AFS Intercultural Link news magazine, volume 4 issues 2&3 - global edition

AFS Intercultural Link | VOLUME 4 - ISSUES 2&3 - MAY-SEPTEMBER 2013 | 1

VOLUME 4 - ISSUES 2&3 - MAY-SEPTEMBER 2013

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING

State of the AFS NetworkMELISSA LILES, CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER, AFS INTERNATIONAL

Добро јутро! ¡Buenos días! Magandang umaga! Günaydın! Good morning!

Starting this August, thousands of families north of the equator will learn this and many other daily phrases in a language other than their own thanks to the exchange student they will host for the next months.

With the arrival of these studens, AFSers will have yet another cycle of hard but rewarding work on host family recruitment in their rear-view mirror. It goes without saying that this is always a task of utmost importance: research demonstrates that the Intercultural Learning (ICL) process of AFS sojourners is strongly influenced by their host families (page 9).

This issue explores topics relevant for host families, especially new ones: Through daily intercultural interactions within the family, our students across the globe learn about the visible and invisible principles of their new cultures, rethink their values in light of these, and, as a consequence, develop personally.

YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK

GL

OB

AL

E

DI

TI

ON

continued on page 2

Intercultural Learning for (New)

Host FamiliesOvercome basic obstacles in

intercultural communication on page 4.

Explore Intercultural Learning activities on page 6.

IN THIS ISSUE

Intercultural Learning: State of the AFS Networkby Melissa Liles

Network & Partner Initiatives:InterCOOL Interethnic Campby Inge-Jelena Kroker Page 3

Concepts & Theories:Overcoming Obstacles inIntercultural Communicationby Milena Miladinovic Page 4

Learning Session Outline:Introducing Host Families to ICLAnna Collier Page 6

Network & Partner Initiatives:Exploring the Intersection of Places,Cultures and People in EducationHazar Yildirim Page 8

Network & Partner Initiatives:E-ntercultural Learning - Virtual Toolsand Their Impact on Youth ExchangeInga Menke Page 9

Impact of Living Abroad:Host Families: Key to SuccessfulCultural AdaptationAnna Collier Page 10

Beyond ICL News:Interview with Fred Dervinby Milena Miladinovic Page 12

Meet an ICL ResponsibleDunja Zivanovic, AFS SerbiaPage 13

Intercultural Link Learning Program Update Page 14

Network & Partner Initiatives:Intercultural Education Forum by Nathalie Guzman Bencosme Page 15

Meet our AdvisorsMick Vande Berg, PhD Page 15

Conference Update:At the Forefront of InternationalHigher Education Page 16

Network & Partner Initiatives: Renewing a Long-StandingRelationshipby Eva Vitkova Page 16


And, even though they often may not see themselves as such, we in AFS know that host families are also co-learners in intercultural exchanges. Apart from the obvious learning about the tangible culture of their new hosted family member, they will also have the opportunity to discover the hidden aspects of their own and the “exchange” culture.

Of course, not everything on the learning path will go smoothly, which is where the structured experiential learning framework of AFS steps in.

We review the common difficulties in intercultural communication and ways to avoid or cope with them. You can use our adaptation of LaRay M. Barna’s “stumbling blocks of intercultural communications” on page 4 to help host families better understand what layers exist in communication with members of a different culture and how to overcome potential pitfalls.

For even more practical purposes, explore three “mini” Intercultural Learning activities we’ve compiled for host families (page 6). These simple yet effective suggestions can help them—or any of us—sample how it feels to adapt to another culture in order to anticipate

what this “new culture” experience is like for the participant coming to live with them.

Beginning with this issue we are proud to begin profiling members of the AFS Educational Advisory Council, a body that helps guide the research and educational efforts of AFS. Mick Vande Berg is our newest member whose insights have helped thousands of intercultural learners at the high school and university levels throughout his career (page 15).

Another friend of AFS, Fred Dervin, shares his insights into the relationships between intercultural competence and language learning (page 12). Among his recommendations for AFS is to standardize an understanding of ICL across our network. This advice is encouraging given the enthusiasm AFS organizations around the world have in implementing the Intercultural Link Learning Program (page 14).

And, take inspiration from the many different AFS partner, network and regional projects featured in this issue: the InterCOOLtura Camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an EFIL-led seminar on intercultural

e-learning, the Spectrum of Education conference for teachers in Turkey, Yale University’s Alumni Service Corps program in Ghana, and first-of-its-kind educational symposium in the Dominican Republic.

Finally, if you follow AFS on Facebook or Twitter, you might have noticed that in recent weeks we’ve begun posing more and more reflection questions – both fun and serious – and sharing intercultural insights from our blog in these social media channels. We invite you to share, like and retweet, and keep the learning connections flowing!

Warmly,

GOODBYE ANNA!We wish Anna Collier well as she heads to Paris, then Singapore to pursue MBA studies at INSEAD.

Anna will step down from her position as manager of intercultural learning services at AFS

International. Since she first joined the International team in 2009, many AFSers around the world

have had the pleasure of working with Anna. She has been central to important projects in the

education and intercultural learning area including the AFS ICL Responsibles initiative, our digital

library, the AFS ICL Organizational Profiles, as well as many contributions to the Intercultural Link

Learning Program and this news magazine. We will miss Anna, but count on staying in touch.

Thank you and au revoir, Anna!

We are pleased to welcome Milena Miladinovic to the education and Intercultural Learning team in

New York. Milena will be a communications fellow supporting our efforts to further AFS’s visibility

as an educational organization. She comes to us with the blessing of AFS Serbia and has a

background in organizational development, programs sending coordination, training and was the

Serbian organization’s ICL Responsible. Her communications background includes working for the

Red Cross in South East Europe where she helped organize and activate a regional

communications strategy complete with digital and social media outreach.

Also joining us is Margaux Dillon who will be interning with the Learning Program team.

Margaux holds dual French and US citizenship, has a master’s degree in History,

Communications, Corporation & International Affairs. She was recently the e-learning project

coordinator on an anti-corruption program for the International Chamber of Commerce. Based

in New York, Margaux is an active volunteer for various cultural institutions..

Welcome Milena & Margaux!


The topic of Intercultural Learning (ICL) is a core part of everyday work in AFS Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dealing with different divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the years has made us aware that we need to work to help our own youth, especially those from small and isolated towns, overcome national, religious and ethnic questions and cultural misunderstanding in order to begin interacting constructively and cooperatively.

Having seen how ICL positively affects the lives of AFS exchange students – opening them up to possibilities for adopting new ways of living and thinking while working to create a better world – Mirela Hrnjic, President of AFS Bosnia and Herzegovina, and board member Svjetlana Markovic wondered if we might develop a local Intercultural

Learning project that would result in some of the same transformative effects.

Mirela and Svjetlana took their ideas to the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina whose generous grant resulted in the first InterCOOL Interethnic Camp on Intercultural Learning.

The camp had an ambitious program

covering a wide range of topics:

• Participants were first introduced to each other through presentations about the history and values of different peoples in Bosnia and Hezegovina and discussions about culture. Self-reflection exerciseshelped participants find similarities and differences between themselves and others and learn

that they are determined by their background, family, and community possibilities.

• Next was an introduction to Intercultural Learning based on What Every AFSer Should Know

about Intercultural Learning®, followed by an overview of social entrepreneurship based on Ashoka Youth Venture’s “Dream it. Do it. Challenge.” model.

• Another feature of the camp was a series of workshops called Intercultural Learning through the Five Senses. These used music, photography, cuisine, new media,

and dance to help participants to learn about African, North and Latin American, Asian, and European values and practices without leaving their own country. This exposure also gave participants an opportunity to analyze their own cultural identities.

• Community mapping was used

to further define where the campers come from, what possibilities they have, what they like as well as what they want to change about themselves.

• Finally, combining passions and problems, participants built a “tree of problems” they used to help identify intercultural projects to implement back in their home communities: In one case, a group of participants from two small towns that have been separated since the civil war 20 years ago

organized joint presentations in each of their towns to share what they did during the camp. Another group made a three-day mini version of the InterCOOL camp,

gathering another 30 participants from six cities to offer similar workshops. Others designed

InterCOOL-like weekend workshops for students from their school whose outcomes were presented in class.

Among the many insights gained during the Camp, participants realized that “culture” and “Intercultural Learning” are complex terms with many possible perspectives and ways to define them: Culture can be

thought of as social heritage, traditions, symbols used in everyday communication and life, rules of communication, common values, and more. They concluded that they want to learn more and use this knowledge in their everyday life.

Participants also discussed their shame of stereotypes about their peers from other

communities – those of nationalism, jealousy, racism – and how these largely come from the lack of knowledge. They discovered important common values, too: honesty, gratitude, modesty, and respect toward others and family.

Today, several months after

the camp, participants are still in constant contact: some

meet privately and many have become AFS volunteers. For us at AFS Bosnia and Herzegovina, the biggest success of the camp has been the ongoing interaction of the participants as well as the opportunity to include more local youth in the AFS world of

Intercultural Learning by using methods other than AFS’s exchange programs to help to connect people and share lives – and promote a more just and peaceful existence locally.

NETWORK & PARTNER INITIATIVES

InterCOOL Interethnic CampBASED ON INPUT BY INGE-JELENA KROKER, VOLUNTEER, AFS BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

We need to work to help our own youth overcome national,

religious and ethnic questions

and cultural misunderstanding in order to begin

interacting constructively.


CONCEPTS & THEORIES

Overcoming Obstacles in Intercultural CommunicationMILENA MILADINOVIC, COMMUNICATIONS FELLOW, AFS INTERNATIONAL

Adapted from “Stumbling Blocks in

Intercultural Communication” by LaRay

M. Barna, featured in Basic Concepts of

Intercultural Communication, edited by

Milton J. Bennett, (1998).

The desire to get to know more about

another culture is often stated as a

reason to host a foreign exchange

student by a family or school. Why travel

when another culture can come to you?

While this may be a good motivation for

host families and schools, many people

don’t realize the potential for frustration

and misunderstandings intercultural

encounters may bring if they are not

approached with the right attitude and

preparation. Good intentions, the use of

what one considers to be a friendly

approach, and even the possibility of

mutual benefits might not be sufficient

for successful intercultural

communication.

Thankfully, LaRay M. Barna singles out

six potential challenges, or stumbling

blocks, that may get in the way of a

positive exchange experience. Although

it is not easy, being aware of these six

stumbling blocks is certainly the first

step in avoiding them.

AFS staff and volunteers use this

knowledge to assist and prepare our

host families and schools to develop

proactive coping strategies and take a

constructive approach toward their

upcoming encounters – and inevitable

challenges! – with sojourners from

different cultures.

1. ASSUMPTION OF SIMILARITIES

One answer to the question of why

misunderstandings occur is that many

people naively assume that certain

similarities exist among all people of the

world; they expect that simply being

human makes everyone alike.

Unfortunately, vastly different values,

beliefs, and attitudes that vary from

culture to culture are often overlooked.

Saying that “people are people” is a

common trap, even when it reduces the

discomfort of dealing with difference.

The assumption of similarity does not

often extend to the expectation of a

common verbal language, but it does

interfere with decoding nonverbal

symbols, signs and signals. A person's

cultural upbringing determines whether

or not an emotion will be displayed or

suppressed, as well as on which

occasion and to what degree. The

situations that bring about an emotional

feeling also differ from culture to culture,

as humans are in many ways dependent

on their culture.

Since there seem to be no or very few

universals that can be used as a basis for

automatic understanding, we need to

treat each encounter as an individual

case. Only with the assumption of

differences can reactions and

interpretations be adjusted to

fit reality. Without this

assumption of differences, one

is likely to misread signs and

symbols and wrongly judge

the scene.

Many people who prepare for

intercultural encounters might

only gather information about

the customs of the other

country and learn a bit of the

language. Behaviors and

attitudes of its people are sometimes

researched, but often from a

secondhand source. However,

information gained this way is general,

rarely sufficient and may or may not be

applicable to a specific situation. Also,

knowing “what to expect” often blinds

the observers to all but what confirms

their preconception. Any contradictory

evidence that does filter through the

screens of preconception is likely to be

treated as an exception and thus

discounted. A better approach is to form

a framework for on-site observations.

Even more important is to develop an

investigative, nonjudgmental attitude,

along with a high tolerance for

ambiguity.

2. LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES

Vocabulary, syntax, idioms, slang, and

dialects can all cause difficulty in

understanding people from other

places, but the person struggling with a

different language is at least aware of

the challenges. A worse language

problem is clinging to just one meaning

of a word or phrase in a new language,

regardless of connotation or context.

Even simple words like “yes” and “no”

can cause misunderstandings. In some

cultures, it is polite to refuse the first or

second offer of a refreshment, and

many sojourners have gone to bed

hungry because they never got a third

offer. Being aware that these differences

exist and having an open conversation

about them can help overcome these

unwanted misunderstandings.

Discussing the differences in

connotations and adjusting to the

other’s communication style will be

useful to get to know each other well.

3. NONVERBAL MISINTERPRETATION

People from different cultures inhabit

different sensory realities. They see, hear,

feel, and smell only that which has some

continued on page 5


meaning or importance for them. They

focus on whatever fits into their personal

world of recognition and then interpret it

through their own culture’s frame of

reference. The misinterpretation of

observable nonverbal signs and symbols

such as gestures, postures, and other

body movements is a definite

communication barrier. However, it is

possible to learn the meanings of these

messages, usually in informal rather than

formal ways. It is more difficult to

understand the unspoken codes of the

other culture that are less obvious, such

as the handling of time and spatial

relationships and subtle signs of respect

or formality. It is useful to know that a

student who often sleeps in is not being

rude on purpose, but may rather have a

different sense of time orientation.

Rather than taking offense or simply

giving up, it is good to bring up the

behaviors which seem odd and see what

different values stand behind them.

Sharing your cultural norms and

learning about those of the sojourner will

help you better understand and cope

with different nonverbal styles.

4. PRECONCEPTIONS & STEREOTYPES

Stereotypes are overgeneralized,

secondhand beliefs that provide

conceptual bases from which we "make

sense" of what goes on around us,

whether or not this is accurate or fits the

circumstances.

In an intercultural setting, their use

increases our sense of security and is

psychologically necessary to the degree

that we cannot tolerate ambiguity or the

sense of helplessness when we cannot

understand or deal with other people

and situations. Stereotypes interfere with

our objective viewing of the world

around us, and they are sustained by the

tendency to perceive selectively only

those pieces of new information that

correspond to the image held, which is

not easy to overcome. A simple way of

not stereotyping is to avoid qualifying

the behavior of one person as being

representative for the entire culture, but

instead being aware that it only the

example you have encountered. Staying

flexible and curious about new

information about the members of one

culture can help you make sense of

complex intercultural situations.

5. TENDENCY TO (QUICKLY)

EVALUATE

Another obstacle to understanding

between persons of differing cultures is

the tendency to immediately evaluate

and judge someone’s actions – and do

so through our own cultural values

lenses which we often assume is right,

proper and natural – rather than try to

comprehend completely the thoughts

and feelings expressed by the other

person or group. It is easy to avoid a

communication breakdown by not

immediately evaluating a behavior,

especially in situations when deep

feelings and emotions become involved.

That is just the moment when we most

need to pause, listen, and observe non-

judgmentally.

6. HIGH ANXIETY

Facing new and challenging

situations inevitably causes

feelings of stress, anxiety,

and even possible physical

tension. As long as these

feelings are moderate and

accompanied by positive

attitudes, they provide us

with the necessary energy to

meet these challenges.

However, too much anxiety

requires some form of relief, and this too

often comes in the form of a defense

mechanism, such as the skewing of

perceptions, withdrawal or hostility. High

anxiety, unlike the other five stumbling

blocks, often underlies and compounds

other misunderstandings.

Anxious feelings may exist in both

parties involved in an intercultural

dialogue. The host national can be

uncomfortable when talking with a

foreigner because (s)he cannot maintain

the normal flow of verbal and nonverbal

interaction. On top of language and

perception barriers, the other person’s

unknown knowledge, experience, and

evaluation can feel threatening.

The sojourners often feel more

threatened. They can feel strange and

vulnerable, helpless to cope with

messages that overwhelm them. Their

own "normal" reactions are perceived as

inappropriate. Their self-esteem is often

undermined and a bad way to cope with

that is to withdraw, overcompensate or

become hostile. A more effective

approach is to use the existing support

structures within AFS, such as in-person

meetings with counsellors and other

volunteers who are properly trained on

intercultural issues.

Being aware of these pitfalls can prevent

many misunderstandings and create a

productive intercultural environment for

the sojourner and the host community.

Achieving effective and appropriate

intercultural communications – one of

the 16 AFS Educational Goals – means

building the internal capabilities to

manage the key challenges of

intercultural communication, including

being comfortable with cultural

differences and unfamiliarity, creating

and maintaining relationships, and the

overcoming the inevitable

accompanying experiences

of stress.

AFS volunteers and staff

working with potential and

future host families and

schools can use these

examples as a tool for

increasing their intercultural

competencies and better preparing all

participants for an AFS experience. For

instance, in the initial recruitment phase,

AFS can check for pre-existing

knowledge of the possible pitfalls of

assuming cross-cultural similarities or

using stereotypes as defense

mechanisms. These can then be put into

a clearer perspective, analyzed and

avoided – or recognized and worked

through.

Additionally, sharing this information

with future host families and school

counsellors upfront can be reassuring:

greater awareness allows them to better

anticipate where the possibilities for a

communication breakdown and conflict

lie, recognize intercultural

miscommunications, and then use

coping strategies to either avoid or work

through these stumbling blocks for

greater intercultural understanding.

Develop an investigative,

nonjudgmental attitude, and a high tolerance for ambiguity.


This issue is partly related to how Intercultural Learning

can aid the recruitment process. For every AFS

exchange cycle, volunteers and staff engage in the

tremendous task of recruiting host families for all of the

incoming program participants. We know that

Intercultural Learning will be a significant part of what

host families take away from the AFS experience, so why

not introduce them to it right from the start? Why not

use Intercultural Learning as a way to engage and

motivate families to host an AFS participant?

This new Learning Session Outline from our Education

department presents three short activities that you can

utilize with host families, in your classrooms or other

settings to give a little sample of how it feels to adapt to

another culture, so they can begin to anticipate what the

experience will be like for the participant coming to live

with them. These activities do not require preparation or

many materials, so they can be used during initial

meetings with families, no matter where the meeting

takes place. They are simple yet inspire profound

reflection. While you are facilitating the activities with

families, take time to reflect on how these metaphors are

relevant to your intercultural experiences, as well.

SESSION GOAL

To introduce potential or new host families to

Intercultural Learning.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After this activity, participants will be able to: • Enact metaphors for three different challenges to

cultural adaptation.• Express empathy and patience for people who are

learning to function in a new culture.• Understand 1) how two different perspectives of the

same situation can both be correct, 2) why cultural

adaption is a slow and challenging process, and 3)

the importance of guided, structured support during

cultural adaption.

SPACE REQUIREMENTS

No special requirements.

PARTICIPANTS

No minimum or maximum number.

NECESSARY MATERIALS

✓ piece of paper

✓ pen

STEP-BY-STEP SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

Activity 1: One Action, Multiple Perspectives (5 minutes)

1. Ask participants

to take a pen and,

holding it with one

end pointing up

and the other end

pointing down, lift

it above their

heads.

2. While watching

the pen, instruct

participants to

begin making small, round clock-wise (starting to the

right) circles in the air with the hand holding the pen.

The participant should be able to see the full circle

that (s)he is drawing in the air.

3. Still watching the pen and drawing circles in the air in

the same direction as before, instruct the

participants to slowly lower her/his hand until it is

below chest level.

4. Ask the participants to now observe which direction

the circles are going: counter-clock-wise! (starting to

the left).

5. Debrief: Discuss with participants how the action

never changed (circling pen in the same direction),

but one’s point of view did (first from below and

then from above), and this caused the participants to

have a completely distinct (in fact opposite)

perspective of what was occurring. This can be used

as a metaphor for how the host family and the AFS

participant can have different perspectives on a

single event or issue, yet both be correct from their

continued on page 7

LEARNING SESSION OUTLINE

Introducing Host Families to ICL: Three Short ActivitiesANNA COLLIER, MANAGER OF INTERCULTURAL LEARNING SERVICES, AFS INTERNATIONAL


unique (often culturally

influenced) points of

view.

Activity 2: “It Just Doesn’t Feel Right” (2 minutes)

1. In this activity, ask

participants to cross

their arms.

2. Now, ask them to

cross their arms with

the other arm on top.

3. Debrief: Discuss how it felt to cross one’s arms with

the opposite arm on top.

• Was it difficult to get one’s arms to cross

correctly? • How did it feel to have one’s arms crossed the

opposed way than usual?

4. Lead a discussion on how this relates to cultural

adaptation. Explain that a person learns a pattern for

how things in life function – how to dress, what to eat,

how to communicate with others, how to act in

different social contexts, etc.

AFS participants will be very competent in following

thier home culture social rules (just as one is good at

crossing one’s arms, in general), but it often takes

time, patience, and practice to begin to act according

to another culture’s social rules and expectations (like

crossing one’s arms the other way).

It is good to remember that, even though an AFS

participant does not demonstrate immediate results,

this doesn’t mean that they are not trying. Also, once

they are able to act in ways that are appropriate for

the host culture, it does not necessarily mean that the

participant feels completely natural doing so.

Activity 3: “Should This Be Done Differently?”

(7 minutes)

This activity, like Activity 2, emphasizes how difficult it is

to alter the ways our cultures have taught us to act.

1. Participants will need a pen and a piece of paper.

2. Start by asking participants to write a sentence on

the piece of paper. Participants can choose their

sentence.

3. Once they have finished, ask them to write it again;

however, this time they are to write with the opposite

hand. (Everyone should try to write the sentence, but

it is not necessary for the activity that they finish.)

4. While they are writing with their other hand, ask them

to notice if they are holding the pen and hand in a

position that is similar to how they write with their

regular hand, or if they are using the form that is

more effective for the new hand.

For example, generally, both right-handed and left-

handed people pull the pen across the paper ahead

of the written words. In order for left handers to do

this in languages that write from right to left, though,

it requires that they turn their hand and pen into a

half-circle.

Did participants adapt their hand position to be able

to pull the pen, or are they using the same style they

use with their natural hand, which would cause them

to push the pen across the paper ahead of their

hand? Most often, participants will have been pushing

their pen.

5. Debrief: Ask participants to reflect out loud on how

they felt when they tried writing with their non-

dominant hand. Then, focus their attention on the

way they held the pen in that other hand.

Explain that this is an example of how, without direct

and explicit guidance, people who are attempting to

adapt to another culture can try to mimic local

customs and actions, but be approaching these from

their home culture understanding of how things work

and/or should be done.

Emphasize that this “false” adaptation is one of the

reasons why it is important to provide AFS

participants with guided, structured support

throughout their cultural exchange, so that someone

close to the participant - such as a host family - can

help them enact new cultural actions in an accurate,

effective manner.


“Geographies, Cultures and People” was the theme of the second Spectrum of Education Conference

organized by AFS Turkey (Türk Kültür Vakfı) and FMV Işık Schools.Almost 400 experts, educators and students from Turkey and, thanks to the support of AFS member organizations around the world, 17 other countries came

together in Istanbul this April 24-29 to discuss the intersection of geography education with Intercultural Learning.

With the goal of understanding the effects of culture in the education systems,

specifically geography education, the conference featured speeches from experts such as Mary Biddulph from the University

of Nottingham; UK, Prof. Dr. Vladimir S.Tiktunov from Moscow State University, Russia; Prof. Dr.

David Lambert from London University, UK; Prof. Dr. Miktad Kadıoğlu from Istanbul Technical

University, Turkey and many others. Intercultural Learning workshops from European Federation for Intercultural

Learning (EFIL) trainers, and educator best practices sessions also took place during the conference.

Putting geography and culture learning into practice, participants learned about each other and Istanbul by

attending school visits, taking part in Turkish fine art workshops,

going on city tours and field trips, enjoying Turkish family dinners, and

more. (See the full program at AFS Turkey’s website.)

Participants had the opportunity to

further their knowledge about the topic while experiencing the cooperation of AFS organizations around the world. In addition to individual-level learning, new projects coming out of the event include teacher exchange programs, a journal and newsletter for high school teachers focusing on geography and intercultural

education. Along with news articles on various media outlets, an official declaration of conference proceedings and results have been published. (An online version of the proceedings can be found here.)

National Geographic Turkey, Turkish Geographical Society, Iz TV, EFIL, and the AFS Volunteers Association of Turkey provided

support for the event that continues to receive positive evaluations and praise, even months afterward.


Exploring the Intersection of Places, Cultures and People in EducationHAZAR YILDIRIM, ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR, AFS TURKEY

Team of staff and volunteers of AFS Turkey who organized the conference

In addition to individual-level learning, new

projects coming out of the event include teacher exchange

programs, a journal and a newsletter for high school teachers

focusing on geography and intercultural education.


How can Intercultural Learning (ICL)

be addressed online? What is already

happening online? What are the

opportunities and the challenges?

From April 22-28, AFS volunteers

from across Europe came together in

the Czech countryside to address

these questions during the

“E-ntercultural learning: Virtual Tools

and their Impact on Youth

Exchange” seminar.

Organized by the European

Federation for Intercultural Learning

(EFIL), AFS’s regional umbrella

organization, the workshop examined

ICL linked to the virtual world,

including social media and e-learning.

During the week-long event, the

group reviewed various digital

communications tools including a

presentation from an expert from

OBESSU. Among the more

provocative sessions was one called

“Stop Sending People Abroad” in

which participants debated whether

e-learning can replace exchange

experiences. The conclusion was that

today virtual exchanges are not a

substitute for the physical sojourn,

but that digital access can open

opportunities for more and different

audiences to have intercultural

encounters and it can enhance the

experiences of those who are on an

in-person program.

Another session focused on language

in an intercultural context, which we

explore further here:

Language is a key element of

communication online. Whenever we

communicate via social media we use

language, but often we do not use it

consciously. Do we stereotype (The

Germans are like…), or do we

approach the topic in a more sensitive

way (In my host family in Germany,

we…)? To discuss aspects of how we

report on our intercultural encounters

and how this raises certain

assumptions, seminar participants

analyzed various blog posts as well as

a short video clip “From Africa

to Norway”.

Additionally, many authors of

intercultural stories using virtual

media are not aware of all of the

audiences they reach. We want to

share our experiences with our friends

and family, but online there may be

others who also read what we are

writing and who lack the personal

context to put the written elements

into perspective.

Then, there is the impact of images.

Which photograph do I choose when

reporting about intercultural

interactions: The one with the “exotic”

market where I was once during my

exchange? Or the one from the

supermarket around the corner where

I went daily, but does not look very

out of the ordinary? Can we

(unintentionally) re-enforce

stereotypes by choosing one image

over another?

Awareness of our actions is extremely

relevant in determining the type of

picture we paint with our intercultural

reportage, no matter whether in

writing or photos. Without this

awareness we run the risk of painting

a “single story,” as famously explained

by Chimamanda Adichie.

All of these considerations raise

questions as to whether and what

degree it is our responsibility as AFS

to prepare participants to be

interculturally sensitive in their virtual

communications. Does AFS want to

be mentioned in blog entries or

Facebook postings that generalize

and stereotype?

Many ideas about how to address

intercultural sensitivity online for

AFSers were discussed. One of the

more creative proposals was that

sojourners create a separate

Facebook account for the duration of

exchange so that they can start the

exchange without a “digital history”.

No formal conclusions were reached,

except that all participants agreed

that further discussion and training is

needed and how to do this may be

best determined at the national AFS

organization level.

On an individual level, participants

developed project proposals to

continue their work after the seminar.

The proposals include creating an

e-learning training course for trainers,

offering destination-specific

information online for future

participants, developing social media

strategies, and exploring volunteer

management through social media.


E-ntercultural Learning - Virtual Tools and Their Impact on Youth ExchangeBASED ON THE INPUT BY INGA MENKE, TRAINING AND PARTNER DEVELOPMENT

COORDINATOR, EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF INTERCULTURAL LEARNING (EFIL)

Once written, a full event

report will be shared in the

AFS Digital ICL Library. For further information

contact Inga Menke

([email protected]).


Researchers at the University of Essex, in collaboration with AFS, recently completed the The Impact

of Living Abroad, an 18-month study that involved almost 2,500 sojourners enrolled in a 10-12 month AFS program, as well as 578 control group participants.

The project investigated four central components of intercultural contact: acculturative stress, cultural learning, intergroup contact, and the effect of cultural distance. Throughout the

next few issues of this publication, we will share summaries of the study results and how AFS plans to incorporate findings into its educational approach.

This issue looks at how the relationship a sojourner has with her/his host family influences the exchange experience.

We at AFS know that our host

families play a critical role in the Intercultural Learning experience. Families are among the first

members of the host culture that the sojourner meets and are often people with whom (s)he spends

the most time. They introduce exchange students to cultural traditions, support the language learning process, serve as “cultural informants” and provide the basis of a new social network to complement the one the traveler left behind in her/his home country.

The Impact of Living Abroad

study further confirmed that the sojourner-host family relationship significantly influences a sojourner’s sociocultural and psychological adaptation and overall exchange experience in several ways. Here, the researchers define sociocultural adaptation as adjusting to lifestyle, social norms, language use and

other practical considerations in a different culture; psychological adaptation refers to one’s sense of belonging, feelings, and other

emotional aspects of being in a new environment.

Here’s how:

Strong social identification with

members of the host culture, most notably the host family, is related to success. The more a sojourner can see her/himself as a part of the host community and feel strong

attachment to it, the more likely they will be to have a positive adaptation process.

Adopting and/or incorporating

traditions of the host culture, which are frequently and deeply learned directly from the host family, has a positive effect on adaptation. Called acculturation orientation in the study, sojourners adapt well when they try to take on local customs and ways of behaving within a new place (even

if this orientation also remains high with the home culture, too).

Quality contact or the amount of time where interactions are perceived as good, close, and strong – with host nationals, particularly host family members, is connected to several other positive outcomes in addition to successful adaptation:

IMPACT OF LIVING ABROAD UPDATE

Host Families: Key to Successful Cultural AdaptationANNA COLLIER, INTERCULTURAL LEARNING SERVICES MANAGER,

AFS INTERNATIONAL

AFS Host Families significantly

impact the cultural adaptation of

participants by offering:

✓ An in-depth exposure to the

host culture and traditions.

✓ Incentives and support to

learn the host language.

✓ Transmission of cultural

knowledge.

✓ A close and caring

relationship with members of

the host culture.

✓ A social network for

challenging times.

continued on page 15

Sojourners’ relationship closeness with their host families

continues to increase throughout the entire exchange period

(t4 = midstay, t6 = return).

Chart image from The Impact of Living Abroad final report

(December 2012)


an improvement in cross-cultural competence, which, in this study means the ability to

adjust appropriately to new cultural environments and interactions with people from different cultural backgrounds

high satisfaction with life during the exchange

an increase in the level of cultural knowledge of both home and host cultures, and

positive evaluation of the

exchange.

In other words, host families play a determining role in how interculturally adept, happy, culturally savvy, and satisfied the exchange student is. In sharing the AFS Educational Goals with families and ensuring they are well-prepared to help facilitate sojourner learning – and are open to learning themselves

– AFS optimizes our education and mission impact.

For more information about The Impact of Living Abroad study results, contact us at [email protected].

Use the study results to improve your:

Recruitment. Let families know that they can truly help create cross-

cultural competence. In sharing their home and their time, they have the opportunity to become the primary source of knowledge about the host culture. They quite literally hold the key to a successful exchange experience.

Orientations. Knowing in which areas and when host family’s influence is

strongest provides AFS volunteers and staff with a framework to strengthen our support for host families. The Impact of Living Abroad study results show that the host family’s greatest impact on the sojourner’s adaptation and satisfaction with life occurs during the first half of the exchange year, implying that pre-arrival through mid-stay are when we need to concentrate our efforts to help families prepare to spend quality time, share traditions, and invite the learner to be a part of the local culture.

Support. Inevitably, sojourners will have set-backs as a normal part of their

exchange experience. Whenever possible, AFS volunteers should work with host families – who typically form the foundation of the participant’s new social network – as their direct support allies in helping coach participants through these challenges. In addition, emphasize the importance of spending quality contact time together, where interactions are perceived as good, close, and strong.

Culture learning. Involve host families in language and other culture-specific learning plans so they can play an even more active part in

achieving gains for these aspects of AFS exchanges. If using Rosetta Stone or another language program, have families take part in goal-setting and progress reviews even informally around the breakfast or dinner table.

Rosetta Stone™

✓ Family as learners: Offer your families the

opportunity to improve

their own foreign language skills in one of 15 different

language offerings.

✓ Families can volunteer to be AFS-Rosetta Stone

tutors, coaching

participants as they work on their language learning

pre-arrival.

Cultural Detective®

✓ Help families “see” a situation through their student’s Cultural Lens before a misunderstanding escalates to a support case.

✓ Use the Cultural Detective Method™ worksheet to create typical

day-in-the-life exchange scenarios and analyze the cultural perspectives as part of the host family preparation pre-student

arrival.

✓ Improve awareness and understanding of underlying

values and assumptions

that influence actions and behaviors in the family’s

day-to-day interactions both

locally and with their exchange student.

NOT JUST FOR STUDENTS ANYMORE!Did you know you can use these two practical tools for host families , too?

Register today by contacting Eva Vitkova at [email protected].


BEYOND AFS ICL NEWS

Interview with Fred DervinBASED ON AN INTERVIEW WITH MILENA MILADINOVIC,

COMMUNICATIONS FELLOW, AFS INTERNATIONAL

Fred Dervin is a professor of multicultural education at the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki in Finland, who has a strong background in Intercultural Learning and communication. Dr. Dervin will be a special guest trainer at the AFS Academy in Florence, Italy this November.

How did you get involved in the intercultural field? I was born in Paris, France in a multicultural family, and my parents argued all the time, throwing culture on the table, making cultural excuses to explain their behavior.

Then, I moved to Finland when I was 20 years old and there I faced the questions like Who are you?, Where do you come from?, What is your first language?. It was difficult for people to understand there is no simple answer because of my family background.

One’s national identity is a scary question and at 25 I wanted to find answers to these questions, and I didn’t want to be boxed in just one category. That is when I decided to do a doctorate in Paris on Intercultural Learning.

What academic field was your entry into intercultural studies? How do you see this link?At the beginning, it was very confusing because within the intercultural are many different fields, plus theories and

methodologies vary across countries and languages. Moreover, the materials can be contradictory.

Over 15 years of involvement in the field, I have been able to construct a way of thinking about the intercultural research and practice which is very different from the mainstream understanding. I have been inspired by anthropology after the functionalist era, by the crisis of representation in 1970s and 1980s, and the questioning of the concepts of culture and the idea of a nation state.

My first scientific identity was in applied linguistics, and then I moved on to education, language education and the sociology of multiculturalism, which gives me several scientific identities. I also have two PhDs – in language and intercultural education. In Finland, this is accepted, you are never boxed, but in other cultures it would be more difficult to be accepted with such an interdisciplinary approach.

There are international conferences coming up, under the title, Intercultural v. multicultural education: The end of rivalries? in Helsinki in August 28-29 in the Department of teacher Education, with James Banks and Michael Barrem, then in Canada in November 2013 and in Malaysia in 2014. Each of these places has a very different take on the meaning of multiculturalism.

Which aspect of Intercultural Learning or communication has your work focused on?The first one is language education and intercultural competencies, and how to relate the two. Furthermore, I focus on student mobility and the mobility of scholars. At the moment I am focusing on the mobility of

Chinese students, scholars and teachers in Europe, the implicit negative representations on them and how researchers contribute to these negative representations.

But even studies are full of stereotypes: I have done a lot of work on intercultural couples who communicate via a lingua franca, rather than either one of their mother tongues, and the impact of the lingua franca on relationships. I am also doing a research on identity and intercultural competences in different types of contexts in Europe and Asia.

Please share some of your research findings related to the relationship between intercultural competence and language learning.The notion of the ‘native’ has been questioned so much, especially in English, but language has not been found to be directly related to intercultural competencies. Research has shown that people have very negative impressions of speaking a lingua franca – they don’t think it is

as beautiful as speaking with a ‘native’ speaker.

However, an exchange student stays temporarily in a country and learning the language isn’t as pressing as it is for immigrants or refugees. So when we provide training on

ICL, we need to contextualize. The experience is not the same for international exchange students, the so-called liquid strangers, as it is for refugees, the solid strangers.

In the main field of intercultural communication there is a lot of focus on culture but the language element is not there. When I am training students, I give them tools to analyze how they talk about themselves and each other. They analyze how people

continued on page 17

Having the skills to analyze the notion of power

should be the core of intercultural competences.


put others into boxes, how people talk about themselves as representatives of their own culture, and how they view others. They perform a critical discourse analysis and find that there is often judgment behind these representations.

And my research is very much about the ethics of the intercultural. I don’t believe that much in the ‘knowledge’ about other cultures. We are moving away from what many researchers call methodological nationalization.

What do you wish more people would understand about intercultural work?The notion of power is very important in ICL. I feel that in many cases, power is ignored when, actually, having the skills to analyze it should be the core of intercultural competences in 2020.

Diversity means so much more than the “immigrant”. In our societies, people are all different and similar at the same time and not everybody has the same power. I use the phrase “diverse diversities” to refer to this phenomenon.

What would you suggest for people new to the ICL field to read or do as they get started?I wish that someone had given me an answer to this question when I was a student. It depends on how much time someone has. First, they should become aware that the intercultural is in so many fields – anthropology, linguistics, literature, etc. – and also be aware of the history of the field.

Start with the 1950s with Edward T. Hall then up to 2012 look at who has been quoted the most. However, the world is changing, and for example, even though Hall’s theory was fascinating, I content that his dichotomy monochronic versus polychronic concept is not valid today – we have the internet. Humans are inevitably polychronic; it is a part of humanness.

Definitely read the latest critical pieces in the field, preferably the original articles. It is very dangerous to stick to

the 1950s in anthropology. A vast majority of anthropologists don’t use the concept of culture anymore because it has been deconstructed. For this reason, we need to be reflexive and critical of our own positions as researchers.

If people know other languages, they should read and refer to writing in these. There are things that are written in other languages that one can only access by knowing that language. Not everyone publishes in English.

The authors I recommend are Adrian Holliday, Ingrid Piller and Martine Abdallah-Pretceille.

What are the hot topics in ICL these days?One of them is the idea of social justice: What we should strive for is securing

more equality and chances for everybody, related to the critiques to concepts of culture and deconstructing old topics.

Another aspect is intercultural competences, or what they call them in Australia, intercultural capabilities. In Europe, this

is probably exemplified by the work of the EU.

Finally, a hot topic is the impact of digital technologies, since outdated methodologies do not fit in current research.

MEET AN ICL

RESPONSIBLE

Dunja Zivanovic, AFS Serbia

Dunja

became

involved in

AFS Serbia at

its beginning

in 2008, and

after several

years of

volunteering

and a hosting

experience, she

is now a staff member working with

training, hosting, and support.

A postgraduate student of culture

studies and linguistics at Belgrade

University, Dunja also teaches an

undergraduate course there.

Coming from a small and still

developing AFS organization, one

of her key roles has been

organizational development

through raising awareness and

building competencies related to

Intercultural Learning among

different target groups, including

students, teachers, host families

and volunteers.

She has worked on developing the

organization as a recognizable

Intercultural Learning institution,

through various trainings and

projects and everyday activities.

She is in charge of transforming

intercultural theory into training

units related to various aspects of

AFS exchange programs, and

adapting them to cater to the

needs of different stakeholders. As

the national hosting coordinator,

she has provided support for host

families, students, and contact

persons, introducing them to the

relevant ICL concepts and

practices.

Finally, Dunja is also active at an

international level as a member of

the European Pool of Trainers and

EFIL’s Training and Intercultural

Learning Advisory Body, ensuring

ICL’s key presence on the AFS

training agenda of in Europe.

All AFSers worldwide are welcome to join us at the AFS Academy,

15-27 November in Florence, Italy.

AFSAcademy

Hot topics in ICL today are the idea of

social justice, intercultural

competences and the impact of digital

technologies.

Meet Fred Dervin at the AFS Academy on Friday,

November 22!


AFS Intercultural Link LEARNING PROGRAM UPDATE

The AFS Intercultural Link Learning Program continues this year to focus on two key areas of intercultural competence development for our volunteers and staff:1) to support Network-wide delivery of the beginning level of the Program, What Every AFSer Should Know About Intercultural Learning® (also known as Level W) so that it reaches all 44,000+ AFSers worldwide and 2) to offer consulting to Partners wishing to implement official national or local versions of the Learning Program by developing an implementation plan and training a pool of National Qualified Trainers to deliver the program to more volunteers and staff in local chapter meetings, or national assemblies.

The What Every AFSer Should Know About Intercultural Learning® Trainer Kit is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese (this version is being finalized) with German and French coming soon. The course has been delivered to over 1000 AFSers including at the EFIL General Assembly in Belgrade, the Caribe Regional Meeting in Caracas , the AAI Regional Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, and the AFS Board of Trustees June meeting in New York. The AFS Network Meeting in October as well as the AFS Academy in November will offer opportunities for the international community of AFS to participate in this important initiative to develop a common Intercultural Learning (ICL) vocabulary. The Academy will include a one-day “how to” workshop to help AFS organizations launch the training locally.

Meanwhile, National Qualified Trainer (NQT) Certification opportunities are underway for 35 members of the 5 Southern Cone Partners (15 from Argentina, 6 from Brazil, 3 from Bolivia, 8 from Chile, 3

from Paraguay) and more are planned for Malaysia, Denmark and Norway later this year. Additionally, an International Qualified Trainer (IQT) Workshop will be offered in collaboration with AFS Germany and InterCultur as part of the Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience in Karlsruhe, Germany and a way to begin the certification process for AFSers wishing to receive joint credit from Karlshochschule International University and AFS International. The AFS Academy in Florence, Italy will also offer an IQT workshop and

certification this November.

To plan your organization’s participation in the Learning Program, keep the following profile in mind:

Qualified Trainer candidates should be AFS Volunteers and Staff members who have successfully facilitated AFS and/or other trainings (ideally with some ICL content), are familiar with foundational ICL theories and concepts and their use in AFS operations, and have experience as well as strong interest in expanding our collective ICL expertise and knowledge of local organization’s board-approved National

(Partner) ICL Strategy. They must have a positive referral from at least one relevant staff member from their AFS office and, to maximize the organization’s investment, willing and able to fulfill all participation conditions jointly determined by both AFS International and the local office including working on their own as well as the organization’s development.

For questions regarding What Every AFSer Should Know About Intercultural Learning® or to create your own official national Learning Program implementation plan contact Laura Kline-Taylor at [email protected]. General Learning Program questions can be directed to [email protected].

Our Mission & Vision AFS Intercultural Programs 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.

We pursue our mission by providing quality intercultural learning opportunities for a growing number of young people, families, other stakeholders and wider audiences, thus developing an inclusive community of global citizens determined to build bridges between cultures.

Real life experiential learning, supported by structured reflection, is the core of our programs. We endeavor to link our intercultural learning opportunities to the defining global issues facing humanity. We reach out to past, current and future participants, volunteers, and other stakeholders using the media and technology they use.

Volunteers and volunteerism are who we are. Our organization brings about changes in lives through and for our global community of volunteers.

We are recognized as an educational organization by schools and the appropriate authorities. We work to create a regulatory environment that supports our programs.

As a learning organization, we welcome change and critical thinking. We are innovative and entrepreneurial in advancing the strategic directions, working together with others whenever appropriate.

To learn more about our global network and get involved today, visit www.afs.org.


On March 8th of this year, over 70 educators from almost 30 schools throughout the Dominican Republic

gathered to discuss the importance of intercultural competence for emerging leaders at the 2013 Intercultural Education Forum.

Organized by AFS Dominican Republic, the event was designed to help educators eager to find strategies, resources, and innovative ideas in order to help their students meet the challenges of today’s

globalized world.

Teachers, principals and school psychologists came together to enjoy testimonies of leading Dominican education figures such as Teresita Bencosme (Executive Director of the Government Institute of Telecommunications), Iván Gatón (Ambassador, Professor at National Diplomacy School) Father Héctor

Sánchez, (President of the National Council of Catholic Schools), Mercedes Coronado (Vice president of Santiago's Private school association) who reflected on the impact of incorporating Intercultural Learning values in their educational approach.

Among the most interesting discussions were those about

relations between the Dominican Republic with neighboring Haiti: Audience members discussed the cultural distance between the countries, the perceived general lack of interest from Dominicans to learn

about Haitian culture (including language), and the need for more government support to sponsor

education and intercultural collaboration between the two countries. Limiting factors such as regulatory and visa complications for Haitian teachers were discussed, as were strategies to help overcome these obstacles.

The panel concluded that it is important to continue creating opportunities for discussions, new

ideas and projects around youth leadership and intercultural education.

In running this event, AFS was able to demonstrate its interest in facilitating discussions and organizing actions linked to these needs, offering expertise on topics such as promoting diversity, improving knowledge about other cultures,

intercultural communication, and integrating changes and innovations to conventional views of cultural interactions.

AFS Dominican Republic will organize the Intercultural Education Forum annually, inviting more schools and educators to join AFS as allies in this intercultural change-making initiative. Additionally, the organization will

offer schools supplementary support in the form of educational materials and teacher exchange programs.


Intercultural Education ForumBASED ON INPUT FROM NATHALIE GUZMÁN BENCOSME,

INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR, AFS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Intercultural Education Forum in the Dominican Republic

The AFS Educational Advisory Council was established in 2006 to help guide AFS’s global education and research efforts. Comprised of both distinguished and up-and-coming thought leaders from the wider intercultural realm, Council members represent a diversity of disciplines ranging from communications and cross-cultural psychology, to anthropology and management sciences. They meet annually to share their insights about developments in the field, provide views from their areas of expertise, and inform AFS’s strategic

plans, all in a voluntary capacity.

An avid history fan who splits his residence between Rouen, France and Maine, USA, Michael (Mick) Vande

Berg, has held leadership positions at numerous institutions committed to intercultural and international education including the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), Georgetown University, and the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA.

An incessant researcher, Mick is dedicated to demonstrating the effectiveness of intercultural education: He is a co-author of the Georgetown Consortium Project, a ground-breaking multi-year study that examined not only the impact of study abroad programs, but also the relationship between different program variables to maximize desired learning outcomes. He is also co-editor of the 2012 publication Student Learning Abroad: What Our Students Are Learning, What They're Not, and What We Can Do About It.

