Certificate in Intercultural Conflict Transformation

The certificate in Intercultural Conflict Transformation is offered through a partnership between Lewis & Clark College and the Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI), an internationally recognized leader in the field of Intercultural Communication. The program is designed to prepare participants to handle conflict more effectively in a variety of intercultural contexts

As our communities become more diverse, sometimes it seems that intercultural dialogue is declining and intercultural conflict is thriving. In multicultural workplaces, meeting may go off-track or coaching sessions may become awkward. In community affairs, recriminations may replace collaboration. In educational settings classroom interaction may present unique teaching and learning issues. In every setting, these professional challenges in managing conflict are complicated by the filters of culture. Whether those cultural differences are due to class, race, gender, ethnicity, or age, it is becoming increasingly evident that the ways we resolve conflict differ greatly across cultures. Further, whatever spark the conflict, the methods we uses for resolving it frequently increase the tension.

This certificate program addresses the challenges of intercultural conflict by examining:

• How culture influences the nature and sources of conflict
• How intercultural communication styles may intensify conflict situations
• Which approaches to conflict are effective across cultures
• How to not only resolve the conflict, but also transform the relationship
• Why intercultural competence and cultural fluency are essential skills