The Intercultural Connections Southampton team includes:
Alison Dickens (Project Director), A.M.Dickens@soton.ac.uk
I have a background in language teaching and professional development and currently direct a small enterprise unit (LLAS Centre) based in the Faculty of Humanities. As part of my role I coordinate short language courses for students and members of the public, manage a programme of professional development for international academics who teach or work through the medium of English and have worked on a number of projects with a language/intercultural theme. With the LLAS team I oversee a number or regular conferences aimed at language practitioners, one of which, the LLAS e-symposium has been running annually at the University of Southampton for 10 years. Together with Jill Doubleday I have developed and run a professional development course for academics who work with international students which has been delivered regularly both within the University of Southampton and externally. My work in the field of internationalisation and language teaching is what has inspired me to develop the Intercultural Connections Southampton Project with Jill Doubleday (see below) which will work with staff and students to support the University in identifying and developing its intercultural identity.
Jill Doubleday (CPD Developer), J.Doubleday@soton.ac.uk
My main role is to develop and deliver CPD (Continuing Professional Development) workshops for both professional services and academic staff.
My background is in teaching English and training English teachers, and in 2008 I gained an MA in English Language Teaching from the University of Southampton. I am a part-time doctoral student researching international students’ perceptions of their English and language policy. A founding member of the Centre for Global Englishes, I currently edit the Centre’s working papers, Englishes in Practice.
Because of my interest in international students’ experiences, I co-designed the workshop, Teach for Success: Supporting International Students in the Classroom with Alison Dickens of LLAS (Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies). I also facilitate an adapted version of this workshop on the Postgraduate Certificate for Academic Practice programme. A second workshop for teaching staff Teach for Success 2: Managing Interaction and Assessment in International Student Groups has been developed as part of the ICS project, as has one for Professional Services staff, Developing Cultural Awareness: an intercultural communication skills workshop for Professional Services staff.
Megan Byrne (ICS Intern)
I am a graduate of the University of Southampton in Modern Languages. As part of the university’s Excel placement scheme, my role within the ICS is to organise intercultural events, as well as implementing a scheme that will encourage more interaction with the project. Thanks to my previous experiences of living in Spain for eight years and France for my year abroad, I am fortunate enough to truly value the importance of intercultural awareness and I aim to strengthen the international ties amongst students, staff and the wider community.
Caterina Balzano (ICS Intern)
I am a second year International Relations student passionate about migration and immigrants’ integration. I am myself an immigrant since I left my country of origin, Italy, three years ago in order to complete my higher education career abroad. My role is to design an online support system able to encourage international activities and intercultural communication. My aim is to make people aware on how important it is to be interculturally connected and to help integrate different cultures in Southampton. I would like to spread an important message where intercultural experience should be considered enriching and fun.
Rahul Nair RP (ICS Intern)
I am a third year Mechanical Engineering student originally from India. I have personally experienced the differences in culture and thinking across different societies in the world today and what such an experience can d
o to the thought process of an individual. The question of how one fits into a new society, what ideas to adopt and leave behind when moving towards becoming a tolerant and compassionate human being baffles a lot of people. Promotion of intercultural connections will help solve this problem by giving everyone an opportunity to immerse themselves in new and exciting cultures and the University of Southampton is the perfect place to do so because of its cultural diversity. My role is to help my team design an online platform that can be used by students and societies in promoting internationalism.
