May 31st: Day 2
Programme
Conference Day Opener
Where: Bâtiment 4
Address: 66, rue de Luxembourg L-4149 Esch-sur-Alzette
8:00am to 8:40am
Wellbeing
Tibetan Meditation - Lama Jigme Namgyal, Tibet
Meditation, then, can be a powerful tool to keep both mind and body in a state of healthy equilibrium. In particular, the authentic practice of meditation, based on the ancient wisdom traditions of Asia, trains the mind to not to be disturbed by fleeting emotions or feelings.
---
Chair Yoga - Martine Reicherts
Experience yoga with just a chair and your normal outfit ... or how to practice in your daily life
---
African Polyphonic singing - Modestine Ekete
Singing alone allows you to dive deeply into self-discovery. But when we sing together, the connection is made and we can reach the top of the mountain. African polyphonic singing is above all a spiritual song, of meditation in group par excellence where sounds run through our interior, connect us and create emotional energy.
8:45am to 10:00am
Opening
Welcoming Address by Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Honorary Minister of Culture, ECP Senator
Welcoming Address by Thomas M. Barrett, US Ambassador, Luxembourg
Welcoming Address by Vicki Hansen, President of the Schengen Peace Foundation
Plenary Keynote II
'Beyond the Wish for Immortality': Human Agency in Creating the World of our Ideals
Dr. Harvey Charles, Vice Provost for International Programs, University of Minnesota, USA
The quest for immortality has been a human preoccupation for possibly as long as we have been on the planet. But how good is a forever life if the conditions of our lived experience fall short of making our lives rich, meaningful, and worthwhile? Although elusive in an operational sense, the formula for a life of peace, stability and even prosperity has long been known. Furthermore, the lessons derived from millennia of facing and overcoming challenges of many sorts can be leveraged to navigate the current challenges confronting humanity. Sadly, our humanity and its attendant imperfections keep getting in the way. Charting a new path as a global community remains the central challenge and opportunity of our time.
Creating Diverse Communities
of Compassion and Trust
10:15am to 11:15am
Session 1:
‘Cancel Culture’: Can we just talk about it?
Dr. Ashley L. Brown, Associate Dean of students Emory University& Dr. Zduy Chu; Director, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Florida State University, USA
“Cancel” culture has begun to resurface. Many young people have little tolerance for conservative thoughts and/or alternative opinions on topics they feel passionate about. To the very point, holding space for dialogue has been viewed as inappropriate or dehumanizing. We will share how using liberatory pedagogies like art, restorative practices & transformative leadership can guide students towards understanding, learning, & reconciliation.
Session 2:
Towards a new Cultural Diplomacy with Art and Education: the role of the artist in building new alliances
Savina Tarsitano, Visual Artist, Calabria, Italy, ECP Member
‘Can we build a dialogue between people?’ Yes but we have to start from education, it's necessary to involve the outskirts of cities and towns. ‘Can we change our societies?’ Yes, but we must build new alliances between people, we must create knowledge and awareness. Can art and artists be the mediators between institutions, people, schools, politics, economics. Yes, but we need to rethink how we can collaborate, on new models of cooperation and alliances. We need to restablish trust and respect.
Session 3:
'The Soft Power of De-colonial Dialogues': Between Human and Computational Conversations in Search of Trust
Eduard Arriaga-Arango, PhD, Associate Professor, Language, Literature & Culture, and Dr. Michael Bamberg, Professor of Psychology, Clark University, USA
This round-table will engage concepts such as language and dialogue from a decolonial perspective, inquiring on the role played by these symbolic and communicative systems in our contemporary algorithmic culture. We will discuss how language, broadly understood as sets of complex systems employed to create, interpret and re-configure our world, becomes central in the generation of soft power for communities whose voice has been excluded from the development of data-driven technological innovations. Likewise, problematizing the idea of dialogue or the lack thereof, the roundtable will discuss how such communities use diverse strategies to generate dialogic interactions with technologies that have perpetuated and extended marginalization and discrimination. It is through a process of soft power that diverse communities continue to critique, question, or challenge both digital and analog colonial visions to reinvent different ways to exist.
