Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir Profile

Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir, Ph.D., is a Professor, Chair of the Doctoral Studies Committee, and Vice Head at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Iceland.

Erla Kristjánsdóttir Her main research focuses on the status, barriers, and employment opportunities of skilled immigrants and refugees in the Icelandic labor market; diversity and inclusion; gender equality; and age and ageism.

Erla has taught and conducted academic research at universities in the United States, including in Florida, Arizona, New York, and New Zealand, and has published her research in recognized domestic (Icelandic) and international journals and books.

Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Gunnarsdóttir, S., Ragnarsson, S., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & van Direndonk, D. (2026). The role of heart-centric vision, inclusion and accountability. In J. Marques (Ed.), Encyclopedia of diversity, equity, inclusion and spirituality (pp. 1212-1222). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Christiansen, T.H., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. and Skaptadóttir, U.D. (2025). “I often experience a lack of trust”: Filipino migrant nurses’ experiences of coping with multiple conflicting workplace demands. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 15(3): 3, 1–17.

Gunnarsdóttir, S., Christiansen, Þ. H., Óladóttir, Á. D., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2025). Exploring women’s leadership in CEO appointments: A qualitative study of board member perspectives in Iceland’s listed companies. Sage Open, 15(2).

Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Markovic, M. (2025). Age is an invisible hindrance: Older educated immigrant women´s lived experience in the Icelandic labor market. Research in Applied Business and Economics, 22(2). 19-32.

Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Christiansen, Th. H. (2024). “I have to fight inequality with love, with a smile, with hard work”: Migrant women’s entrepreneurship in Iceland. In D. Hyams-Ssekasi & E. Daskalaki (Eds.), Migration and entrepreneurship in the global context (pp. 233-254). Palgrave.

Ragnarsson, S., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., Gunnarsdóttir, S., & van Dierendonck, D. (2023). “Shared accountability”: Experiences of employees in a servant leadership organization guided by growth. Research in Applied Business and Economics, 20(2), 155-172.

Christiansen, T.H. and Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2022), “Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: Skilled racial minority migrant women’s experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market. Journal of Global Mobility, 10(4), 496-514.

Pio, E., Kristjánsdóttir E. S., Christiansen, TH. (2022). Glass hearts?! Successful visible ethnic minority women migrants at work in Iceland and New Zealand. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(6), 1–19.

Christiansen, Th., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2020). “When you are a professional”: Highly skilled immigrants’ experiences of the tension between avowed and ascribed identity. In K. Loftsdóttir, U. Skaptadóttir & S. J. Hafsteinsson (Eds.), Mobility and transnational Iceland: Current transformations and entanglements (pp. 53-69). Reykjavik, Iceland: Háskólaútgáfan.

Kristjánsdóttir, E. S., & Skaptadóttir, U. D. (2019). “I’ll always be a refugee”: The lived experience of Palestinian refugee women of moving to a small society in Iceland. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 17(3), 389-404.

Minelgaite, I., Christiansen, Th. H., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2019). Lithuanian temporary workers in Iceland in another economic boom: expectations and experiences. South East European Journal of Economics and Business, 14(1), 101-114.

Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2017). Communication modes, Icelandic. In Y. Y. Kim (Ed.). International encyclopedia of intercultural communication. New York: Wiley & Sons.

Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Skaptadóttir, U.D. (2017). Our home is our kingdom: A refuge of Palestinian women to a small society in Iceland. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Christiansen, T. (2017). “…You have to face the fact that you´re a foreigner”: Immigrants’ lived experience of communication and negotiation position toward their employer in Iceland. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 17(2), 1-14.

Christiansen, T., & Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2016). The wall is always there: The lived experience of immigrants with college degree on their communication and negotiation position toward their employers. (Veggurinn er alltaf til staðar”: Upplifun háskólamenntaðra innflytjenda af samskiptum og samningsstöðu gagnvart vinnuveitendum.) The Icelandic society. (Íslenska þjóðfélagið), 7(1).

