The Department of Modern Languages and the Office of International Education presented an interactive workshop for Grove City College students on Communication and Leadership for the Globally-Minded.
The March 7 workshop featured Frank Insignares, professor of Intercultural Communication at ONIRIS in Nantes, France, as well as Global Affairs field manager between Grove City College and its French sister school.
His lecture focused on the concept of “CQ”, or Cultural Intelligence, which is the capability to function effectively across various cultural contexts. Seventy percent of international ventures fail because of differences between cultures, which Insignares said shows the ever-increasing importance of cultural intelligence in global business.
After reviewing the skills and components needed to form cultural intelligence, workshop participants were split into two groups and given one of five different role cards to act out in the context of a business meeting.
Each of the role cards described a different cultural approach which the student had to apply to the task at hand. In the process, students were able to put themselves into another person’s shoes while simultaneously working with others in a scenario contrary to their own cultural experience. After the workshop, students came together and discussed what they had learned from the exercise and how it may help them in the future.
The knowledge Insignares shared is applicable across academic, personal or work-related situations and will help students in their lifelong study of cultural intelligence.