Managing Cultural Diversity +++ Sprachen/Internationales +++ Sustainable Innovation+++ Absolutely Intercutural 270 +++

Hello and welcome to show 270 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today we will talk about the biggest intercultural event of Sprachen/Internationales during the Winter Semester which is called the Managing Cultural Diversity Seminar. Every year – for the last 20 years we have invited guest lecturers from our partner Universities from literally all around the world to join our seminar. The main idea of the Managing Cultural Diversity Seminar is one intercultural topic that is discussed in detail by participants from every part of the World. This semester we looked at Sustainable Innovation. Local and international students together with the guest lecturers were divided into groups to work on Sustainable Innovation ideas and at the same time collaboration intercultural teams.

absolutely entrepreneurial

In our first category, “absolutely entrepreneurial”, we will listen to the conversation of two international students who both participated in the seminar. Carlos from Brazil and Lorena from Albania went out of it, motivated to take initiative and to start their own business ideas just because of having listened to the stories of the other participants in the seminar

absolutely project-oriented

In our second category “absolutely project-oriented”, we speak to guest lecturer Vilmante from our partner university in Lithuania. Vilmante has generously contributed to the Managing Cultural Diversity seminar for more than 10 years now and for her MCD is not only the place where she will meet old and new friends but also the place where great projects with other guest lecturers from all around the world are conceived and planned.

absolutely innovative

Finally, in our last category “absolutely innovative”, we listen to Tea, a guest lecturer from our partner university in Tirana, Albania. She held a workshop about Sustainable Innovation in Crisis, and gave a simple solution to a topic which sounds as if there cannot be a simple solution. She gave Esjona an insight before her own workshop took place.

What about you? Have you thought about finding a way to stay connected to people who live far from you? Have you started thinking of your own sustainable innovation business idea?

Please write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, www.absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment. 

Our next show will be coming to you on 4th of February.

Until then – start formulating your next sustainable innovation idea – and Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell! 

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Esjona Musta

Assistant Editors:  Natalia Obikhod,  Elene Mikeladze

 

Download

Podcast-Feed

Apple podcasts

 

 

Absolutely Intercultural 218 +++ Erasmus babies +++ advice for the exchange students +++ indirect Erasmus effects +++

 

Hello and welcome to show 218 of our podcast “absolutely intercultural” which is the third of a series of “Erasmus” podcasts to celebrate and highlight the 30th anniversary of the most successful of all student exchange programs. In this episode our students are going to share their own experiences and stories with you. You will hear some useful advice for your exchange semester. How should you be prepared before going abroad?  How to make your integration easier? Also how Erasmus effects non-exchange students, and how they profit in their home country. And we will listen to a beautiful story about how an exchange semester resulted in a lovely Erasmus couple.
Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 218 +++ Erasmus babies +++ advice for the exchange students +++ indirect Erasmus effects +++”

Absolutely Intercultural 216 +++ Erasmus 30 Anniversity +++ Practical Teaching +++ Study Abroad

Welcome to show 216 of our podcast “absolutely intercultural” which is the second of a series of “Erasmus podcasts” to celebrate and highlight the 30th anniversary of this “mother of all student exchange programs”. In this episode we are going to hear from the three participants of the program sharing their dearest experiences and stories with you. What is it like to be an Erasmus student? What is is an “Erasmus Experience”? Perhaps living on your own in completely different country for the first time! Stay tuned and listen to our international exchange students from Azerbaijan and Spain, as well as a guest lecturer from Canada.

Continue reading “Absolutely Intercultural 216 +++ Erasmus 30 Anniversity +++ Practical Teaching +++ Study Abroad”

absolutely intercultural 163 +++ internationalize yourself at home +++ simulations in teaching +++ social barriers +++ culture shock +++ BARNGA


[yendifplayer type=audio
mp3=http://www.absolutely-intercultural.com/podcast/absolutely_intercultural_show_163.mp3″][/audio]

If you like the podcast then LIKE US ON FACEBOOK HERE!

laurence-with-cards

 

Have you ever thought about preparing yourself “interculturally” before going abroad? Did you know that you can simulate a culture shock without ever going abroad? It is perhaps possible to internationalize yourself within your home country’s borders through games and simulations.

