Developing Across Differences: Designing Inclusive, Intercultural Organisations

This course is for you if are a consultant/trainer/multiplier/educator with 5 or more years of experience in the greater Differences field who:

• Leads or significantly supports the planning and/or implementation of a diversity and inclusion initiative for a corporation, educational institution, governmental department, healthcare facility, NGO or similar.
• Has at least 5 years’ experience in an organisational or consultant role in diversity.

The DAD is for multipliers who help individuals, organizations and societies better recognize, appreciate and use differences as a way of better communicating, working and thriving together.

These are (in-house and external) trainers, educators, consultants, coaches, researchers, scholars, facilitators, HR staff, advanced-level (MA+) students, and professional development specialists with 5+ years of experience/study in the greater Differences field. Contact the organisers at ic rug.nl or info iddifferences.org for consultation about appropriateness and eligibility.

It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

Sunday, 9 July: 15.00-18.00 Optional networking event

Wednesday, 12 July - Friday, 14 July: 09.00-17.30

Learning approach

We will share concepts and real-life examples to illustrate how this dual approach has worked to successfully launch and measurably sustain diversity and inclusion initiatives in different types of workplaces.

After this course you —and those you work with— will be able to:

• Understand and appreciate the significance of being both diverse and inclusive
• Establish and implement an inclusion plan that considers both systems and processes on the organisational level as well as (inter)personal intercultural development on the individual level
• Develop and measure goals, policies and processes that promote inclusivity and diversity
• Implement and model customized cultural competency training and programming for stakeholders

Workload

18 hours of in-class learning and active participation using experiential methods.

Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 18 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Nagesh Rao, PhD

Currently based in the US, Dr. Nagesh Rao is an accomplished DEI trainer, coach, consultant and professor who uses intercultural competence, cultural humility, storytelling and intercultural listening to develop leaders in healthcare/medicine, education and business.

In Nagesh’s three+ decades of teaching, consulting and training, he has worked with clients in Fortune 500 corporations, top medical schools and hospitals, educational institutes and community-based non-profit organizations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

In 2017, Dr. Rao was named special advisor on inclusion and faculty affairs and asked to design and implement Ohio University (US) medical school’s Office of Inclusion. He has visiting lecturer appointments at numerous universities including the University of Groningen (Netherlands).

Drs Michaela Carrière

In addition to her role as Intercultural Competence Section Head and Lead Trainer at the University of Groningen/Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Michaela Carrière is the Programs Coordinator for the University’s Office of Diversity. Having established the University’s Intercultural Winter and Summer School programs and various initiatives to support the intercultural learning within international student mobility programmes, she is now in the process of developing a university-wide diversity and inclusion certification program.

A self-described global nomad and ‘Third Culture Kid’, Michaela has lived in India, Indonesia, and the USA, Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh, as well as the Netherlands. Her research includes Intercultural Communication, International Education and Ethics. She consults with government ministries, NGOs and other clients throughout the Netherlands, helping them ‘create a culture for culture’ by achieving an internal critical mass of intercultural competence.

Participants submit payment and details about their interest at https://rugtc.poweredbymentor.nl/module/215/ [1] .

Within 72 hours following registration, you will be contacted directly by the organisers about your application.

Regular registration closes on April 10th. Late registration closes on July 3rd.

Cancellation policy

Please note that as all courses are subject to meeting minimum enrolments, the DAD team will confirm on or before 17 April 2023 that your course is taking place. We strongly advise you not to book non-refundable travel until you have received this confirmation. In all cases, refunds for courses are not available except in the case of course cancellation by the DAD organisers. In the case that your preferred course is cancelled, you are welcomed to enroll in an alternative course or request a refund. You will be notified on or before 17 April 2023 if the DAD course is cancelled. This policy is different from that of other University of Groningen Summer School and Language Centre courses. Full details are available on the Developing Across Differences (DAD) Learning Lab & Community Week Terms and Conditions page .