Intercultural Communication Institute

The SIIC Intern Program offers an opportunity to explore the field of intercultural communication, to assess career direction, to commit to a personal intercultural practice, and to learn about intercultural team development by working directly with other interns, SIIC staff, and faculty. This is one of two SIIC programs with a formal selection procedure. Our interns typically range in age from 25 to 70 and come from dozens of different cultures and professions. Approximately 30 interns will be chosen for 2010. Criteria for selection are:

During the Intern Session preceding SIIC, interns receive professional development in multicultural team processes based on the practice of Personal Leadership. There is a strong emphasis on collaborative learning, and a rare opportunity for diverse individuals with a common interest to explore the role of intercultural communication in their lives.

During Sessions I and II, interns participate in workshops while also providing logistic and other assistance to the workshop faculty. In Session II, they have the opportunity to discuss design and group process issues with the faculty. In addition, interns support SIIC in a variety of roles from setup and hosting, to assisting participants in the library and bookstore.

Financially, the SIIC internship represents a significant tuition discount. Interns pay reduced tuition, room, and board for the first week of the Intern Program, which includes the multicultural team training with the intern faculty, as well as for Sessions I and II. The internship is a combination of a mentoring program and a chance to get a different and more extensive behind-the-scenes Institute experience.

Interns should arrive no later than 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evening, July 7, and depart no sooner than Saturday afternoon, July 24. Application forms will soon be available from ICI. The deadline for early acceptance, particularly for international applicants needing visas, is Monday, May 3, 2010. Applications will be accepted until Friday, May 14, 2010

Intern Program Faculty: Gordon Watanabe

Dr. Gordon C. Watanabe, a founding partner of Personal Leadership Seminars, consults in corporate, educational, and other organizational settings (most recently the Esalen Institute) on Personal Leadership, diversity, and intercultural competence. He is Professor Emeritus and former special assistant to the president for intercultural relations at Whitworth University where he focuses on the role of deep self-understanding in successful cross-cultural negotiations and intercultural team-building. Gordon was initiated as a meditation teacher in 2000, and now also offers energy meditation seminars. He has taught middle school biology and teacher education, and advised and counseled university-level international, study abroad, and minority students.

Returning Intern Program Faculty: Kate Berardo and Sherwood Smith

Kate Berardo is a consultant and trainer who specializes in global skill building, leadership development, and diverse teams. Her training experience spans a dozen countries and has involved working from staff to senior executives from over 35 nations. Kate’s work has been the subject of media worldwide, including CNN’s Business Traveler and the Dubai Daily Gulf News. She is the co-author of Putting Diversity to Work and Cultural Detective® Self-Discovery.

Dr. Sherwood Smith has traveled from New Jersey, where he was raised, to Antarctica, Asia, East Africa, and the Americas. He was the director of the Kenya College Semester Program at the School of International Training before coming to the University of Vermont, where he is the director of the Center for Cultural Pluralism. His work at UVM involves faculty and staff professional development on issues of culture and social justice. He also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in educational foundations and human development. Most recently he co-edited a two-part series, Our Stories I & II: The Experience of Black Professionals on Predominantly White Campuses.