A Note on WordPress Comments (2025)

About CID

The Center for Intercultural Dialogue’s WordPress site (this one you are now viewing) has suddenly been besieged with hundreds of spam comments.

Typically, there have been a few each day, but these have been increasing, until there were 151 attempts to post spam in a single day. After a bit of research, and discussion with the Council of Communication Associations, it seems that the obvious move is to remove the option to post comments on the site, something other organizations have often done. Given that very few legitimate comments are posted, this does not seem like a hardship for very many followers. If you want to talk about content on the site, feel free to send me an email. If you want to write content for the site, again, send an email.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Bucknell U: Executive Director, Office of Global Education (USA)

“JobExecutive Director, Office of Global Education & Senior International Officer, Bucknell University, PA, USA. Deadline: open until filled, posted 29 August 2025.

Bucknell University invites applications for a strategic, visionary, and collaborative leader to serve as the Executive Director, Office of Global Education and Senior International Officer (SIO). Reporting to the Provost, this position plays a critical role in advancing Bucknell’s global mission and strengthening international engagement across the institution.

As a key member of the Provost’s leadership team, the Executive Director/SIO will provide campus-wide leadership for internationalization, overseeing the development of strategic partnerships and global learning opportunities. The Executive Director/SIO will work to connect the campus with the wider world through support for international student recruitment, study abroad opportunities, and global partnerships. The Executive Director/SIO is expected to work closely and collaboratively with faculty and staff to integrate global perspectives into the fabric of Bucknell’s academic and social life.

GOAL Global: Global Citizenship Education Coordinator (Ireland)

“JobGlobal Citizenship Education Coordinator, GOAL Global, Dublin, Ireland. Deadline: posted 28 August 2025; open until filled.

GOAL has responded to the world’s major humanitarian crises since its founding in 1977, working with vulnerable communities in 14 countries across the globe with a dedicated team of personnel. While GOAL continues to be an agile first-responder to humanitarian crises, it is also committed to working with vulnerable communities to help them survive crises and support them on the road to recovery.

GOAL’s Global Citizenship Education (GCE) programme aims to inform students and educators of GOAL’s work and empower them to understand and critically analyse the root causes and consequences of sudden onset emergencies and related global crises, enabling them to become agents of change in pursuit of a sustainable, resilient and inclusive world.

Reporting the Global Citizenship Manager, and working with a small team of dedicated and passionate colleagues, the purpose of the role is to manage GOAL’s innovative global citizenship programme including GOAL’s work in the formal and nonformal education sector working with both learners and educators while positioning GOAL within the GCE sector in Ireland.

Soka U: Director of Study Abroad & International Programs (USA)

“JobDirector of Study Abroad and International Programs, Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA. Deadline: open until filled, posted 28 August 2025.

Soka University of America is seeking a Director of Study Abroad and International Programs who will report to the Dean of Enrollment Services for day-to-day management and operational oversight as well as to the Dean of Faculty for guidance and direction on all academic responsibilities and faculty affairs.

The Director will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight of all aspects of Soka University’s education abroad and international programming. A core element of the university’s curriculum is that these experiences are integral to each student’s academic path. The Director ensures high-impact learning opportunities that uphold the university’s mission, academic rigor, and commitment to global citizenship.

UNESCO Training Program in ICD

“UNESCO”
UNESCO just launched its first training program focusing on intercultural dialogue, UNESCO, Paris, France.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its first training program focusing on intercultural dialogue at the end of August 2025. The program targets professionals working in museums and heritage site management, in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), as part of the project “Fostering Positive Social Transformations in AlUla.”

The training sessions will be held every Thursday from September 18 to October 16 between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. GMT+2 via Zoom. Participants include representatives of museums and World Heritage sites, particularly those engaged in public interaction, learning, and education.

The program covers key concepts in intercultural communication theory and practical applications to facilitate dialogue under the “Live Museum model,” which seeks to support the role of museums and heritage sites as platforms for exchange and understanding among visitors, while drawing on heritage and handicrafts as a driving force for dialogue between diverse cultures.

NCA Pre-Conference: Analyzing Health, Digital, and Intercultural Discourse (USA)

ConferencesPre-Conference: Discourse & Social Context – Engaging with Discourse Data & Methods to Elevate your Current Research, National Communication Association, Denver, CO, 19 November 2025. (preregistration appreciated but not required)

Join a team of leading scholars from the Language & Social Interaction (LSI) Division of the National Communication Association for a special 1 day Pre-Conference: “Discourse & Social Context – Engaging with Discourse Data & Methods to Elevate your Current Research.” Registration information about the pre-conference (and main conference) can be found here. The day’s activities will occur from 9am to 5:30pm at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado.

The pre-conference is centered around a series of data-focused workshops, where participants from a variety of experience levels – from beginner all the way to advanced – can deepen their skills. Our primary focus will be hands-on application using a variety of methodological and analytical tools inspired by the LSI research tradition.

