NCA Microgrant Reports

In fall 2012, the National Communication Association funded five international travel microgrants, as described in detail here. The reports are now (as of July 2013) all turned in, and have been posted to this site to serve as models for similar projects. The authors have provided details about how they funded their trips, how they made international connections, what they did while abroad, and what they learned from their trips.

Award winners were:

Sarah Bishop
Renee Cowan
Louisa Edgerly
Andrew Spieldenner
Santoi Wagner

Once again, my thanks to NCA for being willing to support these projects.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Sarah Bishop-Microgrant Report

NCA Micro Grant Report
Sarah Bishop, University of Pittsburgh

With generous support from the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and the National Communication Association, I traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica March 29-April 7, 2013 to gather the reflections of graduate students who had studied abroad at universities in the United States for academic credit.  My goal, in short, was to discover how international academic travel influenced an individual’s sense of national identity.  In preparation for the trip, I worked to familiarize myself with the relevant research about study abroad.  Additionally, I read many of the multitudinous study abroad testimonies written by students and currently available on study abroad websites at numerous institutions.  By the time I boarded the flight for San Jose, I felt confident about the kinds of effects academic travel had on students, and I looked forward to adding the dimension of “effects on national identity” to the impressive canon of existing research.  During the interviews themselves, however, I was surprised to find that the interviewees reported experiences, emotions, and challenges about multiple aspects of the academic traveling experience that I had not encountered in any of the relevant literature.

The preparation for this project included a two-month process of correspondence with the Director and other relevant staff at the Office of International Affairs at the University of Costa Rica (UCR).  I owe my deepest gratitude to this staff, including Ana Sittenfeld and Fatima Acosta, especially, for providing me with a list of interested participants as well as details regarding the group’s areas of research and U.S. destinations.  In addition, I completed extensive oral history training from Dr. Ron Zboray at the University of Pittsburgh.  One unexpected challenge arose when I estimated (based on flight costs at the time), that round-trip airfare to San Jose would cost no more than $800 USD.  The Center for Intercultural Dialogue generously granted this amount, but between the time the grant application was due and the time of my actual travel, flight costs had risen by more than $300, and I had to use my savings account to cover the remainder of the flight.  In the future, I will account for fluctuations in flight costs before finalizing my budgets.  Another challenge arose when I realized that none of the roads around the University of San Jose, where I conducted my research, are named.  In the absence of road signs, I relied on an iPhone photograph I had taken of a map I found on UCR’s campus and the patience of students willing to forgive my uncertain Spanish for direction.

UCR-smIn an effort to understand the ways an academic travel experience affects an individual’s sense of personal and national identity, as well as the intersection between study abroad, intercultural competence, and career preparation, I spent approximately one hour interviewing each graduate student.  Our conversation ranged from issues surrounding the legal preparations required before traveling abroad to negotiating needed friendships while away from home.  While I have yet to code and transcribe all of the interviews, one unexpected theme became apparent: though study abroad programs have been especially credited with encouraging a sense of global—rather than national—citizenship, in my own interviews, I found that the majority of students reported that study abroad strengthened, rather than compromised, their sense of national or geographic identity.  This finding requires further exploration and I hope to have the opportunity to find out whether study abroad alumni in other areas of the world report similar outcomes.

While multi-sited, international research is logistically complicated and time-consuming, my time in San Jose confirmed that in cases where interpersonal interaction and nonverbal communication are central to a project, video conferencing remains a poor substitute for face-to-face interaction and exchange.  I am honored to have had the opportunity to conduct this research, and look forward to reporting my full findings at a later date.

GuestHouse-sm

[NOTE: Sarah Bishop’s original project proposal is available here.]

UNAOC summer school 2013

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is collaborating with Education First (EF) in the context of the first UNAOC-EF Summer School, which will take place in Tarrytown, NY, USA, from 24 to 31 of August 2013.

This UNAOC-EF Summer School will bring together 100 youth from all over the world for a week of discussions on pressing global challenges within the context of cultural and religious diversity. Several skills-building workshops will be offered with a view to strengthen participants’ ability on topics such as peace-building, human rights, advocacy, social entrepreneurship, etc.

This year marks the fourth UNAOC Summer School. Youth (between 18 and 35) who are interested in attending this year’s summer school can apply on or before 31 May 2013.

Selected participants will be provided with flight, accommodation, meals and full event access.

Note: The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and Education First (EF) expect to officially launch UNAOC-EF Summer School in Spring 2013. However, UNAOC and EF reserve the right to not select any applicants, or to cancel the Summer School for any reason. UNAOC and EF accept no liability for cancelling the Summer School or for anyone’s failure to receive actual notification of cancellation.

405 Lexington Ave 5th Floor (UNAOC) | New York, NY 10174 US

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CFP international volunteering

Call for Chapter Proposals for Edited Book

Working Title: Volunteering and Communication Vol. II: Studies in International and Intercultural Contexts

Publisher: Peter Lang

Objective of the Book:
The purpose of this book is to give voice to the experiences of volunteers specifically in international and intercultural settings. Few of our current resources (books, texts, handbooks) address the micro-level, data-based analysis of volunteering and volunteer management with our first book being an exception.  There is even less scholarship on volunteering in international and intercultural contexts. There are a few chapters addressing it in our first book. This book will begin with a guest-authored literature review chapter. Then contributors will write data-based chapters that provide in-depth analyses of a particular issue, topic, or type of volunteer based on some theoretical or conceptual organizational or intercultural framework. Each chapter will include a very brief field report from a practitioner with experience in the volunteer situation explored in the chapter.

In particular, the editors are interested in studies that fit one of three types:

1) Experiences Volunteering Abroad: These should be studies of individuals volunteering in another country, for example, individuals from the United States doing volunteer work in another country.

2) Experiences of Volunteers Internationally: These should be studies of volunteers living in countries outside the United States, for example, the experiences of volunteers from the Netherlands or Brazil or any other country.

3) Experience of Volunteers in Intercultural Settings: These should be studies of volunteers working in settings where they must reach across intercultural boundaries to accomplish their goals, for example, Turkish volunteers working with Syrian refugees.

Book Editors:
Michael W. Kramer, University Oklahoma, Department of Communication
Loril M. Gossett, UNC Charlotte, Department of Communication Studies
Laurie K. Lewis, Rutgers University, Department of Communication

Submission Process:
This edited book will present contributed chapters focusing on the three types of volunteer experiences described above. Editors seek contributed chapters that are data-based, and focused on the management and experience of volunteering. All methodologies are welcome including quantitative, qualitative, or textual/rhetorical analysis, as well as interdisciplinary work that seeks to combine communication perspectives with other disciplinary knowledge.

For consideration, authors should submit a 1-2 page abstract of the proposed chapter (not including title page and references). This proposal should include a description of the study, including its theoretical or conceptual framework, its current status (e.g., already IRB approved, data being analyzed, etc.) and include a brief summary of results if available. These submissions are due to the lead editor no later than July 31, 2013.

Submissions will be peer reviewed and decisions about inclusion in the book will be made by August 31, 2013. Selected authors will be expected to produce a full draft of their chapters by January 10, 2014. These drafts will be reviewed by the book editors for final decisions on inclusion in the book. Those accepted will submit revised versions by May 1, 2014.

Inquiries may be addressed to any of the editors. Submissions should be forwarded electronically (word document) to:
Michael W. Kramer
mkramer AT ou.edu

Copenhagen Bus School job ad

COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
Organizational Communication
Associate Professorship 

Copenhagen Business School invites applications for a vacant full-time position within the area of Organizational Communication at the Department of International Business Communication (IBC). Particularly relevant areas of research include:
– internal corporate communication and organizational discourse
– preferably with an interest in intercultural aspects, or
– the role of communication in identity and culture formation in organizations and corporations, or
– the transfer of information and knowledge in organizations.

IBC is dedicated to interdisciplinary and problem-focused research in business humanities and is dedicated to developing research-based knowledge that relates directly to the challenges business organizations face in an increasingly internationalized environment.

Applicants must have:
– a documented track record of published research in international journals
– documented strengths in the relevant fields of organizational communication
– teaching experience equivalent to a three-year Assistant Professorship.

The fields of research at IBC include the role of communication and language(-s) in interlingual and intercultural communication, the role of communication competences in organizations, the role of language and culture in communication technology and social technologies, as well as the teaching of language skills.

Appointment and salary will be according the agreement between The Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).

Closing date: 15. June 2013
Copenhagen Business School must receive all application material, including all appendices (see items above), by the application deadline.

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Gate A-4 poem

[NOTE: Occasionally an author of fiction or a poet gets right to the heart of intercultural dialogue. One such example follows. If you have other suggestions, post links as comments.]

Gate A-4
by Naomi Shihab Nye

Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning
my flight had been delayed for four hours, I heard an announcement:
“If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please
come to the gate immediately.”

