China-US Journalists Exchange 2019 (US/China)

Professional OpportunitiesChina-US journalists exchange, East-West Center, Washington, DC. Deadline: June 17, 2019.

The All-China Journalists Association, the Better Hong Kong Foundation and the East-West Center jointly launched the 1st China-United States Journalists Exchange in 2010 to increase and deepen public understanding of the two countries and their relationship. The 2019 China-United States Journalists Exchange is scheduled for August 31 – September 14, 2019. This year marks the 40th anniversary of US-China bilateral relations, 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and 10th anniversary of the China-US Journalists Exchange. The 2019 program will focus on the prospects of business and trade between the world’s two largest economies amid continued escalation of trade friction and economic threats after trade talks concluded with no deal. The reporting tour will provide opportunities for journalists to explore these and other current issues in the important bilateral relationship under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and President Xi Jinping. Participants will get a firsthand look at a wide range of topics impacting US-China relations including social, economic and political challenges in both countries as well as stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 2019 Exchange will take six Chinese journalists to the United States and six US journalists to China and Hong Kong to meet with government officials, business leaders, academics, journalists, non-governmental organizations and other members of the Chinese and American communities. Following these group study tours, all of the Chinese and American journalists will meet at East-West Center Washington for a one-day dialogue to share their travel experiences and exchange opinions on how media coverage of US-China issues can be improved in the participants’ respective countries.

CFP COMELA 2020 (Greece)

ConferencesCall for papers: Conference on Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology, September 2-5, 2020, The American College in Greece, Athens, Greece. Deadline: November 15, 2019.

Theme: Bounded Languages…Unbounded

Politics of identity are central to language change. Here, linguistic boundaries rise and fall, motivating the ephemeral characteristics of language communities. The Mediterranean and European region is one replete with histories, with power struggles, uniquely demarcating nation, ethnicity, and community…This year’s theme encapsulates the ongoing struggle throughout Mediterranean and European regions. As the continuous tension between demarcation, and the concurrent legitimization, of languages, language ideologies, and language identities, enters an era where new modes of interactivity require language communities to take on roles super-ordinate to the past, flexible citizenship now operates within, and not only across, language communities, to unbind languages, and to create new boundaries, unlike those ever seen throughout history.

The COMELA 2020 invites work which addresses the shifting boundedness of Language Communities of the Mediterranean and Europe. Papers and posters should acknowledge and decribe processes of language shape, change, and ideology, pertinent to social, cultural, political histories, and futures of Mediterranean and European regions, and by those working in Mediterranean and European regions.

CID Video Competition 2019 Judges

Job adsThe CID Video Competition deadline ended a few days ago, and the judges have begun reviewing the videos. My thanks to all of them for taking the time to watch and critique all the student submissions. It’s clear the greatest reward for all those who entered the competition is getting their videos seen by these accomplished professionals!

Lillian Benson - photo by William StetzLillian E. Benson’s professional body of work as a television, video and feature film editor spans almost forty years. In 1990 the native New Yorker was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the acclaimed civil rights series Eyes On the Prize II. She contributed to films that have garnered five Emmy nominations, four Peabody Awards, and numerous other honors. This fall she is returning to NBC’s medical drama Chicago Med for her fourth season. In 2004 Benson made her directorial debut with All Our Sons-Fallen Heroes of 9/11, a half-hour documentary about the firefighters of color who died at the World Trade Center, broadcast nationally on PBS. She just completed AMEN- The Life and Music of Jester Hairston, an educational film about the internationally-known choral arranger. Benson is a member of American Cinema Editors, an honorary editing society, and serves on their board of directors. She is also a member of the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Television Academy.

