In This Issue:

• March Seminars in Portland, Oregon
• Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)
  • Take a SIP of SIIC
• Diversafari: A Learning Adventure
• DoingDiversityWork.com
• Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations (MAIR)
• MAIR Graduates Excel in International Education
  • Kevin Morrison
  • Jesse Pugh
  • Nancy Young
• Tenth Annual SIETAR-USA Conference — April 14-17, 2010

 

March Seminars in Portland, Oregon Register by February 21, 2010 to receive the early-bird discount.
Global Competencies Inventory (GCI) Qualifying Seminar March 11-13, 2010 Workshop Tuition: $1500 Early-bird Tuition: $1400* Faculty: Gary Oddou and Joyce Osland Registration Form This workshop is offered by ICI in partnership with The Kozai Group.	Cultural Detective® Facilitator Certification Workshop March 14-15, 2010 Workshop Tuition: $750 Early-bird Tuition: $700* Faculty: Tatyana Fertelmeyster Registration Form This workshop is offered by ICI in partnership with Cultural Detective®.
*Requires registration and payment in full by February 21, 2010 Location: The Mark Spencer Hotel Portland, Oregon ICI Group Rate: Standard Room $79.00

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Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC)
July 14-30, 2010
Portland, Oregon

The 34th annual Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) will offer over 40 workshops in 1-day, 3-day, and 5-day sessions on the Reed College campus. Updated registration costs for 2010 will be available soon. If you would like to reserve your place in a workshop prior to receiving updated registration details, please call (503) 297-4622 or email ici@intercultural.org to pre-register. A $100 deposit is required with all registrations.

View SIIC 2010 Workshop Schedule
View details about the 2010 SIIC Intern Program
View details about the 2010 SIIC New Interculturalists’ Program

Take a Sip of SIIC

SIIC Installment Plan (SIP)

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Diversafari: A Learning Adventure

We are very pleased to announce our most recent partnership with Executive Diversity Services to offer The Diversity Learning Map, Diversafari. In a global economy, understanding and embracing cultural differences is more than a good idea. It’s a competitive advantage. From sales to operations to education, it’s no secret that better communication equals better business. The Diversity Learning Map, Diversafari, combines global cultural awareness with proven adult learning methods to deliver immediate results in the workplace.

Experienced trainers know that an effective learning process integrates awareness, knowledge, and skills. Leveraging decades of international training experience, the creators of Diversafari have incorporated these three key elements into a scalable, reusable, and extremely practical learning program of tools designed to maximize understanding and facilitate rapid application.

Using a colorful 3ft. x 4ft. map to track progress, participants learn eight specific tools through five sessions that include:

• Benefits of diversity and inclusion
• Key definitions
• Cross-cultural communication and style differences
• Cross-cultural values and behavioral differences
• Cross-cultural teamwork 

The detailed facilitator guide allows any experienced trainer to facilitate the program and the fully packaged materials make it possible to use in any setting with no additional materials or equipment required. The five-hour program is divided into five 20-minute and five 40-minute modules that can be scheduled to fit any workflow.

For more information or to purchase Diversafari, contact info@executivediversity.com.

 

To learn more about additional tools for teaching, learning, and assessment offered by the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI), click on the links below.

The Kozai Group Intercultural Assessment Inventories

Cultural Detective® Facilitator Certification

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DoingDiversityWork.com

 

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Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations (MAIR)
The MAIR program is offered by ICI in partnership with University of the Pacific.

If you have a fascination with working across cultures, whether domestically or globally, we are pleased to offer you a distinctive Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Relations. Designed to prepare you for a stimulating career or to increase your skills in an existing job, our program offers a unique curriculum in a creative limited residency format for busy interculturalists.

Summer 2010 Residency:  July 2-17, 2010
Classes are held at the Reed College campus in Portland, Oregon

Important Deadlines:
	Priority Admission deadline:		March 1, 2010
	Final Admission deadline:		May 17, 2010

For more information about the MAIR program, contact:

Kent Warren, Ph.D. Intercultural Communication Institute Director of Graduate Programs kwarren@intercultural.org	Karen Coleman Intercultural Communication Institute MAIR Program Assistant karen@intercultural.org
Katrina Jaggears, M.L.A. University of the Pacific Associate Director, MAIR Program Lecturer, General Education Program kjaggears@pacific.edu	Laura Bathurst University of the Pacific Academic Director, MAIR Program Assistant Professor, Anthropology Bathurst@pobox.edu

 

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MAIR Graduates Excel in International Education

Kevin Morrison

Throughout Kevin Morrison’s career in international education, he has focused on the challenge of translating intercultural theory into practice. His experience teaching English in Japan through the JET program sparked a desire to seek a greater understanding of his own experiences. After several years with Earlham College, as Program Associate, Director of Collaborative Education in Study Abroad, and Instructor of Intercultural Communication, Kevin accepted a position at Meredith College as Associate Director of International Programs. He completed the MAIR program in 2007 and describes the program as more than an educational experience. For Kevin, it was life-changing. The program helped him understand and find meaning in his experiences abroad. In Kevin’s words, “It’s one thing to know something with your head, but it’s when you process with your heart that you really learn.” He draws on his own intercultural learning experiences as well as a theoretical understanding of culture, transitions, cultural identity, and culture shock as he designs orientation programs for faculty and students as well as programs and curricula for study abroad programs.

