SIETAR Brazil - INTRODUCTION
SIETAR Brazil is a Non-Governmental Organization – NGO composed of affiliated members whose primary goal is research, training and educational activities in the field of intercultural relations. It brings together professionals from diverse backgrounds who share a common interest: the facilitation of dialogue between peoples of different cultures, and between different social groups in Brazil, the development of values, skills and knowledge that encourage this dialogue, sensitizing public opinion, institutions and companies to the importance of intercultural learning. SIETAR Brazil works for the elimination of all kinds of prejudice.
SIETAR Brazil was established in August of 2010, and is a member of a global network currently found in 16 countries.
SIETAR – Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research – was founded in 1974 in the United States and is recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization both by the United Nations and the European Union. It was originally formed by professionals in the diplomatic field and from many organizations with international operations. It was conceived as a forum for the exchange of ideas and discussions on training, theory and research in the intercultural field, where professionals from different disciplines and practices could create and strengthen the theoretical development and the practice of intercultural communication.
In Brazil, its members are found in academia and business, education, training and consulting, communication and the arts, bringing a wealth of experience and different perspectives to the field of intercultural relations. SIETAR Brazil intends to be a nexus for professionals from different backgrounds who work in the intercultural field and seek the improvement of means in their power for intervention in politics, education and the business world, effectively increasing intercultural communication.
SIETAR Brazil 2011Conference
São Paulo – September 15 & 16
The Global Rise of Brazil: Intercultural Opportunities and Challenges
CALL FOR PAPERS
SIETAR Brazil is accepting applications for papers to be presented at its conference, The Global Rise of Brazil: Intercultural Opportunities and Challenges.
Our theme refers to the important moment Brazil is going through, where the positive performance of our economy and the possibilities for growth place us among the nations with more favorable future prospects.
With globalization and the increasingly frequent presence of multinational companies in Brazil, and the internationalization of Brazilian companies that are beginning to operate abroad, the experiences of intercultural professional life are becoming more frequent. On the other hand, this frequency, combined with the intensification of virtual communication, tourism and the possibilities for international contact that social networks provide us, challenge the idea that there are different cultures and that these differences can affect our lives.
There is a global transformation occurring and Brazil is going to occupy a prominent place that has long been just a promise. How can we prepare ourselves for this challenge?
As interculturalists, how can we contribute to this new role being played by Brazil and Brazilian professionals? How can we contribute to the understanding of the importance that cultural differences have in the success of society and business? How can we help increase awareness about who we are and what makes us unique and different?
When we think of democracy, we generally think of equality of rights and opportunities, but as interculturalists, we understand that democracy must also signify the right to be different. The right to reaffirm the value of who we are and what we experience as an inheritance from our parents and our culture. Therefore, the citizenship that we want is founded on equality, but not equality based on the pasteurization of differences to make everyone seem the same. Citizenship and equality presume the equal right of different groups to preserve, develop and enrich their respective heritages and cultural projects.
We understand that this is the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity facing us as a nation: how to grow and incorporate ourselves into the globalized world while preserving our right to be who we are, offering this difference as a contribution to an inclusive and democratic world?
SIETAR conferences have always served as a forum for interculturalists to get together and share their knowledge, perceptions and issues with other members of the intercultural Field, and this is our proposal for our first national conference.
The members of SIETAR Brazil represent a wide range of professions and disciplines, who share a passion for understanding cultures and for the continued promotion of culturally respectful and inclusive ways to make the world a better place to live and work.
Therefore, we are accepting applications that propose to examine how intercultural issues define and interfere with the challenges and opportunities that Brazil and Brazilians are facing at the moment, as well as issues relating to their integration with their regional and global partners.
Therefore, we are accepting applications that propose to examine how intercultural issues define and interfere with the challenges and opportunities that Brazil and Brazilians are facing at the moment, as well as issues relating to their integration with their regional and global partners.
· SIETAR Brazil is a non-profit non-governmental organization and presenters receive no remuneration for their participation.
· All presenters must register for the conference.
Soon we will open registration and the call for papers. If you are interested in participating in the conference, please send an email tosietarbrasil@gmail.com to reserve your place. We will contact you when we open registration and the call for papers.