Session II: July 19-23, 2010

21. Mapping the Intercultural Self: Using Visual Journaling to Create an Atlas of Experience Patricia (Patti) Digh and David Robinson “An atlas never just shows you where you are, where you want to go and how to get there. It also fires the imagination. Maps which chart rivers, mountains, towns, countries, far-away regions, oceans, and continents can arouse intense feelings. An atlas combines reality and fantasy.” Louise van Swaaij and Jean Klare, The Atlas of Experience. During this arts-centered experiential workshop, participants will explore their own personal intercultural geographies in order to learn how to help others do the same. They will discover how culture has shaped their personal landscape, how they share that landscape with others, and where they want to map their future. Participants will leave the workshop with an atlas of their intercultural self, created through visual journaling and writing techniques, as well as the tools for teaching these techniques to others. A materials list for basic art supplies will be sent to participants prior to the workshop.

Designed for Objectives Learning Activities Patricia Digh David Robinson The Circle Project This workshop will be helpful for individuals interested in exploring their own intercultural self as well as those who would like to learn new, experiential, arts-based ways to help those in their organizations and classes do the same. Participants will have the opportunity to explore: How do we locate ourselves in the world? How does that serve us and how does that limit us? How can we map our intercultural selves, both literally and metaphorically? How can we express the liminal spaces of our intercultural geographies by diving into the spaces in between? What are the intercultural patterns of our lives and how do they determine what we see and where we can go? It is said that “wisdom sits in places.” What is the wisdom of the place in which we sit? How does one’s individual “intercultural geography” map with the geographies of others? This unique train-the-trainer workshop will explore these questions through the visual arts, writing, and embodied learning: Map legends: How do you interpret what you see? Finding edges: Are they boundaries or horizons? Shared understandings: Taking others on a tour of your Atlas of Experience   Patricia (Patti) Digh is a co-author of Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures, which was named a Fortune magazine “best business book” for the year 2000, and she also co-authored The Global Diversity Desk Reference. Her book Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally is focused on the power of story and won the “Books for a Better Life” award in 2009. Patti has two new books coming out in the fall of 2010, The Four-Word Self-Help Book and Creative Is a Verb.   David Robinson has 20 years of professional directing experience that help him design programs utilizing theatre techniques and creative processes. David has been artistic director of The Dimensions Theatre Project, general manager of The Seattle Shakespeare Company, and artist-in-residence for the Lincoln Unified School District. He has served as curriculum consultant for MacMillan-McGraw Hill, The Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, and Lincoln and Hayward Unified Schools, and is adjunct faculty of Antioch University. Patti and David are co-founders of The Circle Project, which focuses on exploring organizations as storytelling systems, engaging people in experiential learning around diversity issues, and using interactive methods for personal learning and organizational change.