Annemarie Profanter

As a trilingual educator and psychologist I have found that the various higher education systems; which includes academic traditions, venues of research, methods of data collection, and the roles of academics; in places like the UK, America, the EU, and the Middle East often encourage different veins of research. By remaining current with the different publications associated with my affiliations I am able to broaden and deepen my own pedagogical approach as well as garner new research angles. Coming from a trilingual region whose needs are varied and extensive, my personal commitment to cross-cultural research and its applications across the board; in modern educational settings onto governmental programs; is one that enriches my teaching, my collegial relationships, and my research projects. For all the above communication is really the key, both written as well as spoken. Therefore, advancing my language skills has been a primary focus in my professional development. Not only those languages associated with my homeland; German and Italian, but also the languages of the regions into which I have extended my research; English, Pashto, and Arabic. However, in light of the increase in expatriate migration in my region, both my more “exotic” languages are now useful here at home. Being able to communicate with immigrants in their mother tongues helps to melt linguistic and social barriers and establish relationships which support both their integration into their region and my research and educational goals. Moreover, I was invited on the board which supports the first writing competition in the course of the “Otacuschez Cultural and Literary Awareness Program, Saudi Arabia” with Nouf AlQahtani. Otacuschez was fully developed by a team of young Saudis and is a different place to socialize, combining the idea of a cafè and a bookstore. This provides space to socialize within the constraints on social life within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By encouraging this young enthusiastic initiative I am contributing in developing a creative local community of intellectuals who support mutual understanding and the belief in social rights and responsibilities.