Tag Archives: Opportunity

Education & Intercultural Learning Communications Fellowship – Apply Now!

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AFS Intercultural Programs (www.afs.org) seeks an individual with excellent public relations and marketing communications skills – strategic, creative and production – and a strong interest in working across cultures for a fellowship within our Education and Intercultural Learning (ICL) Department.

AFS ICL Library

Tasks related to this fellowship include:

  • Supporting the Education team’s communications and media strategy: internal stakeholder communications as well as working on an external media plan that includes social/digital media (www.afs.org/blog/icl, our digital library, Facebook), conferences, etc.
  • Managing the AFS Intercultural Link News Magazine: coordinating article submissions with authors from around the world, writing (as appropriate), editing and proof reading articles, contributing to design and layout, finalizing production and distributing to our global readership.
  • Plus additional responsibilities related to education and intercultural learning in AFS as a part of a team comprised of fun and passionate people who work to help people improve interactions across cultures.

Skills: For this fellowship, candidates should:

  • Have strong communications skills from strategy development to content creation (especially writing) to production (digital and otherwise);
  • Have excellent planning and organizational skills with high attention to detail;
  • Be highly creative, solutions-oriented, and pro-active;
  • Have basic or better design sensibilities & layout skills;
  • Be technology-savvy and able to work in various online and digital environments;
  • Be interested in intercultural communications, global skills development and/or international relations and education;
  • Be able to work both independently and as a part of a collaborative team;
  • Have excellent spoken *and* written English skills (fluency two or more languages preferred);
  • Familiarity with AFS or intercultural exchange programs a plus, but not required.

The fellowship is full-time for a commitment of 9 to 12 months. It is based at AFS Intercultural Programs’ offices in NYC, covers some expenses and provides a stipend.

Intercultural Link Newsletter Magazine

If you meet these requirements and are interested in applying for the fellowship, please e-mail AFS International at icl@afs.org. Provide a brief description of yourself, examples of how you meet the listed requirements for this fellowship, your motivations for applying for this fellowship, and what you could bring to this fellowship. In addition, please attach a current resume and two writing samples in the form of a newsletter article and/or blog entry.

We regret we cannot reply to all inquiries.

AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

New feature on the ICL blog – ICL Conferences overview

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We are happy to announce the most recent addition to our blog – next to the ICL related books, movies and online resources; you can find a brand new ICL Conferences section. In this section, we will be sharing an overview of conferences and larger educational events that are related to Intercultural Learning or other relevant areas.

 

Anna Collier (AFS International) presenting a poster on the AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program at the NAFSA (Association of International Educators) Annual Conference in Houston, Texas USA in June 2012.

We hope you will find this new section of our blog helpful for your work and that you will benefit from attending events where you can meet like-minded professionals, make new contacts and learn about the topics interesting to you. As an inspiration, we are sharing with you what conferences we are planning to attend.

All the listed events are organized or co-organized by international platforms, think-tanks, universities and international organizations, including AFS. Is your event missing? Let us know! We are updating this list weekly, so in case you have a suggestion for an interesting conference that we should add, please leave your idea in a comment. We will be happy to add it to our list.

Intercultural Dialogue Day 2012 Photo and Video Contest Winners!

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On 27 September 2012, the European Federation of Intercultural Learning (EFIL) and AFS partnered to celebrate Intercultural Dialogue Day (IDD) 2012 to promote intercultural learning. This year, IDD held a best Video and Photo contest for events and activities that celebrated intercultural learning and dialogue.

Everyone who participated in the IDD made wonderful contributions to furthering the awareness of intercultural learning. As well, many stayed connected through IDD’s facebook page, which is where the winners of the photo and video contest were announced. Congratulations to the winners from AFS Hungary and AFS Russia!

Watch the best video and see the best picture on the IDD facebook page!

 

Global Youth Voice Conference

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International opportunities for interculturally-minded youth to get involved and collaborate with each other are becoming more and more accessible. A great example is “Global Youth Voice“, an international youth conference which brings together 200 young people from all over the globe with the common intention of finding out how young people can make the world better, together. An innovative approach to international organization, the project began in 2011 with a small group of 8 young people who dreamt of a place where all the intercultural-driven youth could collaborate and be in contact.

This year’s conference took place in Moscow, Russia on the 18th of August, and was held at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. It is one of the three conferences that together make up the AISEC International Congress, an international event to plan projects for social and economic development. At the Global Youth Voice event, two AFS staff members had the opportunity to take a more active role and act as facilitators for one of the sessions.