Well–one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just
like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly. “Help,”
said the flight service person. “Talk to her. What is her problem? We
told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”

I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke to her haltingly.
“Shu-dow-a, Shu-bid-uck Habibti? Stani schway, Min fadlick, Shu-bit-
se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly
used, she stopped crying. She thought the flight had been cancelled
entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the
next day. I said, “No, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just later, who is
picking you up? Let’s call him.”

. . .
And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and I thought, This
is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that
gate–once the crying of confusion stopped–seemed apprehensive about
any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other
women, too.

This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.

[The full poem can be read here]

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Tallinn University

On April 30, 2013, I met with several faculty members at the new Institute of Communication at Tallinn University in Tallinn, Estonia: Kaja Tampere, Professor and Founding Director of the Institute, and Josep Soler-Carbonell, Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication.

Tallinn University is in much the same situation as the University of Macau, interested in gaining an international reputation, and attracting international students. A new Communication Management master’s program started in the autumn of 2012, as well as a minor in International Journalism studies, both of which offer courses in English.

While in Tallinn, I also connected with Hando Sinisalu, Founder and CEO of Best Marketing International. He organizes international conferences on such topics as digital marketing. For those interested in using social media for marketing, his website provides wonderful case studies of best practices.

The old city of Tallinn is a UNESCO world heritage site, with buildings dated as early as the 1200s. But it also has a noticeable Art Nouveau influence, as can be seen in the Dragon Gallery.

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Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

CFP Middle East dialogue

The Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES) and the Policy Studies Organization (PSO) are pleased to announce the Middle East Dialogue (MED) and call for papers. The MED2014 will be held at The Whittemore House: Washington DC on Thursday, February 27th, 2014.

The Middle East Dialogue has established an international reputation as a focal point for new research, and a forum for the exchange of opinions and different views about issues of social, political, and economic reforms.  In addition, discussions go on concerning women’s rights and roles in the new Middle East, and ethnic and religious tolerance.

Proposals are sought from individuals or groups on topics relating to the areas mentioned above. Proposals can be configured variously as twenty minute individual presentations, or round table discussions on particular topics. Proposals are encouraged to explore present, past and futuristic approaches to these issues and what if scenarios, as well as conflict resolution, and problem-solving solutions.

Proposals of one to two pages should be sent as email attachments by January 18th, 2014 to Mr. Daniel Gutierrez Sandoval at Policy Studies Organization (PSO) at dgutierrezs AT ipsonet.org. Proposals submitted before December 20, will receive notice of approval or rejection by December 31, 2013.   A panel of reviewers from DOMES International Editorial Board will recommend select papers for publications in the peer-reviewed journal Digest of Middle East Studies (DOMES), published by Wiley-Blackwell.

The early conference registration fee for speakers is $200; $250 for conference attendees, due by December 20th. Late registration fee will be $300 (registration fee covers breakfast, lunch and concluding reception) payable and mailed to: PSO: 1527 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036 Tel. (202) 349-9281; Fax (202) 483-2657).

Prof. Mohammed Aman, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, DOMES
Co-Chair, MED2014
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Prof. Paul Rich, PhD
President, Policy Studies Organization
Co-Chair, MED2014
Washington, DC

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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China Media Research-Confucius Institute CFP

China Media Research (CMR-2014-01) invites scholars from across disciplines to address the timely issue of Confucius Institute (CI) within ideological, political, and cultural contexts. We welcome papers that enhance understanding of Confucius Institute from critical, qualitative, or social scientific perspectives. Topics can include, but are not limited to, such issues as Hanban’s vision, its planning and management of CI, CI’s reception in the American academic community, the perception of CI students and their perceived connection to China, and the role of CI in China’s overall campaign to exert its influence abroad.

Submissions must not have been previously published nor be under consideration by another publication. We will accept extended abstracts (up to 1,000 words) or complete papers at the first stage of the reviewing process. All the submissions must be received by May 25, 2013. If the extended abstract is accepted, the complete manuscript must be received by August 20, 2013. Complete manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with APA publication manual (6th edition) and should not exceed 8,000 words including tables and references. All manuscripts will be reviewed and the authors will be notified of final acceptance/rejection decision. Please visit China Media Research for more information about this quarterly journal, which publishes both printed and online versions.

Please direct questions and submissions to the CMR special section guest editor, Dr. Weiming Yao at wdyao AT pitt.edu, and/or CMR special section co-editor, Dr. Rya Butterfield at butterfi AT purdue.edu.