Jim D'Adderio

Jim D’Addario has been an award winning producer for the Walt Disney Company since 1995.  He started his career with Disney Interactive as a Production Supervisor on multiple edutainment projects, including the best sellers Lion King Activity Center and Toy Story Activity Center.  Jim was then recruited by Walt Disney Imagineering to produce sound tracks and interactive projects for Walt Disney World, Tokyo DisneySea and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris.  Jim was instrumental in the design of The Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland park and The Winnie the Pooh Ride at Walt Disney World. His most memorable moment came when he worked with the iconic Sherman Brothers (of Mary Poppins fame) to produce the new soundtrack for the ride.  Jim has recorded with some of the most recognizable talent in the industry including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Rafiki, and Tigger! Jim then jumped ship to work in the online space with Disney Cruise Line, Disneyworld.com, and Disneyland.com creating the first immersive sites for those properties.  Jim’s current position is with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Global Broadcast, as a Senior Producer of television and radio commercials, trailers, First-Look programming, in-room videos, online videos, and airport interactive displays.

Zsuzsanna Gellér-Varga

Zsuzsanna Gellér-Varga is a documentary filmmaker and video storyteller living in Budapest, Hungary. Her Screw Your Courage documentary won awards at several US film festivals and was broadcast on public TV. She worked for the New York Times Television as a video-journalist and later directed documentaries, including Once They Were Neighbours, Synagogue for Sale, Mr. Mom, and Angel Business, which were screened internationally and broadcast on public TV. She works as cinematographer, story editor and media consultant, and taught documentary ethics at the international Masters program, DocNomads. She has master degrees from ELTE University Budapest, Graduate School of Journalism UC Berkeley (as a Fulbright scholar), and a DLA from the University of Theater and Film Arts Budapest.

Astrid Kuhn

Astrid Kuhn is an award winning Canadian Filipino broadcaster, producer, director, anchor, reporter and host. For almost 20 years she has told stories for CBC, Global TV, City TV, Shaw Media, Corus Entertainment and Telus Optik. With a passion for visual storytelling she has also served as Vice President of Women In Film and Television – Alberta (WIFTA). Right now, Astrid grows empathetic and creative minds to help solve human problems at Mount Royal University (MRU) with the Bissett School of Business and Broadcast Media Studies. Astrid is in the midst of producing a documentary for her doctorate at Royal Roads University on Filipino Canadian entrepreneurs and leadership.

Micheline Maynard

Micheline Maynard is an author, journalist and professor. She has been a correspondent and bureau chief for the New York Times, where she is a contributor, and senior editor at the NPR news magazine Here & Now. She writes for Forbes.com, Medium, Skift, ABC Australia, and teaches at the University of Michigan. Her six books include The End of Detroit, which predicted the bankruptcies at the Detroit companies and the rise of Japanese auto companies, and she is at work on her next books.

Ruben Daniel Mazzei

Ruben Daniel Mazzei is a university EFL and literature teacher and a sworn translator (Universidad Nacional de La Plata). He teaches at primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels, and is a researcher for University of Buenos Aires. He has delivered and produced CPD courses and materials since 2005 for Dirección de Formación Continua -Province of Buenos Aires – and has coordinated the team of CPD teachers for the Ministry of Education for nine years. He has participated in several of the British Council activities such as developing material, facilitating reading groups and coordinating the Connecting Classrooms programme for Argentina. He has facilitated workshops for the British Council on Global Citizenship and Global Education accredited by the University of London and workshops for the British Council Core Skills Programme both in Argentina and abroad.

Mandi Muñoz is a Script Supervisor at Lucasfilm Animation, currently working on The Clone Wars and Star Wars Resistance. She previously worked at Dreamworks Animation on features including Kung Fu Panda 3 and Trolls. In her spare time, Mandi enjoys reading in the company of her feline accomplice, and creating and developing her own universes in which to tell her stories.

 

Nancy Robinson

Nancy Robinson is Director, Education Programs for the Television Academy Foundation. In this capacity, she oversees the Foundation’s highly rated summer Student Internship Program, the annual Faculty Seminar, the Mister Rogers Memorial Scholarship Program, the Visiting Professionals speaker program, and Alumni engagement. Nancy is also responsible for educational outreach and creating alliances with colleges/universities nationwide. Prior to joining the Foundation’s Education department in 1999, Nancy was Convention Services Manager for a large trade association, planning and executing their annual convention and numerous small meetings across the country. She was also an Awards Consultant with a firm specializing in managing submissions for such companies as the Disney Channel, HBO, and FOX. She began her career as the Primetime and Daytime Emmy Awards assistant for the Television Academy. Nancy is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts/Media Production and a minor in Sociology.

