It’s April and time for our final SIETAR-NC event of 2010-11!

Here are the details:

What :: Communication Styles, East and West (Speaker: Vaneep Sandhu)
When :: Tuesday, April 26 from 6-7:30 or so
Location :: UNC’s Fed Ex Global Education Center, Rm 4003
Click here to see the GEC located on a map.
Parking in the building garage is free after 5pm.

About the Event

Vaneep Sandhu will be presenting on Communication Styles, East and West.

She will be using the movies Failure to Launch and Wake up Sid (a Bollywood Movie) to compare and contrast the two communication styles. You may watch Failure to Launch before the presentation – although it is not required.

Clips from Wake up Sid will be shown.

About Vaneep

Vaneep Sandhu is currently working on her second Master’s degree in Intercultural Relations (University of the Pacific), an ESL instructor at Durham Technical Community College, a Multicultural Trainer and a previous business owner.

She grew up in India and completed her Masters in Economics prior to migrating to the USA.

We are pleased to announce our 2011 Invited Speaker: Joy Huang of Connect East, LLC. Joy is originally from China, attended UNC, and now lives in Washington, D.C.

Please join us for Joy’s talk on Thursday, March 17 from 7-8pm in the Global Education Center at UNC! See details below.

“Can I think about it?” :: Understanding Chinese communication and learning styles

During this session, Joy will discuss the differences between China and the U.S. in communication styles as shaped by our respective cultures.  She will further discuss how the education systems influence the learning style and teaching styles in China, and how they challenge Chinese students of all ages when they immerge in the western education systems.  Joy will share some strategies and tactics on getting the best out of the Chinese you work with, by gaining better understanding of their communication and learning styles.

When :: Thursday, March 17, 2011 from 7-8pm
Where :: Fed-Ex Global Education Center at UNC, Room 4003
(Parking in the garage under the building is free after 5pm.)

Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at sietarnc@gmail.com.

About Joy

Joy Huang is the president of Connect East LLC. She is an international management consultant and executive coach specializing in east/west global business. She provides insights to senior management and their teams and finds creative solutions to cross-cultural business challenges to achieve deeper market penetration.

Joy has 15+ years of business experience in China, the Americas and Europe. Prior to Connect East, she spent a decade working with global partners in the hi- tech industry in new product development, marketing, strategic planning and business development.

At Connect East, Joy works with western and Chinese companies to improve the performance of their global operations by addressing the cultural and organizational challenges in market entry strategies, business operations and talent management. She brings a unique blend of hands-on business experience with multi-cultural insights in serving her clients.

Born and raised in China, Joy is fluent in English and Chinese and conversational in Dutch. She has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina, USA and a Bachelor degree (BA) from Beijing Foreign Studies University, China.

Happy New Year!

Our first event of 2011 is an International Dance Night. Bring your friends and family!

What :: Learn dances from around the world
When :: Friday, February 4, 2011 from 7-9pm
Location :: UNC’s Fed Ex Global Education Center, Rm 4003
Click here to see the GEC located on a map.
Parking in the building garage is free after 5pm.

***Wear comfortable clothing you can dance in!

Update :: We had to postpone this event to Tuesday, November 30. We hope you can join us then!

Join us at the Unabbi Grill for our November event! Here are the details:

Where :: Unabbi Grill (an Afghan restaurant)
When :: Tuesday, November 30 (new date) from 6-8pm (feel free to come/go anytime)
Where :: 914 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary (get directions here)

**SIETAR-NC will provide free appetizers!

Update: In preparation for Wednesday’s virtual event with Gina Difino, you can download Gina’s narrated PowerPoint about her research on assessing intercultural competence in children. Make sure your speakers are unmuted.

We hope you’ll join us this Wednesday at 7pm for the live call with Gina. Here are the call-in details:

Dial the call-in #: 1-213-550-2200
Enter the conference ID: 362-1776 (and then #)

Questions? Email us at sietarnc [@] gmail [.] org.

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Our October event will be our very first virtual meeting! We’re currently working out the technical details and will post the event information as soon as we can.

When :: Wednesday, October 20 from 7-8pm-ish

Where :: Online! Details TBA

Topic :: Assessing Intercultural Competence in Children

As interculturalists seek to guide individuals in their development of intercultural competence, we are continually seeking ways to assess the effectiveness of our work.  This research asks international educators whether they are concerned with assessing the development of intercultural competence in the children with which they work.

About the Speaker ::

Gina Difino’s interest in international education has taken her to study and work in four continents.  As an anthropology major at Grinnell College (Iowa) she studied abroad in Senegal, and short-term in Eastern Europe.  After completing her teaching practicum in Social Studies and French in Iowa, she taught high school Geography and English Language and Literature in Lesotho, Southern Africa.  Upon her return she taught Middle School Social Studies in North Carolina, serving as a team lead and school contact for the Duke Curriculum Project to integrate global learning in K-12 classrooms.  As part of her work with VIF International Education, Gina has worked with teachers from all over the world advising, orienting, and supporting their cultural adjustments and teaching practices in the US, and interviewing and orienting teachers in Jamaica and the Philippines.  To complete her Master’s Degree in International Education, she studied in Panama and completed research on current assessment practices for intercultural education.

Welcome back!

We’re looking forward to our first event of 2010-11 with Dr. Roger Baumgarte, who will talk about his research on close friendships across cultures.

When :: September 21, 2010 from 6-8pm

Where :: The Visa Services Conference Room in the Smith Warehouse, 114 So. Buchanan St., Bay 7 in Durham (Duke University). There is visitor parking on the South Side of the building. Enter through the door in Bay 7, and turn to your right. The conference room will be there on the right, before you enter into Bay 6.

