General Information

Intercultural Horizons 2011

Siena Italian Studies and the Associazione Culturale Ulisse at the International Center for Intercultural Exchange are pleased to invite you to Intercultural Horizons 2011, the first biennial conference dedicated to exchanging ideas, practices and experiences in intercultural competence development.

The first conference will be dedicated to “Best Practices in Intercultural Competence Development” where intercultural educators and experts from a variety of countries will explore the challenges and triumphs of intercultural competence development, highlighting the wide variety of approaches and practices used from one place to another. We are pleased to announce that among the keynote speakers for this event will be Dr. Carol Ma Hok Ka, Assistant Director of the Office of Service-Learning and Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Department of Sociology and Social Policy of Lingnan University, Hong Kong, as well as Janet Bennett, Director of the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland, Oregon .

This conference welcomes those interested or involved in intercultural education or exchange, from faculty and administrators to coordinators and counselors. In addition, those active in the fields of service-learning, language instruction, intercultural or cross-cultural communication, and international education are certainly invited to attend and/or propose a presentation.

Please join us, and our international colleagues, for this unique opportunity to discuss one of the key topics in international education today!

More on Intercultural Horizons 2011: Objectives

As we conclude the first decade of the new millennium, more than ever is it necessary to ensure that international education is not only international, but also intercultural. Although much has been written on intercultural competence, there is a rapidly growing need to discuss the best practices and strategies for its development. With the international circulation of students growing and moving in all directions, often times unpredictable and uncontrollable in its volume and variety, it is essential to continuously examine how intercultural relations are developed in different contexts. Therefore, just as international education must also be intercultural education, it is also necessary that intercultural education becomes an international, or better yet, a global interest. The objective of Intercultural Horizons 2011 is just that, to open a global dialogue on intercultural studies in such a way as to involve as many voices as possible, so that the dialogue itself can enrich the very concept of intercultural competence.

Call for proposals/registration deadlines and fees

Registration open from September 1st, 2010 – Click here to download the IH Registration form.

Call for proposals deadline November 15th, 2010 (Notification of acceptance by November 30th, 2010 - Guidelines available here (pdf) .

Early registration deadline March 15th, 2011 --- Fee 175eur (includes attendance to all sessions, materials, coffee breaks, light lunch Sunday, May 8th)

Presenter registration deadline March 15th, 2011 --- Fee: 75eur (includes attendance to all sessions, materials, coffee breaks, dinner Saturday May 7th, light lunch Sunday May 8th)

Regular Registration deadline April 15th, 2011 --- Fee 220eur (includes attendance to all sessions, materials, coffee breaks, light lunch Sunday, May 8th)

On-site Registration --- Fee 220eur (includes attendance to all sessions, materials, coffee breaks, no lunch)

Accommodations

Click here to view a booking service for people who are interested in attending.

Getting to Siena

From the Florence Airport (FLR)

The best way to come to Siena from Florence (Firenze) airport is to take the bus. You have to take two different buses. One from Florence Airport to Florence bus station "Santa Maria Novella" (about 20 minutes), the other one from Florence bus station to Siena center (about 1 hour 15 minutes).

From Florence Airport to Florence bus station (which is located next to the Florence railway station "Santa Maria Novella") you can choose one of these two options:

From Florence bus station to Siena center you have to take the bus called "Siena RAPIDA", which takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. The ticket must be purchased before boarding the bus, it is sold in the bus station and it costs approximately 7,10 €.

Busses leave for Siena approximately every hour from the Florence bus station to Siena (the stop in the center of Siena where you should get off is called "Piazza Gramsci").

Bus schedules and information can be found on the website: www.sienamobilita.it

From the Pisa Airport PSA

There are two ways to get to Siena from Pisa Airport. There is a direct bus for Siena that leaves from Pisa Airport for Siena at 1:00pm each day. Schedules and information are available at www.trainspa.it

Trains leave for Siena from the Pisa Airport train station rather frequently. Upon exiting customs, turn right and walk to the train ticket counter (“biglietteria”) at the far end of the terminal. The trains depart from directly outside the airport doors at the opposite end of the terminal. Schedules and information are available at www.trenitalia.com

Conference Program at a Glance

A detailed program will be provided at a later date.

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Saturday, May 7th, 2011 

Sunday, May 8th, 2011

Presenters & Papers

Click here to download a PDF of all the abstracts.

Click here to download a PDF of all the presenter bios.

Keynote Speakers

Janet Bennett (Intercultural Communication Institute - Portland, OR, USA): On Becoming Global Souls: Building Intercultural Competence

Carol Ma Hok Ka (Lingnan University - Hong Kong): Service-Learning in Asia: The Service-Learning Model at Lingnan University in Hong Kong

Plenary Speakers

Fiora Biagi, Lavinia Bracci, Juan Carlos Ruiz-Coll & Jules Martin Bella Owona (Siena Italian Studies, International Center for Intercultural Exchange- Siena, Italy): Reflective Intercultural Competence (RIC) and its Assessment: The RICA Model

Alvino Fantini (SIT Graduate Institute - Brattleboro, VT. USA): Exploring the Multiple Dimensions of Intercultural Competence: Implications and Applications

Andrew Furco (University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN. USA): The Complexities of Crossing Boundaries in Community-Engaged Work

Wendy Williamson (Eastern Illinois University - Charleston, IL. USA): Sophisticated Study Abroad

Concurrent Session Presenters

Tünde Bajzát (University of Miskolc, Hungary): What does intercultural competence mean for engineers and how can we develop it?

