Panel Explores Miscommunication Across Cultures

02/25/2014 

A SUNY Cortland panel discussion on communication across cultures will examine how two people can have different understandings of time, historical events and word meanings even when they speak the same language.

“Cross-Cultural Miscommunication: A Panel and Audience Discussion” takes place Wednesday, March 5, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Moffett Center, Room 2125.

It is free and open to the public.

Five of the six panelists are SUNY Cortland students who will detail their firsthand accounts of misunderstandings. The discussion aims to identify the way culture complicates communication at a time when the classroom, workplace and sports arena are increasingly global.

Panelists include:

• Alexandru Balas, the director of the College’s Clark Center for International Education and an assistant professor of international studies.

• Banu Bozkurt, an international student studying business economics from Turkey.

• Chunyu Fu, an international student studying linguistics from China.

• Ludmila Guedes Almeida, an international student studying chemistry from Brazil.

• David Paulino, an international studies major from the Bronx.

• Camila Silva Caldas, an international student studying physics from Brazil.

The first 30 minutes of the talk will be reserved for remarks from the panelists. Audience members will be able to ask questions and share their own stories with the remaining time.

The talk, now in its fifth year, is sponsored by SUNY Cortland’s Clark Center for International Education, Institute for Civic Engagement and International Programs Office.

For more information, contact John Suarez, the College’s service-learning coordinator.