Category: Meeting

Presenter:  Dr. Kyoko Okumoto(Osaka Jogakuin University)

Date: Saturday, November 3  (2:00pm~4:00pm)

Place:      Takatsuki Shiritsu Sogo Shimin Koryu Center

           (1 minute walk from JR Takatsuki Station),  Tel. 0726-85-3721

           http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp.

Fee:          500yen for members and students, 1.000yen for non-members

Language:     English　（English & Japanese for Q&A）

 

Description of the Presentation:

　Peace and conflict are constantly in the news today, but peace and conflict have also become important fields of academic study where both theory and analysis have been developed. While research and empirical work are important, it is essential to include practical activities in order to foster realistic change. Many NGOs around the world are working on many levels to promote peace and conflict resolution in different communities.

Asia has also been active in this area of work, and this presentation will report on a number of working groups in Northeast Asia. Prof. Okumoto is a key organiser of NARPI, the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute, an organization that works on the development of peace, and it offers two-week trainings in the summer for Northeast Asians and citizens of the world. The second summer training is scheduled for August 2012 in Hiroshima where people from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Mongolia, Russia and other countries of South and Southeast Asia will participate. The courses offered during this training include: Peace Education, Peace Mediation, Restorative Justice, Trauma Healing, and Historical and Cultural Stories of Peace. 

              Okumoto’s expertise is in the area of utilizing an arts-based approach for peacework. She will present “ho’o pono pono,” a Hawai’ian method of reconciliation that was developed for peacework in collaboration with Johan Galtung, one of the modern day founders of peace studies and the founder of Transcend Theory. Okumoto will also introduce “lukasa,” a community-based peacework activity inspired by a Congolese village. She will demonstrate how the process of dialogic communication can be used while focusing specifically on “art that reveals and highlights conflict.” The work of peacebuilding is an art in itself.

 

Profile of the presenter:

is Professor of Peace Studies, Conflict Transformation, and English Literature at Osaka Jogakuin University. Her research fields are Conflict Transformation/Nonviolent Intervention, the Arts including Literature and Drama, and the relation between the two areas. She facilitates numerous peace training workshops at all levels–from high school, to university to elderly communities. She works with NGOs such as Transcend-Japan, Transcend-International, Nonviolent Peaceforce-Japan, ACTION-Asia and Global, and Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI). She holds a PhD in the Arts from Kobe College, Graduate School of Letters in Japan and an MA in Peace Studies from Lancaster University in the UK.

 

The Power of Research in Intercultural Consulting

A workshop with Dr. Clifford Clarke

July 7, 2012, 14:00 ~ 16:00

For SIETAR KANSAI Participants

 

Program Overview

 

The Objectives of this program are to create strategies for using participatory action research to increase the power of intercultural consulting with global business leaders. (Participatory action research involves the process of professional consultants actively participating in an organizational change initiative, such as evolving an integrated corporate culture, while conducting research for the organization. Action research can be undertaken by any organization or institution with the aim of solving problems and improving their organization.)

 

The Presentation will critically review a case study of a large joint-venture corporation in Japan. The goals of this consulting project will be identified. The participatory action research approach utilized by the consultant will be presented. The research instrument and summary data will also be shared. This consulting project led to a strategy that resulted in the client’s achievement of the desired results through the corporate culture change initiative.

 

The Workshop will engage participants in discussing the case’s context, goals, participatory action research approach, and the actual client instrument and data. Participants will work together in teams to strategically develop an action plan for a consulting initiative in full collaboration with a client president appointed by each team who will question the consulting team’s assumptions, direction, and expectations. Then, after the presentation of each team’s action plan summary to the whole group and discussion, Clarke will comment on the team’s results. Then, if time permits, the same three teams will work together to constructively identify improvements in their team’s plan that might lead to their client’s achievement of excellent results and outcomes. Clarke will then share with the group the initiatives that actually occurred in the client organization and the results.

