absolutely intercultural!

Dynamics of Religion +++ Passion +++ Guidance +++ Religious Freedom +++ Absolutely Intercultural 301

Hello dear listeners. Before introducing the main topic, today’s episode is not hosted by Laurent Borgmann. This is an experimental episode, made only by students from Hochschule Koblenz Germany, and we hope that this experimental episode will be as enjoyable as the others. Without further ado, let’s start!

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 301 of our podcasts “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about a topic that many of you might have strong feelings about, which is “Dynamics of Religion”. It is a topic that produces diverse perspectives, depending on cultural background and lifestyle choices all around the world. When we first brainstormed the subject, we were afraid of touching a very sensitive subject like religion. We realized how everyone in our team had diverse beliefs, coming from different cultures with respective approaches, but we still feel the same way towards the concept of belief, whether that might be related to a religious devotion or a strong passion. As always, our goal in this episode is not to support one perspective over another but to offer a platform for a range of voices to share their stories and perceptions. This is the Absolutely Intercultural Podcast – and we seriously appreciate cultural diversity and different views on the same subject and absolutely everyone is welcome to think absolutely everything about this topic! By listening to this episode, we hope to encourage a deeper understanding and promote a more thoughtful and respectful dialogue on this topic.

Through these conversations, we want to show you different perspectives shaped by beliefs, values and experiences. By listening to this episode, we hope to encourage a deeper understanding and promote a more thoughtful and respectful dialogue on this topic.

absolutely suppressed

In our first story, we will listen to Nicole, a nurse from Germany. Nicole talks about how she helped patients to move on and recover, and she saw that people with a goal in mind were recovering much faster.

absolutely passionate

In our second story,  we will listen to Serief, a practicing Muslim, who tells us about how much effect religion has on his life, even changing what he is willing to eat.

absolutely motivating

In our last story, we will listen to Matilda from Albania, who experienced her country as it went through a dictatorship and became an anti-religious nation. In her story, she tells us that people continued to practice their beliefs, even when they had to hide it.

What about you? Do you or someone you know have a strong passion about religion or something else, like a concept or a hobby? Do you feel there’s no need for humans to believe in something, or do you think there is something to say about beliefs that we did not touch here in this episode? Get in touch, feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

Write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes, and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment. 

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 3 January.

Until then –find out what would you do if you were sexually harassed at the university or in your business –and above all, BleibenSie absolutinterkulturell!

The team behind this episode are: Michele Varvara, Xavier Sutton, Iryna Krupa, and Abdual Serief Mehboob Bacha

IncluKIT+++ Opole +++ diversophy +++ SIETAR +++ Absolutely Intercultural 300

Welcome to show 300 of Absolutely Intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark. In this show I find out more about a very interesting EU-supported collaboration between a group of universities, intercultural practitioners recruited from SIETAR, the Society for Intercultural Education and Research and the culture game diversophy, as they developed a conversation game aimed at helping both sides understand more about each other in various common intercultural situations. The tool is called IncluKIT as it is aimed at fostering inclusion and in this case the focus was on migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. You play the game in small groups of 4 to 6 people who discuss the issues they are presented with. The strategy of IncluKIT is to start with finding out what the groups think of a particular situation in general and then the job of the facilitator is to gradually feed more and more specific information about the situation with the group talking about how they react to the developing story which is built on an incident which happened to a real life asylum centre employee.

absolutely inclusive
When I sat down to talk to Michal, David and Catherine, I asked them to take me through one of their conversation cases, called Eva’s Day about a worker in a reception centre for asylum seekers. Let’s hear more about how this scenario was built and how the conversation around it is guided as we go absolutely inclusive, firstly with Michal and then David and Catherine.

Thank you to Catherine, Michal and David for taking the time to explain the in depth process they went through to come up with these IncluKit conversation exercises. The first version of the kit is now available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and you can download the facilitator guide and three case studies to try out for yourself by going to the project website hosted by the University of Opole .

Do you see a role for this type of exercise in your context? Looking at the three scenarios already built up, can you think of additional ones that you would like to build? Do you see yourself as a facilitator for this type of exercise? Have you tried it? Let us know in the comments, and if you want to share how it went in a future show then do get in touch.

