Let’s Build a Roof Over the World: Art for Peace

Applied ICD

Estonian art for peace is an exhibit created as part of the “Let’s build a roof over the world” project organized by the Fermata Arts Foundation, based in Avon, CT.

“Let’s Build a Roof Over the World” is an international project spearheaded by Fermata Arts Foundation, the Connecticut-based organization that promotes intercultural dialogue between New England states and post-Soviet countries. A total of 1,375 students and professional artists from 13 countries participated in this project, including Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, the United States, Kyrgyzstan, and other post-Soviet countries. A total of 221 exhibitions have been organized in nine states.

Through the framework of social truth and the role of art in promoting peace, each school approaches the theme with a different focus. “The Peace in the World” is the theme of the current Estonian exhibit, which has been circulating throughout regional libraries. The previous exhibit from Moldova approached this theme through a mythological lens. An upcoming exhibit from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan will center on the theme of “Ideal Home” – older students have created architectural models of houses, and younger students will explore fairy tale homes.

Source article: Smith, Valentine. (2 November 2022). Estonian Art for Peace at KHL [Kellog-Hubbard Library]. The Bridge.

 

U Tartu: Expatriate Estonian Visiting Professor’s Scholarship (Estonia)

FellowshipsExpatriate Estonian Visiting Professor’s Scholarship, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia. Deadline: 1 October 2022.

Application is open for the scholarship for an expatriate Estonian visiting professor. The scholarship fund aims to make sure that renowned researchers and teaching staff of Estonian descent who work in other countries can take part in the activities of the University of Tartu at least for one year or, as an exception, for one semester. The amount of the scholarship is 50,000 euros for one academic year. It is very important for the university that the visiting professor is ready to be physically present in Tartu; this is one of the main selection criteria.

The scholarship may be applied for by a researcher or teaching staff member of Estonian descent who works at a university or research institution outside Estonia. The application is open until 1 October. Applicants are expected to submit an electronic application with all the required supporting materials on the home page of the University of Tartu Foundation.

CFP Multilingual Awareness and Multilingual Practices (Estonia)

ConferencesMultilingual Awareness and Multilingual Practices. Tallinn, Estonia, 22-24 November 2018. Deadline: 15 August 2018.

The conference considers all aspects of the linguistic and sociolinguistic competences and practices of bi-/multilingual speakers who cross existing social and linguistic boundaries, adopting or adapting themselves to new and overlapping linguistic spaces.

Organizers invite papers in all areas of research in bi-/multilingualism, whether or not linked directly to the overarching conference theme, including, but not limited to, linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, clinical linguistics, education, bi-/multilingual societies.

The language of the conference is English.

Nordic Network Intercultural Comm conference

Separation vs. integration: Challenges of bridging cultural contrasts
20th Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication Conference

The 20th NIC symposium is organised by the Institute of Germanic, Romance and Slavonic Languages  and Literatures, University of Tartu and will be held on 28- 30 November 2013 in Tartu, Estonia. Conference call has been extended to 1 November 2013.

This conference welcomes papers from all areas of intercultural communication but aims to focus on the issues of separation and integration that have always been on the agenda in the Baltic States but have become particularly acute and sensitive for the last twenty years, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Two cultures, Russian and Estonian have co-existed for more than two hundred years starting from the early 18th century when the Russian Empire gained control over Estonian lands by winning the war with Sweden.  Since then, numerous generations have had the opportunity to deal with the issues of separation and integration. Unfortunately, mainly due to political reasons, the integration process has not been as successful as expected.   This is where we found our inspiration for the main theme of the conference. We believe that via cooperation and discussion among intercultural communication researchers and practitioners we may manage to find solutions to problems faced by culturally different communities living side by side on a daily basis in any part of the world.  We also believe that power issues and negotiations over power are relevant to the problems involved in intercultural communication in such situations.

Therefore, we welcome contributions from all academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, political science, media and communication studies, business studies, organisational studies, educational studies, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. We are particularly interested in case studies or theoretical papers which address issues of separation, assimilation, marginalisation and integration, as well as (discursive) power negotiations.

One of the main focuses of the Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication (NIC) is to enhance cooperation among Nordic and Baltic researchers exploring the field of intercultural communication. The main NIC activity for the last two decades has been the organisation of the annual international conference on intercultural communication, open to participants from all over the world.

ORGANISING COMMITTEE
*Krista Vogelberg, Professor at the Department of English Language and Literature
*Irina Koksharova, MA, Member of the Conference Organising Committee

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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

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