2010 Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)
July 14-30, 2010 • Portland, Oregon
There is still time to qualify for an Early-Bird discount!
Just register and pay in full by June 1st.
The 34th annual Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) offers professional development opportunities for people working in education, training, business, and consulting, in both international and domestic intercultural contexts. Whether you are leading a global team, designing a new diversity initiative, preparing a course for fall term, or directing a study abroad program, the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication will provide the opportunity for intense engagement with intercultural issues, resources, and professionals.
View full workshop schedule
Click here to read a new article, “Privilege in Practice,” by Carlos Cortés, a long-time SIIC faculty member.
A Sample of SIIC: One-day workshops
Saturday, July 17, 2010
These fast-paced mini-seminars are designed for those who want a sample of the Summer Institute experience but don’t have a lot of time. These one-day workshops are conveniently scheduled to be taken as stand-alone workshops or added on to a Session I or Session II workshop.
A. Why Reentry Matters: Critical Lessons and Practical Advice C. What Is My Homeland Now? Refugee and Immigrant Experience in the U.S. D. Training Methods for Exploring Identity E. Careers in the Intercultural Arena F. Working with People with Disabilities: From Compliance to Breakthrough |
G. Using Film for Intercultural Education: A Developmental Approach H. Developing and Using Benchmarks I. But WHY Is There Culture Shock? Ten Reasons Why Moving to a New Country and Back Again Can Be So Hard J. Take a Stand: LGBTQ Matters K. Strategies for Culturally Responsive Healthcare L. Sustainability and Culture: The Art of Cultivating Generative Relationships |
The Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations (MAIR) Program is pleased to present their new color brochure. If you would like to receive a print copy of the MAIR brochure, please send your complete mailing address to Karen Coleman at mair@intercultural.org. Click here to view the brochure online.
Intercultural Certificate Program
The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) also offers an Intercultural Certificate Program based on attendance at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. There are three levels of certification, each of which acknowledges exposure to state-of-the-art theory and practice, knowledge of intercultural practices, and growth as an intercultural professional. The certificates reflect a commitment to the professional standards maintained by ICI trainers and faculty.
Learn more about the Intercultural Certificate Program
Cultural Detective® Facilitator Certification Workshops
May 28-29, 2010 • UC Berkeley International House, Berkeley, California
June 4-5, 2010 • UC Berkeley International House, Berkeley, California
July 24-25, 2010 • Reed College Campus, Portland, Oregon
Faculty: Tatyana Fertelmeyster
With applications for coaching, training, and facilitation, the Cultural Detective method and materials provide unique and engaging learning opportunities that explore the complexity of intercultural effectiveness. Offering over 55 modules, both culture-specific and topic-specific, Cultural Detective is a versatile, structured method for exploring, understanding, and bridging cultural difference.
Learn more about Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification
Global Competency Inventory (GCI) Qualifying Seminars
July 16-18, 2010 • Reed College Campus, Portland, Oregon
Faculty: Joyce Osland
November 11-13, 2010 • Mark Spencer Hotel, Portland, Oregon
Faculty: Joyce Osland and Allan Bird
The Global Competencies Inventory (GCI) measures individual traits associated with working effectively across cultures or with other diverse work groups. The GCI is a valid and reliable instrument that can be useful in succession planning, employee selection, career planning, team development, coaching, or other professional development. This seminar is especially for trainers, consultants, and coaches who want to expand their abilities to work with clients. The seminar will also review the development and use of the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale, a self-scoring instrument derived from the GCI. The July workshop will begin on Friday evening and continue all day Saturday and Sunday.
Learn more about the Global Competency Inventory (GCI) Qualifying Seminars
Privilege in Practice
by Carlos E. Cortés
I love Privilege. Well, what I really mean is — I love the concept of Privilege as articulated by Peggy McIntosh. (McIntosh’s Privilege is capitalized here to distinguish it from the term’s multiple common cultural uses.)
McIntosh’s Privilege revolves around the existence of personal advantage. More precisely, personal advantage that has three characteristics.
First, that advantage is unearned. You don’t have to make any effort to get it. It just falls into your lap, even if you never realize that you’re benefiting from it.
Second, that unearned advantage is based on membership (real or perceived) in a social group, such as by race, ethnicity, gender, religion, class, or sexual orientation.
Third, that group-based advantage is not inherent to the group, but is created and maintained — sometimes consciously, sometimes unintentionally — by institutions, organizations, or cultural practices.
Let’s take one example: an instance of Christian Privilege. Christian students in the United States have the Privilege of not having to be the least bit concerned that course exams might be given on Christmas or Easter. In contrast, however, Jewish students are likely to encounter some Privilege-oblivious professors who mindlessly schedule exams on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. And such professors don’t have to be anti-Semites. The power of McIntosh’s concept is that Privilege can be effected without bias or conscious effort.
Over the years, I have encountered workshops, books, and articles on Privilege. For the most part they emphasize awareness, theorizing, and moralizing, with relatively little attention to specific effective action in concrete situations.
Maybe it’s the geezer in me, but I’ve grown weary of awareness for awareness’ sake. As for theorizing, a little bit goes a long way. And when it comes to moralizing? Well, the Greek philosopher, Epictetus, argued that the true challenge of living ethically involves testing your moral compass by applying it to the map of the world, not proclaiming platitudes.
I speak about and give workshops on Privilege. Each summer I teach a three-day workshop, “Privilege: Thinking Clearly and Acting Effectively,” at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication.
Heeding Epictetus, I decided to address Privilege by applying McIntosh’s concept to the real world of organizations, institutions, cultural practices, and concrete situations. I have workshop participants grapple with the complexities that arise from identifying and analyzing specific instances of Privilege, with an eye toward taking effective action for mitigating, sometimes eliminating, Privilege-based inequities.
McIntosh’s Privilege provides an elegant analytical prism. It’s deceptively simple, yet it raises complex issues, ethical dilemmas, and practical challenges. It highlights organizational and societal inequities that, in some cases, might remain below the proverbial radar. And it can point to avenues for ameliorative action.
Let’s return to the earlier example of Christian Privilege. Universities can mitigate that unearned advantage by establishing policies of not giving exams on religious (not just Christian) holy days. But whose holy days? Every religion on earth? Or just some? That’s where we are forced into such realms as pragmatism and ethical decision-making.
Will such an approach dismantle all systems of Privilege, an exhortation I’ve heard from workshop presenters? Well, no. But small steps can make a dent in unearned advantage. And from a thousand dents, ten thousand dents, maybe we can make substantive inroads on Privilege. I’ll be happy with that.
Dr. Carlos Cortés is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Riverside. Recipient of the American Society for Training and Development’s National Multicultural Trainer of the Year Award, he lectures throughout the world and serves on the faculties of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education and the Federal Executive Institute. Carlos is creative/cultural advisor for Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” and “Go, Diego, Go!” and also performs his one-person autobiographical play, “A Conversation with Alana: One Boy’s Multicultural Rite of Passage.” His books include The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity and The Making—and Remaking—of a Multiculturalist.
Carlos will teach a three-day workshop, Dealing with Privilege: Thinking Clearly and Acting Effectively, July 26-28, at the 2010 Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication.