Today, I spoke with Arjan Verdooren, an intercultural communication consultant and lecturer. He is also the co-author, together with Dr Edwin Hoffman, of the book ‘Diversity Competence - Cultures Don’t Meet, People Do’, which is a deep dive into improving our individual and collective intercultural competence. Arjan has authored various other publications on intercultural communication, intercultural competence, cultural diversity, and multiculturalism. We touched on many topics, such as the origins of ‘studying’ culture; cultural relativism, universalism, and pluralism; meaning behind ‘cultures don’t meet, people do’; the TOPOI model; building rapport and how to reduce intercultural miscommunication.
Additional episodes that explore the importance of dialogue and communication are:
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Full show notes:
My guest today is Arjan Verdooren, who has a background in communication studies and works as a consultant and lecturer in the field of intercultural communication and competence. He is associated with the Royal Tropical Institute, a knowledge centre in Amsterdam and until recently lectured at the Master in Communication program at the University of Gothenburg. He is the co-author, together with Dr Edwin Hoffman, of the book ‘Diversity Competence - Cultures Don’t Meet, People Do’, which is a deep dive into improving our individual and collective intercultural competence. Arjan has authored various other publications on intercultural communication, intercultural competence, cultural diversity, and multiculturalism.
Throughout the fifteen years he has spent in the field, he has consulted with various organisations ranging from state departments to multinationals and NGO’s on harnessing more effective international and intercultural cooperation. He is a frequent speaker on these topics and is someone who connects theory with practitioners facing intercultural situations every day in the field.
Some of the topics we covered are:
91. Dr Greta Uehling - Understanding the Donbas: Identity, People, and its role in the Russia-Ukraine War
90. Dr David Kilcullen - Decoding Geopolitics and the emerging Multipolar World
89. Ambassador Robert ‘Bob’ Bowker - Understanding the Middle East: Lessons from Five Decades of Life and Work in the Region
88. Will Storr - The Status Game: Understanding Its Significance, Implications, and Why We Play It
87. Special Release: Robert Hartley - From War Zone to Ketamine: A Veteran’s Journey Through Trauma and Healing
85. Dr Elizabeth Boulton - Tackling the Climate Change Hyperthreat: Plan E, Entangled Security and harnessing a Hyper-response
84. Amos Fox - Beyond the illusion of manoeuvre: Navigating the clash between intentions and reality in modern warfare
83. Dr Alison Broinowski - How Australia goes to war and the prospect of war powers reform
82. Dr Samir Puri - Decoding the echoes of empire: how imperial legacies shape today’s geopolitics
81. Professor Greg Barton - Understanding radicalisation, extremism and terrorism
80. Dr Alex Lim - On veterans’ mental health: the good, the bad and the promising
79. Announcement of a significant change to The Voices Of War
78. Ye-Min Wu - Multilateral negotiations: on the trials and tribulations of building peace
77. Special Release: Natalia Konstantinova - How Russians view the invasion of Ukraine
76. Andrew Quilty - ’August in Kabul’ and the return of the Taliban
75. Dr Pauline Shanks Kaurin - On obedience and the fine line between hero and villain
74. Special Release: Jasmin Mujanovic - On the unfolding constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Part 2
73. Special Release: Jasmin Mujanovic - On the unfolding constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Part 1
72. Special Release: Wolfgang Sporrer - On diplomacy alongside combat operations in Ukraine
71. Dr Alexander Bellamy - R2P, Just War and prospects of World Peace - Part 2
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