So yes, that was the 300^th show, since we started way back in 2006 and you can browse through them all on this website. Thank for still listening and if you have a story to tell then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you from Laurent Borgmann in Germany on 6th December.

Until then, stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Sexual Harassment +++ Consent Culture +++ Prevention +++ Accusation +++ Absolutely Intercultural 299

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 299 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk aboutcultural aspects of “Sexual Harassment”, which,is a subject that touches on deeply personal beliefs, cultural values, and societal norms. It’s a topic that holds strong feelings and diverse perspectives, depending onpersonal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and even different legal frameworks around the world. When we brainstormed the subject we found that even within our team we got a glimpse of very different views from Australia, Albania, Turkey, Portugal and Germany. As always, our goal today is not to support one perspective over another, but to offer a platform for a range of voices to share their stories and perceptions.This is the Absolutely Intercultural Podcast –and we really appreciate cultural diversity and different views on the same subject and absolutely everyone is welcome to think absolutely everything about this topic!

Through these conversations, we want to show you different perspectives shaped by beliefs, valuesandexperiences. By listening to this episode, we hope to encourage a deeper understanding and promote a more thoughtful and respectful dialogue on this topic.

absolutely consentual

In our first story, we will listen to Jonas from Germany. Jonas talks about a friend who was in a relationshipin which he desired more intimacy than his girlfriend. Can sex between people in a romantic relationship be called “rape”?

absolutely unacceptable

In our second story,  we will listen to Ana, who is an exchange student from Albania. Ana tells us that the topic of sexual harassment should not even be called controversial because no matter in which case the assault happens if there wasa “no”from one of the partners -then there is nothing to discuss.

absolutely accused

In our last story, we will listen to Xavier. He is from Australia and tells us a personal story in which he has been in an uncomfortable situation, because a girl touched him in an inappropriate way. The girl categorised this interaction as “normal”, whereas Xavier concludes if the same thing were to happen the other way around, and that he, as a male touches the girl in the same place, then this would have been called an “assault”.

What about you? Have you or someone you know ever faced sexual harassment? Get in touch, feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment. 

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 1 November.

Until then –find out what would you do if you were sexually harassed at the university or in your business –and above all, BleibenSie absolutinterkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Sebastian Berg

Assistant Editors: Oljana Haskja, Stella Fischer and Xavier Sutton

Sustainable mindset +++ Sys Mind +++ spirituality +++ Absolutely Intercultural 298 +++

Sample from Sus Mind Expert certification

I think we all know by now that we have to live more sustainably to avoid the worst effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. We probably know of several changes that we ought to be making, laws that should be passed and businesses that ought to behave better. If we know all this then why does it not happen? Because knowledge is not enough, we have to pay attention also to values, beliefs and attitudes.

Welcome to Absolutely Intercultural, show number 298, the podcast about all things intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark. In this show I am going to be examining a European project, called SysMind which aimed to focus on the building of sustainable values. The SysMind project, based in Austria and with partners in Latvia, Turkey, Spain, Ukraine and North Macedonia, aimed to help teachers embrace diversity and explore the spiritual side of sustainability. One major outcome of their work was a free online course which you could join.

What could happen after you have done this course? Hear what Liidia, a teacher in a Ukranian forestry college, has to say.

But how do you grade students on their sustainability mindset? Our last segment will present one option which was developed by the high school students themselves: Let’s hear from their teacher, Piotr.

absolutely cooperative
So let’s go absolutely cooperativec by hearing why one of the partners, Ernestine, running a sustainable rural development organisation in southern Spain joined the SysMind project.

I must say that as I listened to Ernestine talk about her organisation, Fundacion Monte Mediterraneo, and had a look around their website I had a strong urge to visit myself in their holiday accommodation.

absolutely transformative
The SysMind project ran a blended course for teachers on how to promote a sustainable mindset in their students with an emphasis on values and spirituality partly through inclusion and embracing diversity. One of the course participants was Liidia who is a teacher at a forestry college in Ukraine. Let’s hear how this course was absolutely transformative.