NCA Pre-conference 2025The agenda for the day:
• 9:00-9:30am Welcome and introductions – Stephen M. DiDomenico (West Chester U.) and Nadja Tadic (Georgetown U.)
• 9:30-10:15am Presentation on discourse analysis as an umbrella term for different LSI methods and analytic tools
• 10:15-11:45am Workshop 1: Interactional Sociolinguistics for social media
o Cynthia Gordon (Georgetown U.), Sylvia Sierra (Syracuse U.), and Hanwool Choe (U- Hong Kong)
• 11:45am-1:30pm Lunch & Networking
• 1:30-3:00pm Workshop 2: Conversation Analysis for health communication
o Christopher Koenig (San Francisco State U.) and Grace Ellen Peters (Colorado Christian U.)
• 3:15-4:45pm Workshop 3: Ethnography of Communication for intercultural communication analysis
o David Boromisza-Habashi (U-Colorado, Boulder) and Leah Sprain (U-Colorado, Boulder)
• 4:45-5:30pm Making connections & closing discussion

Call for Nominations: Editor, Journal of Communication 2026

Professional OpportunitiesCall for Nominations: Editor of the Journal of Communication. Deadline: 31 January  2026.

The ICA Publications Committee is soliciting applications for the next editor(s) of the Journal of Communication (JOC). The four-year term will begin with a transition in September 2026.

The Journal of Communication is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association, bringing to its readers the most important and cutting-edge findings in the field of communication studies. Spanning all methods and areas of scholarly inquiry, articles published in JoC are conceptually and methodologically sound, socially meaningful, clearly written, and thoughtfully argued. JoC also features the JoC Forum, which publishes multi-book review essays, as well as occasional article responses and roundtables.

More details about the journal can be found at https://academic.oup.com/joc.

The Publications Committee seeks applications from individuals or small teams of scholars from the ICA membership. The successful applicant(s) will be expected to build an editorial structure that reflects the diversity of the communication discipline around the globe. Multiple factors are considered when evaluating candidate applications, including, but not limited to:

● Clear understanding of the mission of the journal

● Clear articulation of an intellectual and operational vision for the journal
● Demonstrated openness to a range of epistemologies and methodologies appropriate for the scope of the journal
● Demonstrated interest and/or experience in theoretical development
● Demonstrated interest and/or openness to interdisciplinary work
● Demonstrated communication skills and diplomacy
● Reputation and excellence of academic output
● Editorial, managerial or administrative experience
● Tenure or advanced rank
● Institutional support

Team submissions should also demonstrate successful past collaboration and an articulation of how the workflow will be managed among team members.

UNESCO Youth for Peace 2025-6 Update

“UNESCO”
Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme: 50 Emerging Leaders Selected, UNESCO, Paris, France.

UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS) has selected 50 young and emerging leaders from around the world to take part in the inaugural Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme.

This flagship initiative brings together UNESCO’s work on intercultural dialogue and on youth as an organization-wide priority, with the aim of equipping emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills, and tools to transform dialogue into action, using intercultural cooperation as a powerful driver of peace and social cohesion in an increasingly complex world.

From an exceptional pool of 8,250 applicants from every region of the globe, a final group of 50 participants – aged 25 to 45 – was chosen through a rigorous review by an international technical jury of 22 experts – both from within UNESCO and its field offices, as well as from external academics in the field of intercultural dialogue. The final group reflects strong gender balance and geographic diversity, with participants coming from every region, and bringing together a wealth of experiences, perspectives, and innovative ideas. Coming from a wide range of backgrounds, sectors, and professions, the participants include leaders from the fields of education, arts, business, non-profit management, sport, mediation, politics, medicine, academia, culture, and strategic communication. These inspiring grantees embody the spirit of collaborative leadership needed to address the challenges of our time.

The programme officially begins on 28 August 2025, marking the start of a journey of learning, collaboration, and leadership development. Over the course of the year, each grantee will receive USD 10,000 in funding to implement innovative intercultural projects in their communities, alongside tailored training, mentoring, and peer exchange. The programme will combine customized online training with opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and will culminate in April 2026 at the UNESCO Global Youth Leaders Dialogue for Peace in Guangzhou, China.

From Recognition to Inclusion – Rethinking European Languages in Education (Germany or Online)

EventsOpen Conversation: From Recognition to Inclusion – Rethinking European Languages in Education, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, 26 Sept 2025. Deadline: 11 September for on-site participation; 24 September for online participation.

Across Europe, educational systems tend to focus on hegemonial national languages—German in Germany, French in France, and so on—as legitimate means for classroom interaction. It is also these languages that are associated with European nation-states, understood as “modern languages” for educational curricula, and targeted as desirable competences in “European languages” by multilingualism policies.

However, the linguistic reality of Europe is far more diverse. Languages such as Turkish, Arabic, Russian, Kurdish, and Romani are spoken daily by large communities in Europe, and in this sense they are European languages, yet they are rarely treated as valuable cultural or educational resources.

This open conversation explores how educational systems might move beyond narrow definitions of “European languages” and “multilingualism” towards practices of genuine linguistic inclusion—where all students’ languages are made visible, valued, and meaningfully integrated into educational life.

Organisers: Heike Wiese, İrem Duman Çakır, Annika Labrenz

American U in Cairo: International Relations Theory (Egypt)

“JobAssistant/Associate Professor of International Relations Theory, The American University in Cairo, Egypt. Deadline: 26 September 2025.

The Department of Political Science invites applications for a position in International Relations starting Fall 2026. This is a tenure-track position at the Assistant/Associate Professor level. Teaching responsibilities will include a combination of courses in the fields of theories of international relations including critical international relations theory, global governance and security studies. This position will involve teaching at the BA and MA levels within the Department of Political Science. It also involves MA theses supervisions. The search committee is eager to review applications of individuals with demonstrated excellence in teaching, an accomplished and active research agenda, and an interest in living and working in the Middle East.