Is Borat the true author of the below "Communication Competency Expectations" in Kahakhstan?

Reacting to the below "scientific" study, I can only think of the verses of Walt Whitman:

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.

180. When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Evaluating Employer Communication Competency Expectations: A Pilot Study - Deirdre Breakenridge, deirdrebreakenridge.com: "Samoilenko, S.A., Ballard-Reisch, D., and Akhatova, B. (2011). Evaluating Employer Communication Competency Expectations in Kazakhstan. Research Study presented November 18 at the 97th Annual Conventional of the National Communication Association in New Orleans, LA. ... In many countries there is a steady need for competent public relations professionals to assure nation-building inter-ethnic campaigns locally and public diplomacy efforts internationally. Kazakhstan is one of the most successful Central Asian countries among those that emerged from the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Kazakhstan represents an interesting example of a complex, inter-ethnic society working rapidly to adjust to globalization in order to keep up with constantly emerging professional requirements. The rapid growth of the oil and gas industries has significantly contributed to economic growth and decline in poverty. It also increased government public diplomacy efforts for nation branding to promote the country among international businesses and the global political community.

Communication researchers Sergei Samoilenko, George Mason University and Dr. Deborah Ballard-Reisch from Wichita State joined their colleague from Kazakhstan Dr. Akhatova to assess of the quality of the public relations education recently offered in Kazakhstan universities to satisfy the government ambitions for international recognition and acceptance. Primarily, the researchers wanted to understand current expectations held by business employers in Kazakhstan regarding important communication competencies that university graduates with a degree in public relations should possess in order to be successful in their organizations. Their research was intended to provide practical guidelines for educators to develop new curricula in strategic communications that will help Kazakhstan universities better prepare future communication specialists and increase opportunities for their employment." Image from article 

Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting

American Anthropological Association Response to OMB Directive 15: Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting (Sept 1997)

Reclaiming Rhetoric For The Modern Age

Reclaiming Rhetoric For The Modern Age – Stuart Kauffman, NPR

I was fascinated a few years ago to learn the initial meaning in the Greek agora and among its citizens of "rhetoric." But first, what do we nowmean by the term?

Alva wrote recently about cigarette packages carrying frightening images of the consequences of smoking. He described it as propaganda, meant to manipulate, not persuade with the truth. He makes a powerful case.

We now think of rhetoric as, essentially, propaganda. Rhetoric is used to overstate and, often, misrepresent a case. In Alva's good phrase, it is used to "manipulate." In today's sense, "rhetoric" is slightly malign, intentionally misleading, not to be trusted.

Hence my astonishment when I learned (a claim I assume is true) that in ancient Greece the meaning of rhetoric — and the reason it was taught widely in Greece and the Roman Empire — was quite different.

Citizens found themselves confronted with practical, real-life choices, where they did not have access to "all the facts," yet had to make a real decision in face of uncertainty. Rhetoric evolved as the "art" of reasonably persuading one's peers of a course of action in the face of uncertainty.

On learning this, two big issues snap into place for me. First, if not for these sensible reasons, why did the Greeks and Romans teach rhetoric with so much care? Presumably rhetoric was an aspect of responsible citizenship.

I'm reading now the wonderful new book The Swerve, by Stephen Greenblatt, about the rediscovery of the Roman poet Lucretius in 1417 by one Poggio Bracciolini. He was a papal scribe and more, perhaps in the German monastery of Fulda. The discovery did much to pitch the Western world into the flowering humanism of the Renaissance, after perhaps 700 or 800 years of intellectual confinement to the authority of the church.

The second big issue that hits me is this: why do we not teach rhetoric in the ancient sense now? I suspect the answer is the role of science since Newton. We truly believe that science will know and, as Alva wrote, we can be informed of the facts and use reason as our basis of judgement.

Rhetoric, in this worldview, has no civil job to do; just the facts, please.

But I think this view mistakes our real world today. We, like the ancient Greeks, often do not know "the facts" as they stand, or those that may become relevant.

Then, in face of this uncertainty, we, like the Greeks, still have to decide.

If so, it seems to me that rhetoric — in the sense of the ancient world — remains honorable and is part of our civic duty.

