What does it mean to be both anchored and in motion — to draw from the deep wells of cultural wisdom, lived experience, and hard-won practice, while remaining genuinely open to transformation, challenge, and growth? ROOT & REACH: Grounding Intercultural Practice While Stretching Into What's Next is a virtual conference event that invites practitioners, educators, researchers, and community leaders to gather in a spirit of both reflection and possibility. It is our intent to create a space to honor what sustains us — our values, our communities, our foundational frameworks — and to ask, with curiosity rather than anxiety, where our field must stretch to meet the complexity of this moment. We welcome proposals that take seriously both the stability of roots and the risk of reaching: work that is theoretically grounded and practically alive, culturally honest and forward-looking, personally meaningful and collectively relevant. |
Help shape the conversation and connect with intercultural professionals from around the world by sponsoring the SIETAR USA 2026 Virtual Conference. Showcase your organization, build meaningful relationships, and increase your visibility with a global audience committed to advancing intercultural learning and collaboration. EDUCATIONAL TRACKS |
IC/DEI in Disruptive Times The world is not standing still — and neither is our work. This track features sessions that grapple honestly with the pressures, setbacks, and shifting landscapes that intercultural and diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioners are navigating right now. We are living through a moment marked by political polarization, institutional retrenchment, legislative challenges to DEI initiatives, and a growing weariness — and wariness — around language, frameworks, and approaches that were once common ground. While disruption can be a real threat, threat; it can also be clarifying, generative, and a catalyst for more authentic, durable practice. | Tools & Technology Technology is reshaping how we connect, learn, and work across differences — and the intercultural, DEI, and social justice fields are no exception. This track features sessions that explore the opportunities, tensions, and ethical questions that arise at the intersection of tools, technology, and human-centered practice. From artificial intelligence and machine learning to digital facilitation platforms, data analytics, social media, and emerging immersive technologies, practitioners are being asked to make consequential choices about which tools to adopt, how to use them responsibly, and whose interests they ultimately serve. Whether you are an enthusiastic adopter, a thoughtful skeptic, or somewhere in between, this track welcomes the full complexity of the conversation. | General This category has been present since the inception of SIETAR. It is reserved for those sessions that address intercultural and DEI education, training and/or research that do not necessarily fit neatly into the tracks of the conference theme. However, sessions in this category will provide resources and tools that educate practitioners and allow them to have a positive impact in the field. |
Thank you conference sponsors!
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Sustaining Sponsors Monica Mumford Sue Shinomiya | Technology Support Courtesy of
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