Venue: Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 

in association with AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand and China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, PR China incorporating the 3^rd Global Intercultural Collaboration Conference in association with Uppsala University, Sweden

 8-9^th August, 2012

Optional HoChiMinh City or Vung Tau tour day: 10 August

 Conference Theme: “Collaborative academic programs as a contribution to developing nations”

The focus of collaborative ventures is no longer just on learning to communicate with our foreign neighbours, but in gaining the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and awareness that allow us to operate across cultural boundaries wherever these boundaries may be found.  While globalization effects us all, many nations still continue to traverse internal boundaries between colonist and indigenous peoples.  The world is full of interactions between people, groups, and nations who think, feel, and act differently.  At the same time these people, groups, and nations are exposed to common problems that demand cooperation for their solutions.  The threats of global warming, organized crime, poverty, terrorism, ocean pollution, extinction of animals, AIDS, or a worldwide recession demands cooperation and the support of diverse groups in order to implement the decisions made (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005).   This conference will explore how academic partnerships driven by academic values rather than commercialism can draw on cultural diversity as an opportunity for growth and learning.  Presenters are invited to critically examine the values and assumptions underpinning cross-cultural collaboration and explore notions of success that suggest new avenues for research.   

Hofstede, G & Hofstede G. (2005) Cultures and Organisation: Software of the Mind. McGraw Hill: U.S.A.