Second call for papers

Note: Conference special issue

Delegates are invited to submit a fully developed research paper based on your presentations for publication in a special issue of Language and Intercultural Communication (LAIC) dedicated to the conference theme. The length of your paper should not exceed 8,000 words, including references and additional materials. Papers should be prepared and submitted through the journal portal  following the instructions on  the  LAIC webpages. On submission, mark your paper clearly ‘Special Issue IALIC 2018’.

The deadline for full paper is 4 January 2019.

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The word ‘intercultural’ has been in use in research and practice in different parts of the world for many decades. In daily life, it is less used compared to ‘competitors’ such as multicultural or, increasingly, diversity. Interdisciplinary at heart, like all concepts, the word ‘intercultural’ is also very polysemic and politically driven.

Our interest in the notion of the ‘intercultural’ in this conference rests on the root of the word, ‘inter’, which hints at reciprocity, being located/occurring/existing between.

Regardless of the way the ‘intercultural’ is understood and used – and sometimes misused and abused – most utterances containing the word might refer to positive values or objectives such as tolerance, respect, open-mindedness, etc. These elements are often paired with the problematic concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘identity’. In any case, the ‘intercultural’ should be ‘good’ and lead to ‘good things’. Although there appears to be an implicit agreement about what this ‘good’ entails, an increasing number of voices are critical of the way it is constructed, discussed and expressed. The adjective ‘good’ always includes implicit and/or explicit comparison, political positioning, (inter-)subjectivity as well as judgement.

This conference serves as a platform to discuss what it means to be a ‘good’ interculturalist today. We expect many and varied (discordant) voices to meet during the conference. The past and future can also be considered, in diachronic and/or synchronic perspectives. The following broad contexts, which often overlap, will be examined: everyday life, theory, research, policy and practice. The micro-contexts of (language) education, teacher education, internationalization of education, business, health care, intercultural couplehood, are of interest amongst others.

The following questions can guide submissions of proposals:

  • What concepts and methodologies are/have been used in discussing the ‘good’ interculturalist?
  • Who is/has been influential in developing a specific idea of the ‘good’ interculturalist? When and how?
  • What is the role of language in shaping a ‘good’ interculturalist?
  • What is/has been expected of a ‘good’ interculturalist, for example in relation to how the concept of intercultural competence is/has been discussed?
  • What are the current clashes of views on the ‘good’ interculturalist worldwide (for instance between researchers and decision-makers)?
  • What are the consequences of believing in a ‘good’ interculturalist?
  • Can the so-called ‘periphery’ inspire new models of the ‘good’ interculturalist?
  • If there is a ‘good’ interculturalist, is there such a thing as a ‘bad’ interculturalist? Who decides and how? How could one go beyond this dichotomy?
  • How does the ‘good’ interculturalist of the past compare to the one of today? What has been the role of Modernity and the establishment of Nation States in creating this ‘good’?
  • Is there a future for the ‘good’ interculturalist? What will it look like?
  • What will be the role of technologies in the future of the ‘good’ interculturalist?
  • How have poststructuralist/postmodern thinking such as theories about the Global South, queer theories influenced views on the ‘good’ interculturalist?

Submitting a proposal

We invite submission of proposals by 15th May 2018. Abstracts should be submitted by email to ialic2018helsinki@gmail.com

Paper and colloquia proposals are invited.

Individual paper proposals (100-150 words; duration: 30 minutes including a twenty-minute presentation, with an additional ten minutes for discussion).

Colloquia proposals (200 words for the colloquium concept and 100-150 words on each paper, duration: 3 hours, max. 5 participants – conveners and discussant included)

Abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee.

Following the conference, a blind peer-reviewed volume and/or journal issue will be published.

Decisions about the submitted proposals: 20th May 2018

Registration: blogs.helsinki.fi/IALIC2018

Check out the journal affiliated with IALIC: http://tandfonline.com/rmli