Understanding cultural differences

Understanding cultural differences to start dialogue and build bridges

This workshop for Student Services professionals explores how ideas of culture, social identity, power / privilege dynamics, unconscious bias and intercultural conflict influence your relationships with your students and institutional colleagues. The current political climate in the UK and abroad has highlighted deep societal divisions about race, gender, class and religious identities. This event highlights ways to start dialogues and build bridges.

AMOSSHE members can find the event resources here:

Members only

The day provides professional development and also training for trainers, including a resource guide with information about how to conduct similar sessions within your organisation. The structure of the day is highly interactive and requires participants to take an active role, which could at times be uncomfortable.

Taking part in the workshop will help you to:

• Understand the concept of intercultural competency.
  
• Discuss and analyse your own social identity and explore your cultural background stories.
  
• Recognise emotional triggers when discussing intercultural issues.
  
• Recognise stereotypes and assumptions.
  
• Identify intercultural issues that may impact how you interact with students and colleagues.
  
• Become familiar with Milton Bennet’s spectrum of Intercultural Sensitivity and how it relates to your own life experience, as well as several other theoretical frames. 
  
• Discuss issues of power, privilege and oppression.
  
• Create a personal action plan with attainable goals.
  

Location, time and price

This one day event takes place in the Tavistock Room at Woburn House in London, close to Euston and King's Cross St Pancras railway stations. Registration opens at 09:30.

Here are the delegate prices (which include lunch):

• AMOSSHE named member - £155 (log in to access this rate)
  
• Member colleague (non-member, but an employee of an AMOSSHE member organisation) - £170
  
• Non-member (individuals, not-for-profit organisations and higher education providers not associated with AMOSSHE) - £200
  
• Corporate - £240
  

You don’t need to pay VAT for AMOSSHE events. Before booking, please read our booking terms and conditions.

Workshop leader

The workshop is led by Sarah Napoli. Sarah has been teaching for 15 years and conducting training / workshops on social justice / intercultural competency for the past 10 years. Currently she is the acting assistant head of Goodricke College at the University of York. She holds two MA degrees in social justice in intercultural relations and applied human rights. She has worked in higher education for the past decade and has held positions in the USA in service learning, diversity, and disability services. Her work uses various arts-based techniques to discuss social issues, and she has a long history of using theatre and hip hop as tools to discuss social change. Sarah also acts as a consultant for several NGOs and non-profit organisations. She has worked all over the USA and in several international contexts, including Japan, Guatemala, throughout Europe, and Canada.

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