Developing Across Differences: Using Neuroscience
Applied Neuroscience and Brain Organisational Neuroscience are new disciplines, made possible only with recent technological innovations. Those who embrace this new well of knowledge include professionals and experts from disciplines such as intercultural communication and management, inclusion and diversity, well-being and personal development. One significant upside of applied neuroscience is that it can create a balance with and re-frame the ‘problem-based’ and ‘difference-focused’ approach prevalent in mainstream cultural theories.
WHY ATTEND?
This course examines how rather than relying on fear-based approaches (ref Hofstede’s statement that “Culture is more often a source of conflict than synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.”), workplaces and communities can instead apply neuroscience insights and Positive Organisational Scholarship (POS) to pursue personal leadership, inclusion and diversity efforts in order to reap its moral, social, and economic benefits.
Drawing from the emerging field of applied neuroscience and POS, the course provides fundamental, hands-on, and up-to-date knowledge and skill-building that helps you better understand how the brain works and how you can make it work for you—and help your clients do the same.
In being able to more critically reflect on theories and practices that have been the mainstream and see where they can be enriched or debunked with insights from neuroscience, you and those you work with will be able to create and improve workplace policies and strategies on bias management, diversity & inclusion practices, change management, intercultural communication, work-life balance, and personal development.
See additional information at the Institute for Developing Accross Differences.
Practical information
| Dates |
12 - 14 July 2023 |
| Location |
Groningen, the Netherlands |
| Level |
PhD/Postdoc/Practitioners May be appropriate for some MA students; contact the organisers for consultation about eligibility |
|
Fee
(includes course and materials, optional evening programming) |
€ 1495 |
| Academic coordinator |
Dr. Mai Nguyen |
|
Contact |
ic rug.nl or info iddifferences.org |
Participant profile
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
This course is for you if are a consultant/trainer/multiplier/educator who helps those who:
- are implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives within their organisations;
- offer training and on-the-job professional development to help colleagues better communicate and collaborate;
- work with those who appreciate “hard science”-based evidence for making system-wide and personal change.
Contact the organisers at ic rug.nl or info iddifferences.org if you have questions about the suitability of this course for your circumstances.
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 iic 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.
Course schedule
Sunday, 9 July: 15.00-18.00 Optional networking event
Wednesday, 12 July - Friday, 14 July: 09.00-17:30
Learning approach
This course will blend cognitive discussions about key concepts and frameworks with applied independent learning based on your real-world cases as well as group discussions. You will have an opportunity to consider how you might apply the knowledge and strategies gained in this course with your clients.
Learning outcomes
After this course you —and those you work with— will be able to:
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Critically appreciate neuroscience myths and realities and how the former may be erroneously incorporated into mainstream practices in the workplace and otherwise.
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Articulate the fundamentals of neuroscience, including neuroplasticity, neurogenesis and epigenetics.
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Understand cultural neuroscience connections, i.e. those between culture, cultural values, and acculturalisation with genes and brain using an interdisciplinary approach that fosters the potential of a multicultural mind.
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Understand neuroscience’s role in learning and well-being, including mindfulness, workout, and mind-gut connection.
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Apply insights from neuroscience to understand and work with biases and change management.
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.
Lecturer
Dr. Mai Nguyen
Dr. Mai Nguyen is an author and, until recently, associate professor at Amsterdam School of International Business where she specialises in cross-cultural management. In addition to PhD in intercultural communication, she has a Master’s degree from King’s College London on Applied Neuroscience and a Master in Educational Science and Curriculum Design from Twente University.
Mai is widely known for bridging intercultural communication and neuroscience in organizational settings, and making these complex concepts accessible to practitioners in academic and corporate settings alike.
In addition to two textbooks that are currently used in universities worldwide, Intercultural Communication: When Neurons, Genes, and Evolution Joined the Discourse (Amsterdam University Press) and Cross-Cultural Management with Insights from Brain Science (Routledge), she is an active researcher.
Application procedure
Participants submit payment and details about their interest at https://rugtc.poweredbymentor.nl/module/214/.
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.
| Last modified: | 22 January 2024 3.49 p.m. |