Opening the door

"Ask what we can do for the world" was the title of the remarkable plenary speech by Nancy Adler at the Global Congress of SIETAR: the Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research. The conference was held from 22 – 26 October 2008 in the heart of the beautiful city of Granada in Spain. Given the city's long history of interactions between people of many cultures, it was the perfect setting.

I first discovered SIETAR in 1990 when the conference was held in Kilkenny, Ireland, and was immediately struck by the powerful mix of different national and professional cultures. The Peace Corps was there, alongside the World Bank.

My fascination with the world’s largest interdisciplinary organization concerned with intercultural issues continues to this day. Nancy Adler, Professor for Management at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and famous for her influential bestselling book International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, gave one of the most moving speeches I have experienced at a SIETAR conference.

She showed enormous respect for the skills of the 800 or so interculturalists and challenged us to address the world’s most pressing challenges. Her speech was underpinned with her moving personal story of how her Jewish family escaped from Vienna under Nazi rule.

Her mother survived because a Catholic neighbour dared to open the door to her and hide her from the SS. Her message was that as globalization progresses, the world needs the most profound cross-cultural understanding and the highest level of intercultural skills. We all have a responsibility to open the door.

SIETAR

http://www.sietarglobal2008.org/
http://www.sietar-deutschland.de/
http://www.sietar-europa.org/