Work for CID:

Erla Kristjánsdóttir was one of the participants at the National Communication Association‘s Summer Conference on Intercultural Dialogue in Istanbul, Turkey, which led to the creation of CID. She also serves on the Center’s Advisory Board.

8th Intercultural Seminar of Agence ITER (France)

8th Intercultural Seminar of Agence ITER France: The power of intercultural communication in sustainable organizations

Friday 14 October from 17h30 to 21h30
Building Multimedia, Faculte de Lettres, ave robert Schuman, Aix en Provence, France

Workshops, round table and discussions for professional and students in Intercultural Communication, Negotiation, Competence.

Participation is free of charge, but participants are asked to please sign up ahead of time.

The heart of the program will consist of 3 workshops (participants will choose one), as described below:

Workshop 1: Intercultural Communication in International Organizations by Aboubakr Jamaï, Dean and Professor, School of Business & International Relations, Institute for American Universities

Workshop 2: The role of the Interpreter: From Words to Cultural Mediation by Shawn Simpson, Training Project Manager, Agence ITER France

Workshop 3: Global Understanding: Myth or Reality by Dr Delphine Paulet, ArnavA

Workshops will be followed by a roundtable discussion on intercultural negotiation with ITER organization expatriates

Key Concept #2: Cosmopolitanism Translated into German

Continuing translations of Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, today I am posting KC#2: Cosmopolitanism, which Miriam Sobre-Denton wrote in English in 2014, and which Dominic Busch has now translated into German.

As always, all Key Concepts are available as free PDFs; just click on the thumbnail to download. Lists of Key Concepts organized chronologically by publication date and number, alphabetically by concept, and by languages into which they have been translated, are available, as is a page of acknowledgments with the names of all authors, translators, and reviewers.

Sobre-Denton, M. (2016). Kosmopolitismus. (D. Busch, Trans). Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, 2. Available from:
https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/kc2-cosmopolitanism_german.pdf

If you are interested in translating one of the Key Concepts, please contact me for approval first because dozens are currently in process. As always, if there is a concept you think should be written up as one of the Key Concepts, whether in English or any other language, propose it. If you are new to CID, please provide a brief resume. This opportunity is open to masters students and above, on the assumption that some familiarity with academic conventions generally, and discussion of intercultural dialogue specifically, are useful.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Guildhall School Job Ad: Int’l Partnership & Project Manager (China)

International Partnership and Project Manager (China)
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Closes: 14th October 2016

Applications are invited for the post of International Partnership and Project Manager (China). The post holder will work initially to the Principal as part of the School’s developing internationalisation strategy. The post holder will have overall responsibility for managing all aspects of the School’s operations in China at both strategic and operational levels, with a specific responsibility to build management systems and capability to support the ongoing delivery of Sino-UK academic and artistic partnerships. The School delivers a number of projects in tandem with other providers in London, Shanghai and Beijing and the post holder will be responsible for liaison with those partners, both in the UK and in China.

The post requires a high level of academic attainment (preferably at least to Master’s level), fluency in English and Mandarin, a good knowledge of the performing arts, extensive project management experience in both the UK and China, a high level of intercultural sensitivity and excellent advocacy and diplomacy skills.

The post is available as soon as possible, for a fixed term of two years.

Closing date for applications is Midday on Friday 14 October 2016. Please note that late applications will not be accepted. To apply online please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/jobs

Alternatively, please contact 020 7332 3978 (24hr answerphone) quoting reference number GS311. A minicom service for the hearing impaired is available on 020 7332 3732.

The City of London Corporation is committed to Equal Opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

U Wisconsin-Parkside 2 job ads

Position 1: Assistant Professor of New Media

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Communication Department is seeking to hire an Assistant Professor with specialization in New Media to begin in August, 2017. The candidate will be able to contribute to the development of one or more additional areas in the department including: social media, digital media production, civic media, community and civic engagement, digital storytelling, digital performance, and health communication. The department places a high value on issues of social justice and diversity as well as service-learning and online teaching and so seeks a colleague who can contribute to those emphases. The primary responsibility of the position is teaching undergraduate students, including advising students. Faculty are also expected to engage in scholarship through research publication and perform other duties as assigned.

