REAL WORLD ISSUES COURSE
Bullying & difference -Dr. Jana Hollá
Addressing intercultural dynamics of harmful (academic) workplace behaviours
OVERVIEW
On the rise in both academia and the workplace, adult bullying compromises the psychological and social safety for all stakeholders within an organization.
As organizations become more diverse, creating and sustaining social safety with zero tolerance for bullying becomes increasingly complicated and demanding. To address this challenge, this course explores how cultural differences, power dynamics, and adult bullying intersect in complex and often subtle ways, then shares practical strategies for preventing and mitigating the types of adult bullying behaviors that happen within multicultural contexts. It is particularly suitable for those working in higher education settings.
In today’s diverse, interconnected professional settings, this issue is further complicated by how culture influences our perceptions of what is considered appropriate or inappropriate behaviour: One person’s idea of behaving in a professional manner can easily be experienced by another person as unskilled, offensive or harmful. This can lead to miscommunication and escalate interpersonal conflicts as individuals struggle to resolve misunderstandings.
Additionally, bullies can exploit a lack of collective awareness of cultural differences, using their own cultural knowledge to mistreat colleagues from other backgrounds. Cultural Humility, with its focus on deep self-reflection and temporarily suspending judgment, plus increased awareness of cultural differences, respectively, can be powerful antidotes.
If you work in a multicultural setting where adult bullying is a concern, this course can help you better understand how, alongside power differences, various intercultural factors may be at play — and how to help yourself and those around you successfully negotiate these dynamics.
In this course, you will learn how to help yourself—and those you work with—so that you/they can better:
- Understand how culture and power dynamics shape perceptions of appropriate communication and behaviour, including if and when such behaviour crosses a line,
- Identify different kinds of bullying behaviours in adult workplace encounters, notably in higher education settings,
- Apply interpersonal level strategies to minimize instances of bullying behaviours and foster a culture of trust, respect, and civility,
- Gain practical strategies to address / mitigate bullying using culturally-adaptive conflict resolution and communication skills.
Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive a Certificate of Participation listing 12 contact learning hours.
This course has three components:
- In Part 1, learn about the nature of adult bullying in academia and workplaces, learn how seemingly “normal” behaviours may (unintentionally) constitute harm in intercultural settings.
- In Part 2, explore in a hands-on capacity how Cultural Humility practices can help minimize or prevent bullying.
- In Part 3, develop bullying mitigation skills, developing your ability to respond constructively to bullying behaviours that you encounter or observe as a bystander.
While this workshop prioritizes interpersonal skill-building, it also provides insights into how to analyze and begin to change the broader institutional context in which bullying behaviours occur.
This course is for you if are a in charge of or are a consultant/trainer/multiplier/educator who helps those:
- Leading, working*, or teaching in a setting where adult bullying behaviours are a concern — or you would like to prevent them from becoming one,
- Looking to create a more inclusive work environment, enhance cohesion, and improve overall organizational culture among diverse employees / team members,
- Serving in a role that supports individuals and teams to improve cooperation and performance (e.g., HR, people development, management, leadership or organizational development).
COURSE TYPE
Real World Issues Course
DURATION/DATES
2 days/7-8 July 2025
TARGET LEVEL(S)
Mid-level (5-12 years)
Advanced (13-19 years)
Senior (20+ years)
TUITION FEE
€1050
includes certificate from the University and the Institute
Janna Hollá, PhD
Having lived and worked internationally for 20+ years in combination with her academic training in Cultural Anthropology, Dr. Jana Hollá assists organizations, teams and individuals to make the most of the differences they encounter.
Based in Cairo, Egypt and southern France, Jana lectures and provides consultancy, training, and facilitation services primarily in the areas of Cross-cultural Competence Building, Diversity Management, and International Mobility. Her interventions explore the nature of difference, knowledge and learning as a means of developing and transforming individuals, teams and their organizations who seek to build effective and meaningful working relations across cultures and differences.
She has previously led customized versions of this workshop for higher education institutions on behalf of the IDD working together with Dr. Nagesh Rao, Melissa Liles and Dr. Nadine Binder.
The focal question of my work of late is how we can embrace the complexity of human experience in our learning interventions that focus on Culture and Diversity & Inclusion. Readiness to walk out of our comfort zone is a big part of the answer: “To embrace complexity is to treasure diversity. To eliminate uncertainties is to limit possibilities.” (Kelvin Chau)