Parallel Sessions V
11:30am to 12:30pm
Session 1:
Social Media and Interpersonal Connection Across Various Cultures
Nicolae Viorel Burcea, Romanian-American, writer, jack-of-all-trades,
ECP Member, USA
Globalization has resulted in a dynamic clashing of various peoples, organizations, and cultures. The result has instigated conflict and contemplations on how to maneuver amongst the many ways of living and believing in life. A central question of this presentation is whether these clashes have brought us closer to the various cultures or peoples in a way that helps us understand them better or has, in fact, made us see them as superficial stereotypes of behavior and representations for us to interact with. I try to identify in what ways this can be bypassed and a ‘bridge” can be created to understanding various dialogues and peoples in a way that makes us able to interact respectfully, cordially, and impactfully on both sides.
Session 2:
Introduction: Sustainable and inclusive collaborative practices
Dr. Koku G. Nonoa, Postdoctoral researcher, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Institut für
deutsche Sprache, Literatur und für Interkulturalität, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Serge Daniel Kaboré, Dancer, Burkina Faso, Africa
This workshop is dedicated to questioning and exploring sustainable and inclusive collaborative practices in the
interface between participatory art approach and diverse identities. Participants will experience in how far the relation
between doing and undergoing enables us to appreciate and to understand the productive connection between human
beings as the manifestation of diverse identities, and inclusive collaborative practices as artistic and esthetic
co-presence for sustainable enjoyment and trust.
Session 3:
Introduction: The Five Steps of Compassionate Leadership
Lama Jigmé Namgyal, Tibetan Buddhist Teacher and Speaker, Luxembourg & Henco van der Weijden Mindset & Change Trainer, Coach, Netherlands
We talk about peace and we all want peace. But how do we actually create peace? Why do we end up in wars and polarization when we want peace and connection? In our democratic system, we choose our leaders driven by our deepest desires. Apparently our collective actions create causes for the opposite of what we want. How do we get this turned around and is there a logical sequence in this?
Session 4:
Living books - Meet the people & their stories
by espace cultures and the Office of social inclusion, University of Luxembourg
A unique opportunity to meet and interact with “Living books”, people with valuable experience to share about important subjects such as international Protection, the LGBTQ+ community, Human Rights and Arts. Interaction and understanding are promoted through spaces for discussion and dialogue to combat stereotypes and preconceived ideas - a respectful setting with no taboos where we can all understand and accept our differences.
Clémentine Mbega Nguebeyegue: Originally from Cameroon, she now lives in Luxembourg. She is part of the OneStepForward program, which promotes the professional integration of refugee students. She will share her integration process in Luxembourg.
Mykhailo Novikov: A refugee student from Kyiv, Ukraine. He is currently doing his master’s degree at the University of Luxembourg, and he will share his experience of arriving and integrating at both the University of Luxembourg and Luxembourg.
Martine Pinnel: Luxembourgish photographer who has studied and worked in the U.S.
Her multi-cultural influences have affected her signature style, which leave her with a personal artistic language beyond commercial purpose. Recently she has been working on projects linked to socially relevant topics such as Racism, Grief, Mental Health, Refugee Integration, among others.
Alborz Teymoorzadeh: Alborz came from Iran to pursue architecture studies in Luxembourg. He has worked with Uni’s Media Center and on different multidisciplinary projects. Most recently, the project Porte-Voix brought together migrants in a series of workshops that integrated photography, writing, and sound creation. Alborz uses art to connect, to inspire, and to make micro changes in his surroundings.
Parallel Sessions VI
12:45pm to 1:45pm
Lunch Break by Chiche Authentic food from the Middle-East driven by social inclusion & diversity
Advancing Mindful Approaches
to Leadership and Power
2:00pm to 3:00pm
Parallel Sessions VII
Session 1:
‘Culture vs War?’ - Dreamers, Doers and the Roerich Pact
Prof. Dr. Wim Coudenys, Russian & European History, Faculty of Arts, Antwerp Campus, University of Leuven, Belgium
In 1929, N. Roerich and G. Chklaver wrote the Roerich Pact, the draft of the first international treaty on the preservation of cultural heritage in times of war. It was first signed as an inter-American treaty in 1935, and after WWII inspired the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954). The Roerich Pact itself reflected the broad, internationally shared belief that ‘culture’, i.e. Art, Science and Religion, were eternal values that exceeded the temporary needs of war, and that it could be protected by international law. In my paper I do not want to dwell too much on the meaning of the Pact itself (cf Coudenys 2021), but on the community that shared and promoted these beliefs, and on the international network that connected them. They comprise artists, art historians, scholars and practitioners of international law, politicians, civil servants, academics, journalists, pacifists, and representatives of
different religions. Based on archival and published sources I want to map this network of people and ideas. And although they seem doomed in the face of reality, both then (WWII) and now, it is worthwhile, in the context of the ‘Soft Power in Uncertain Times…’ conference, to dwell upon their ideals and experiences, and see what we can learn from them.