Mary Schaffer

Mary C. Schaffer is a digital media consultant.  She was an Associate Professor of New Media at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) for 14 years.  Prior to CSUN, she spent 12 years as a New Media Executive (Disney, Viacom, Geocities) and 18 years as a journalist (NPR, CBS and NBC).  She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the International Documentary Association and Broadcast Education Association.

Lakshmi N. TirumalaLakshmi N. Tirumala is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at SUNY Plattsburgh.  He predominantly teaches courses that focus on aspects of Digital Video/Film Production, and graphic and web designing. Lakshmi frequently works on creative production projects and does media research. He focuses mainly in the areas of media effects, media accessibility, and learning. He has been actively involved in producing numerous video projects that are either educational and/or fictional. A number of short films he executive produced were well-received and won awards at various film festivals. Additionally, Lakshmi has presented at various national and regional conferences and conventions on the aspects of digital media accessibility

Richard Trank

Richard Trank is an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker (producer, writer, and director), known for The Long Way Home (1997), Beautiful Music (2005), I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal (2007), Against the Tide (2009), Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2010), It is no Dream: The life of Theodore Herzl (2012); The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers (2013); and The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers (2015). His latest film was Never Stop Dreaming: The Life and Legacy of Shimon Peres, released in late 2018.

U Applied Sciences Munich: Business Communication/Intercultural Competence (Germany)

“JobProfessor of Business Communication and Intercultural Competence, University of Applied Sciences Munich, Germany. Deadline: 21 June 2019.

The Faculty of Business Administration is seeking to appoint a Professor of Business Communication and Intercultural Competence for the Summer semester 2020 or later. The successful candidate should have both professional leadership and teaching experience and be passionate about transferring knowledge in the context of international business and communication.

You will teach subject-specific modules in Business English, Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Management for undergraduate and graduate business study programmes in English. You will contribute to the development of curricula and research in these fields and course management as required. The role further requires actively fostering relationships and exchange with international partner universities and contributing to research projects with industry and business.

 

Migration Policy Institute Europe: Director (Belgium)

“Job

Director, Migration Policy Institute Europe, Brussels, Belgium. Deadline: 30 June 2019.

 

The Migration Policy Institute Europe (MPI Europe), established in Brussels in 2011, is a nonprofit, independent research institute that aims to provide a better understanding of migration in Europe and thus promote effective policymaking. MPI Europe provides authoritative research and practical policy design to governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders who seek more effective management of immigration, immigrant integration, and asylum systems in order to promote successful outcomes for newcomers, families of immigrant background, and receiving communities in Europe.

MPI Europe seeks a highly motivated, experienced professional to become the Director of Brussels-based MPI Europe. The new Director will be responsible for providing leadership to MPI Europe at a critical time of growth for the Institute and a pivotal time for migration in Europe and around the globe. He/she will work with a team of recognized experts on migration and integration based in Brussels and coordinate with the staff of its sister organization in Washington, DC (MPI), as needed.

Changing the Story as a Solution to Conflict

Applied ICDIntercultural dialogue is often about finding a way to recognize and reconcile two different sets of assumptions/beliefs. A particularly graceful solution to a conflict of beliefs between locals and tourists is described below. What is uncommon is that a solution was found in acknowledging a lack of action. 

Context: Uluṟu /Ayers Rock used to be frequently climbed by visitors, but as of October 26, 2019 is to be closed to further climbing. Uluṟu is an intensely sacred landscape for the Aṉangu people.

“In regards to the climb itself, the management board did a clever thing. Rather than simply encourage visitors not to climb, they provided a way for them to feel they had contributed something by their decision. At one time, there was a visitors’ book on the summit with the title “I climbed Ayers Rock,” where climbers could record their achievement. So, at the visitors’ centre in the nearby town of Yulara, staff installed another book, with the title “I have not climbed Ayers Rock,” where visitors could make a comment about why they chose not to climb. This inspired piece of social psychology enables visitors to see their decision as an active endorsement, rather than a passive abstention. Signing becomes a record of a different kind of achievement. I glanced through some recent comments, many of which mentioned newfound respect for Aboriginal feelings. One visitor wrote: ‘I climbed it 29 years ago. Came back wiser.'”

