Happy New Year to you all! This is to announce our first meeting in 2008. We are happy that we were able to reschedule Dr. Jaime Wurzel for this month. He was originally scheduled to speak to our group in last June.

When: Saturday, January 26th, 2:00-5:00 PM

Presenter: Dr. Jaime Wurzel (for bio see below)

Title: APPLYING INTERCULTURAL CONCEPTS TO THE PROMOTION OF POSITIVE CULTURAL CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS

This presentation has three equally important goals. The first is to stimulate discussion on the application of intercultural anthropological concepts to organizational culture, The second is to showcase theoretical and instructional tools that would allow members of organizations identify and articulate the cultural assumptions that drive their work. The third purpose is to illustrate, with video excerpts of previous workshops, the process by which members of an organization attempt to identify their organizational cultural assumptions. Participants will examine the implications for cultural change in organizations.

BIO:

Jaime S.Wurzel, Ed.D, is President of Intercultural Resource Corporation. (A firm that produces educational and training videos and multimedia software). He is a Professor of Education at Salem State University in Massachusetts, and former Associate Professor and Director of Intercultural Studies at Boston University. He was born in Bolivia, and has lived, studied and lectured in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. He is the author of numerous articles, and his book, Toward Multiculturalsim, is widely used in schools and universities. He has also written and produced the following high quality training programs: The Multicultural Work Place ; The Intercultural Classroom, Hidden Dimensions In Business Interactions, Better Together than A-P-A-R-T , Chinese Cultural Values. The Cross Cultural Conference Room. Dimensions in Intercultural Relations (DVD and CD-ROM (See: www.irc-international.com.) Dr. Wurzel is a faculty member of the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland Oregon, former member of the Board of Directors of the United States Chapter of SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research.) He is an adjunct faculty of the Ottawa Law School and Medical School. He has consulted and conducted seminars nationally and internationally on cultural variation and diversity, organizational processes and community building.

February 2008

This is to announce this month's meeting, which is kindly hosted by the International Education Association at George Washington University. Please see below for details.

Marvin Center main entrance is on 21st Street, between H and I Streets, Nearest metro stop: Foggy Bottom/GWU

Topic: Challenges of a Multicultural Workforce (power point presentation & interactive exercises & discussion)

Speaker: Ursula Leitzmann, M.A. (Intercultural Relations)

Session description:

Building a multicultural workforce is one of the fastest routes to global competitiveness. It is also the best way to promote and facilitate cross-cultural understanding and collaboration. The challenges, though, are multi-faceted.

The conditio sine qua non of managing a culturally diverse workforce is cultural competence, which is built on three principles:
· the awareness that our cultural programming is responsible for our perception of reality, and hence it determines our default assumptions about "proper" workplace behavior;
· the openness and curiosity toward "otherness", in order to recognize, develop, and management talent among a diverse workforce;
· conscious knowledge of cultural-specific behavior patterns, attitudes, and worldviews that are different from ours, and with that the skill of context-appropriate interpretation and evaluation of an interaction and the ability to switch between two different cultural perspectives (empathy).

This seminar gives you the "why" and "how" of making a multicultural workforce more effective and successful.

Speaker bio:

Ursula Leitzmann currently serves as Intercultural Training and Development Manager at IOR Global Services, headquartered in a Northbrook, IL. She specializes in intercultural communication, cross-cultural and diversity training and coaching, conflict resolution and team building, especially in multicultural settings and in the healthcare field. In addition, Ursula designs training materials, prepares intercultural curricula, and conducts training-of-trainer sessions with IOR's contract trainers. Ursula is licensed to deliver various assessment instruments for coaching and training interventions: the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire (CWQ), the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (ICSI), and DiSC. She is a former board member of SIETAR, Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research, and currently serves as Executive Coordinator of the SIETAR-Washington, DC. Ursula has a master's degree in Intercultural Relations from the University of the Pacific, CA, through the Intercultural Communications Institute (ICI), and also a master's in Communication from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Administration and Management from Harvard University.

April 2008

Please join us for the next SIETAR meeting for an interactive discussion on Generational Diversity, presented by Maria Morukian.

In today's workforce, four generations of people are working side by side, with diverse experiences, values, work styles, and expectations. This presentation will focus on the opportunities and challenges that generational diversity brings to an organizational environment, and will identify strategies for building more effective cross-generational work teams.

Maria Morukian, MA, is the Manager for Consulting and Training Programs at the National MultiCultural Institute. Ms. Morukian works with a variety of organizations to design and develop strategic diversity and inclusion initiatives. She conducts organizational diversity audits, designs and facilitates skills-based training programs, and provides consultation to diversity councils and senior leadership on effective strategies for embedding cultural competence into the organizational environment.

When: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:30-8:30pm

Where: Marvin Center, Room 404, The George Washington University, 800 21^st St. NW

With the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are besieged with information on the military, yet outside the press many of us do not have a clear understanding of military culture. Join SIETAR members for a fascinating panel discussion with both active duty and retired officers about unique aspects of military culture.

Panelists:

Mark J. Bates - Lt. Col, US Air Force

Dr. Bates received his BS from United States Air Force Academy. He spent his first nine years in the Air Force as a pilot. His first assignment was as a C-141 Aircraft Commander and Pilot Scheduler from 1989-1993. During this time, he flew humanitarian and combat support missions in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. At his next assignment in Alaska, he was instrumental in developing the C-12J Schoolhouse Training Program and check pilot operations. Dr. Bates received his Ph.D. from Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in 2002. His past psychology positions include director of a MH clinic, overseeing psychological, family advocacy, and substance abuse prevention and treatment services. He is currently Director of Psychology Training at Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews AFB, directing a scientist-practitioner internship program. He has peer-reviewed publications on anxiety, suicidality, and personality assessment. His current research interests lie in stress and performance and psychology training.

Stephen V. Bowles - Lt. Col, US Army

Dr. Bowles is a licensed clinical psychologist and active duty Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. He has served as Joint Task Force Command Psychologist in Iraq, National Capital Region Army Psychology Consultant, and as the Interim Chief and Deputy Chief at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has been awarded the Army Surgeon General "A" proficiency designator for his contributions as a health care professional in the military. He is a fellow in the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology and he is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in clinical health psychology.

Steve Whearty, retired Lt., US Navy

Steve Whearty is a graduate of Duke University and former Naval Flight Officer who served on active duty from 1993-2002. From 1996-1999, he traveled extensively with the Navy through the Pacific Rim, deploying for a total of 1 year to a joint U.S.-Japanese base in northern Honshu, and making numerous official trips throughout the region. In 1999, Steve and his wife, Nancy, moved to Sicily for a 2 ½ year tour of duty at an airbase jointly operated with the Italian Air Force, and because of his experiences there, Steve developed an abiding interest in cross-cultural training. After leaving the Navy, he took a job with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in Northern Virginia. Steve currently works as a training consultant for a State Department client, designing and implementing experiential counter-terrorism training for the U.S. and our allies. He is currently enrolled in the International Education Program at GWU.

Moderator: Julia Gaspar-Bates