Tom McLeod, an AFS returnee (Australia 2000-2001) and current Intern at the AFS Russia office in Moscow, along with Nonna Kovrizhnykh, Partner Director of AFS Russia, and Organisational Development Coordinator Natalia Zakharova facilitated a session on Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance. The 10-day conference hopes to foster a positive global impact in the way youth collaborate and interact, and aims to build a global perspective for future generations.

Deep Culture Learning | Webinar with Young SIETAR

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Young Sietar is an international organization of young professionals in the field of Intercultural Learning that regularly provides its members webinars on numerous intercultural topics. One of these, an online webinar on “Deep Culture Learning: The Cognitive Unconscious and the International Brain” will take place on September 15, 2012 at 12:00 – 1:00 pm BST (British Summer Time). To check availability and to register for this webinar, click here.

This webinar addresses the fundamentals of neurology, cognition, and perception and by presenting the concept of “Deep Culture Learning” Joseph Shaules, author of the book Deep Culture: The Hidden Challenges of Global Living, invites participants to discover ways to get in touch deeply with a new culture - beyond the tip of the iceberg. Shaules argues that if we learn a culture, we will more deeply impact our brain’s unconscious “Auto-Pilot”, also known as our “Cognitive Unconscious”.

Joseph Shaules is an intercultural educator who has worked and lived in Japan, Mexico, and Europe for more than 20 years. He is now an associate professor at the Rikkyo University Graduate School of Intercultural Communication, Tokyo. He is the author of many books, including “Beneath the Surface: A Beginner’s Guide to the Deep Culture Experience” (Intercultural Press); “Identity” (Oxford University Press), and “Deep Culture: The Hidden Challenges of Global Living” (Multilingual Matters). Shaules works, thinks, and writes in English, Japanese, French and Spanish.

As an educational organization, AFS offers young people the opportunity to spend time abroad and to engage in intercultural learning. With support from volunteers and staff who have knowledge of intercultural concepts and skillful ways of applying that knowledge, the experience of each participant is shaped. Shaules’ webinar can be an opportunity to get deeply involved with intercultural learning, and to reflect on its importance for the contemporary world.

To learn more about Young Sietar, sign up for the 13th Annual Congress 2012, taking place from 6-9 September 2012 in Belfast, Northern Ireland!

Senior Internship Position

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AFS Intercultural Programs seeks a senior level intern with an educational and/or professional background in Intercultural (Ic) Communications to support the AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program. The Learning Program is a global training and assessment program for AFS volunteers (44000+) and staff (800+) that enhances AFS’s educational approach to intercultural relations.

The intern will support the Learning Program Manager with ongoing Program activities: provide support to Program trainers; support the work of the Curriculum Design Team; administer assessment tools and track results; improve and format Learning Session Outlines; archive intercultural material; support with Program marketing and promotion; organize virtual meetings and events; communicate with the AFS international community and Intercultural Learning Team to develop content for our Newsletter and Blog.

Qualifications

We welcome applications from candidates who are bright, motivated, self-directed, interested in intercultural issues, have a strong sense of humor, and meet these internship qualifications:

  • Be in or have recently completed a degree in Intercultural studies (or similar) and be familiar with and readily able to refer to theories, concepts, and current research and practices;
  • Have experience in teaching and curriculum development in formal and/or non-formal education settings;
  • Be highly creative, solutions-oriented, and pro-active;
  • Have excellent organizational skills; be structured and detail-oriented;
  • Have excellent spoken *and* written English skills (writing samples will be required, fluency in two or more languages preferred);
  • Be technology-savvy and able to work in various online environments;
  • Be able to work with Microsoft Office (especially Excel and Word);
  • Have some experience in event management or logistical coordination;
  • Be able to work both independently and as a part of a collaborative, multicultural team;
  • Familiarity with AFS or intercultural exchange programs a plus, but not required.

This is a full-time (~40hrs/week) internship is based at AFS Intercultural Programs’ offices in NYC starting in early September 2012, and with a minimum duration of 6 months, with the option to extend. A stipend will be provided and some costs will be covered. Some flexibility required.