MEET OUR ADVISORS

Mick Vande Berg, PhD


On April 5, 2013, AFS attended a symposium at Boston College’s Center for International Higher Education.

The event, honoring the career of Philip G. Altbach, the founder and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, gathered a number of recognized international experts from the field of comparative and international education, including Darla Deardorff, Hans de Wit and Nian Cai Liu, to discuss the current trends and challenges facing higher education around the world.

These are some of the observations and issues presented by the symposium’s diverse panel of speakers that we found most relevant for AFS:

How to reach quality with quantity?

This challenge seems to be shared across the continents as growing numbers of students are enrolling in higher education institutions worldwide. Ways of measuring the quality of teaching and learning and the quality of internationalization were mentioned as especially challenging in the context of the diverse realities of today’s national educational systems.

What are the current driving forces in higher education?

As the number of students grows (“massification”) and the private sector emerges, a trend of growing inequalities is being noticed on many levels: financial, program content, and more.

This opens an opportunity for AFS to offer programs that depart from the traditional academic semester abroad in order to meet diverse needs.

How do we internationalize internationalization?

The need to include non-Western perspectives in the internationalization discourse and to refocus on global responsibilities was presented in a speech given by Deardorff, who is also a member of the AFS Educational Council.

AFS’s visibility and educator outreach at these kind of conferences will continue worldwide in order to support our educational focus.

CONFERENCE UPDATE

At the Forefront of International Higher Education

AFS Ghana, AFS International, and

AFS USA came together this April on the campus of Yale University to help

prepare over 60 Yale alumni and their

families for Intercultural Learning on the upcoming 2013 Yale Alumni

Service Corps (YASC) Ghana

program, a community service program initiated last year between

the Association of Yale Alumni and

AFS Ghana.

During the day-long orientation, AFS

representatives delivered two

Intercultural Learning focused sessions: one on culture “general”

topics, presenting basic concepts of

culture and suggesting coping strategies for situations in which one

encounters something unusual and/or

unexpected in a new environment, and a second on introducing

participants specifically to the culture of Ghana and the village of

Yamoransa, where they will be hosted

during their program.

Yale organizers and participants who attended the program and orientation

last year indicated that both sessions were a highly appreciated new

program component.

Beyond the Ghana program and preparation support for it, AFS and

Yale are exploring other opportunities

for collaboration including different programs, possible educational

services and course offerings that

might leverage AFS expertise and the Intercultural Link Learning Program,

plus best practices sharing in the

areas of volunteering and alumni relations.

The two institutions have a deep

history: Many of the World War I and II American Field Service ambulance

drivers were Yale alumni and one of these, Arthur Howe, Jr. (Yale, BA,

1947), went on to become the AFS

President from 1964-1972. Art also served as Dean of Admissions and

Student Appointments at Yale in the

1950s, helping diversifying the student body there by changing admissions

policies. Today, Arthur is an AFS Life

Trustee.

AFS is also in discussions with Yale

about 100th Anniversary events

scheduled for 2014.

NETWORK & PARTNER UPDATES

Renewing a Long-Standing Relationship:Reconnecting with YaleEVA VÍTKOVÁ, SENIOR SCHOOL RELATIONS INTERN, AFS INTERNATIONAL

Organizers and learning facilitators for

the 2013 YASC Ghana orientation


YOUR SOURCE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING IN THE AFS NETWORK Intercultural Learning Work Group

Johanna Nemeth (Austria)

Rosario Gutierrez (Colombia)

Sherifa Fayez (Egypt)

Annette Gisevius (Germany)

Irid Agoes (Indonesia)

Melissa Liles, Chair (International)

Lucas Welter (International)

Roberto Ruffino (Italy)

Newsletter Editor: Melissa Liles

Newsletter Manager: Milena Miladinovic

Design & Graphics: AFS Branding & Marketing Team

Writers: Anna Collier, Eva Vitkova, Milena Miladinovic

AFS members are invited to submit proposals for

articles, news items and intercultural activities with

accompanying graphics or photos for consideration in

future issues of AFS Intercultural Link. Submissions can

be AFS-specific or part of the larger Intercultural

Learning (ICL) field. Simply send your submissions to

us at AFS International: [email protected]

Call for Submissions

Questions or [email protected]

© 2013 AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. All rights reserved.

August - SSeptember October - December

ICL Field Conferences & Event Updates

If you are aware of upcoming conferences in the intercultural area, please advise us at [email protected]

Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience.5-16 August 2013;

Karlsruhe, Germany

AFS event

Asia-Europe Cross-Cultural Summer Academy. 19-30 August 2013;

Bangi, Malaysia

AFS event

International Conference Intercultural vs. Multicultural Education: The end of rivalries? Department of

Teacher Education, University

of Helsinki.

29-30 August 2013;

Helsinki, Finland

European Association for International Education (EAIE): The 25th Annual Conference: Weaving the future of global partnerships.10-13 September 2013;

Istanbul, Turkey

IAIE Conference: Unity and Disunity, Connections and Separations: Intercultural education as a movement for promoting multiple identities, social inclusion and transformation.17-21 September 2013;

Zagreb, Croatia

19th SIETAR Europa Congress: Global reach, local touch. 18-21 September 2013;

Tallinn, Estonia

AFS attending

4th Forum on Intercultural Learning and Exchange.Intercultura Foundation et al.

28-29 September 2013;

Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy

AFS event

19th International Conference of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS).3-5 October 2013;

Vladivostok, Russia

Intercultural Competence: Key to the new multicultural societies of the globalized world. International Center for

Intercultural Exchange,

Intercultural Horizons.

7-9 October 2013;

Siena, Italy

3rd Conference of the Americas for International Education (CAIE): Knowledge and Mobility: responsibility and resources. 16-18 October 2013;

Monterrey, Mexico

World Innovation Summit for Education: Reinventing Education for Life.29-31 October 2013;

Doha, Quatar

AFS attending

2013 SIETAR USA Conference. 6-9 November 2013;Arlington, VA, USA

CIEE Annual Conference:

Align. Innovate. Educate.20-23 November 2013;

Minneapolis, MN, USA.

10th CAFIC International Conference. Intercultural communication for a harmonious world: challenges and opportunities. 21–24 November 2013; Haikou, China

Language and Intercultural Communication in the Workplace: Critical approaches to theory and practice. The 12th Annual

Conference of the

International Association for

Languages and Intercultural

Communication (IALIC).

29 November–

1 December 2013;

Hong Kong, China

AFS Intercultural Link news magazine, volume 4 issues 2&3 - global edition

Documents

Transcript of AFS Intercultural Link news magazine, volume 4 issues 2&3 - global edition