Intercultural Communication

I'm still catching up on my old blog posts...

Last week, my employer sent me to the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication, based on the Reed College campus in Portland, Oregon. What an amazing experience! I've been to many professional conferences throughout my teaching career, but this one stands far above the others because of its ability to inspire transformation and change. The Summer Institute offered a wide variety of workshops, but I spent five days learning how to support people as they learn to communicate across cultures.  

During our visit to the Reed College campus, we stayed in the student dorms. The Summer Institute staff took the time to decorate the dorms with flowers and photographs from around the world.

Reed College is 100 years old, so much of the architecture reflects a much older style. This detailed stone work has a Latin inscription: non ministrari sed ministrare (not to be ministered unto, but to minister).

We ate all our meals in the Reed College cafeteria. In the adjoining hallway, a large mural adds color to the campus. This piece shows part of a larger work titled "An eruption of people hungry for their souls," by Tessa Hulls, 2007.

A spider web reflected the sunlight outside one of the old campus buildings.