Image from article, with caption: The Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus (circa 95 - 55 BC)

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Cold War Era Agencies: Records of the U.S. Information Agency (RG 306)

Cold War Era Agencies: Records of the U.S. Information Agency (RG 306) 

Silence.com

"A thought, once uttered, is a lie."

--Tiutchev

I hereby propose a new portal/site (call it whatever you want) dedicated to total silence.

You would click on silence.com, no content/graphics/sound would appear on it.

"Target audiences" would love it -- the silence.

Client satisfaction from silence.com would make bundles to suddenly silent ad gals/guys who wouldn't have to work (or, should I say, pretend they are working) "for a living."

Politicians would say nothing on silence.com, to admit that they have nothing to say, to the great relief of their audiences.

"Public diplomacy" diplomats on the site would send "content-free" messages containing not less than 140, but absolutely 0 -- zero!-- characters.

The rhetoricians/propagandists would simply remain silent, to the delight of their interlocutors.

ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.

But do remember Pascal: "Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m'effraie."

The Evolution of the American Language

From a must-read blog, "Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog," by Washington artist/luminary Peteykins, whom I've never met non-virtually. (His blog-photo below):

 

 

 

The Sound of Cultural Engagement: Days 3-4 -- Salzburg Global Seminar on Cultural-Exchange Based Diplomacy

Day 3: Salzburg Global Seminar on Cultural-Exchange Based Diplomacy or,
The Sound of Cultural Engagement
(for the program of the Seminar, see)

On Day 3 of the conference at the 490th Salzburg Global Seminar (April 28-May 2), "Public and Private Cultural-Exchange Based Diplomacy: New Models for the 21st Century"; see previous posts (1) (2) on this event), I attended two plenary sessions -- "Creating an Enabling Environment that Promotes Cultural Diversity within the Context of Cultural Relations" and "Global Communications and the Rise of Social Media: The Future of International Cultural Engagement" -- as well as the breakout sessions (10-person small group meetings) following these two events.

Below are main points I took from these wide-ranging discussions. My account is not comprehensive; readers interested in more thoughtful remarks/details about the conference will find them in its forthcoming final report.

In some cases, below I am quoting speakers directly, with memorable (to  my mind) phrases in quotation marks.

Creating an Enabling Environment that Promotes Cultural Diversity within the Context of Cultural Relations" and Global Communications and the Rise of Social Media: The Future of International Cultural Engagement (Plenary Session)

--Diversity in principle is worthy to pursue, but as a term it is a "head-scratcher" and a "sponge word" that does not have a definitive definition.

--Cultural engagement activists are always asked to "prove the benefit" of their programs to state funders.

--A civilized society requires investment in education and culture if it aspires to create trust -- and overcome xenophobia and loss of confidence in government.

--The British Council is a government-funded agency with 7000 employees and programs in 110 countries that include education, the arts, the rule of law and English teaching.

--The BC believes that not all its activities must originate from London headquarters; it strongly supports partnerships that go beyond "lunchtime alliances." Its emphasis is on learning and listening.

--The new social media and technology as a whole offer BC great opportunities to provide outreach  tailored to specific audiences.

--A diverse world will make us culturally richer. An English-speaking international elite can be a challenge to diversity.

***

--A relatively new Arab NGO involved in cultural engagement such as Cultural Resource in Cairo can find collaboration with a large American organization a bureaucratic challenge.

--Cultural figures/organizations from the Arab world that seek links with the West should not wait for an invitation; they themselves should take the initiative if they wish to be recognized.

--Understanding and connecting with Islamists should be a priority of forward-looking Arab cultural organizations.

***

--In the United States, there is a huge marginilization of Hispanics in the field of arts and culture. The cultural "Latinization" of the USA has a long way to go.

--Los Angeles partners with foreign cultural entities (and their embassies in Washington) in arranging cultural exchange programs, including with Latin America.

***

--In the case of cultural engagement with Africa by means of an exhibition, Global Africa, a key issue is the distinction -- overstressed by some specialists -- between "craft" and "art."

Creating an Enabling Environment that Promotes Cultural Diversity within the Context of Cultural Relations" and Global Communications and the Rise of Social Media: The Future of International Cultural Engagement (Breakout Session)

--Diversity is not an issue in Japan.