And you could also start this journey from being uncertain what sustainability means to becoming your organisation’s go-to person on the topic, by taking the free online course that the SysMind project developed and which you can do in your own time.

absolutely mindful
How essential is the mindset to achieving sustainability? Ernestine in Spain had a radical opinion about this which I must say I could entirely sympathise with. Let’s see if you agree as we go absolutely mindful.

absolutely certificated
If we agree about the importance of a sustainable mindset, then how do we teachers know if our students have achieved that? In the SysMind project they used a method called Sus Mind Expert which was developed by the Pilgrim School network. In order to convince your teacher of your sustainable mindset you have 14 topic areas to choose from, that loosely reflect the 17 UN sustainable development goals, and for each of these topic areas, there is a video you can watch, a prompt activity that helps you consider the spiritual aspect of the topic area and then about ten mini projects from which you choose five, to display your sustainable mindset. These could include picking up litter, an art project, a zero waste week and so on. Show your teacher evidence that you have completed these mini projects and you can collect your Sus Mind Expert certificate. But how did this start? Let’s go absolutely certificated as we talk to Piotr, a religion teacher in a Pilgrim school who was witness to this.

Although it is a certificate, it is the experience of working up to the award of the certificate that is key here. You can see the whole document by following the link on our website. As a teacher, I can see that this could easily be tweaked to meet many learning contexts.

So what do you think? Should we stop climate change research and focus on implementation? Could Liidia’s transformative experience also happen to you? And what do you think about getting a certificate for your sustainable mindset? Thank you to the members of the Sys Mind project who shared their experiences with us for this show.

Write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page you can get more information about this show and previous episodes, and leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

By the way, did you know we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.
Our next show will be coming to you from Laurent Borgmann in Germany on 4th October.

Until then, stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Legal Cannabis: Triumph or Tragedy? +++ Decriminalisation +++ Intoxication +++ Passive Smoking +++ Absolutely Intercultural 297

Hello dear listeners, and welcome to episode 297 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural.” Today, let’s dive into another cultural topic that many of you might have strong feelings about: the legalization of cannabis. Germany has partly decriminalised marijuana use as of 1 April 2024. So, have we experienced a cultural change as a result? Does legalisation mean that in the evenings, we Germans now smoke weed on our sofas in front of television instead of drinking our traditional beer? I’m afraid personally I’m a little old-school and still stick to my red wine, but then some of my friends claim that alcohol is worse than weed, so perhaps I should join one of the new Cannabis clubs?

Using drugs touches on cultural values and societal norms, but also on personal beliefs shaped by our own experiences. Our aim today is clearly not to endorse one viewpoint over another but to create a space where different people can share their diverse experiences and personal opinions.

absolutely economic

In our first story, we will listen to Nika. Currently, Nika is an international lecturer from Georgia at RheinAhrCampus, and he speculates on how the future legalisation of weed could impact the economic development of his home country.

absolutely intoxicated

In our second story, we will listen to Ani, who is an international exchange student. Ani does not give us a clear yes or no for legalization but she shares with us what happened to her and her teenage friends in Georgia where cannabis is not legalized.

absolutely disrespectful

In our last story, we will listen to Sebastian, a German Student at RheinAhrCampus. Sebastian will be sharing with us one of his biggest concerns regarding the legalization of cannabis, especially the connection with smoking and passive smoking. Have cannabis smokers ever heard about the human right to clean air? Well, we found one of the best advocates for keeping the air we breathe clean.

What about you? Do you see the legalisation of cannabis like a triumph or a tragedy? Have you or someone you know ever smoked weed and faced unexpected consequences? Or do you use it reasonably like others consume alcohol? Get in touch, feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 6^th September.

Until then – find out what you think are the pros and the cons of legalizing weed und

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Sebastian Berg

Assistant Editors: Oljana Haskja, Fikret Küey , Diogo Vital Maia and Xavier Sutton

Intentional travel +++ Beyond the shores +++ Tamara Walker +++ absolutely intercultural 296 +++

How do you travel? Intentionally? In today’s show we are going to once again be hearing about how the need to belong can lead to people migrating to another country. In this case it will be about African Americans who had very strong reasons for feeling that only by moving to another country could they become their true selves.

That of course, was because of racial segregation in the US that was implemented after the abolition of slavery, and that is still felt today, for example as an effect from land zoning.

Welcome to Absolutely Intercultural show number 296. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from me in Denmark and from Germany, where Oljana helped plan and carry out the interview.