Position 2: Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Communication Department is seeking to hire an Assistant Professor with specialization in Strategic Communication to begin in August, 2017. The candidate will be able to contribute to the development of one or more additional areas in the department: crisis communication, conflict transformation, public relations, organizational consulting, leadership, and health communication. The department places a high value on issues of social justice and diversity as well as service-learning and online teaching and so seeks a colleague who can contribute to those emphases. The primary responsibility of the position is teaching undergraduate students, including advising students. Faculty are also expected to scholarship through research publication and perform other duties as assigned.

Applications received by October 7, 2016 are ensured full consideration. Positions are open until filled. For complete position description and instructions on how to apply, please go to https://www.uwp.edu/explore/employment/index.cfm?page=1 and click on either “Faculty-Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication” or “Faculty-Assistant Professor of New Media.”

The following documents will need to be submitted with the application: a cover letter of application; curriculum vitae; copies of graduate transcripts (unofficial copies will be acceptable at the application stage); samples of syllabi from courses taught; statement of teaching and research philosophy; summary of teaching evaluations; examples of scholarly work; names and contact information for three references. (Additional materials may be requested.)

UW-Parkside is a regional comprehensive university that is committed to accessibility, academic excellence, student success, diversity, and community engagement. This beautiful campus is on 700 acres of woodland & prairie in the heart of the Milwaukee/Chicago corridor, between Racine and Kenosha and near Lake Michigan. The university enrolls approximately 5,000 students, many of whom are first-generation and nontraditional students. UW-Parkside benefits from the diversity of the communities it services in Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth Counties. Kenosha and Racine are small cities that offer tranquility and convenience. The myriad attractions of Milwaukee and Chicago are easily accessible, as is the solitude of the country. UW-Parkside is strongly committed to creating and maintaining a multicultural, pluralistic campus environment.

If you have any questions, need accommodations, or submitted your application with missing materials, email (and please indicate position title for which you are applying):
Joe Lambin, lambin[at]uwp.edu

UW-Parkside is an AA/EEO employer. Individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

U Hull Job Ad: Lecturer in Chinese/Translation (UK)

Lecturer in Chinese and Translation Studies
University of Hull – Modern Languages – School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Closes: 14th October 2016

The School of Histories, Languages, and Cultures is seeking to appoint an outstanding lecturer in Chinese and Translation Studies with an excellent research profile in their specialised field. The School has a strong national reputation for teaching excellence: Chinese Studies offered by the School received a top-three ranking in the latest Complete University Guide’s subject table of East and South Asian Studies. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate how they can contribute to and further excellence in teaching and research in both subject areas.

Applicants must have relevant qualifications and expertise in Chinese and in Translation Studies. The new lecturer will be expected to teach courses on both subjects across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Very good understanding of Chinese cultural studies, Translation Studies theory and practice, and intercultural communication are essential to this post.

We are looking for someone who has a strong research record appropriate to this stage of their career, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, so that they will be able to make a substantial contribution to the School’s expanding research community. The post-holder will need to demonstrate a track record of or potential for three- and four-star research in terms of the Research Excellence Framework as well as awareness of meaningful research impact. Equally we are expecting willingness to undergo formal training in Higher-Education teaching where such qualifications have not yet been obtained. The post-holder will also be expected to play an active role in the School’s academic administration and to take on other responsibilities as appropriate to this level of appointment.

To discuss this role informally, please contact the Director of Chinese Studies, Dr. Lin Feng.

Candidates should apply using the application form and upload a covering letter and CV.

Further details:

The University of Hull is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in every aspect of our recruitment processes.

