshi Cui: Museums as Third Spaces for Intercultural Dialogue

Guest PostsMuseums as Third Spaces for Intercultural Dialogue. Guest post by Juana Du and Mingshi Cui.

There has been an increasing awareness in recent years regarding the indispensable role that museums can play in encouraging intercultural dialogues and enhancing social inclusiveness. The imaginary cultural space of the museum has propelled us to a realization that we are in an era where interculturality, transculturalism, and the eventual prospect of identifying cosmopolitan citizenship can become a reality. Researchers have been examining the museum-based pedagogy of transculturalism, viewing museums as a third space where visitors from different backgrounds could learn more about other cultures and how different cultures collide and interact with each other throughout history. Yet, there has not been much study on how the visitors navigate the museum collections on display by engaging in intercultural learning activities in a way that encourages self-reflection on cultural identities and enhances a sense of global citizenship. Thus, our research investigates the potentiality of museums to be transformed into third spaces where visitors may actively explore a complex multitude of identities and cosmopolitan citizenship.

This research offers several practical implications for both museum administrators and intercultural educators. First, it suggests that museum educators design interactive exhibitions creatively to encourage transferring exhibitions into a third space in order to facilitate intercultural dialogues. Second, this research suggests museum administrators can improve their services to a more diverse group of audiences so as to enhance the inclusiveness of museum exhibitions. Finally, we suggest that cultural sites such as museums and other cultural institutions or sites may find ways to incorporate diverse methods and transform themselves into a third space that provides a more favorable cultural context for learning and transcultural communication.

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Maria Flora Mangano: Seeds of Dialogue

Guest PostsSeeds of Dialogue. Guest post by Maria Flora Mangano.

NOTE: As someone who has received a set of the “seeds of dialogue” described here, this post is particularly meaningful to me. It’s a lovely gesture, and something that would be particularly easy for others to replicate.

This idea of a symbolic gift for students at the end of a course occurred to me in 2017. At that time, I was teaching transcultural dialogue to undergraduates, in addition to a course in communication of scientific research intended for doctoral students.

I prepared “seeds of dialogue,” as I called them, by using the seeds of seasonal fruit I had at home (such as oranges or apples), which I washed, dried, and stored. It was also a sustainable gift, as I packed the seeds using recycled materials: transparent cellophane and strand of raffia for the envelope, which I stapled onto cards made of reused wallpaper.

The intent was to wish for the students to continue to plant “seeds of dialogue” in the Other, as we had experienced during the course. The proposal was to place them beyond our class, and beyond the academic context, with the aim, far more broadly, to give these seeds a place in our everyday lives.

They are only seeds of fruit, but the meaning of the seeds as symbol is immediate: each of us, wherever and whenever, may begin to create a relationship with the Other by building a bridge, by planting a seed. .

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Knappitsch Guest Post: Empowering Remote-Ready Graduates

Guest Posts
Empowering Remote-Ready Graduates: The Transformative Role of Virtual Exchange in Career-Oriented Education. Guest post by Eithne Knappitsch.

The integration of Virtual Exchange (VE) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) into career-oriented education represents a significant evolution in preparing students for the modern workforce. These innovative educational models not only bridge geographical and cultural gaps, offering a responsible form of international exchange, but also align closely with the shift towards competency-based learning, equipping students with the necessary skills and competencies for remote work and leadership in virtual teams. Recent studies indicate that Higher Educational Institution (HEI) educators are increasingly aware of the potential of VE in contributing to innovation and skills development.

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Corbett & Holmes Guest Post: Critical Intercultural Pedagogy for Difficult Times

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Critical Intercultural Pedagogy for Difficult Times. Guest post by John Corbett and Prue Holmes.

Critical Intercultural Pedagogy for Difficult Times: Conflict, Crisis, and Creativity, edited by Prue Holmes and John Corbett (2023) is a volume of case studies and theoretical reflections which arose from an AHRC Research Network project, initiated, and led by Prue Holmes of the University of Durham in 2019. Holmes was interested in exploring the theoretical and practical issues involved in the creative application of critical intercultural teaching and learning in conditions of conflict and extended crisis. In short, how does critical intercultural pedagogical theory inform creative practice, and vice versa, in what Holmes and her team came to think of as ‘difficult times’?

As Khawla Badwan, in the title of her chapter, on intercultural communication and vulnerability, observes, “I’m afraid there are no easy fixes”. There are, indeed, no easy fixes, and, for those of us engaged in intercultural education, there seems cause, too often, for despair. However, the case studies reported in this volume affirm, through their modest tales of resilience, aspiration, and hope, that in the enveloping darkness there are flickers of light.

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