News

Recap:
20 colleagues from different administrative areas took this workshop as an opportunity to reflect upon how cultural differences affect their daily work and life. The experience-based learning methods like "Visiting the Albatross" and "Culturrallye", but also the exchange of insights and experiences with students from Rumania, Chile and Saudi-Arabia provided plenty of opportunity to practice the changing of perspective, a skill that is key to successfull intercultural communication.  

Recap:
Intercultural trainer Anna Choi and Sungeun Park, Visual Communication Student of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar provided authentic insights into the teaching and learning cultures of South Korea.

Recap:
[Translate to English:] Dieser Workshop im Rahmen der admINT Staff Week 2018 bot eine großartige Gelegenheit zur interkulturellen Fortbildung vor Ort in Weimar. Administrative Mitarbeiterinnen aus 16 verschiedenen Ländern kreierten einen gemeinsamen Erfahrungsraum für interkulturelle Kommunikation und Selbstreflexion, der lebhaft und humorvoll, aber auch sehr tiefgründig war. Die Beobachtung der eigenen Wahrnehmungsmuster und Handlungsstrategien hinterließ tiefe Eindrücke und regte zum weiteren Nachdenken an. Auch wenn die Seminarsprache Englisch für einige Teilnehmerinnen herausfordernd war, entspann sich ein reger und hilfreicher Austausch unter Kolleginnen und Kollegen um die verschiedenen Herausforderungen im Arbeitsalltag an einer internationalen Universität.  

Recap:
The first admINT staff week took place on 19.-23.11.2018. Bauhaus-Universität Weimar welcomed 20 colleagues from 15 countries who work in many different administrative areas of the university. In this session our guest gave short presentations on how internationalisation affects their daily work. In working groups we then deepened the discussion around the three main challenges that had come up:  1. Language, 2. Communicating regulations and 3. Getting People involved.

The great diversity of experiences, working expertise, institutional and cultural backgrounds represented by the participants in the room allowed for a deeper understanding of the university as a system, the roles and interdependencies of different administrative areas and the responsability of every individual, to co-create the university's internationalisation process. 

Recap:

Ideas and impulses come quickly - but what about the new in the world?

The workshop was part of the working meeting of the admint project team and was open to interested people from all areas of the university. Workshop leader Claudia Heinrich introduces different tools to work with in the future. The basis for this was Otto Scharmer's 'Presencing' approach, which is to discover one's own person as a central tool of change and to open up a space for change with the quality of one's own attention and presence.

Recap:

How can intercultural communication succeed if the existing foreign language skills are rather limited? What methods and tools exist to explain my concerns to my counterpart, who speaks very little or no English? What and how do I communicate, even if I do not speak and what are the cultural differences?
15 employees from the administrative departments of the Bauhaus University Weimar dealt with these questions. Trainer Julia Brade brought exciting exercises such as the Chinese game Tangram with her to encourage participants to think about their own communication behavior. In other exercises, she showed how well a mutual understanding is possible even without a common language. A special enrichment was the collegial exchange on dealing with communication barriers in everyday life.

The workshop was led by Julia Brade. She is an intercultural trainer and coach at the 'Service Center for Intercultural Competence Development' in the Thuringian state network 'Integration through Qualification (IQ) as well as a project assistant in the field of International Affairs at 'Studierendenwerk Thüringen'.

Recap:

What further education opportunities exist abroad for employees of the science-supporting sector and what experiences have colleagues already made? This was the topic of the admINT information event to which Project Co-ordinator Susanne Wille had invited on 18th January.
Despite the weather warning, more than 30 employees informed themselves about foreign language courses, employee training and visits to partner universities. And while outside the trees were shaken by violent gusts of wind, the participants of the event traveled mentally through Europe.
Christina Dobritz, a member of the Faculty of Arts and Design, gave a very authentic and vivid account of the challenges and successes she had during her language course in Galway, Ireland. Her faculty colleague Jonas Tegtmeyer, head of the photography workshop, was very positive about his participation in the Employee Week of the E.Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland, and invited the audience to take this opportunity to change their careers. Of particular interest were visits to two university libraries in England, reported by Stephanie Röhl, department head of the University library.
The conclusive proof that the formal and organizational effort is manageable, that the DIB offers counseling and support, and that a huge increase in skills and self-esteem is usually rewarded for overcoming fears and fears, seemed to be an added bonus to the audiences' motivation. The fact that the event was successful is also reflected in the significant increase in mobility applications that have been received by the International Office.

Recap: 

[Translate to English:] 

„Frieden kommt durch Verständigung,
nicht durch Vereinbarung.“ Arabische Weisheit

Der Begriff "Arabische Welt" umfasst die Länder in Nordafrika sowie in Vorderasien auf der arabischen Halbinsel. Sie verbindet die Dominanz der arabischen Sprache, der Einfluss des Islams und als politisches Kriterium die Mitgliedschaft in der Arabischen Liga. Eine steigende Zahl Studierender und Doktoranden kommt jedes Jahr aus diesen Ländern an die Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Wir nahmen dies zum Anlass, uns diesen Kulturraum aus dem Blickwinkel eines Islamwissenschaftlers sowie durch die persönliche Geschichte von Studierenden zu nähern.

Otmane Lihiya brachte dem aufmerksam lauschenden Publikum die arabische Sprache in Klang und Bild nahe und schlug dann einen Bogen zu den kulturellen Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden im arabischen Raum. Mouloud Allek stellte sein Heimatland Algerien vor und hob insbesondere die enormen kulturellen Unterschiede zwischen den ländlichen Regionen und der Hauptstadt hervor. Mohammad Aljomaa gab mit Bildern und Geschichten einen sehr bewegenden und persönlichen Einblick in sein Heimatland Syrien.

Als Kooperationspartner konnten wir erneut das Studierendenwerk Thüringen gewinnen. Am Veranstaltungstag näherte sich die Mensa am Park kulinarisch der Arabischen Welt und bot ein arabisches Gericht an.

You have been taking English courses but when it comes to real situations you are struggling for words? You would like to practice your English without pressure or fear of making mistakes?  

Starting Thursday, 27.10.2016, we will meet every Thursday between 12 a.m and 1 p.m. for an "English Brown Bag Lunch", an informal gathering amoung colleagues to practice English over lunch. Please feel welcome to join and contact Susanne Kirchmeyer to subscribe to our Whatsapp-Group, where we will post our weekly meeting Points.

[Translate to English:] Der erste Workshop "Interkulturelle Kommunikation" im Rahmen des Projektes "admINT - Internationalisierung der Administration" fand am 9.11.2016 statt.

Ziel dieser Fortbildungreihe ist es, interkulturelle Lernprozesse anzustoßen und Kompetenzen zu fördern, die eine Stärkung der MitarbeiterInnen im Umgang mit neuen Herausforderungen und Überlastungssituationen im interkulturellen Kontext bewirken. Das Format richtet sich an alle Führungskräfte sowie Mitarbeiter/innen aus dem administrativen und technischen Bereich des Gewährleistungsbereiches und der Fakultäten der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Das Workshopdesign wurde speziell für die Zielgruppe entworfen und im März 2016 erfolgreich mit den Mitarbeiterinnen des admINT Projektteams, der HfM und des Studierendenwerk Thüringen getestet.

Rückblick: