International Conference co-Organized by the Center - Redefining Community in Intercultural Context

The Center for Research in Communication organized, along with “Henri Coandă” Air Force Academy, BRAŞOV and with the support of European Network for Intercultural Education Activities, the international conference - Redefining Community in Intercultural Context (RCIC’11). The conference took place in Braşov, at the “Henri Coandă” Air Force Academy, between 16-18th of June, 2011. In the beginning, the conference was intended to be only an exchange of ideas and experience regarding the role of communities in the contemporary era, but considering the fact that the Academy trains people for the international context, a focus on this topic was required, including also the intention to improve the quality of education. The main goal consisted in an experience exchange between professors and researchers in the field of community dynamics, considering the actual tendencies in international context.

Keynote speakers were: Eduard Khakimov, PhD, Udmurt State University, Izhevsk, Russia - his research focuses on multi/intercultural education, migration, vocational education, pedagogical evaluation, ethno-pedagogy; and Paul L. Landry, professor at the University of Alabama, USA – his research concerns mainly language related problems in multicultural environment.
In the plenary session Eduard Khakimov, Udmurt State University, Izhevsk, Russia presented the paper “Constructive Redefining Community in Context of Intercultural Education” and Paul L. Landry, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa U.S.A. presented “Language Loss, Globalization and the Ecuadorian Educational System”.

Eduard Khakimov concluded through his work that intercultural education can be a context for constructively redefining a community, given that in the present, communities become more and more multi-cultural, both people who come, and those who depart taking with them their own culture. Cultural diversity is nowadays’ challenge, increasing on one hand the risk of segregation and conflicts, and on the other hand giving new opportunities and perspectives. Diversity can become a resource for economic and social development, to the extent that it takes place a redefining of communities in order to be “adopted” in this intercultural context.

Paul L. Landry addressed degradation issues of national languages, analyzing the factors that promote this process and those who oppose changes in the context of globalization, of cultural changes caused by this phenomenon. Increased interdependence among different countries accelerates cultural change, especially in multicultural societies with recognized linguistic and cultural diversity. His research emphasized an essential aspect that through language shift, language loss and uniformity, the risk of disestablishment of multiculturalism and cultural diversity is growing.

Papers presented at the conference addressed three main themes – Intercultural education; European community, globalization; Military community, general approaches.
In the panel Intercultural Education were addressed issues related to the need to strengthen national identities and the security of communities, the need to develop national programs in accordance with the new trends, representations and needs in the education field within multicultural societies, new specializations and student-centered education systems, changes induced by digital technology in education systems, the relationship between education and labor market requirements, psychological risks arising from emphasized interculturalism and from the link between the behavior and the cultural context, ethnocentrism, ethnic groups, the importance of borders, transnational families and cultural negotiation.

One panel of the conference was devoted to European Community and Globalization. It included issues as linguistic diversity, the importance of national languages, languages prevalence accordingly to the cultural and political power of nations, EU policies, globalization, international exchanges between students, intercultural adaptation, intercultural attitudes, European identity, European public sphere, national identity, individuality, integration, global society, international education, intercultural communication, patriotism, nationalism, ethnic communities, sustainability, green communities, the immigration phenomenon.

Another important theme was Military community. General approaches. Research approached issues as intercultural military groups, peace keeping missions of the United Nations, multinational armed forces in cross-cultural challenges, leadership in multinational operations, conflicts, cultural differences, crisis and the way they are reflected in the online environment, global audience, interdisciplinarity, acculturation, intercultural education, discrimination, volunteering, personal development, cyber-culture, digital literature, nanotechnology, military ethics, war scenarios.
The participants attending RCIC’11 were professors, researchers, PhD students, Master’s students both from Romania and abroad. In addition to the plenary session, panels including research in the area of intercultural education, European community, globalization and military community, the conference also included the promotion of Romanian culture and customs such as exhibitions of Romanian products, presentations of traditional dances or visits of the Bran Castle, of the Peasants Fortress, Râşnov, all making from RCIC’11 a memorable event.