Session 2:
Practical exercises: Sustainable and inclusive collaborative practices
Dr. Koku G. Nonoa, Postdoctoral researcher, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Institut für deutsche Sprache, Literatur und für Interkulturalität, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Serge Daniel Kaboré, Dancer, Burkina Faso, Africa
Session 3:
Peace Journalism: How a Cross-Border Project Built Bridges Between India and Pakistan
Steven Youngblood, Director, Center for Global Peace Journalism; 2023-24 Fulbright Scholar-Moldova, Kansas-City, Missouri, USA
The round table will discuss the cross-border reporting project and its impact in both countries. Participants will discuss their experiences and reflect on the impact of the project, which was sponsored by the East-West Center.
Session 4:
Context Matters Part II: A Creativity and Identity Dialogue Across Borders
Michele M. Welkener, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Counselor Education and Human Services, Higher Education & Student Affairs graduate program, School of Education and Health Sciences, University of Dayton, Ohio, USA
3:15pm to 4:15pm
Parallel Sessions VIII
Session 1:
‘Harmony Across Borders’: Music as a Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy Tool
Dr. Carshonda Harris Martin, Assistant Provost for Student Success, and Flourishing, Belmont University, Tennessee; Brian N. Seay, Director of Voxology, School of Music; Jeffery L. Ames, Ph.D. Director of Choral Activities & Professor of Music, Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee
Explore the power of music in diplomacy. Join us as we discuss its role in bridging cultures, strengthening international
ties, and fostering understanding. Learn from case studies and engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas on the challenges
and opportunities of using music as a tool for cultural diplomacy.
Session 2:
Practical exercises: The Five Steps of Compassionate Leadership
Lama Jigmé Namgyal, Tibetan Buddhist Teacher and Speaker, Luxembourg & Henco van der Weijden Mindset & Change Trainer, Coach, Netherlands
Session 3:
Artist talk: It still hasn’t ended - The Siachen Glacier Conflict
Baptist Coelho Visual Artist; Mumbai, India
Since 1984, India and Pakistan have been zealously guarding their northern borders on the Siachen Glacier. This endless conflict over the ownership of the glacier has been fought at an altitude of approximately 5,753 meters, which makes it the coldest battlefield on earth, with temperatures reaching around -60°Celsius. Since 2007, the visual artist, Baptist Coelho began researching this glacial conflict and has developed a large body of artworks in various mediums. Baptist will share some of these works and his current solo exhibition, It still hasn’t ended at Bâtiment IV, Esch-sur-Alzette.
4:30pm to 5:30pm
TAD Talk Show II
by UL MediaLab
Student Perspectives on Cultural Diplomacy : 'Dreams, Hopes and Initiatives'
Guests:
- Donada Rata, Master in European Governance, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- Maya Egan, Double Major Biology & Spanish, Clark University, Massachusetts
- Isabella Rivera, Major Criminal Justice, Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia
- Reka Eberhard, European School, Luxembourg
Moderated by Prof. Dr. Wim Coudenys, Russian & European History, Faculty of Arts, Antwerp Campus, University of Leuven
In a world were loud, politically incorrect and aggressive leadership is seen as assertive and effective, (Cultural) Diplomacy is increasingly rejected as ‘soft’, and the values associated with it as ‘woke’. But how do youngsters assess this situation? How do students, i.e. our future leaders, look at the cynicism that so appeals to politicians and voters alike? Are they (still) dreaming of a better world? What hopes do they have for the future? What initiatives do they want to take to realize these dreams? And does (Cultural) Diplomacy has a place in it?
7:30pm
Open Air Concert
'Exploring the essence of OneWorldMusic'
When: May 31st , 2024 / 7.30pm
Where: Bâtiment 4, Esch-sur-Alzette
Open to public
Free entrance
Food and beverage for purchase / Guiden & Scouten St. Joseph
featuring
Voxology, female gospel and R&B ensemble
Belong - Intangible World Heritage Organization
AlterCadance - Promotion of the African Culture
&
'Nature & Light' Inspirational performance by Prof. Anna Bulanda-Pantalacci, Dr. Gabriele Budach & Master students in Learning and Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts, University of Luxembourg
Welcoming addresses by
François Carbon, ECP/TAD Forum'24 Chair
Dr. Jeffery L. Ames, Director of Choral Activities, Belmont University
