Tag: Applied ICD

Kulea Culture Society: Stories from the Silk Roads (Canada)

Applied ICDStories from the Silk Roads, to celebrate Asian Heritage Month, Kulea Culture Society, Victoria, BC, Canada, May 2026.

During Asian Heritage Month, Kulea Culture Society presents Stories from the Silk Roads, a three-day event of stories, music and film to celebrate the rich heritage of Canadians with roots in the Asian continent. The Silk Roads were a system of caravan routes crossing the Eurasian continent from the Mediterranean Sea to China. It influenced the emergence and development of trade and cultural ties between people and statehoods located along the way and beyond. The routes carried goods, ideas, people across the continent and the sea from China, India, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Syria, Turkey among others to the Mediterranean and the West. Just like on the Asian continent, we see different Asian communities living across Canada today. These cultures have developed their distinct identities, arts and histories through interaction and communication with each other in Canada. Stories from the Silk Roads highlight diversity and harmony through arts and culture.

Storytellers include Zhanming “Shawn” Xiao, Sheila Alonzo, and Mayank Meena; musicians include Habbous and Jordi, and Ali Haydar; films include Made in Bangladesh, Children of the Mist, Caught by the Tides, Bye Bye Tiberias, Burcu’s Angels, and Obscura.

NOTE: Events in this series will be held in person at various venues around Victoria, BC. But, for those located elsewhere, they provide a model for other organizations wishing to organize something comparable.

Drew University: Institute for Emerging Leaders (USA)

Applied ICDInstitute for Emerging Leaders, Center on Religion, Culture, and Conflict, Drew University, Madison, NJ, USA, 1-12 June 2026.

As 21st Century communities get more and more diverse, social challenges such as polarization, racism, extremism, etc grow along with them. American communities are no different, which calls for increasing pluralistic, change-making, and conflict resolution skills among people country-wide, especially youth.

The Drew University Institute for Emerging Leaders, therefore, seeks to respond to the widening divisiveness in today’s society by preparing young leaders to foster peaceful and pluralistic relations in their communities, using religion as a positive force.

The Institute is built on CRCC’s international Institute on Religion and Conflict Transformation and attracts renowned scholars, practitioners, and national thought leaders as faculty. The Institute is interested in developing in young people a set of skills that straddles the following:
* civil dialogue
* conflict resolution
* inter-faith/inter-cultural leadership, and,
* community organizing and change-making.

Tuition, bed and board are fully covered courtesy of the Koppaka Family Foundation and Sykes Family Group.

Multilingual Voices Project

Applied ICDMultilingual Voices Project: Digital Storytelling for Belonging and Inclusive Teaching, will be directed by Li Hou, a Ph.D. candidate in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program and an instructor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The project aims to foster belonging and community dialogue at UMass Amherst by creating spaces for multilingual students, instructors, and staff to share their lived experiences through digital storytelling. Through a series of interactive workshops and collaborative storytelling activities, participants will reflect on identity, language, and teaching and learning experiences across cultural and linguistic differences, culminating in a shared collection of multilingual narratives that highlight diverse voices within the UMass community. By centering the often underrepresented perspectives of multilingual learners, the project seeks to promote empathy, cross-cultural understanding, and a more inclusive campus climate.

The project will host a series of interactive workshops with participants from multilingual and diverse cultural backgrounds, while also actively engaging domestic students and faculty to encourage cross-cultural dialogue.

Tips for a Successful COIL Experience

Applied ICD

Vahed, Anisa. (5 December 2025). Tips for a successful COIL experience. Times Higher Education.

This useful article helps those who have heard about COIL (collaborative online international education) and might be interested in trying it for themselves by providing specific and concrete goals. After finding the right partner, an obvious beginning point, the suggestions include:

  • pre-COIL preparation
  • collaboration and engagement
  • celebrating achievements
  • reflection and assessment

It concludes with a wide variety of tips for avoiding common pitfalls.

Montana Grassroots Project Promoting Cross-Cultural Dialogue

Applied ICD

Montana Cross Community Reconciliation Project, founded by the Global Peace Foundation, enters 7th year promoting cross-cultural dialogue.

The Montana Cross Community Reconciliation Project, founded by the Global Peace Foundation, aims to promote cultural respect and mutual understanding by helping participants overcome personal biases and prejudices.

Ultimately, the greatest form of change, the greatest form of just improvement of different causes, different issues, different strife between people really just seems to be, sit down, have a meal together, have difficult conversations.

  • Nick Enslow, a member and facilitator at the program

The group meets once a month, with each seminar featuring guest speakers from around the globe who share their personal experiences related to culture, race, gender, religion, or economic status.