--China is a multi-national society of different ethnicities and languages. The policy of the government is "diversity in unity."

--In Russia, where 100 languages are spoken, Russian helps keep the country linguistically together. 

--In order to preserve and encourage diversity, a strategy is needed to link cultural engagement with the experience and expectation of its audiences. But those involved in this process should expect the unexpected.



--Measurement of the results of cultural engagement is important, but cannot always be evaluated scientifically through questionnaires. In some situations, cultural diplomacy cannot be measured.

--In its search for diversity, a complex term, cultural engagement should not neglect the need  to encourage artistic excellence.

Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement in the Digital Age: Global Communications and the Rise of Social Media: The Future of International Cultural Engagement (Plenary Session)

--In the past, obtacles to cultural diplomacy and engagement in the Arab world have included what is perceived as hypocritical policies by outside powers.

--Contrary to what is widely believed in non-Arab countries, the term "Arab Spring" surfaced after the March 2005 Iraqi elections, as an effort to depict the American invasion as making political reform possible. In reality, the Arabic words for "revolution" and "dignity" were used to describe the more recent protests throughout the Middle East.

--Digital media have transformed how individuals in the Arab world (and in the Arab diaspora) interact with one another. These media have also contributed to an expansion in the region of a consumer culture that makes choice possible in the selection of marketable products. But Facebook and Twitter are not the "magic bullet" that brought about political change in non-democratic countries.

--The upper echelons of Arab society have far lesser power to define culture's purpose and content because of the mind-opening information available on the internet.

--Arab governments are using social media in an effort to manipulate its cyberspace-savvy citizens.` They also try to control the flow in private internet message. "One click can sometimes cost someone's life."

***

--Most of humankind has a tendency to be initially put off by new technology. The telegraph, for example, was first dismissed as the "tell-lie-graph."

--The advance of technology occurs in waves (the term "surfing" a propos the web turns out to be most apt ). Sometimes the drawbridge of technology is pulled up, sometimes down. It is hard to evaluate the effect of a technological "magic bullet."

--Cultural engagement is not limited to the physical world. It can also occur in virtual space, as several digital projects (including one using Second Life) have suggested.

***

--Traditionally museums are about objects; the digital universe is about intangible items.

--Museums must adapt to the digital revolution, no longer considering themselves, in terms of delivering content, as a source of permanent, unchangeable, information.

***

--The purpose of social media from a cultural engagement perspective is "to find and interact with interesting people."

--"Digital culture is an overlay on the physical world."

--In terms of the evolution of the social media, the sky's the limit. At the same time, what's new one day is old the next: "Facebook is the McDonald's of the Internet."

Cultural Diplomacy and Engagement in the Digital Age: Global Communications and the Rise of Social Media: The Future of International Cultural Engagement (Breakout Session)

--Facebook is used as a medium in Russia for cultural engagement; the local portal vkontakte.ru is very popular. An EU-sponsored project for designing a virtual space for disabled persons is being implemented by the St. Petersburg PRO ARTE Foundation for Culture and Arts  in partnership with organizations in Scandinavian countries.

--The website World Cultures Connect, a project in development by the Resource Center for Cultural Engagement, aims to bring individuals and organization involved in cultural engagement together via the Internet.

--The Centro Cultural Estacion Mapocho in Chile makes extensive use of the social media.

--How employees of organizations involved in cultural engagement should use the social media in/at their work can be problematical. While blogs with a personal voice can attract a wider audience than bland announcements, it is not always clear how much "control" an organization should have over the opinions of its employees.

--Use of the internet for cultural engagement should not be limited to social media. Skype, for example, can be an effective and inexpensive way to reach audiences.

Day 4: Salzburg Global Seminar on Cultural-Exchange Based Diplomacy

Day 4 was wrap-up day. The speculations and recommendations of Breakout Sessions were discussed at two Plenary Meetings. Session Rapporteur Andras Szanto envisioned that the final report on the Seminar would consist of five parts: context; gaps; needs; opportunities; action.

Image of Mozart statue, Salzburg, from
With many thanks to SSF.