ICILLP 2023

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The International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities (ICGPSH 2023) was a hybrid conference which included several workshops (offline and online) around the world. Prof. David T. Mitchell from George Washington University, Dr. Nafhesa Ali from Northumbria University, Dr. Aquasia Shaw from the University of Texas at Austin, and Prof. Cristinel Munteanu from Danubius University of Galaţi have chaired these workshops on related topics. ICGPSH 2023 provided the participants with good opportunities to exchange ideas and build networks, and it will lead to further collaborations between both universities and other societies.

Workshop:

George Washington University, USA

Organizer: Prof. David T. Mitchell, Professor in George Washington University

The workshop focusd on "The Return of Lono", the historical novel will be used to solidify the earliest stirrings of the Hawaiian Renaissance. The Hawaiian Renaissance has traditionally been portrayed as beginning in the early 1970s as a movement to 1) preserve the Hawaiian language prohibited from being spoken or taught in public education for nearly 100 years; 2) making the unique history of Hawaii both pre- and post-colonialism resurface; and 3) reviving the arts such as the hula. This lecture/discussion will focus on the first historical novel of the period (“The Return of Lono” (1956) by second generation Hawaiian writer O.A. Bushnell. Despite the fact that James Michener claimed his best-selling monolith of the historical novel was not published until 1959 (the year Hawaii was awarded statehood) was the only example of written art on the islands, writers such as Bushnell, Kazuo Miyamoto, and Marjorie Sinclair had published novels about Hawaii and its unique history and culture for at least a decade before Michener's fiction history.

Northumbria University, UK

Organizer: Dr. Nafhesa Ali, Lecturer in Northumbria University

The ICGPSH workshop was held in June 2023 at Northumbria University where we explored the ways in which intersectionality and antiracist politics become visible or exacerbated for women exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects. The workshop therefore aimed to provide a space to critically conceptualise our shared research interests around issues of social inequalities, power, social justice, where the work of the cluster further aims to provide a voice to seldom heard groups. The workshop was an interdisciplinary collaboration and guests were invited to talk about their experiences around intersectionality, different ways in which power and inequality is experiences, but also the ways in which power, intersectionality and inequality is constructed across global perspectives, experiences, and knowledge in active roundtable discussions. Forty guests and participants attended on the day, including internal and external Higher Education (HE) staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students from various HE institutions including Northumbria, The University of Newcastle and Nottingham University, local race organisations as well as members of the public who joined us on the day.

The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Organizer: Dr. Aquasia Shaw, Assistant Professor in the University of Texas at Austin

In this workshop, attendees examined the concept of intersectionality as it applies to building inclusive social groups and movements. Intersectionality refers to how our multiple identities change how we experience the world, and what that means as we work to build inclusive schools, organizations, workplaces, and communities. During this time, we specifically challenged attendees to think about what true equality means. We had them identify and reflect on the various ways they identify socially, how those identities became visible or more keenly felt at different times, and how those identities impacted the ways others perceived or treated them. One speaker asked those in attendance complete a worksheet where they fill in various social identities (such as race, gender, sex, ability disability, sexual orientation, etc.) and further categorize those identities based on which matter most in their self-perception and which matter most in others’ perception of them. Afterwards, we did a team building activity where they were divided into groups and charged with creating an activity where everyone, regardless of their identity or ability, would be encouraged to participate and can be successful. In the end, all visitors were able to leave with a better understanding of intersectionality and able to apply inclusive practices in their respective organizations.

Danubius University of Galaţi, Romania

Organizer: Prof. Cristinel Munteanu, Professor in Danubius University of Galaţi

The workshop Intercultural Communication and the Risk of Aberrant Decoding, which took place on October 9th, 2023 at "Danubius" University of Galați, aimed at re-evaluating the concept of 'aberrant decoding' (initially theorized by U. Eco), while trying to re-establish its primary meaning, and better defining this concept, with an emphasis on the importance of 'context' in the case when such a type of decoding occurs. The participants, guided by Professor Cristinel Munteanu, PhD, vividly discussed some interesting aspects in connection to the reality of intercultural communication, taking as a point of departure a series of examples given by Prof. Cr. Munteanu, either from history (real examples), or from literature (imaginary examples). Although the notion of 'aberrant decoding' has proven itself really useful in intercultural communication, however, the participants also found out that (due to J. Fiske, mainly) the concept in question is still applied in a reductionist manner, the linguistic or verbal component being neglected (or even ignored) in this case. Nevertheless, as it was pointed out during the workshop, this was not Umberto Eco's intention. At the same time, the participants tried to prove (and succeeded in proving) the fact that linguistic aberrant decoding also appears in the case of terminologies and ideologies when they are expressed in a discourse.

Online Session:

The online session of the International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities (ICGPSH 2023) was held on October 13, 2023. Prof. David T. Mitchell from George Washington University, Prof. Enrique Mallen from Sam Houston State University, Dr. Oksana Afitska from Lancaster University, Dr. Nafhesa Ali from Northumbria University, Prof. Cristinel Munteanu from Danubius University of Galati, Dr. Aquasia Shaw from the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Javier Cifuentes-Faura from University of Murcia, and Dr. Abdullah Laghari from Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology have given keynote speeches on related topics. Also, we invited authors of qualified papers to deliver oral presentations at the Online Session. Fourteen authors have presented their studies of international law, politics, humanities, etc. Questions from the audience were collected and answered by the presenters.

Highlights

Title:Educational Research, Development and Publishing

Presented by:Abdullah Laghari, PhD, Lecturer, Department of English, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology

Title:On the Social Nature of Intercultural Communication

Presented by:Cristinel Munteanu, PhD, Professor, Faculty of Communication and International Relations, Danubius University of Galati

Title:Indigenous Resistance Literatures: Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony (1977)

Presented by:David T. Mitchell, PhD, Professor, Department of English, George Washington University

Title:Pablo Picasso: Art at the Peripher

Presented by: Enrique Mallen, PhD, Professor, Department of World Languages and Cultures, Sam Houston State University

Title:Convergence in Public Debt in the Mexican States: Policy Recommendations to Ensure a Sustainable Debt Path in Mexico

Presented by:Javier Cifuentes-Faura, PhD, Researcher, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of Murcia

Title:Intersectionality, Identity and Social Inequality

Presented by:Nafhesa Ali, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University

Title:Intersectionality, Microaggressions, and Microaffirmations

Presented by:Aquasia Shaw, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin

Highlights

You can find the Youtube Playlist of online session Here.

Important Info