Here’s a map to the Smith Warehouse.

Topic :: The Cultures of Close Friendships

Cultures differ rather dramatically in the assumptions they make about the nature of close friendship. This presentation will propose a model to summarize these differences, some of which are a clear extension of the individualism-collectivism dimension, but others which are not.

About the Speaker ::
Roger Baumgarte earned his doctorate in 1973 in experimental psychology from Bowling Green University in Ohio, specializing in cognition and memory. For 30 years, he taught psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Mid career, he made an abrupt change in the focus of his professional research, from short-memory to cross-cultural psychology as a result of personal experiences he had with close friendships while on a year-long sabbatical teaching at the American University in Paris. Since that time, he has conducted studies focused on exploring cultural variations in the nature of close friendships. Other international experiences include teaching for a year in South Korea, serving as director of the International Center at Winthrop, consulting with the U.S. State Department for the selection of Eastern European students to study in the U.S., and offering over 200 cultural training workshops in the U.S. and abroad.

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Wow, can you believe it’s April already?

We hope you’ll join us on April 23 from 7-9pm at VIF International Education in Chapel Hill, ’cause we’ve got some fun things planned for you:

1. Food! We’re picking up a variety of savory and sweet treats from Chapel Hill’s Mediterranean Deli to celebrate another successful year of SIETAR-NC.

2. A film!

Mardi Gras: Made in China (DVD)
A Documentary by David Redmond
Synopsis: This examination of cultural and economic globalization follows the life-cycle of Mardi Gras beads from a small factory in Fuzhou, China, to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and to art galleries in New York City.

Note: As it interviews many people during Mardi Gras, there is nudity in the film.

3. A very quick update on the current status of the SIETAR-NC organization!

4.The 2010-11 event schedule! We’ll also tell you about the spring speaker event we’re planning with UNC-CIBER, and you’ll have an opportunity to renew your membership or become a new member of SIETAR-NC at the discounted Early-Bird rate.

To recap:

What :: Food, Film & Friends Night (our final event of 2009-10!)
When :: Friday, April 23 from 7-9pm
Where :: VIF International Education in Chapel Hill

Directions :: VIF International Education is at 201 Sage Road in Chapel Hill – just down the street from the Border’s bookstore you can see from 15-501. There is free parking in front of the building. Please enter through the main doors.

***Please RSVP for this event so we know how much delicious food to order: sietarnc [@] gmail [.] com

Yan-Koloba is a fun teamwork game with African roots.

At our March event we’ll play the game (suitable for all ages), discuss how to use the game in classroom or training situations (we can watch portions of the instructional DVD), and learn more about cultures of Africa. We’ll also have a live video chat with Dr. Emmanuel Ngomsi, the creator of Yan-Koloba!

Here’s a short video introducing Yan-Koloba and Dr. Emmanuel Ngomsi:

This is going to be a fun event – don’t miss it!

When :: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 from 6-8pm

What :: Yan-Koloba – A Teamwork Game Rooted in Africa

Where :: The Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) in Chapel Hill, NC

Directions :: The Visiting International Faculty Program office is at 201 Sage Road in Chapel Hill – just down the street from the Border’s bookstore you can see from 15-501. There is free parking in front of the building. Please enter through the main doors.

Questions? Email us :: sietarnc [@] gmail [dot] com

We’ve invited Dr. Michael Hoppe from the Center for Creative Leadership to speak about research he’s conducted on cross-cultural perspectives of leadership at our first event of 2010! We hope you’ll join us.

Here are the details:

When :: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 from 6-8pm

Where :: The Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) in Chapel Hill, NC

Directions :: The Visiting International Faculty Program office is at 201 Sage Road in Chapel Hill – just down the street from the Border’s bookstore you can see from 15-501. There is free parking in front of the building. Please enter through the main doors.

Questions? Email us :: sietarnc [@] gmail [dot] com

Note :: Is there something from our Resource Library that you’ve had your eye on? If so, send us an email and we’ll bring it to the meeting. All SIETAR-NC members can check out materials from our extensive Resource Library.

About Michael Hoppe:

Michael is a Senior Faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC. He trains custom program offerings to clients worldwide as well as the Center’s flagship program, the Leadership Development Program (LDP)® and other open-enrollment programs. As part of the Center’s Global Leadership Group, he researches and designs modules on effective cross-cultural leadership and other cross-cultural issues for use in the Center’s client-specific offerings. He lived and worked in Germany, Greece, Italy, and The Netherlands.

His publications have appeared in numerous journals and books. Recently, he contributed the chapter on cross-cultural leadership development to the Center’s Handbook of Leadership Development (2004) entitled “Cross-Cultural Issues in the Development of Leaders.” Also, as a Co-Country Investigator for GLOBE, a worldwide project on global leadership and behavior effectiveness, he wrote the book chapter on “Leadership in the U.S.A.: The Leader as Cultural Hero,” published in 2007.

Michael holds a M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Munich, Germany, a M.S. in Educational Psychology and Statistics from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Ph.D. in Adult Education and Institutional Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Here’s a 1-minute video from our November event learning to make turkish red lentil soup at the Divan Center in Cary. 

Mrs. Oznur Hatip and Mrs. Nihal Cakmakci were wonderful cultural cooking guides. They took photos of our cooking class – take a look!

P.S. Our next event will be on Tuesday, Jan. 26 from 6-8pm at the Visiting International Faculty Program. Our speaker will be Dr. Michael Hoppe from the Center for Creative Leadership. You won’t want to miss this event! More information to follow.

Until then, Happy Holidays!

Tags: 2009-10, Event, meeting, SIETAR-NC, SIETAR-NC Event