Hull will be UK City of Culture in 2017. The University of Hull was part of the City of Culture team throughout the bidding process and remains a key player in Hull’s cultural heritage. The campus will be the venue for City of Culture events, and its alumni, students and staff will be personally involved.

eTourism MOOC from USI

eTourism: Communication Perspectives
by Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni, Dr. Nadzeya Kalbaska, Dr. Elena Marchiori, and Dr. Silvia Matilde De Ascaniis
USI Università della Svizzera italiana

This Swiss-made MOOC takes you on a terrific journey into eTourism and online communication. You will feel the pulse of ICTs and enjoy the beauty of Switzerland as a globally renowned tourism destination. Time to travel. Join today. Begins Oct 3, 2016.

About this course
An introduction course to a fascinating travel into the eTourism world, which crosses both space and time, and is always closely connected with communication. In fact, we are embarking to create a great study experience, which explores how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) do matter for tourism – both for our personal experience, and for the tourism industry at large. In other words, we will together explore eTourism by using tools and models of the Communication Sciences.

Key concepts and theories covered include: Online Communication Model (OCM); Roman Jakobson’s Communication Model; Quality of online contents; User Generated Content (UGC); Web 2.0; Reputation in online Media; Intercultural communication and localisation; eLearning; Argumentation; World Heritage Sites.

Who is this course for?
We expect the following publics to be attracted by the course in order to update their skills and knowledge on a very hot topic:
* Students, in particular within tourism and hospitality programs
* Academia and researchers
* Destination managers
* People active in the industry
* Policy makers<

What do I need to know?
No prerequisite knowledge necessary to understand the concepts and experiences shared in the course.

What will I learn?
By the end of the course, learners:
* Know current eTourism applications, technologies and practices
* Know what is communication, and its major components, ICTs and their relevance to the tourism field
* Know what kinds of online training courses can be used within tourism and hospitality
* Know how to map different communication activities within the tourism sector
* Know how to run a usability test and how to make usages analysis of a website or mobile app
* Know how to plan, run and evaluate eTourism related activities, especially when it comes to the analysis of online reputation of a tourism destination
* Are aware of the crucial role played by communication and ICTs within the tourism and hospitality sectors

Royal Roads University & Cultural Identity 2016

I spent July, August and September 2016 teaching a graduate seminar at Royal Roads University, located in Victoria, BC, Canada, as part of their Master of Arts in International and Intercultural Communication (MAIIC) for the second time (the first time was described a year ago). The course was Contemporary Issues in Communication: Cultural Identity. The 39 students came from China, Nigeria, India, France, Senegal/France, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Jordan, Brazil, the US, and Canada.

Near the end of the course, there was a banquet for students in the program, and many photos were taken, including one with those faculty, staff and administrators who were present. We took another the last day of class. None of these includes everyone.

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Students worked on a major course project on the social construction of migration in the public sphere. Each one looked at a different part of the story – I hope to upload some of their results in later posts.

While at RRU, I arranged for an intern for CID, Min He. She started her work as Assistant to the Director on October 3, 2016.

I also was asked to supervise a doctoral dissertation in Interdisciplinary Studies, and have started working with Liton Furukawa on her project. An international student herself, she will examine the transition international students make after graduation (when Canada offers them a 3 year residency permit) to being international workers.

My thanks to Juana Du, program head of the MAIIC, for again inviting me to her beautiful campus to work with an incredible group of students!

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue
intercult.dialogue[at]gmail.com

Key Concept #66: English Medium Instruction Translated into Turkish

Continuing translations of Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, today I am posting the translation of KC66: English Medium Instruction. Ali Karakas wrote this in English in 2015, and has now translated it into Turkish.

As always, all Key Concepts are available as free PDFs; just click on the thumbnail of the translation to read it. Lists of Key Concepts organized chronologically by publication date and number, alphabetically by concept, and by languages into which they have been translated, are available, as is a page of acknowledgments with the names of all authors, translators, and reviewers.

