The following learnings are gained after attending the IAU International Conference 2023. The theme was ‘Higher Education with Impact: The Importance of Intercultural Learning and Dialogue.’
• The Global Meeting of Associations was held on the first day and I got to know about the association from Spain, the Inter-American organization, Arab regions, India, Bavaria, Canada, Japan, Hungarian, Europe, Arctic, Mediterranean, Belgium, Portuguese, World Bank etc.
• The discussion circled encouraging intercultural environment and the ‘language barrier’ was found crucial. The case is similar in our countries too. English not being our mother language, students face difficulties in expressing their thoughts. Also, traditional knowledge that is produced in Bengali may not be known to the world.
• Language should not be seen only as oral/vocal format, but it has an important role in interculturalism as it reflects culture, ensures mutual respect, preserves cultural identity, breaks down stereotypes, and ensures active listening and inclusivity in actions.
• IOHE (Inter-American Organization for Higher Education) shared about teaching and learning in diverse classrooms. I searched the internet and found several research articles that can be a research area for the faculty who focus on ‘pedagogy in education’. Diversity in this context means- students coming from different cultures (foreign students), students whose mother language is different than what is offered in the classroom, etc.
• UGC (University Grants Commission) India is translating every engineering and other book into their 21 official local languages, as that ensures a better understanding to the users.
• The issue of the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine war came into the discussion. A significant statement to me was ‘ Universities should not react to any war or should be neutral, so that the people can have the freedom to share their personal opinion’.
• UNIMED (Mediterranean Universities Union) presentations shared a documentary on ‘We Need to Talk and Learn How to live’ where people from different cultural backgrounds told the same speech in different languages.
• EMULIES The Space of Women Leaders from Higher Education Institutions in the Americas (EMULIES) was created in 2011 within the framework of the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE), as a space of reflection and exchange, formed by leaders of higher education institutions (HEIs).
• HEI can practice interculturalism by promoting meaningful leaders as shared during a session where indigenous leaders got awards for their works (environment, conflict resolution, cultural advocacy, etc.). Even one university awarded an honorary doctorate to an indigenous leader.
• It is also important to identify the barriers to intercultural learning. HEIs were sharing their data, on how they increase international students each year.
• Appointing principal investigators jointly with world-class universities in research is another way to promote an intercultural environment
• The use of AI has been mentioned in several sessions that focused on the conscious use of this tool. In many institutions, students use it for everything (assignments, projects, reports, etc.) and how to tackle those was questioned. The use of AI to reduce the language barrier was mentioned, though the same meaning may not result.
