Category Archives: Events

by | February 9, 2016 · 5:46 pm

WOW Festival- A Success!

On Saturday the 6th Feb, we ran the “Welcome to Our World” festival on Avenue Campus. With 6 zones and almost 40 different activities for the audience to participate in, the festival involved more than 50 contributors, 20 student helpers and attracted in excess of 300 attendees!

Throughout the course of the day, festival goers enjoyed a mix of storytelling performances, dance workshops, language tasters and international craft activities. The Confucius Institute contributed a great deal to the day, supplying Calligraphy and Beijing Opera Mask activities as well as a very popular Chinese Tea Ceremony session later on in the day. Various SUSU student societies also gave festival guests many opportunities to engage in intercultural exchange, with the Japanese Society providing a very popular Origami workshop, Mexican Society entertaining everyone with their traditional Mexican games, Quiz Society setting challenges with their International Quiz, stimulating and informative sessions from AIESEC and Debating Society and wonderful performances from Salsa Society, Capoeira Society and SUSingers.

The festival was also enriched by the contributions of local Southampton individuals and groups who also provided talks, performances, workshops and, certainly in the case of Bat2k, some brilliant noise! One of the aims of the Festival was to strengthen Southampton’s intercultural ties not only throughout the university but also in the wider community, so to have such valuable contributions from local people, as well as many members of the local community attending the event, meant a great deal to the Festival Team and facilitated intercultural exchange throughout the city.

On our return to the office today, the Festival Team have been looking through the feedback forms completed by those who attended the festival.  Amongst the comments we received were ‘A great day- went in a flash!’, ‘A great event- please repeat!’ and ‘Excellent! Please continue to hold similar events!’. In addition to the various positive comments we received in person on the day, we’ve also received many emails from university staff commenting on the success of the festival and received some lovely coverage in the Southern Daily Echo.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in WOW, the volunteers, the contributors and all those who attended. It really was a great day of making connections across cultures.

Do make sure to have a look at our Facebook Page in the coming days to see more festival photos, entries to the postcard competition, contributions to the recipe swap and more!

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by | March 17, 2015 · 3:27 pm

Intercultural Connections Southampton Conference 28 April 2015

Developing Intercultural Connections at Southampton University

Garden Court
Highfield Campus
University of Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Tuesday 28th April 9.00-16.30

The Intercultural Connections Southampton Conference is the first major event taking place as part of the Intercultural Connections Southampton project which started in autumn 2014. This project, funded by the university’s Education Enhancement Fund, aims to create a greater awareness of the range and potential of intercultural activities  in order to develop a more rounded profile for Southampton as an International University.

The conference will be a mixture of traditional presentations, workshops, demonstrations, interactive discussions and panels. We welcome papers from all students and staff, both Professional Services and academic staff.

The purpose of this conference is to provide opportunities for:

  • students and staff to share intercultural and international experiences and research at the university both inside and outside the classroom
  • develop new ideas to improve intercultural and international experiences for all
  • networking and forming collaborations across the university.

To find out more about the Intercultural Connections Southampton project, please visit our website: blog.soton.ac.uk/ics

To book your free place at the conference, please go to http://icsconf15.eventbrite.co.uk

Provisional programme for Tuesday 28th April 2015

9.00 Arrival, registration and coffee
9.45 Professor Clare Mar-Molinero (Associate Dean Internationalisation, Humanities, University of Southampton) Welcome
10.00 Presentation 1 – Dr Steve Ryall (Health Sciences, University of Southampton) An investigation into the issues of staff’s conceptions and experiences of internationalisation and the implications for its delivery in higher education
10.30 Workshop – Victoire Boulegroun-Ruyssen, Lien Bui, Madalina Cretu, Ian Forbes, Maya Nedyalkova, Jane Ra (University of Southampton) Intercultural Connections workshop: The  Social and Cultural experiences of University of Southampton studentsThe Intercultural Connections Southampton Project aims to explore and enhance the intercultural experience of students at the University. This session will report on and discuss the findings of the first of a series of 5 student-led projects which has been researching the social and cultural interests and activities of students in which intercultural exchange should or could be taking place.
11.15 Coffee break
11.45 Keynote 1 – Dr Sheila Trahar (Education, University of Bristol) Internationalisation of the curriculum: a ‘wicked problem’?
12.30 Lunch
13.15 Speed-networking sessions

  1. Sylvia Pender (Medicine) – Student buddy scheme
  2. Jane Savidge (Library) – Academic support
  3. Kate Borthwick & Mary Page (Modern languages) – The multilingual/multicultural classroom
  4. Katie Bizley – Mobility and student exchanges
  5. Alison Dickens – Intercultural Connections Project
14.15 Presentation 2 – Oliver Ross, Dorothy Chadwick (University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust) &  Rebecca Foster (Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton) Migrant NHS staff: their contribution, perspectives and support networks
14.45 Tea break
15.15 Presentation 3– Julie Watson (Humanities, University of Southampton) Get Ready for Southampton:  a pre-arrival online transition course for international students coming to the University of Southampton
15.45 Keynote 2 – Professor Jennifer Jenkins (Centre for Global Englishes, University Southampton) How good are their intercultural communication skills? International students cast judgement on home students and staff
16.30 Close of conference

 

FAQs

Where can I contact the organiser with any questions?

Please email : Intercultural@soton.ac.uk

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

Yes, please bring your printed ticket as proof of registration.

The name on the registration/ticket doesn’t match the attendee. Is that okay?

Please email Intercultural@soton.ac.uk before the event commences as there may already be a waiting list in operation and the place would be offered on a first come first served basis.

How do I notify of dietary or access requirements?

Please email Intercultural@soton.ac.uk by Friday 24 April 2015 of any requirements.

How do I notify of a cancellation?

Places are limited so please email Intercultural@soton.ac.uk by Friday 24 April 2015 as a waiting list is in operation and we can contact someone from the list.  You will be sent a reminder the week before the event takes place.

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by | March 3, 2015 · 12:02 pm

Developing Cultural Awareness: An Intercultural Awareness Skills Workshop for Professional Services Staff

Where:  27/3057               When:  Weds 1 April, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm

Who:  Professional Services staff, maximum 20 participants (this workshop was previously run in August 2014)

Sign up:  by emailing intercultural@soton.ac.uk with ‘Professional Services workshop’ in the title line.  Deadline:  Friday 20 March

What:  This is an interactive workshop in which we’ll explore what makes some intercultural encounters more successful than others.  We’ll reflect on how expectations affect communication, including stereotyping and conventions such as punctuality and politeness.  Finally, we’ll learn some simple ways to adjust how we speak and write so that our communication is more effective.  Throughout the workshop you’ll be able to share your ideas, experience and examples of good practice with your colleagues.

This workshop has previously been run with staff from Student and Academic Administration with excellent feedback:

“Very good event to raise awareness and share ideas with staff from other areas of the uni”    “I think every member of staff should go to this session!”

Led by Jill Doubleday, Modern Languages and Alison Dickens, LLAS (Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies) as part of the Intercultural Connections Southampton project

http://blog.soton.ac.uk/ics/

Jill Doubleday has 15 years’ experience of teaching English to international students and is studying for a PhD in the field of internationalisation of higher education.

Alison Dickens currently directs the LLAS academic development programme and develops and delivers training in a number of areas including e-learning, language teaching and internationalisation.

 

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