 

As Take-Aways, participants will have an understanding of the action research approach, a team-designed consulting initiative for similar clients that they believe will be effective, and the research instrument for analyses of a business client’s decision-making system.

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This presentation and workshop will be useful to any level experience in the intercultural research and management consulting field. Hopefully, each team will be composed of participants who consider themselves at the entry, intermediate, and advanced levels of experience so that mutual cooperation will enable all to feel engaged and have a meaningful time together.

 

Profile of the Presenter:

Prof. Clifford Clarke has been teaching three courses in Intercultural Communication Theory, Training, and Consulting at the University of Hawaii’s School of Communication for the past four years as an Affiliate Graduate Faculty member. He also founded and serves as the President of Global Integration Strategies where he executes research projects for businesses and educational exchange programs via his website at www.gis-tools.com and www.gis-tools.com/edu.html.

He was raised in Kyoto through high school and after over 30 relocations as a “global nomad” now resides in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a genuine “TCK” (Third Culture Kid) with his wife who is from Toyama, Japan. Together they are developing another new venture in service to local schools as External Program Evaluators.

 

GIS PROFILE

The Global Integration Strategies Corporation, founded by Clifford H. Clarke, is grounded in the discipline of Intercultural Management and has provided global companies the research, consulting and training products that have been developed and utilized with thousands of clients (individual members of over 300 client organizations) for more than two decades. Clarke pioneered a research-based approach to understanding and overcoming all types of organizational difficulties experienced by global companies,

 

GIS focuses on assisting clients with practical research reports on their internal issues created by cultural diversity in the global marketplace. In particular, these tools and training programs assist global businesses in initiatives such as transnational Technology Transfers, Overseas Assignment Services, Joint Venture Start-Ups, Mergers & Acquisitions, Headquarters & Subsidiary Alignments, Global Teamwork, Leadership Development and Subsidiary Development Projects.

 

GIS research reports offer interpretations and suggest recommendations of best practices from Clarke’s work with many world-class corporations. The impact of diverse cultures on organizational productivity, global leadership, management, team and individual performance can be turned into creative and innovative assets that create the competitive edge needed for success of the global organization.

 

 

 

Presenter:   Dr. Elza S.M.Nakahagi (Clinical laboratory technician and medical doctor)

Date:       Sunday, May 27  (2:00pm~4:00pm)

Place:      Takatsuki Shiritsu Sogo Shimin Koryu Center, 3F (Yu no Ｋobo)

            (1 minute from JR Takatsuki Station),  Tel. 0726-85-3721

            http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp

Fee:        500 yen for members and students, 1,000yen for non-members

Language:  Japanese (Questions and Answers with English and Japanese)

 

 

Description of presentation:

 

Most of the foreigners living in Japan may not have problems with everyday conversation in Japan, but it is different when they visit medical institutions or doctors.  When foreigners tell their symptoms to the doctors or try to understand doctor’s explanations, they have difficulties with the medical terms in Japanese.  I would like you to know about the medical situation in Japan for foreigners today. Also, I would like to discuss the importance of medical interpreters, and to introduce stress management for people who support these foreigners. 

 

Profile of presenter:

 

Elza S.M. Nakahagi was born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1958. She was licensed as a clinical laboratory technician and medical Doctor. Currently, Dr. Nakahagi works as a Medical doctor of the Disque – Saúde Program of Brazilian Citizen Council of the Consulate General of Bazil in Nagoya.  She is also a health counselor of Osaka Prefecture, a medical interpreter and a counselor of NGOs and NPOs for foreigners living in Japan.  In addition, she is an Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Japan therapist and gives EFT seminars on multicultural issues.

Dr. Nakahagi is author of Medical Terms Dictionaries, such as Portuguese – Japanese, Spanish – Japanese, and English – Tagalog – Japanese, as well as “Guia da Mamãe” (a guide book of Pediatrics and child care in Japan).