August 2011
| Clues to Intercultural Effectiveness Tips, Techniques and Resources |
 | SIETAR Europa Congress in Krakow
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September 20-21 Cultural Detective Facilitator Workshop
"Interculturalism Ahead: Transition to a Virtual World" is the theme of this year's SIETAR-Europa Congress, to be held 21-25 September in Krakow, Poland. Do not miss this 18th annual opportunity to stay abreast of the latest intercultural research and best practices. This year's Congress includes a film festival.
One of the pre-Congress workshops will be a Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification. Experienced professionals as well as those new to the intercultural field find incredible value in these powerful workshops. Register now to attend!
"Cultural Detective is a clearly defined process and a very useful tool to being able to bridge cultures."
- participant in a certification in India
"Cultural Detective has allowed us to move forward with our plans to improve and expand our cross cultural communication and competency trainings."
- participant in an in-house certification
"Cultural Detective increases effectiveness, pure and simple."
- participant in a certification in Switzerland
Learn more about the pre-Congress workshop
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 | Students: Register for the Global Youth Forum by August 31!
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Cultural Detective is the Proud Sponsor of this Event
The teenagers in your life already teach you technology, now let them learn and guide you through the richness that Cultural Detective has to offer!
The "Global Youth Forum" brings together students from around the world who are interested in promoting international peace and cooperation. Students hear amazing guest speakers, participate in interactive workshops, and bring home tools that will help them promote understanding and collaboration in their communities. This year's 10th anniversary event is for students aged 13-18, and will take place November 9-13. Scholarships are available, and the curriculum will be based on the Cultural Detective method.
The GYF is an annual event of People to People International (PTPI), a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization that since 1956 has promoted international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities. With a motto of "Peace through understanding," more than 80,000 families and individuals have participated in its programs for students and adults. PTPI has a presence in 135 countries and offices in Kansas City, Berlin and Cairo.
Be sure to let the young people in your life know about this terrific opportunity! We look forward to seeing you there!
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 | Book Review
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A Question of Identity: Getting the Better of Globalization

The reality of today's world means that fewer and fewer people are defined by a single culture: we move around, we are the products of inter-racial, inter-ethnic, or inter-religious relationships, and rather than identifying with a single cultural affiliation we become Blended Culture.
Even if we are not Blended Culture, we are all a complex amalgam of multiple cultural influences: age, gender, sexual orientation, professional training, organizational culture. The importance of this reality makes itself known by the fact that Cultural Detective Self Discovery, a package that helps us unravel these multiple cultural influences on who we are, is the best-seller in our product line.
And, as was overwhelmingly evident in this July's "From the Margins to the Center: Intercultural Identity as a Revolutionary Act" workshop at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication, people rebel against being boxed into a single story, spiraling into hatred and violence, and have a much more constructive impact on the world when we see them as unique individuals with multiple identities (parent, friend, co-worker, neighbor).
Richard Hill has a new book out focusing on this topic of identity in a world of globalization. Click below to read our favorite book reviewer, prolific Cultural Detective author and diversophy founder George Simons' take on Richard's book.
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 | Enhancing Productivity Using a Systemic Perspective
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Development Variables as Assessment Guidelines
The creators of the classic intercultural team simulation, Ecotonos, aim to enhance client productivity using an intercultural and systemic perspective, working since the early 1980s with international business teams involved in technology transfer, project management, site construction, product development, sourcing and distribution, marketing, and customer service. The simulation is an attempt to condense the core process of that work.
Ecotonos has recently been updated and republished in a fourth edition, and in reviewing the manuscript we realized how timeless and useful is the authors' description of the key variables in its development: task focus, real issues, group process, personal effectiveness, many types of "multicultural," and non-stereotypical. First written in 1989, these factors seem even more important and useful today, as guidelines for assessment of intercultural competence development efforts.
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 | Developmental Intercultural Competence
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An Avant Garde Six-Week Blended Learning Course
Participants in the first course absolutely blew our minds! They are taking the intercultural field and intercultural competence development to a whole new level, by combining leading collaborative, theoretically-sound, practical processes (Cultural Detective and Personal Leadership) into a potent MashUp, used in a developmentally-appropriate manner. Learn how to assess learners' core developmental issues and jumpstart their performance.
The next course begins 7 September and will include four Facilitated Online Learning Sessions (FOLEs) of two hours each, plus five individual and small-group assignments. Participants will leave the course better able to design and deliver curriculum, training and coaching that more quickly and effectively develops intercultural competence.
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 | Where in the World is Best for Mothers?
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A Study Ranks 160 Countries
Are you a mother or child in Norway, Australia or Iceland? Lucky you! Much less so if you live in Afghanistan, Niger, or Chad...
Most of us follow at least a few blogs. Even though my son is not so little anymore, one of the blogs I enjoy is "InCulture Parent: A Magazine for Parents Raising Little Global Citizens." They recently took something I'd already read and enhanced its impact by making it visual.
The source study is entitled "State of the World's Mothers" by Save the Children. Indicators used in the study included things like schooling, mortality rates for mothers and young children, gender parity, and access to safe water.
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 | Connect with Cultural Detective on Facebook & LinkedIn
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Join the Group and/or Take the Quiz
 Join us on Cultural Detective's company page on LinkedIn.
Be sure to join our Cultural Detective fan page on Facebook,
by clicking on the icon at the left. There you'll get updates and can chat with other users.
Over 800 people have taken one of those infamous Facebook quizzes, this one created for Cultural Detectives, entitled "What's My Detective Style?". Have you? Take the quiz to find out which famous international detective you are most similar to. |
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Visit Our Archive |
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Past Issues Online
We record the latest news updates, and have archived past issues of this newsletter, on one of our web pages. Past issues include instructions for interesting activities, theoretical discussions about intercultural issues, and links to many intercultural resources. Please take a look and enjoy the resources you find!
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