One of the main themes in this show is about intentional travel:

Our guest today is Dr Tamara J Walker, a professor of history at Colombia University, who recently wrote a book about this movement of African Americans out of the US. The book is Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad and it’s a great read, full of information you probably didn’t know such as the story of the agricultural graduates who went to Uzbekistan in the Soviet Union where their skills were much better appreciated than back home in the US.

In this show, we’ll be hearing more about the book and how Tamara’s early opportunities to travel led her to write it, combining history with her own family story. We’ll also hear how her The Wandering Scholar scheme helps high schoolers explore opportunities inspired by Tamara’s transformative early travel experiences.

So let’s start the show by finding out more about Tamara’s book, Beyond the Shores. The book intertwines Tamara’s own history which explains how she came to be a historian at Columbia University and we hear later what she is doing to open up opportunities for others with her background.

The book begins in the theatres of Paris in the 1920s to talk not so much of Josephine Baker, who is a well-known name, but of Florence Mills whose story did not end so well. Let’s go absolutely historical with Oljana.

absolutely historical
Both Oljana and I had the chance to read the book and found it really interesting. I was intrigued about the last chapter which made the point about travelling absolutely intentionally.

absolutely intentionally
If you are travelling right now, maybe you could think about how to find out more about the new place you are in and how it got to be how it is now? For example in Pairs with Black Paris Tours.

absolutely transformative
As a way of giving young Americans the opportunities that she had, Tamara and a colleague have set up an initiative called Wandering Scholar. Let’s go absolutely transformative!

What about you? Do you travel intentionally? Could you imagine how your next trip would change to become more intentional? Have you already had a transformative travel experience? Maybe we could tell your story in a future show?

And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook .

Catch us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

The next show will be coming to you from Germany with Laurent Borgmann on the 2nd of August.

Until then – stay tuned!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Interviewer Oljana Haskja

Abortion +++ Freedom of Choice +++ Ethical Dilemma +++ Absolutely Intercultural 295 +++

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 295 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we are going to talk about “Abortion”, which is a subject that touches deeply personal beliefs, cultural values, and societal norms. It is a topic that produces strong feelings and controversies, informed by very diverse factors from personal experiences to religious beliefs, legal aspects, and more. Our goal today is definitely not to favour one perspective over another, but to offer a platform for a range of very different voices to share diverse thoughts and perceptions.

absolutely my choice

In our first interview, a Moroccan student will share her friend’s story who faced severe challenges after marrying and becoming pregnant. Her friend’s husband was an alcoholic, and his addiction created a very unstable and toxic environment, affecting her friend both, emotionally and physically. Diogo asked her how abortion is generally perceived in her home country, Morocco.

absolutely personal

In our second category, Ada supports pro-choice policies and thinks that women should have control over their bodies. However, personally, she would never have an abortion. Oljana asked her to explain to us the context of her home country Albania, where abortion has been legal since the dictatorship ended in 1990.

absolutely pro-life

In our last story, we will listen to Edmond who is generally against abortion, believing it should only be considered when the woman’s life is in danger. This belief is rooted in his personal values and his own experiences. He will share a personal story from his own life where his pregnant wife was in serious danger.

What about you? What are your personal beliefs or values and how do cultural, religious, or societal influences shape the way you perceive abortion? Have you or someone you know ever faced a decision like that? We would actually love to hear from people who completely reject the whole idea of abortion but could not find anyone in our bubble! Get in touch, feel free to share your unique story with us here on this podcast.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 5th July.

Until then – try to imagine how you would decide in the situations which were described by our guests today. And –

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Sebastian Berg

Assistant Editors: Oljana Haskja, Fikret Küey and Diogo Vital Maia

Belonging +++ work-life balance +++ Denmark +++ Hungary +++ absolutely intercultural 294 +++

In the last show we heard about different types of freedom and in this show, 294, we will continue this theme and find out how lack of freedom can drive someone to leave their country.

Also, in this show we’ll be looking beyond the Erasmus semester abroad, at what can happen when you aim to relocate to a new country permanently. Your head or your heart? Which will win?

We’ll end with a very important problem which Danish leaders often overlook. But is it just Danish leaders?

My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark, which is where today’s guest, Dora, decided to relocate to from Hungary. Dora is a coach and therapist and has noticed that, while the headline advantages of coming to Denmark to live are fairly well known globally, there is a downside, that Dora calls “killing me softly”.

