The Center for Intercultural Competence
Communication, collaboration and competition in a deeply interconnected world require cultural awareness, empathy, and intercultural practice. Intercultural competence enables individuals and institutions to operate competently in global markets, communicate successfully with international partners and competitors, negotiate efficiently in cross-cultural social, political and business environments, and meet the many new challenges posed by a shifting world order.
St.Gallen-Asia Bridge
Based in the uniquely multicultural city-state of Singapore, the Center for Intercultural Competence at the SGI functions as a platform and launch-pad for interdisciplinary research projects and as a workspace for new courses on intercultural competence. The Centre aims to build a bridge between St.Gallen and Asia, in particular East Asia and Southeast Asia. Teaching and research at the Centre focus on developing the three key intercultural ‘soft skills’ of cultural awareness, empathy and practice. Intercultural competence includes ‘knowing’ and understanding a culture and its history; ‘feeling’ the experience of a new culture and developing empathy; and ‘doing’ by practising intercultural communication skills, followed by self-reflection.
New Research Projects
The Center’s new and innovative interdisciplinary research projects investigate transcultural trends, the new digital forms of communication, the internet and social media, and Asia’s new urban cultures. They aim to explore local and global cultures, and open new windows onto the dreams, aspirations, and nightmares of urban citizens in Asia’s rising super-cities in the twenty-first century. As the rising superpower of the twenty-first century, China poses major social, economic and political challenges to Europe and the world. To address these challenges, it is of primary importance to create a knowledge base of the cultural dynamics of Asia’s new urban cultures, consumerism and globalization. Current case studies focus on China and Singapore.
The person responsible for the Center for Intercultural Competence is Prof. Dr. Daria Berg, DPhil Oxon, (Head).