Category Archives: Go Global

Living and Working in the Global Village

Understanding Asian American Communication — by Dr. Julia Wai-Yin So

Do you recall the first time you stepped into an international business reception at a major hotel and found yourself amidst a sea of Asian faces? If so, you may also have noticed a diversity of Asian cultures and conversations  in some incomprehensible languages: Cantonese Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and perhaps others.  If you have been put off when people in your presence have spoken a language other than English, you are not alone.

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Sacred Fires: Betty Shabazz, MLK and Thich Nhat Hanh – by Andréana Lefton

Sacred firesOur world is burning up from within. We need action – now – to lower the earth’s temperature, to stop mass incarceration , child abuse, and human trafficking. And what about self-harm and self-hate? Why does our own spirit twist against us so violently?

Searching for more answers – or at least some deeper insights – I turned to the lives of three people burned by hate, and burning with love. The first is Vietnamese monk and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh.

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February Perspectives – by Vincent Ivan Phipps

BLACK HISTORY MONTH
VALENTINE’S DAY

Editor’s Note: February commemorates and celebrates American history and culture.  Here are two aspects of this month in the words of one of the best speakers and communication coaches in the country, Vincent Ivan Phipps. 

Why is Black History Month in February?

Thank the ASNLH, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History!  In 1916 an American historian, Carter G. Woodson, began editing this organization’s primary scholarly publication called the Journal of Negro History. In 1924, as a member of the historically Black fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, Woodson used the platform of his fraternity to introduce Negro History and Literature Week.  In 1926, Woodson and the ASNLH inaugurated Negro history week in February 1926 which eventually parlayed into National Negro Month or to what it is called today, Black History Month.

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Our Gift of Harriet – by Terry Howard

Stan on Harriet
(20160310) – (Harrisonburg) Harriet Tubman Cultural Center President Stan Maclin introduces the Harriet Tubman Commemorative Leadership Award.(Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record)

His name is Stan Maclin. He lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, having moved there 20 years ago. He is the founder and curator of the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center in that city.

It should come as no surprise then that Maclin’s Center has garnered national attention and many phone calls ignited by the recently released movie “Harriett,” the story of Harriett Tubman who single handedly made many forays deep into the south to free slaves.

When asked why he started the Center, in words that undoubtedly flowed from his mouth hundreds of times over the years, Maclin said that he wanted to open a place where African Americans can learn about their history, identity, and culture. He wanted to be able the educate future generations so that history does not repeat itself.

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Hurdling Heavy Accents – by Terry Howard

Perhaps it’s attributable in part to shifting demographics, which has attracted people from across the globe, but there’s no denying the growth in cultures that have permeated Douglas and surrounding Georgia counties, their schools, businesses and neighborhoods. And that growth has been accompanied by an increase in the number of accents and the challenges that come with communicating through accent differences.

No matter how hard I work at it, I often struggle attempting to communicate with someone with a “heavy” accent. Am I alone? A situation a few years ago, one that left me feeling woefully incompetent, made this poignantly clear. Here’s what happened. Tell me if it resonates.

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An American Discovers Small Talk –  by Jacquelyn Reeves

small talkSmall talk delights and confounds us, and it is worth asking why.  In this short humorous piece I will confine myself to American small talk, as there appear to be different variations on this tune, as Mark Twain might also have pointed out if he had written more about American English and less about the German language. 

On the one hand, it can feel overly factual and too easy, (are they making fun of me?) on the other hand, it is full of ambiguity and hidden meaning.  But do you KNOW what that meaning is?  It is also a way of getting to know you quickly, whatever the circumstances, sharing information, getting the real information fast or just having some fun in a bored moment.

Hence I share with you a “Small Talk Vignette” from one of my trips in the US.  Although I am American, I have felt like a foreigner in the US at various times, and this was one of them:

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Diversity and Speech Part 5: Interculturalism – by Carlos E. Cortés

The diversity movement has raised myriad issues regarding language and the exercise of speech.  Indeed, some critics of diversity efforts have accused its advocates of undermining the U.S. tradition of free speech.  Yet that argument is ill-founded, for two reasons.  First, because totally “free” speech does not exist in the United States.  Second, because establishing selective legal limits on speech is as historically American as apple pie.

This is the fifth in a series of columns based on my research as a past fellow of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.   In earlier columns I argued that diversity advocates should not be drawn into the position of opposing free speech, because it does not really exist.  Rather they should clarify and reframe the issue.

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Culture Shock in Generation Y – by A. K. Ward-Bartlett

CULTURE ABROAD

Five days ago, I was on the other side of the globe. Exhausted from twelve weeks of attempting to keep up with this fast-paced Mecca of the international business world, I was still not ready to extract myself from the extrovert’s haven that is Shanghai. This is the land of business cards and alcohol, where the networking maniacs of the West flock to jump into the Eastern financial “boom”, assuming that the “bust” is nowhere in sight. For one brief summer, I was a part of this cultural mish-mash, ecstatic to surround myself with the expats, entrepreneurs, and “students of life” that are so enthusiastic to be exposed to the challenges of living in such a foreign, yet increasingly Westernized, environment. Being a student of psychology, the best way for me to summarize my experience in China is to describe the mental processes I used to adapt. Looking back on my little adventure, I can easily identify the points at which I hit the various stages of Culture Shock, and it is through this cycle that I feel others can catch a better glimpse of my path of growth.

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From Xenophobe to Xenophile – by Mary Angela Moore

China from Mary “Angela” Moore’s Lenses

從Xenophobe到Xenophile
中國來自瑪麗“安吉拉”摩爾的鏡頭
(3系列的第1部分)(Chinese)

“The lenses of mass media as the sole window to the outside world is detrimental to the way we perceive our fellow Earthlings. Somehow, It can burn bridges more than build them.”
“大眾媒體的鏡頭作為通往外界的唯一窗口,對我們認識地球人的方式是不利的。 不知何故,它可以燃燒橋樑而不是建造它們。“

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A World Apart: Coffee Shops in Afghanistan and Georgia – by Terry Howard

The Simple Cafe in Kabul

In a recent article in The New York Times, Hadis Lessani, a high school student living in Kabul, Afghanistan said this about finding a place free from harassment because of her makeup, Western clothing and chatting publicly with young men: “This cafe is the only place where I can relax and feel free.”

You see, trendy cafes like The Simple Cafe have sprung up across Kabul in the past few years as sanctuaries for women in an Islamic culture that still dictates how they should dress and interact with men. These restrictions endured years after tradition banned girls’ education, confined women to their homes and forced them to wear burqas in public.

Continue reading A World Apart: Coffee Shops in Afghanistan and Georgia – by Terry Howard