Intercultural Communication Institute

SIIC 2009 Description

21 | Facilitating Intercultural Discovery

This is an experiential workshop that focuses on learning how to learn about culture in more creative ways.

Designed for
Educators, trainers, counselors, and all who wish to enhance their own observational skills and to lead others toward intercultural discoveries. This workshop would be particularly useful for advisors and administrators of international or multicultural education programs.

Objectives
Participants will have the opportunity to:

Reflect on their individual learning preferences
Explore other ways of learning to expand their own abilities
Sharpen their skills of observation of the things and events of everyday life
Be more mindful of how they make meaning and increase their cultural self-awareness
Acquire skills and methods to facilitate intercultural learning
Process the affective and cognitive components of learning

Learning Activities
These will include:

Interpretation of the cultural significance of familiar objects
Discussion of the uses of photography across cultures and in intercultural discovery
Exercises in the intercultural significance of naming
Analysis of television and other forms of popular culture
Explorations of culture through a variety of media and genres, including folklore, music, and film
Practice with different interview methods to facilitate intercultural learning
Discussion of the consequences of cultural exchange

Faculty: John Condon and Nagesh Rao

Dr. John (Jack) Condon is a founding faculty member of the Summer Institute, and an award-winning educator. Jack has resided and taught at colleges in the U.S., Latin America, Africa, and Asia. With publications in seven languages, he is author of more than 20 books in the field of intercultural communication, including the first authored textbook. Scheduled for publication is The Goose in the Bottle: Things Which Seem to Exist But Don’t and Things Which Don’t Seem to Exist But Do. In 2009, on the silver anniversary of The Silent Language, written by E.T. Hall, a friend and former colleague at Northwestern University, Jack is presenting lectures and seminars in the U.S. and Japan. Valuing learning outside of the classroom and library, Jack conducts intercultural field trip seminars in New Mexico where he resides. He is the founder and editor of the Cultural Confluence Press and a professor emeritus of communication and Regents’ Professor (the school’s highest honor) at the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Nagesh Rao is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico, where he teaches and conducts research in the areas of intercultural communication and health communication. He has worked on several research projects analyzing the role of culture in health, including family planning and HIV-prevention (Tanzania, Thailand, and the U.S.), physician-patient interactions (Brazil, Argentina, India, and the U.S.), drinking and driving (the U.S.), and fertility tourism (India, Denmark, and Hong Kong). He also has a personal and professional interest in storytelling, entertainment-education, and photography. Nagesh has trained or served as a consultant for Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Kaiser Permanente, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (England). In 2002, Nagesh was named the University Professor at Ohio University.