SIETAR UK Blog
Interculturalist journeys – this one started with 12 cups of tea – An interview with Helen Spencer-Oatey
This month we are featuring an interview with Dr Helen Spencer Oatey. Helen was recently named in the Stanford University/Elsevier 2024 list of the top 2% of scientists who have had the greatest impact on other scientists in her field. She is Emeritus Professor of...
Statement from SIETAR UK about events in Ukraine
SIETAR UK strongly condemns the recent action of the Russian government in invading Ukraine, a sovereign, independent country with a democratically elected government. This unprovoked action goes against all the values of SIETAR UK. As an organisation, we stand...
Global Citizenship Education: a beacon of social justice or a mere postcolonial tool?
In an era characterised by globalisation, migration, and transnational organisations and movements, local and global issues have never been so tightly interconnected. In this context, the idea of global citizenship has emerged with the aim of creating a more inclusive...
Internationalization at Home and SDGS
Internationalization of Higher Education and Globalization The Internationalization of Higher Education is a relatively recent phenomenon, whose meaning has been adapted to the circumstances and challenges that society has imposed on university education over the last...
Why you need to stop using BAME when discussing Diversity and Inclusion
On 4th September 2020 over 250 people that have suffered experiences of racism came together to discuss the term #BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic). According to them, this term fails to represent them and many others who experience racism in the UK (A for an...
A Color Palette
A beautiful and rich palette of colors. But how do I paint? I love seeing life as a form of art, a painting that is never finished and is being edited based on our learnings. Now, we don’t just paint at the kitchen table at home with the few primary colors we started...
Helping Modern Learners Become Intercultural Learners
by Pilar Teran & Gabriela Weglowska Introduction The fields of intercultural communication studies and intercultural education are not new, but have grown in recent decades in response to new challenges as the world has become more globalised: advances in new...
Only foreign students and staff need cultural awareness training?
The world we live and work in today has changed and diversity has become a distinguishing feature all around us, in countries, regions, cities, companies, families and in universities and classrooms. Learning to live together ‘as equals and in dignity’ (White Paper on...
Learning, Training and the Modern Learner
The role of technology in learning We are all aware that the world seems to be changing very fast, but few people anticipated quite how quickly this change would occur. Industry after industry is being digitally transformed. And there are very clear winners and losers...
How about integrating nationals towards migrants?
Written by Dr Katharina Lefringhausen (Introduction to the research paper “Acculturation and Discrimination: A Parallel Mediation Model via Intergroup Contact and Threats” by Dr Katharina Lefringhausen, to be presented at the Mini SIETAR congress: Building Dialogues...
It’s Not About Culture, It’s About Diversity & Inclusion
Culture and its various concepts and components have long been the raison d’être of SIETAR. But we need to enlarge the concept of culture to comprise more paradigms when it is about changing your own environment and adapting to a new one, for example, students...
Who Are Our Future Global Leaders When the Only Constant is Change?
The World of Work is changing so rapidly that skills which might have once spanned a whole career in previous generations may now become redundant in only a few years. Companies trying to stay ahead of the curve and ‘future-proof’ their organisations are preparing the...
Does culture really matter in intercultural communication?
This article is a result of Valentina's nomination by SIETAR UK who was one of the supporters of the 22nd Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics. SIETAR UK nominated two presentations from the Intercultural Communication track which are of most...
Community Development: Do interculturalists have a role to play?
Community development is not a new concept. Largely growing out of the policies and activities of British colonial governors and administrators, the theory and practice of today is still largely influenced by this legacy. As years roll on and government approaches to...
HIGH FIVE & Be International
HIGH FIVE & Be International by Marina Rowe We all can imagine how challenging it can be to enter a new international market especially for small and medium-size businesses where you mainly do everything yourself. These are 5 main sections to take under...
An interculturalist in Greece
I never set out to be an ‘interculturalist’. As a ‘mature’ student (mature? In my 30’s?), I studied International Relations with Sociology in the UK and quickly realized that in order to integrate into and fully understand a culture, I would have to live somewhere...
Iran – Stereotypes We Need to Start Smashing
I still remember those days, with my younger brother, being sat in our kitchen listening to the huge booms being carried across the Persian Gulf by the breeze into our home in Kuwait. Sometimes the earth shook. We knew exactly what those sounds meant. Either hundreds...