Sarah Barker (The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, Florence Italy): Teaching Cultural Literacy

Ada Bertini Bezzi (John Cabot University – Rome, Italy): Educazione interculturale e didattica del cinema: un connubio possibile in un corso di grammatica e composizione

Silvia Bergonzi (Università Cattolica di Milano - Milan, Italy): Culture and Language Learning

Maria Teresa Bonfatti Sabbioni (Northwestern University - Chicago, IL. USA): Intercultural Activities for Students of Italian as Foreign Language

Claudia Borghetti (Università di Bologna - Bologna, Italy): Towards a Methodological Model of Intercultural Competence: Some Theoretical Issues

Maja Brala-Vukanovic & Irena Vodopija-Krstanovic (Rijeka University, Croatia): Revisiting Intercultural Competence: Understanding Students’ Conceptualizations and Needs

Suzette Plaisance Bryan & Sue Terrillion (Southeastern Louisiana University - Hammond, LA. USA): “Let’s Talk Turkey”: Changing Structures, Systems, and Attitudes in the University Classroom

Clarisse Costa Alfonso (Universidade Nove de Lisboa - Lisbon,Portugal): Intercultural Learning in the Study Abroad context - ERASMUS

Alvino Fantini (SIT Graduate Institute - Brattleboro, VT. USA): Exploring Language: An Integral Component of Intercultural Competence

Ida Ferrari & Giulia Grosso (Corte dei Miracoli – Associazione Culturale, Siena Italy): “A scuola di Cittadinanza”: dalle competenze generali allo sviluppo delle conoscenze interculturali

Susan Ghaffaryan (University of Kashan - Iran): A Metaphorical Analysis of the Concept of Doubt and Its Relation to Schumann’s Acculturation Theory between Male and Female Persian EFL Students

Jagdish Gundara (Institute of Education, University of London - UK): Intercultural Teacher Education: Teacher Competences with Special Reference to the Art and Music Curriculum

Jenny Huq (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA): Campus-Wide Orientation on Culture and Ethics Prepares Students to GO! Global

Weston Kennison (The State University of New York at Geneseo, USA): From Tuscany to Nicaragua: Reading Great Books with the Help of Global Partners

Becky Lewis & Carol Long (The State University of New York at Geneseo, USA): Finding Common Ground

Leo Lo Sasso Ricciardi (University of Northern Colorado - Greeley, CO. USA): The Reggio Emilia Method in Developing Intercultural Competencies through Second-Language Acquisition

Sonia Massari (Gustolab/University of Illinois- Rome, Italy): Food and Culture: Between Local Identities and Transnational Perspectives

Glenn McClure (The State University of New York at Geneseo, USA): Transatlantic Learning Partnerships: Student writing and music making from Africa and the US on the Atlantic Slave Trade

Thomas McEvoy (Union College- Schenectady, NY. USA): Post Graduate Volunteerism and Social Entrepreneurship in Developing Nations

Francesca Mirti (Stony Brook University, NY USA): "Matter of Taste(s) Project": Discovering Otherness Through the Familiar and Unfamiliar in the Italian Classroom

Thomas Winston Morgan (International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership - Portland, OR. USA): Using Interactive Technology During the Application Process to Encourage Student Learning about the Ethics of International Service-Learning

Kevin Murphy (CEA Global Education, Rome & Florence, Italy): Learning About Taste: a Gateway to Intercultural Competence

Antonia Pérez Bolívar (Centro de Lenguas y Educacion Intercultural - Granada, Spain); Service Learning as Part of the Language Class: Providing Cultural Experience to Study Abroad Students with Low Language Proficiency

Sasha Perugini (Syracuse University, Florence, Italy): Human Resources Management in Study Abroad Programs

Thomas Peterson (University of Georgia, Athens GA. USA): Educating Across Differences: Gaps, Analogies, Pluralism

Monica Reynoso (Espiritu Santo University - Guyaquil, Ecuador):Creating Awareness for a Global Campus Community: UEES a Case Study

Susan Rosenstreich (Dowling College - Oakdale, NY. USA): What is Culture?

Peter Sercombe & Tony Young (Newcastle University, UK): Education for non-essentialised intercultural adjustment: A case study among international postgraduate students in the UK

Laura Tarabusi (New York University - Florence Italy): Developing Intercultural Competence Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Avgustina Zinovieva & Svetlana Alpatova (State University of Management - Moscow, Russia): Intercultural Business Communication and Cross-Cultural Management as a New Challenge for Intecultural Managerial Competence Development

Absentee Presenters

Esther Louie (Whitworth University - Spokane, WA. USA): The Personal Leadership Curriculum: A tool for negotiating intercultural competency

Alois Moosmüller (Ludwig Maximilians University – Munich, Germany):

Rhonda Zaharna (American University - Washington DC, USA): An Associative Perspective of Intercultural Competence in the Arab World

Click here to download a PDF of all the abstracts.