To Apply

Serious applicants should e-mail icl@afs.org no later than 15 August, 2012 with “Intercultural Link Learning Program: Senior Internship” in the subject line and attach the following documents:

  • A cover letter providing a brief description of yourself, examples of how you meet the listed requirements for this internship, your motivations for applying, and what you can offer AFS.
  • A current CV/resume
  • Two brief writing samples (no longer than 3 pages each). These can be articles you have already written, school papers or other samples on a topic related to the focus of the internship that demonstrate your professional and/or academic writing style.

Serious applicants should e-mail icl@afs.org no later than 15 August, 2012 with “Intercultural Link Learning Program: Senior Internship” in the subject line and attach the following documents:

  • A cover letter providing a brief description of yourself, examples of how you meet the listed requirements for this internship, your motivations for applying, and what you can offer AFS;
  • A current CV/resume;
  • Two brief writing samples (no longer than 3 pages each). These can be articles you have already written, school papers or other samples on a topic related to the focus of the internship that demonstrate your professional and/or academic writing style.

We regret we cannot reply to all inquiries.

AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The intern will join a team comprised of fun and passionate people dedicated to promoting life-long learning for all.

The CONTACT Program – Conflict Transformation Across Cultures

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Are you interested in a combination of Intercultural Learning, Peace Building, and Conflict Transformation? If you are, the CONTACT program, offered by the SIT (School for International Training) is worth knowing about! It is a program that offers learning opportunities that aim to make transformation of conflicts across cultures possible. The program has a special focus on the intercultural conflicts that we are confronted with and which often need special attention in an increasingly globalized world. In many cases, they are more difficult to transform than conflicts that occur with people from familiar contexts. In addition to this, many of them are even further compromised by stereotyping and other challenging intergroup dynamics.

The CONTACT Program deals with dynamics of intercultural conflicts, and with how these conflicts can be transformed. More specifically, the program introduces participants to the tools that can be used to achieve this. In the 3-week Summer Peacebuilding Program that takes place every year in Brattleboro, VT in the United States, practitioners from all over the world come together to learn more about intercultural conflicts and to share their experiences. The Contact program also offers a 2-semester-distance Graduate Certificate Program, which includes a field seminar. In addition to these two options, CONTACT now offers a Program in Kathmandu, Nepal, for South Asians who are interested in learning about the topic. Participants take part in a process which combines theory, self-reflection, community building, and collaborative problem solving which, within a multicultural learning environment, is extremely powerful.

The Contact program can support us in achieving the goals that we as AFSers have set ourselves: to provide intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. This may be a reason why more AFSers than ever are signing up for structured Intercultural Learning opportunities around the world. Find out more!

 

Summer Academy of Intercultural Experience will have two editions in 2012

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In 2012, InterCultur, the consultancy branch of AFS Germany, is organizing two editions of the Summer Academy of Intercultural Experience in cooperation with Karlshochschule International University in Germany and with Karlshochschule International University, University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), as well as AFS Antarabudaya Malaysia in Malaysia.

The Summer Academies aim at developing applied solutions for intercultural challenges in business and society and is open to anyone aged 18-35 with a demonstrable interest in the field of intercultural communications and management. Primary target groups are undergraduate students and young professionals with a background or interest in intercultural experiences. Participants also need communicative English skills as all courses are taught in English.

Summer Academy in Karlsruhe

In 2010 and 2011, the Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience has already successfully taken place in Karlsruhe. This year’s Summer Academy takes place from July 29th to August 12th, 2012.

The Summer Academy will comprise lectures in three different areas: Intercultural Communication, Intercultural Management and Intercultural Competence. All courses are taught by university lecturers and professors. Qualified trainers with extensive experience in the international and intercultural field will support them during the practical sections of the workshops. This combination of academic resources and the knowhow of AFS represents an innovative, synergetic and applied concept.

Additionally to the academic course program, participants are offered extracurricular activities to fortify their experiences and to learn more about German and European culture. Besides complementary evening lectures by experts in research and economy, the extracurricular activities offer space to reflect on the learned theories and practices.

 

Summer Academy in Malaysia

The Asia-Europe X-Cultural Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience is a two weeks course on Intercultural Learning and will be the first intercultural learning academy in Malaysia. The Academy will take place in Bangi Selagor, Malaysia, from August 27 to September 7, 2012. 

The Asia-Europe X-Cultural Summer Academy will focus on intercultural topics with emphasis on Intercultural Communication and Culture and Society with the intention of fostering the intercultural understanding between European and Asian students.

The Academy will comprise lectures on acquisition of intercultural competence as well as on intercultural trainings. All the courses will have complementary workshop sessions with theoretical and practical content offered by lecturers and trainers which are experts with large experience in international environments. Lecturers and trainers will come from Europe and Asia to create a remarkable intercultural classroom learning experience.

Release of the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication 2012 Schedule!

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The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) runs the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication (SIIC) each July in Portland, Oregon, USA, and they have just released the 2012 schedule! This is an amazing professional development opportunity for professionals or graduate students currently in or wanting to get into the intercultural field. SIIC takes place over three weeks and offers 1-day, 3-day and 5-day courses. For 2012, SIIC is offering 16 new workshops, in addition to the numerous workshops that are available every year. The SIIC faculty members offer the latest perspectives, resources, and approaches to intercultural education, training, research, and management.

AFS has been sending participants to SIIC for the last 10 years, and in 2011 we had 31 AFS volunteers and staff attending the SIIC workshops and we will soon be publishing here some of their SIIC-stories.

* Indicates a new workshop. Please note: Only one workshop may be taken per session.

SESSION I: 3-day Concurrent Workshops: July 11-13, 2012:
1a. Foundations of Intercultural Communication (Santalynda Marrero, Andy Reynolds)
1b. Foundations of Intercultural Communication (Margaret Pusch, Jaime Wurzel)
2. Teaching Intercultural Issues Online (Judith Martin, Mary Meares)
3. Methods of Intercultural Training (Barbara Kappler)
4. Assessing Intercultural Competence (Michael Stevens)
5. Foundations of Intercultural Coaching (T. Glen Sebera)
*6. Making Your Marketing Work: An Intercultural Perspective (Cate Brubaker, Candice Hughes, Ann Marie Lei)
*7. Global Sustainability Across Cultures (Peter Fordos, Cecilia Utne)
8. Borders, Boundaries, Belonging, and Beyond (Prany Sananikone, Dorothy Sermol)
*9. Redefining Diversity: Integrating Culture into Diversity and Inclusion (Carlos Cortés) *10. Preparing Leaders to Engage Global Diversity: Practical Strategies (Louise Wilkinson)
*11. Defining, Developing, and Diffusing Difficult Dialogues (Anita Rowe, Donna Stringer)  12. Visual Literacy: The Meaning of Images in a Multicultural World (John Condon, Miguel Gandert)
13. China: Encountering the Culture of a Rising Power George Renwick

These are just the courses offered during Session 1. For a complete listing of the SIIC 2012 course offerings, please visit: http://www.intercultural.org/siic.php

AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program Senior Intern

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AFS Intercultural Program is seeking a senior level intern with an educational and/or professional background in Intercultural (Ic) Communications to support the AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program. The Learning Program is a global training and assessment program for AFS volunteers (44000+) and staff (800+) that enhances AFS’s educational approach to intercultural relations.

The intern will support the Learning Program Manager with day-to-day activities in the development and refinement of the program and curriculum design. Additionally, s/he will communicate with the AFS global community related to project implementation and assessment around Learning Program events (in-person and distance), among other Intercultural Learning Services departmental tasks.

We welcome applications from candidates who are bright, motivated, self-directed, interested in intercultural issues, have a strong sense of humor, and meet these internship qualifications:
• Be in or have recently completed a degree in Ic studies (or similar) and be familiar with theories, concepts, and current research and practices;
• Have teaching and curriculum development experience in formal and/or non-formal education settings;
• Be highly creative, solutions-oriented, and pro-active;
• Have excellent organizational skills and be detail-oriented;
• Have excellent spoken *and* written English skills (writing samples will be required, fluency in two or more languages preferred);
• Be technology-savvy and able to work in various online environments;
• Be able to work both independently and as a part of a collaborative, multicultural team;
• Familiarity with AFS or intercultural exchange programs a plus, but not required.
This is a full-time (~40hrs/week) internship is based at AFS Intercultural Programs’ offices in NYC starting in February 2012, and with a duration of 6 months, with the option to extend. A stipend of will be provided and some costs will be covered.

To apply, please e-mail icl@afs.org no later than 13 January, 2012 with “Intercultural Link Learning Program: Senior Internship” in the subject line. In an attached cover letter, provide a brief description of yourself, examples of how you meet the listed requirements for this internship, your motivations for applying, and what you could bring to this opportunity. In addition, please attach a current CV/resume and two brief writing samples.

We regret we cannot reply to all inquiries.

About AFS: AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The intern will join a team comprised of fun and passionate people dedicated to promoting life-long learning for all.