Among the author’s conclusions: “social change may be hastened if the narratives stress mutual benefit rather than ‘us’ vs ‘them’ antagonism. The Aṉangu position was that not climbing Uluṟu was good for visitors’ bodies (safety), good for their souls (respect for sacredness), and good for building relationships between blackfellas and whitefellas.”

Warne, Kennedy. (December 10, 2017). No more shoes on Uluṟu. E-Tangata.

Lisle Global Seed Grant Program 2019-20

GrantsGlobal Seed Grant Program, Lisle International. Deadline for request to apply for projects in 2020: July 1, 2019.

Lisle International offers a Global Seed Grant Program to support innovative projects which further the mission and goals of Lisle — improving intercultural understanding by bringing people of diverse backgrounds together to share, work together, and learn from one another.  Grants of $500 to $3,000 are available to innovative projects that match their mission.

These are quite competitive, but seem potentially appropriate for many projects of interest to followers of CID.

CFP The Politics of Researching Multilingually

“PublicationCall for Chapters: The politics of researching multilingually, to be edited by Prue Holmes, Judith Reynolds, Sara Ganassin and published with Multilingual Matters. Deadline: 1 July 2019.

How researchers draw on their linguistic resources when they undertake their research is often impacted by institutional, contextual, and interpersonal politics, and this can be a salient issue for researchers working in multiple languages when they are planning, developing, conducting and/or writing up their research. This is especially the case as researchers undertake their work in conditions of migration as a result of poverty, precarity, conflict, and/or protracted crises—where languages are often overlooked, and their speakers silenced; or in other situations where languages and those who speak them may come into conflict with political regimes, and/or other forms of structural power and agency. Thus, when undertaking their research, researchers must make decisions about which language(s) to use, when, where, and why—decisions that are often politically charged.

These decisions may be influenced by multiple factors: the topic of the research; the contexts that shape the research; the relationships among the researcher and various stakeholders (e.g., supervisors and funders of the research, and gatekeepers such as governmental officials, non-governmental groups/employees and other community groups who determine access to the research site, resources, texts and other artefacts); the languages in play in the research context (whether national, minority, tribal, colonial, travelling languages, and lingua francas); and the languages of dissemination, e.g., for participants and stakeholders in the community, in theses (in the dominant national language only, or multiple languages), and in publications (e.g., in high impact journals which are often published in English). In this sense, the languages researchers employ in the research process, and how and when they draw on their linguistic resources, are as much politically influenced as they are culturally or linguistically.

CFP Sociolinguistics Symposium (Hong Kong)

ConferencesCall for Papers: Sociolinguistics Symposium 23: Unsettling Language, University of Hong Kong, 16-19 June 2020. Deadline: 14 October 2019. NOTE Change in dates!

As a premier gathering of international sociolinguists, this biennial event has emerged as a unique and innovative forum to develop and exchange new ideas, broaden the scope of the discipline, and create new academic networks. From its beginnings as a small meeting of UK-based academics in 1976, Sociolinguistic Symposium has grown into the largest sociolinguistic conference in the world.

Its Hong Kong edition will mark the conference’s first appearance in Asia. The theme of the conference is Unsettling Language. The contemporary world is an unsettled place due to numerous conflict zones, forced migration, economic imbalances and uncertainties, as well as ideological extremism resulting in (or caused by) unsettling language emanating from powerful people, political organizations, and the media. As a form of social action, this sort of language requires serious, critical consideration, assessment and counter-action.

Furthermore, the notion of ‘language’ itself is undergoing a critical reassessment in how it is being theorized. Language is increasingly understood as more than ‘just’ a set of linguistic resources. Its embodied nature, the materiality of its modalities (speech and writing), interaction with other modalities (sound, music, images, etc.), and with time and space, requires integration of broader contexts of analysis, multimodal data sets, and multidisciplinary approaches. We invite abstracts addressing the conference theme as well as other contributions focusing on current and innovative themes and theoretical challenges.