Intercultural Communication Institute

35 | Facilitating Dialogue Across Cultures

This workshop will be conducted as a learning community in which participants can connect their own experiences and insights to theories and research in group facilitation, peace and conflict studies, and intercultural communication.

Designed for
Practitioners, educators, consultants, human resourc professionals, and organizational and community leaders whose work involves facilitation of problem-solving and conflict resolution in intercultural settings, both domestic and international.

Examine the role of facilitation in managing communication among individuals in intercultural settings
Explore the primary obstacles to communication in intercultural group situations
Identify the attitudes, skills, and style required of the facilitator role
Experience selected consensus methodologies for managing intercultural groups<
Analyze problem-solving group work and make recommendations for improving communication through facilitation
Discover creative possibilities for bridging differences through collaborative process design

Learning Activities

Mini-lectures that outline approaches to facilitation in intercultural groups
Group discussion to clarify concepts and to share expertise of the participants
Practice with dialogic processes as a basis for analyzing their dynamics and effectiveness
Experiential activities that illustrate facilitative interventions
Collaborative work on designing facilitation strategies

Faculty: Benjamin J. Broome

Dr. Benjamin J. Broome is a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He has worked with a variety of groups in both domestic and international conflict situations. During the past fourteen years he has collaborated with citizen peace-building groups on the island of Cyprus, where he served as Senior Fulbright Scholar in conflict resolution from 1994-1996. He has facilitated problem-solving and design workshops with bi-communal groups of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and with bi-national groups of Turks and Greeks to develop and implement projects aimed at reconciliation and rapprochement in the region. Prior to his work in Cyprus, Ben collaborated with Americans for Indian Opportunity, assisting in projects with the Winnebago, Menominee, Comanche, Pawnee, Apache, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. He has also worked with a variety of groups in nonprofit, corporate, government, and educational settings. He has published articles in numerous scholarly journals and is the author of Exploring the Greek Mosaic: Intercultural Communication in Greece and Building Bridges Across the Green Line: A Guide to Intercultural Communication in Cyprus.