Session III a: July 26-30, 2010

30. Designing and Implementing Sustainable Intercultural Development Programs Milton Bennett This course will explore an interesting confluence of two current topics: intercultural relations and sustainable development. The obvious connection is that people involved in development projects of any kind need to have intercultural sensitivity and competence. But there are other parallels between economic, infrastructure, or social development and intercultural development. One is the importance of diagnosing needs before engaging the developmental effort. Neglecting diagnosis leads to wasted effort in both development projects and intercultural training. Another parallel is the need for sustainability. One-shot development projects are typically followed by neglected buildings or even social or environmental upheaval. Too-quick intercultural training yields nothing at best, and dangerous overconfidence at worst. There are also interesting issues of intercultural ethics and corporate social responsibility at play in this confluence.

Designed for Objectives Learning Activities Milton Bennett Intercultural consultants who work with international development or domestic community development organizations, internal and external consultants to corporations that maintain corporate social responsibility projects both internationally and domestically, and intercultural trainers who facilitate intercultural development in any context. Participants will have the opportunity to: Review basic concepts of “development” in both the senses of community/international development and intercultural development Consider how “sustainability” operates as both an environmental and as an intercultural development issue Apply the idea of “corporate social responsibility” to sustainable intercultural development Study some prototypical failures and successes in physical, social, and intercultural development Apply a model of diagnosis and design that can reduce failure and leverage success Link the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) to sustainable development in general Presentation and interactive discussion Work with participants’ experience in development and/or training Group generation of specific, relevant, and practical diagnostic and planning tools Note: Participants should come to this course with a brief outline of a development program that they have conducted or which they wish to conduct. The program could involve the development of intercultural competence, the development of infrastructure, social/community development, or international (economic, political) development.   Dr. Milton Bennett is a director and co-founder of the Intercultural Communication Institute. He originated the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and co-developed a measurement of it, the Intercultural Development Inventory. For over 30 years Milton has consulted with corporations and other organizations in the U.S., Asia, and Europe on topics of domestic and global intercultural competence. He currently is conducting a three-year sustainable intercultural development program with a large joint-venture in Kazakhstan. Previously a Peace Corps Volunteer and a tenured professor at Portland State University, he is currently an adjunct faculty member of the master’s degree (corso di laurea magistrale) program in Intercultural Relations, Cooperation, and Local Development (Relazioni interculturali, cooperazione e sviluppo locale) at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. He also teaches in several global executive training programs. Milton is the co-author, with Ed Stewart, of American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, contributing editor of Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication, and contributing co-editor of the 3rd edition of the Handbook of Intercultural Training.