Day 2

Thank you to IMI for the opportunity to attend this conference. I enjoyed all the sessions I went to as well as the lovely food and conversations in between.

The second day of the conference was as inspiring as the first. I was interested to see how people from so many disciplines are incorporating knowledge from intercultural studies into their research (and practice).

The first and last sessions that I went to both had linguistic components to them. I am always interested in analyzing language in terms of the multiple meanings that words contain and the power that they can convey.

Madoka Kaide gave an eloquent presentation that compared language uses in speeches by President Obama, President Ahmadinejad, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. She used excerpts to illustrate how language choices (using “I” or “we”) shapes discourse in the UN.

The last session I went to was about how a company articulates it diversity program. The sisters who gave this presentation, Kathryn and Kristina Ticknor, are in two different MA programs (linguistics and communication). Their articulate presentation also included activities for the audience that helped to strengthen their points. The first exercise was to write down ten aspects of our identity. In sharing these words, we were able to see how their definition of diversity goes beyond the usual assumptions of diversity meaning only gender, ethnicity and other visible identifiers. Their challenge to us at the end was for us to plan an event at the “company” that would be inclusive and help to increase communication between the different communities within the company. We all agreed that food and music bring people together. And one group made the point that having an activity that people do together, such as community service, helps to build a common unifying bond.

Suzanne Zaldivar’s honest and clear presentation on her experience working as a consultant in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 added depth to the keynote given by Lara Logan yesterday. Her slides were very effective because she used images and charts that illustrated her points without too much information. She used the Hofstade dimensions to compare Organizational Development culture with Afghan culture. But she went beyond this to ask- is this enough? She then had us speak with partners about our experiences with culture clash and ways to take of yourself and to build trust in these situations. The big take away from this session for me is that ultimately you have to just show up and be present, even if it feels like you are not accomplishing anything.

Lobna “Luby” Ismail and Daniel Tuft illustrated how they do their training to help people to work through stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. They have many movie resources and workshop materials that are much needed:

groundzerodialogue.org

20000dialogues.org

understandingmuslimdiversity.org

These films are tools for dialogue. Thankfully Ambassador Akbar Ahmed addressed the need to love and have hope. This is particularly helpful to hear during this week as the King hearings on the hill are so eerily reminiscent of past mistakes and trials based on prejudice and misinformation. It is inspiring to see the kind of media that Ismail and Tuft have made available to offer insights and leadership for dialogue.