Session III a: July 25-29, 2011

35. From the Margins to the Center: Intercultural Identity as a Revolutionary Act Dianne Hofner Saphiere and Barbara Schaetti What does “inclusion” really mean? How do we discover, disclose, and leverage our respective intersecting identities (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, generation, sexual orientation, class, disability, professional role) for the good of the community, the classroom, or the organization? Why do organizations “hire diversity” only to fail to incorporate those differing perspectives into decision making? Why do some blended-culture individuals become world-class innovators while others feel disenfranchised and invisible? Is there a value in deliberately fostering a quality of cultural marginality, in ourselves and in others? Can we translate that quality into an opportunity to bring forth positive social and organizational change? This workshop examines these and other questions, encouraging participants to articulate their own intercultural identities and to boldly engage in the revolutionary act of being multicultural.

Designed for Objectives Learning Activities Dianne Hofner Saphiere Barbara Schaetti Managers, teachers, community leaders, international students, counselors, and team leaders who have a blended-culture identity, or who lead, train, and/or educate blended-culture individuals. You will find this workshop particularly useful if you are seeking both greater theoretical understanding of the complexities of adult identity development and support in leveraging your own and others’ complex social identifications to foster inclusion, productivity, and innovation. Participants will have the opportunity to: Understand the theory of adult identity development and the functions of social identification Deconstruct the appeal and the risks of singular identification with their interpersonal, communal, and global ramifications Consider theories of the multicultural self, including those of encapsulated and constructive marginality, and the multiple subjectivities that intersect to comprise a personal intercultural identity Develop a repertoire of process techniques for transforming inter- and intra-cultural dissonance into authentic and effective experiences of resonance Strengthen their personal and professional network of people committed to the radical act of inclusion Short presentations on the theory and core models pertaining to encapsulated and constructive marginality, the multicultural self, and intercultural identity Exploration and application of the Personal Leadership and Cultural Detective methodologies, and of the integration of the two Personal reflection and in-depth collaborative discussion Peer exchange and consultation on real-life and real-time scenarios   Dianne Hofner Saphiere is an organizational development practitioner who has facilitated intercultural effectiveness efforts since 1979, working with people from over 90 countries and living and working in Mexico, Spain, Japan, and the U.S. She has 25 years of experience leading geographically dispersed teams of professionals; has consulted at executive levels on numerous international mergers, acquisitions, and negotiations; and frequently designs programs and trains trainers. Dianne created Cultural Detective®; a series of intercultural effectiveness tools on which 130 international interculturalists have now collaborated and is a co-author of Communication Highwire: Leveraging the Power of Diverse Communication Styles. She created both Ecotonos: A Multicultural Collaboration Simulation and Redundancía: A Foreign Language Simulation. A co-founder of SIETAR Japan, since 1999 Dianne has facilitated Intercultural Insights, an online resource-sharing group of over 1200 interculturalists worldwide.   Dr. Barbara F. Schaetti is co-founder of Personal Leadership™, a practice-based methodology that focuses on responding to the new and unfamiliar with mindfulness and creativity. As a coach and consultant to individuals and communities around the world, she focuses on the translation of intercultural knowledge into intercultural competence. Among her many publications, she is lead author of both Making a World of Difference. Personal Leadership: A Methodology of Two Principles and Six Practices and Cultural Detective Blended Culture. Barbara is a member of the faculty of the ICI/University of the Pacific Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations program. Her background includes multicultural community mediation, corporate diversity training, and expatriate and repatriate family services. She is a dual national of the U.S. and Switzerland, and lived in ten countries on five continents during the first 22 years of her life.