absolutely foreign
For young academics it does not seem to be adequate any longer to only study in their home countries. Recruiters pay a lot of attention to intercultural experiences that candidates may bring to the new job as a consequence of an exchange programme or an internship abroad. It is a fact that young people whose personal and academic life has been enriched by several stays in different countries are likely to get the jobs they wish. Saskia, Younes and Philipp, three university students, want to share with us their plans to internationalize themselves. However, their stories may be true or false (if you want to find it out, have a look at our facebook page).  Who knows, maybe you will get “itchy feet” while listening to these stories and make a similar plan abroad?

absolutely privileged
In our second category “absolutely privileged” we focus on a game named “How far can I get in my society” inspired by Alexandra Haas and her project “Teaching Culture!“. Matthew and Tehlia, both Australians participants in this game, were amazed at how it makes the social barriers in a society visible. They noticed how some people can go very far whereas immigrants and poorer individuals, with limited opportunities, are often in a disadvantaged position and get left behind.

absolutely real
If you are planning to go abroad and it is your first time, maybe the card game BARNGA, which we have already talked about in previous shows, can help you with your intercultural preparation. It really helps experience the real feelings that you will have when moving to another country. Zydrune shares with us her impressions when she played this game, and how it reminded her of her first days in Germany, the feeling of being in a place with a different language, rules and culture from her home country, Lithuania.

absolutely simulated
Maybe you want  to listen to the opinion of a university lecturer of intercultural communication to understand the didactical aims of these games and simulations. In this last category, Elena, our editor, interviews Laurent, the host of the show,  who explains the reasons why he believes simulations are sometimes preferable to real life and talks about their advantages and disadvantages.

If you want even more background as to broader issues behind our intercultural stories in this podcast then you might consider visiting the Absolutely Intercultural Amazon store here where we have both classics, basics and specifics for sale, a small proportion of which goes to us to support the costs of maintaining this podcast.

Our next show will be coming to you on 1  March from Anne Fox in Denmark.

Until then –
Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

And please visit our Facebook page.

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann
Editor: Elena Colunga Caballero

 Download
 Podcast-Feed
 iTunes-Abo

 

absolutely intercultural 159 +++ Rotation Curation +++ Culture Shocks +++ Jordan +++ Working in an international environment +++

Our new editor, Elena

Our New Editor from Spain: Elena Colunga Caballero. Welcome to our team!

So what should we be listening to in this podcast:
How do you personally try to gain authentic information about a country  and culture that you are interested in? Do you trust the official view of the foreign office website? Or do you go straight to Wikipedia? How about listening to some real people from that country? This way you will get the unofficial story from the citizens themselves. Perhaps it could be interesting to listen to a father of two children who can tell you what it is really like to take the two on public transport or to a restaurant? This is inside information that you may not find in any of the official publications of the country. Under a system which is called Rotation Curation Movement, Karsten Kneese will host the twitter account of I_amGermany for a week starting next Monday.

absolutely twitter
Let us explore what you, the listeners can find out about his culture if you follow him during that week. In our first category “absolutely twitter” I asked Karsten how the Rotation Curation Movement has developed since it started in Sweden last year. If you are interested, please find “I_amGermany” on Twitter on Monday and follow Karsten around for a week. This is grass-roots journalism on Twitter that I think you should not miss. You have the opportunity to find out the real story from real citizens without having to travel to the country.

absolutely stereotypical
I spoke to a group of students from the German-Jordanian University who jumped in at the deep end and decided to spend a whole semester in Europe. In our second category “absolutely stereotypical” I asked them what their parents and friends had warned them about before they left.

absolutely international
In our third category “absolutely international” I am talking to a young but very well travelled person. After spending all her holidays abroad since she was 15 she has also studied in France and has now started doing her practical training in the department of Languages /International Affairs at the University of Applied Sciences, Koblenz. I asked Elena from Spain what her friends and family had said when she was planning her big step.

absolutely different
Let us now return to the group of Jordanians who told me that in their country it would be very unusual for a lecturer to go to the university by bike, because there seems to exist a bigger “power distance” between lecturers and their students. We also learn that in Jordan, if you get invited to dinner you have to refuse several times in order to be polite before you finally accept. So one of the students politely said “No” to a dinner invitation in Germany but then learned the hard way that here you only get one shot, and he was not invited again. In our last category “absolutely different” I asked the students to explain major cultural differences which they have observed during the first weeks in Europe.

Our next show will again be coming to you on 2nd of November from Anne Fox in Denmark.

Until then –
Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

And please visit our Facebook page.

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann
Editor: Elena Colunga Caballero & Karsten Kneese

Download
Podcast-Feed
iTunes-Abo