Conferences

SIETAR India's 5th Annual Conference in Mumbai
“From Internationalization to Intercultural Competence”

On the 2nd & 3rd February 2013 at YB Chavan Centre, Mumbai, India

Call For Proposals
(download as pdf)

We are happy to announce the fifth conference of SIETAR India on 2nd and 3rd of February, 2013

SIETAR India

The Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research (SIETAR)-India is a non-profit Association of educators, researchers and trainers from a wide range of practical and academic disciplines who share a common concern for intercultural relations. SIETAR-India provides an opportunity to learn from and share with colleagues in the intercultural arena and advance the body of knowledge and practice in the field.

SIETAR-India is part of the global network of SIETAR organizations. Established in 1974, SIETAR has over 3500 members world-wide with affiliates in many countries. SIETAR holds Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) status with the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

THE CONFERENCE

The purpose of the SIETAR-India conference is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, techniques, strategies, theories, tools and creative expression useful to fostering effective intercultural relations and thus to develop ourselves as intercultural practitioners and the intercultural field. Professionals from any discipline that deals with intercultural issues and fields in which intercultural work is exercised and applied are encouraged to attend.

The theme of SIETAR-India’s fifth conference:

From Internationalization to Intercultural Competence

Is cross-cultural competence merely a matter of showing up?

Would you hand someone an iPad with the understanding that this would automatically make that individual tech-savvy?

For many companies, educational institutions and NGOs, being present in multiple countries and possibly having a multi-ethnic workforce is a sign that they are cross-culturally aware. We thought this would be an interesting paradigm to explore.

Through the fog of culture we meander, observe and even stumble. Hopefully, we learn from these endeavors. But, apart from its veneer, what do we really see? Are we observing a multitude of layers to explore or just differences we need to accept? A lot of organizations actually minimize cultural differences in order to create their global HR policies.

There are several questions worth posing:

“Do multi-national companies actually build competence by the mere fact that they are present in multiple geographies?”

“Is it enough to host students from many different countries to make our student body cross-culturally competent?”

“Are global philanthropic foundations more respectful of cultural diversity?”

There is no single solution, but this conference will take these questions and provide some answers from people who are building competence in firms, educational institutes and NGOs. For this, and many other reasons, we thought this would make for a fascinating theme for the 5th SIETAR India conference.

SIETAR INDIA 2013 CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

The SIETAR India 2013 conference organizing committee brings together individuals with significant personal and professional experience on six continents representing the fields of business, marketing, communications, high tech, academia, human resources, organization development, training, education and the arts.

Mala Malkani, Independent Consultant, Mumbai
Jill Sheldekar, Ethnosynth Consulting, Pune
Lakshmi Kumar, The Orchid School, Pune
Sunita Nichani, Alliance Française de Chennai
Line Rugholt, Intercultural consultant and owner Culturewise, New Delhi
Sreemathi Ramnath, Immer Besser Consulting, Chennai
Guillaume Gevrey, Concept 2 Competence Training & Consulting, Bangalore

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES OVERVIEW

Proposals must include all eleven elements described below to be considered by the Presentation Committee. See the attachment for more details on proposal guidelines.

COVER PAGE(S)

1. Title of presentation
2. A 250 word abstract of the presentation
3. Presenter(s) information
4. Session length and format
5. A 150 word biographical note about the/each presenter
6. Target audience
7. Equipment & audio-visual requirements
8. Room size & set-up

PROPOSAL TEXT

9. Session description including theoretical and practical context.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

10. Presenter(s) biography or curriculum vitae
11. Two references with e-mail addresses. These should be individuals qualified to speak about the presenter’s professional competence as an interculturalist.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please submit your proposal via email to sietarindia@gmail.com
Please write in the subject line of your message: SIETAR India 2013 Proposal.

Final deadline submission is 1st May, 2013
Proposals received after this date will not be considered.

EVALUATION PROCEDURES

SIETAR-India Conference Committee is a group of SIETAR members who are volunteering their efforts to organize the conference. The quality of their work in reading and choosing proposals depends upon having sufficient amount of time. Sending your proposal in earlier rather than later will help us perform this task thoughtfully and efficiently.

After submitting the proposal, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt. You will be notified of acceptance in time to pre-register for the conference. Notification of decisions on proposals will be sent as soon as possible.

Presenters are kindly requested to pre-register for the conference by 1 September 2012. This will allow you to take advantage of the early-bird registration fee and will signify your commitment to present at the conference.

The conference organizing committee is looking forward to receiving your proposal in a timely fashion and enjoying your presentation. If you have any questions or need any clarifications, please contact sietarindia@gmail.com.

Please state on the e-mail subject line: SIETAR India 2013 Proposal Question?

Best Regards,
SIETAR India Team