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Curiously Intercultural Archives
Your Unconscious Biases. Exploring The Mind Through Art and Neuroscience. By Patrick L Schmidt

Your Unconscious Biases. Exploring The Mind Through Art and Neuroscience. By Patrick L Schmidt

7 July 2024 | ,

While unconscious bias is a popular diversity training topic, unfortunately, it often offends, particularly those who hear it as an accusation of their behavior rather than learning about it as an essential human function for well-being in the worlds we live in. It’s a core piece of our mental functioning that needs to be understood, used, and managed. Schmidt’s book will help you do this and many other things as well.
IncluKIT: Inclusive Intercultural Communication Training Kit for Initial Reception of Migrants

IncluKIT: Inclusive Intercultural Communication Training Kit for Initial Reception of Migrants

16 May 2024 | ,

We are happy to inform you that a pilot version of IncluKIT is now out and available online. IncluKIT - Inclusive Intercultural Communication Training Kit for Initial Reception of Migrants - is a training tool aimed at the whole spectrum of volunteers and professionals involved in the initial reception of newly arrived migrants, including the people who seek asylum and refugees in European countries. As a result of a partnership between academics from six universities of the FORTHEM alliance and practitioners from SIETAR Europa, SIETAR Switzerland, SIETAR UK, the SIETAR SIG Migration and diversophy®, it focuses on the analysis of mismatched expectations and misunderstandings during the migrants’ transitional phase and the ways to overcome these issues.
diversophy® Podcast

diversophy® Podcast

14 May 2024 | ,

Join George Simons, the founder of diversophy®, and Quinten Nobbe as they, along with their team, discuss the intricacies of human interactions across borders, and share their expertise and experiences with those interested in the subject.
Hot Topic: Migration

Hot Topic: Migration

23 April 2024 | ,

We are pleased to officially announce the new Hot Topic for the upcoming months -  Migration, and invite those researching or working in this field to share their experience and expertise with our readers by emailing us at ci@sietareu.org. Ideas and articles traverse borders more effortlessly than individuals do, and they have the potential to inspire and unite people worldwide by addressing the challenges faced by migrants and creating a happier, more prosperous and harmonious global community. Read, engage and contribute to this Hot Topic and conversation that are shaping our global society!
Nurturing Global Citizens: A Family’s Journey Through the World of Third Culture Kids

Nurturing Global Citizens: A Family’s Journey Through the World of Third Culture Kids

17 April 2024 |

In an increasingly interconnected world, the concept of global citizenship has never been more important. My personal journey, intertwined with the upbringing of my children, Alexander and Elias, serves as a vivid illustration of nurturing global citizens. As a family, we have navigated the complex yet enriching path of Third Culture Kids (TCKs), a term popularized by David C. Pollock, Ruth E. Van Reken, and Michael V. Pollock to describe individuals who spend a significant part of their childhood outside their parents' passport countries...
FASHIONing Identities Through Cultural Filters

FASHIONing Identities Through Cultural Filters

16 March 2024 | ,

We learn and update our cultural codes throughout our entire life. Along with language, we learn how our bodies communicate, and - early in our lives, we begin to make sense of social relations through attire, we teach and learn what “appropriate" means: we dress for the weather and for socialization. Our expectations about someone's appearance may say more about ourselves than about that individual. The challenge lies in be(com)ing aware of our own values and assumptions. Our deeply ingrained value settings kick in every time we (un)consciously connect to others through dress codes. Failing to decode implicit values may be perceived as “cultural illiteracy”. Appearance, including attire, often sets directions in our relational orientation.
Generative AI and Intercultural Communication: What’s in for the Trainers?

Generative AI and Intercultural Communication: What’s in for the Trainers?

16 February 2024 | ,

Just over a year ago, the world was introduced to ChatGPT, sparking excitement around terms like 'Generative AI' or 'Large Language Models'. This groundbreaking technology is not just a buzzword but a breakthrough that is reshaping industries in profound ways. In an inspiring conversation, I had a chance to interview Dr. Stephan Ruppert, who has successfully integrated this innovative technology into the fabric of his work as an Intercultural Communication trainer and lecturer. But his efforts extend beyond this, Dr. Ruppert is on a mission to empower his peers in the field, teaching them how to harness the potential of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney in their professional lives, under the brand of Linking Cultures.
The Greening of SIETAR

The Greening of SIETAR

14 February 2024 |

Team behind the SIETAR Europa 2024 Congress Sustainability initiative shares their approach on making the upcoming June conference in Lille more green and climate-friendly.
Living within diversities. Cultures and new complexities. An international conference by Fondazione Intercultura. Florence, April 4-6, 2024

Living within diversities. Cultures and new complexities. An international conference by Fondazione Intercultura. Florence, April 4-6, 2024

11 February 2024 |

At a time of globalisation and of multiple cross-cultural influences how can we learn to communicate in an effective and culturally sensitive way in our complex societies? Which competencies are required? How can we face and cope with cultural uncertainty? Are we moving towards a “liquid” concept of culture? How can young people be educated to cope with so many intertwined cultural differences within a complex society? To answer these questions, join a conference organised by Fondazione Intercultura in the beautiful city of Florence from April 4 to 6, 2024.
Breaking out of the Expat Bubble by Marian van Bakel

Breaking out of the Expat Bubble by Marian van Bakel

23 January 2024 | ,

“Breaking out of the bubble” is an excellent way to describe the multifaceted challenge that many new expats face. Often, even unconsciously they create a bubble for themselves, “for safety's sake”. Leaving home and familiar environments for the unknown can be scary, particularly if one has little preparation for it and mistakes can be costly. Now, a very useful handbook has arrived! The book is an interesting read, because it is replete with stories, resulting from discussions and interviews that the author has had with a variety of expats about their experiences in different countries, making it possible to understand how making friends may be easier or more difficult given the culture and social structure.
Winter Holidays: From Darkness to Light, Year After Year

Winter Holidays: From Darkness to Light, Year After Year

24 December 2023 | ,

One may wonder why our ancestors chose to celebrate hope and new beginnings at the gloomiest time of the year in much of the inhabited world. Yet, the darkness and cold that people must endure during their holiday shopping and commutes to and from parties are exactly the point of winter holidays. Around the world, some lovingly decorate trees, and some "feed" their dead trunks until they “poop presents”; some get their thrills from dancing lion-monsters, while others wonder how reindeers get down the chimney. But ultimately, all pay their symbolic tributes to the same hope: that winter chills eventually give way to the arrival of new beginnings.
Mean Girl Feminism: How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss. By Kim Hong Nguyen. University of Illinois Press, 2024

Mean Girl Feminism: How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss. By Kim Hong Nguyen. University of Illinois Press, 2024

24 December 2023 | ,

We live at a time when the subjective fabricates the objective, and this has become blatantly obvious in two areas. The first is entertainment – film, theater, popular music, and their penetration of social media. The second is populist political rhetoric where identity discourse, often based on survival fears, determines the issues, the actions, and the outcomes of legal and social structuring, likewise, exacerbating social media. Fortunately, Kim Hong Nguyen’s book is not just another academic thesis about the roots and nature of feminism. It is far more than that. Nguyen has dared to do what most cultural, researchers, and diversity gurus avoid, namely, looking at how pop culture penetrates lives in so many ways and do so because we imagine that we can circumvent it. While not at all avoiding traditional and serious academic research into the issues of feminism, she brings them to life by copiously citing illustrations and expressions of them in the realms of popular culture, and how they illustrate the personhood of women who give substance to the questions and perspectives on feminism that Nguyen offers.