Diversity competence
Cultures don't meet, people do
1e druk | 2018 | Edwin Hoffman, Arjan VerdoorenMany people in today’s world work, learn and live in international and multicultural environments. Intercultural communication has hence become an important topic in many fields of work and study. Knowledge of cultures and cultural differences is however rarely sufficient in the current globalizing and complex world.
In Diversity competence, interpersonal communication forms the point of departure: the meeting of people, not of cultures. From there onwards, the authors describe what diversity competence entails: which processes, challenges and skills are relevant in a ‘superdiverse’ world. The TOPOI model consequently offers an inclusive, communicative approach to analyze and address potential miscommunication.
The book discusses relevant theory from several fields as well as many practical examples and guidelines. This book also has a companion website. Available on this website are: extra study assignments, extra case discussions and TOPOI cards.
Diversity competence aims at students, educators and professionals in the fields of communication and media, business, management and leadership, governance, organization, HR, and international relations and cooperation.
Edwin Hoffman PhD and Arjan Verdooren Msc. both work as independent trainers, advisors and researchers of intercultural communication and diversity competence. Additionally, Edwin teaches at the Alpen Adria University in Klagenfurt, Austria. His earlier publications on the TOPOI model and intercultural communication are used regularly in higher education.
Arjan is associated with Intercultural Professionals, the training and consultancy department of the Royal Tropical Institute (Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen) in Amsterdam. He is also a regular guestlecturer at several universities and universities of applied sciences in The Netherlands and Sweden.
As a prelude to the book the authors published a few blogs to discuss some of the main ideas behind the book. Click here for the blogs:
Author Arjan Verdooren was interviewed by Sietar Switzerland. Click here to read the article.
A review was written in Dutch and appeared in Civis Mundi:
''Zij slagen er in hun visie over te brengen over het belang van het onderwerp diversiteit: de noodzaak met ‘de ander’ goed om te kunnen gaan is in de huidige context van globalisering onvermijdelijk.'' Click here to read further.
- Heidi Muijen, Civis Mundi.
A review was written as well by Vincent Merk, Senior lecturer in Intercultural Management & Community advisor.
“Diversity competence is not a compilation of old stuff with an ancient model from a new perspective, but a comprehensive (course) book explaining a model that has proven its validity through the years, now positioned in a new context and addressing current business and societal issues.'' Click here to read further.
- Vincent Merk, Eindhoven University of Technology