Kevin was impressed with the emphasis in the MAIR program on teaching others what you know, particularly in courses with Janet Bennett, and he enjoys sharing his experiences in many situations and contexts. Kevin also furthers his own intercultural development when he visits potential site locations for study abroad programs. During these visits, Kevin remains aware of his own actions and reactions while adjusting to a new environment where he doesn’t speak the language. Kevin has presented findings from his thesis, “Providing a Supportive Learning Environment Abroad: Identity Negotiation and the GLBT Student” along with suggestions for best practices in working with GLBT students abroad that resulted from his thesis research at the 2009 annual conference of The Forum on Education Abroad. He has also presented on various topics at multiple other conferences, including NAFSA: Association for International Educators. Kevin enjoys talking about and answering questions about the MAIR program. He can be contacted by email at morrisok@meredith.edu.

Jesse Pugh

After ten years as a study abroad advisor at the University of Utah, MAIR graduate Jesse Pugh has recently accepted a promotion to Grants and Contracts Officer at the same university. Jesse believes his promotion was due, in part, to his interpersonal communication skills and his devotion to the field of intercultural relations. Jesse first became interested in the field of international education at age 18 when he participated in a service-learning program in Mexico. He remembers being overwhelmed by the cultural differences, but feeling he adapted well at the time. He also remembers going through serious re-entry shock after returning home. That experience motivated him to pursue further education and a deeper understanding of intercultural relations and study abroad programs.

Jesse entered the MAIR program in 2006 and completed it in 2009, while also balancing a fulltime career and family. Jesse describes the MAIR program as transformative. In his role as a study abroad advisor, he used knowledge and understanding gained from the MAIR courses and faculty to encourage students to seek intercultural experiences beyond familiar contexts and to coach students through difficult transitions. For Jesse, the benefits of intercultural interactions reach beyond the experience of one individual. He encourages people to consider not just what they can get out of an intercultural experience, but what can they bring back to their society of origin after being in another culture, and emphasizes the need to move beyond an explanation of difference to an acceptance of difference. We are very excited that Jesse will be taking his intercultural expertise into his new position and wish him all the best. His thesis, “Transformative Education: An Analysis of the Impact of Short-Term Education Abroad” is available for review in the ICI Research Library. Jesse also welcomes questions about his experience with the MAIR program. He can be contacted by email at pughsky@yahoo.com.

Nancy E. Young

MAIR graduate, Nancy E. Young, serves as Associate Director of  New York University’s (NYU) Office for International Students and Scholars. NYU hosts the second largest population of international students in the country (6500+), and it was Nancy’s daily intercultural interactions with students that inspired her to join the MAIR program.

Nancy incorporates the theoretical frameworks and knowledge she gained from MAIR to enhance her abilities and the resources she offers as an international educator. She applies her deeper understanding of intercultural relations in daily exchanges with students and colleagues and in workshop design, such as, “You in the U.S.,” a series of workshops for newly arrived  international students. 

For Nancy, the impact of MAIR has also had profound implications in her personal life.  Growing up in the U.S. south, Nancy, at age ten, was in the first group of white students to be bussed across town to integrate a still segregated school.  Her early interactions with African-American classmates whetted her curiosity about culture. Inspired by Valerie White’s Ethnicity course within the MAIR program, Nancy began to reexamine her experiences in new ways. Her understanding was also deepened by the opportunity to conduct an in-depth interview with Judith Martin as part of an independent study on U.S. White culture and privilege. The framing of privilege and power in its many forms is something that Nancy intentionally attends to in her daily life and work.

Nancy combines her training and skills as a writer with her intercultural knowledge, and is strongly committed to the importance of making knowledge accessible — and doing so through unique and creative methods. This commitment influenced her decision to update a seminal out-of-print book, The Handbook of Foreign Student Advising by Gary Althen, as part of her thesis project. Components of Nancy’s thesis include a survey of  international education leaders regarding current concerns in the field, a chapter that focuses on the post 9/11 environment for foreign student advising, and a  chapter comprised of easy-to-read guidance for foreign student advisors regarding intercultural relations, technology, and skills development.  Nancy looks forward to further developing and sharing the work of her thesis, as well as finding new venues to write about intercultural experiences, challenges, and insights.  She continually seeks to stretch herself as an interculturalist and expects to encounter many MAIR colleagues along the way. Nancy can be contacted by email at nancy@nancyeyoung.com.

MAIR Stories on Facebook and LinkedIn

This month, we invite all MAIR students, graduates, faculty, and friends to share their favorite stories of the MAIR program on our ICI Facebook and LinkedIn groups.  

 

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SIETAR-USA Tenth Annual Conference
April 14-17, 2010
Spokane, Washington

Early-bird registration ends Friday, February 19!

Conference highlights: