Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz – Page 13 – Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Paris-UNESCO experts meeting

On September 21-22, 2011 I participated in the UNESCO Experts Meeting on Intercultural Competences at their headquarters in Paris. My thanks to Dr. Katérina Stenou, on this Center’s Advisory Board, for including me.

The goal of the meeting was to respond to a series of regional reports (prepared by Drs. Milena Dragicevic Sesis of Belgrade, Serbia; Alejandro Grimson of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Prue Holmes formerly of New Zealand but now in Durham, UK; Melissa Steyn of Cape Town, South Africa; and Magdi Youssef formerly of Egypt, but now in London, UK) and the synthesis of these prepared by Dr. Darla Deardorff (North Carolina, USA). The other respondents were Drs. Noureddine Affaya (Rabat, Morocco), Eric Cattelain (Bordeaux, France), Yolanda Onghena (Barcelona, Spain), Hanna Schissler (Berlin, German), and Yves Winkin (Lyon, France). On the second day we were joined by a large group of UNESCO Chairs on Interreligious Dialogue for Intercultural Understanding.

We were too busy working to take photographs, but the next day I had time to see the exhibit “Go West!” (a collaboration between artists in Paris and Texas) at UNESCO headquarters.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Policy on posting job ads

I have been asked about the current policy for posting job descriptions to the Center’s site. At this point, ads for faculty positions (tenure-track, not lecturer or adjunct positions) will be posted if the description includes expertise in an area related to the Center – that is, intercultural, dialogue, or international. Shorter term positions that are especially intended to attract international applicants (such as visiting positions, or post-docs) will also be posted, again if the focus overlaps with the concerns of the Center in some way. Occasional ads for other positions clearly connected to the Center’s concerns will be posted, as seems appropriate. If you have a question, contact me.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Director
Center for Intercultural Dialogue

University of the Ryukyus

On June 1, 2011 I presented a talk to a large group of mostly students, entitled “From Generation to Generation: Maintaining Cultural Identity over Time” at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.

On June 2, 2011 I presented a faculty workshop entitled “Writing the Social History of Language and Social Interaction Research.” Before this event we had a faculty lunch at a local restaurant, where my husband and I were introduced to traditional Okinawan delicacies. Pictured below are (back row): Professors Madoka Kanemoto, Katsuyuki Miyahira, Kenji Yoshida and (front row): Professor Hiroko Onaha, me and Professor Yasusada Uechi , all of the Department of Languages and Cultures at the University of the Ryukyus.

Then, on June 3, 2011 I presented a talk to faculty (although many students also attended), co-sponsored by the Okinawa Society for Foreign Language and Literature, entitled “Socially Constructing Communication.” My thanks to Prof. Yasusada Uechi , President of the Society, for serving as the connection to the group, and to Prof. Masuo Kataoka, Vice President, for making the introduction on behalf of the Society.

After the talk we had a faculty dinner, including Professors Madoka Kanemoto, Miki Shibata, and Katsuyuki Miyahira, as well as one student representative, Nina Arakaki.

My thanks to Prof. Katsuyuki Miyahira for organizing all of these events, for inviting my husband and me to his home for dinner with his wife, Yaeko, and son, Yuta, and for the extended day exploring Okinawa, including Ryukyu-mura and the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.

Thanks are also due to Prof. Madoka Kanemoto for a tour on a different day to Shikinaen Royal Garden and Shurijo Castle, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. And to multiple graduate students: Samantha May and Yuko Naka for their guidance to local fabrics and shopping opportunities, and Yuta and Charlie for the airport runs.

Okinawa was the last stop in Asia, and it was a delightful ending. I look forward to continued conversations with many of the faculty and students I met there.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Aoyama Gakuin University

On May 21, 2011 I gave a talk entitled “Asking Cultural Questions: Using Ethnography to Answer Questions about Cultural Identity” to the Department of International Communication, of the School of International Politics, Economics and Communication, at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan.

My thanks to Prof. Hisako KaKai and Prof. Kiyoko Sueda, who were the hosts and organizers of the event.

After the talk we were treated to an excellent Vietnamese dinner, well attended by many of the graduate students from the presentation as well as the faculty listed above. To all the graduate students I promised to send citations: I really did mean it, so do send me an email as followup!

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Wuhan University

Although I was invited to Wuhan University, I was unable to add another city to my itinerary in China in spring 2011. However, they have an active group of intercultural communication scholars, and have taken the time to develop a database of some of the major intercultural scholars across China. Unfortunately for those of us who don’t read Chinese, only the basic description of the establishment of the organization at Wuhan is in English. I’m quoting from the organizational description below:

“Being interested in cultural studies, we stepped into the field of intercultural communication research in 1990s, when Professors Shan Bo, Shi Yinbin, Wang Handong, and Qin Zhixi formed a group and established the research orientation of comparative journalism and intercultural studies. In 2002 Intercultural Studies became one of the six research orientations in the application by School of Journalism and Communication at Wuhan University for the right to award doctoral degree in first rank discipline, which got official approval in 2003. The preparations for a doctoral program for intercultural communication soon followed, which was officially established in 2004, being the only one of its kind under Journalism and Communication as first rank discipline. At the same time Research Center for Intercultural Communication was founded at the university level, the director of which is Professor Shan Bo, who collaborated with Université Michel de Montaigne – Bordeaux 3 of France and inaugurated consecutive “International Conference on Intercultural Communication”, which is held annually.”

For the rest of the information provided in English, see this page. For the main page, with links to descriptions of different scholars in Chinese, see this page.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

UPDATE as of June 9, 2011: Thanks to Shan Bo for adding me to the database of scholars they describe (in English) – see here.

Peking University

On the afternoon of May 13, 2011, I presented a talk entitled “Interactional Resources for the “Problem” of Intercultural Communication” to the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University in Beijing, China.

My thanks to Prof. GUAN Shijie for organizing the talk, for several long and fascinating discussions over the course of the afternoon and evening, as well as for dinner that followed the talk. We found many potential points of overlap for future discussions, so I look forward to future connections with Prof. Guan and others in his department. Thanks also to Prof. Casey Man Kong Lum for the initial suggestion that I go to Peking University, and for the introduction that started the conversation.

Additional thanks to the graduate student assigned as guide and translator, AN Xiaojing, not only for getting us across Beijing in a timely fashion but for the tour of Peking University’s stunning campus. She has my best wishes in her Ph.D. studies at USC starting this coming fall semester. (Anyone reading this who is based at USC should please look for her, and make her feel welcome!)

Prof Leeds-Hurwitz, Prof Guan, An Xiaojing

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Beijing International Studies University

On the morning of May 13, 2011, I presented a talk entitled “From Generation to Generation: Maintaining Cultural Identity Over Time” to the School of English Language, Literature and Culture at Beijing International Studies University, in Beijing, China.

My thanks to Dr. HONG Liang, Chair, Intercultural Communication Department and Director, Center for American Media Culture Studies, within BISU for organizing the talk as well as an excellent faculty lunch afterwards, and for working with my schedule constraints.

I had the chance to meet more faculty at BISU than at any other university in China, including Dr. WU Guijie, and half a dozen others who have promised to send researcher profiles that will be posted to this site. We found many areas of overlap, and I look forward to continued contact with several.

My thanks also to the graduate student assigned to guide and translate, SHAOFENG Chen.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

On May 12, 2011, I presented a talk entitled “Holding Intercultural, International, Interdisciplinary Dialogues” to the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing, China.

My sincere thanks to Prof. JIANG Fei, Director of the Department of Communication, and also Director of the Center for World Media Studies, both housed within the Institute, not only for organizing this talk, but also for connecting me to his colleagues across China. This series of lectures would never have happened without his introductions. And he is the one who first encouraged me to visit China, when we met several years ago.

This talk was particularly well-attended by not only Prof Jiang’s colleagues at his Center (including: Dr. WANG Feng-Xiang, Dr. ZHANG Dan, and Dr. XIE Ming), and many of their graduate students, but also by faculty and graduate students from a variety of other institutions, and reporters as well. I look forward to continued contact with many of them.

As my talk at CASS was part of a regular salon, the following photo documents the gong ceremony used to start all the salons.

I also thank FENG Jiawei, the graduate student who served as guide and translator. And most particularly, HUANG Kuo, Prof Jiang’s wife, who also served as guide and translator on several occasions. Because we spent a little more time in Beijing than some of the other cities, we not only tasted local specialties (including the famous Beijing roast duck), but got to spend one day exploring the Summer Palace, and another walking part of the Great Wall.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Northwest University, Xi’an

On May 10, 2011, I presented a talk entitled “Holding Intercultural, International, Interdisciplinary Dialogues” to the Journalism Department at Northwest University, in Xi’an, China. Prof. YANG Lichuan, Dean of School of Journalism and Communication, was a most gracious host.

This was the first time I worked with a faculty member who served as simultaneous interpreter, Dr. ZHANG Yuwen of the Journalism Department.

We only had an hour to review the key vocabulary in my powerpoint, but she did a great job of helping ensure that all of the audience members would understand what I was saying.

In addition to arranging for simultaneous interpretation during the talk, Dean Yang gave me two graduate students, LI Xing and WU Yue, to serve as guides and translators for my entire stay, as well as assigning a car and driver (thanks to XIE Ping for getting us safely through traffic that is nearly as difficult as Shanghai’s). They accompanied my husband and me from our arrival at the airport to our departure. They made sure we had the opportunity to taste many local specialties at meals, and took us to multiple museums and local sites, including especially the terracotta warriors, the Shaanxi history museum, the calligraphy museum, and Xi’an’s Bell Tower. We now have many beautiful photographs to remind us of our visit.

On this trip to China I was invited to present at Wuhan University, but simply couldn’t fit another city into the itinerary. So I was especially pleased that Dr. LI Yang, of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Wuhan University, was able to make time come to my talk, and to join us at dinner afterwards, along with Dr. Zhang. I look forward to maintaining connections with both of them.

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Hong Kong

On May 1, 2011, I had a chance to visit Hong Kong and connect with Dr. Saskia Witteborn (Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Prof. Ling CHEN (Hong Kong Baptist University).

Thanks to Saskia for a wonderful tour of the city’s highlights, from center city to the boardwalk to the mountains. Thanks to Ling for choosing an excellent restaurant, Mask, and instructions in local restaurant protocol.

Researcher profiles:
Saskia Witteborn
Ling Chen

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
Director, Center for Intercultural Dialogue

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