But is this show all doom and gloom? No! We will finish with a very simple piece of advice that Dora has for Danish leaders, but which I think is very good advice for everyone.

Today I am talking with Dora Hegedus who runs a coaching company, called Your Thinking Partner, in Denmark. Dora will tell us why she felt that she and her family should leave Hungary, even though she was already in her fifties when they decided to make the move.

absolutely killing me softly
But first we’ll find out why the famed work-life balance of working in Denmark is not enough and how Danish leaders are losing their new international employees through careless inattention to one critical factor. What Dora might call, absolutely killing me softly.

absolutely ready to leave
So a sense of belonging is critical to being able to take full advantage of the freedoms of Denmark and in our next segment we will hear how it was this sense of belonging that Dora felt slipping away in her native Hungary. Hear how Dora felt increasingly alienated as we go absolutely ready to leave.

absolutely helpful
Now we don’t want to leave you with the feeling that Denmark is a hopeless case for internationals. It is clearly working for Dora. So here is one last piece of advice that Dora has for Danish leaders on how to retain their foreign staff. Let’s go absolutely helpful.

So that’s it! Ask your foreign colleagues if they need help. Advice which I am sure would bear fruit everywhere, not just Denmark. What do you think? What’s the best way of helping people feel they belong in your country?

Share your story with us via comment or email, and you could feature in one of our upcoming shows. For more information and previous episodes, explore our website.

And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

By the way, did you know we are also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

The next show will be coming to you from Germany with Laurent Borgmann on the 7^th of June.

Until then – stay tuned to your international colleagues!

The host of this show is: Anne Fox

Paradox of Freedom +++ Freedom vs. Safety +++ Artistic Freedom +++ Absolutely Intercultural 293 +++

Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to episode 293 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today, we’re exploring the “Culture of Freedom.” We’re asking a big question: Is there such a thing as too much freedom in some cultures? We’ll look at how freedom affects our own cultures but also how our own cultures have an influence on the freedom we are granted. We will focus on aspects of safety, creativity and even romantic relationships. This is the Absolutely Intercultural Podcast –my name is Laurent Borgmann, and I’m here to guide you through this journey around different aspects of freedom.

Is true freedom about choosing whatever we want, or is it simply about creating a good life within agreed limits? What is the role of freedom during a war, an outbreak of repeated terrorism in a country or a world-wide pandemic? Will total freedom really spark our creativity, or is it the boundaries and limitations that actually fuel our most innovative ideas? Is choosing your own life partners the ultimate freedom, or do arranged marriages offer a kind of family safety net, deeply valued in many cultures?

absolutely safe

In our first story, we will listen to Xavier from Australia. He shares with us how he thought a lot about the paradox of Freedom vs. Safety during the Corona Crisis down-under where the freedom of movement was much more rigorously restricted than in most parts of Europe. When faced with extreme challenges, Xavier noticed in himself that he actually preferred lockdowns over predicted anarchy, no matter how strict and unprecedented the new Corona regulations were

absolutely independent

In our second story, we will listen to Raghavan from India. He talks about his niece in the United Kingdom who, like many young Indians abroad, is now enjoying an unexpected window of freedom to build a career and find a life partner by herself. These young expats often have the opportunity to choose someone they love, a freedom they would perhaps not have in their own country. However,if they can’t find someone quickly, their parents will jump in and help by arranging their marriage, even from a distance of 8.000 kms.

absolutely creative

In our last story, we will listen to Figo from Turkey who does not feel free to express his artistic freedom. He feels that social biases and narrow-mindedness discourage him from sharing his music, particularly on social media.

What are your thoughts on freedom? Do you think we have all gone too far with personal freedom? Or do you think more freedom would make your country a better place? We’re eager to hear your perspective.

Share your story with us via comment or email, and you can feature in one of our upcoming shows. For more information and previous episodes, visit our website at absolutely-intercultural.com. If you enjoyed the show, please give us a thumbs-up on Facebook.

And did you know we’re also on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify? You can subscribe for free, leave a rating, and drop a comment there.

Our next show, hosted by Anne Fox in Denmark, will be out on 3rd May.

Until then – find out whether there can be TOO much freedom in a culture! and

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Dr. Laurent Borgmann

Chief Editor: Natalia Obikhod

Assistant Editors: Sebastian Berg