Karakas, A. (2016). İngilizceyle Eğitim. Key Concepts in Intercultural Dialogue, 66. Available from: https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/kc66-emi_turkish.pdf

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

CFP Refugees and Work

The ESPMI Network is pleased to announce a call for submissions for the third volume of the Refugee Review. The Refugee Review, a publication of the ESPMI Network, is an open access, peer-reviewed e-journal that features a range of submission styles as contributed by scholars, practitioners, activists, and those working and studying within the field of forced migration. The Refugee Review platform, based at no particular institution and tied to no particular location, offers a unique publishing opportunity for those in the early stages of their work and careers, as well as for established scholars that support this mission. Those who submit can expect dialogue with the ESPMI’s e-journal team throughout the publishing process, and are encouraged to work with ESPMI to strengthen and promote the e-journal in the spirit of open scholarship and collaboration. While we support the opinions and perspectives that all contributors may have, ESPMI has a commitment to equity, respect and honouring the dignity of all persons, and accordingly, we may reserve the right to refuse, or request amendment of, any submissions that we believe may degrade the dignity of a particular group.

Refugee Review: Refugees and Work
Deadline for Abstract Submissions: October 7, 2016

Submit to: refugeereview@gmail.com. Please send questions to the same address.
Please remember to state clearly in the subject line what kind of submission you are sending and include 5 – 10 key words. Submissions should be no longer than 400 words.

2016 Call for Submissions – Download the PDF here.

In the past year the issue of refugees and forced migration has taken centre stage in public discourse of many countries from extensive coverage of multiple ongoing humanitarian crises to a growing populist backlash that has taken several regions by storm. Despite the high level political and media interest in the topic, many aspects are left to be discussed and many academic stones remain unturned. We invite submissions of abstracts for three different categories: academic articles, opinion papers and practitioner reports, and multimedia submissions (please see below for a description of each type.) Regardless of the submission type, the topic should relate primarily to refugees and forced migration. We welcome new approaches, preliminary results from field research and multidisciplinary research pertaining to all aspects of refugee studies, including changing legal standards, gaps in protection, regional case studies, gender-related aspects, and policy responses.

Recent years have seen large influxes of refugee arrivals in many countries, eliciting substantial debate on rights and protection needs of refugees and asylum seekers. In some countries populist discourse positions refugees as a threat to economic security, while other countries put labour restrictions or requirements onto arriving refugees. To further this discussion from a more nuanced perspective, for this issue we are particularly interested in receiving submissions on the topic “Refugees and Work.” Examples of research themes: Are long-term labour restrictions for refugees and asylum seekers legal under international law? How do refugee movements relate to and create informal labour markets? How do refugees negotiate and/or integrate into the labour market of host societies? How may the right to work be positioned for rejected asylum seekers, or those seeking refuge in countries identified as transit nodes? How may one complicate the binary between ‘economic migrant’ and ‘refugee’? In what ways do media discourses on refugees pose them as threats to working class jobs? We encourage critical perspectives that take race, class, and gender into account.

Submission Categories:

We recognize and value the multidisciplinary nature of forced migration studies, and therefore encourage submissions from across various disciplines—including but not limited to political science, law, anthropology, ethics and philosophy, sociology, economics, public health, and media studies. You may submit to any submission category, regardless of where you locate your study or practice. Please identify which submission category your piece is being submitted under. We encourage you to consider the range of submission styles available in this Call for Submissions during the development of your piece and structure/develop your submission accordingly. We require all contributing authors to submit an abstract for review prior to submission of a complete piece. You will be informed of the acceptance of your abstract within two weeks, after which time you have six weeks to complete and submit your final piece.

Submissions will go through a peer review process and those selected will go through a peer editing process before publication. The editing team may, when deemed appropriate, move your piece to a different submission section (for example from the Academic Article section to the Opinion Piece section) if they feel it is better suited to another category.

Read Refugee Review Volume ll

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