Intercultural Career Boost
By Gabriela Weglowska Although intercultural careers are still quite rare, the field is rapidly expanding. As businesses are going global and teams are becoming more culturally diverse, there are two types of people that are currently in high demand: those with...
Me, myself and my future self: How a stronger connection with one’s future self may enhance the efficiency of intercultural competence training
By Dr Katharina Lefringhausen Past research on intercultural training focuses on its appropriate content, duration, medium, teaching methods or trainers and trainees’ personality traits that enable changes in cultural awareness, attitudes and behaviors (Barker, 2016;...
SPLINTERED SOCIETY: Do interculturalists have a role to play?
By Ciaran O'Brien It would be a fallacy to deny that the EU Referendum has created rifts across the United Kingdom. Whilst there was and continues to be a strong appetite in certain parts of the media and political spectrum to perpetrate and exaggerate these...
Banter, racism and acculturation: Intercultural dynamics in team sports
By Daniel Clayton & Solvejg Wolfers Just over a year has passed since FIFA disbanded its anti-racism task-force after announcing that it had achieved its aims. Yet, twelve months later it is clear racist discrimination continues unabated in the game. Indeed,...
How Harry Potter could have stopped Brexit
By Dr. Katharina Lefringhausen On 23 of June 2016, the British public voted to leave the European Union, and so a 46-year long partnership could soon be over. Whether you voted for or against Brexit, voting behaviour showed that people living in highly multicultural...
What do you know about Filipino cuisine?
By Gosia Kluk The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country in the Western Pacific, comprising more than 7,000 islands. Filipino cuisine is as rich and interesting as its culture. Both Filipino culture and cuisine are influenced by its geography and history....
In a fractured Britain – where do we go from here?
By Ciaran O'Brien British society is facing a challenging time. Many years from now politicians and historians will still be discussing Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, which for many was an emotive response to frustrations over immigration, a perceived...
Multiculturalism – is it dead?
By Dr Katharina Lefringhausen With Brexit supporters asking for migration reduction and hate crimes reaching a peak of 41% after the Brexit referendum in July 2016 (1), we will discuss the question at the upcoming SIETAR UK event: Is multiculturalism dead? To evaluate...
Our first SIETAR UK supper club – Indian experience
Food is a delicious part of any culture. And so what better way to experience different cultures than by letting your taste buds travel the globe. That's why we've launched our SIETAR UK supper club on 30 January 2017 with a special dinner at Bangalore Express City....
Christmas Around the World
It’s Christmaaaaaas! Well okay, it’s nearly Christmas. Whether this time of year fills you with excitement as you cover the house in fairy lights, prepare the mince pies and spend time with loved ones, or fills you with dread as you trudge around the shops, spend your...
The Great British Cultural Challenge – celebrating our diversity
The Great British Bake Off final was the big news this week, attracting a record audience of over 14 million viewers. The battle for the Bake Off crown provides people with a bit of welcome light relief from some of the more serious battles going on in the world...
How to convince conservative locals to accept multiculturalism?
Valerie Cheong Took summarises our 2016 April event The constant inflow of refugees into Europe has created a huge debate amongst European political leaders. It is also one of the main reasons why UK is looking to exit the European Union. Gaining back control of its...
6 Ways to Upgrade Your Networking Skills
Valerie Cheong Took summarises our 2016 June event SIETAR UK hosted its monthly networking event last week. It is always a pleasure to attend those events to reconnect with other existing members and to meet new ones. Matthew Hill was invited to share his wealth of...
Building intercultural bridges after Brexit
Post 'Brexit' Britain needs an intercultural perspective to help shape its future, to build bridges across divisions in its society, to unite communities and to celebrate diversity and the cultural differences which bring great benefits to this country. In the climate...
In or out? How interculturalists predict a truly British vote
It's all the media has been talking about lately. Although campaigning was suspended briefly as a mark of respect after the terrible loss of Jo Cox stunned the nation, it's in these last days before the referendum that both sides need to make their case if they want...
Internationalising HE – Reflections for a new academic year
As Higher Education (HE) enters a new academic year and doors are thrown open for a new intake of overseas students, plans for the next academic year are already under discussion up and down the country. This presents us with an ideal time to reflect on the challenges...