SIETAR Intercultural Learning Space Launches in Second Life® July 18

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Barcelona, 16th of July 2009 – An Intercultural Learning Space featuring nineteen cultural quiz games in English and Spanish will open in Second Life on July 17th, 2009. This event is a virtual start to the SIETAR India 3rd Annual Conference in India. The actual congress will take place in Pune, October 31 and November 1 where participants from over countries all over the world will gather to discuss the theme, “Connecting Worlds: Solutions through Intercultural Insights”
Visitors to the SIETAR Intercultural Learning Space, located on Bluepill Island in Second Life, will have the opportunity not only to get acquainted with the congress theme but also to test and train their knowledge of other cultures and learn how they can deal with the challenges of living and working with people different from themselves in ever more diverse and multicultural places. All participants are challenged to win a place at the congress itself.
Is there culture in virtual space? Does the resident of a virtual world need to be culturally savvy? According to the developers of this project, the answer to both questions is a resounding “Yes.” Frank Gaugel, Managing Director of the bluePILL GROUP a specialized consulting and 3-D implementation company that helps businesses understand and harness 3-D virtual worlds. He insists, “Wherever people group and interact, culture starts to build.” According to Dr. George Simons of diversophy.com, a virtual consulting and training network known for its series of cultural learning games, “Our avatars in cyberspace may not look like us in everyday life, but be assured they are the product of our cultural values and imagination.”
In the SIETAR Intercultural Learning Space you will also be surrounded by portraits taken from the "Face of Tomorrow" exhibit by the photographer Mike Mike. They give a powerful artistic impression of how globalization influences human identity. See what the face of a resident of Delhi, Rio, Berlin, London or Beijing could look like in the future! Change happens!
To visit the SIETAR Intercultural Learning Space in Second Life you may download instructions from http://www.diversophy.com/SIETARCenter2ndLifeAcces.... You may also watch a short video tour go to: www.bluepillgroup.com/portfolio.php.

ABOUT SIETAR - The Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research is the world’s largest interdisciplinary network for professionals and students working in the field of intercultural relations. The primary purpose of SIETAR is to encourage the development and application of values, knowledge and skills that promote and reinforce beneficial and long-lasting intercultural relations at the individual, group, organization, and community levels.