Dear ICIS community,

This year has been quite a whirlwind. Whether speaking figuratively about the political and social tensions concerning race, immigration, education, or the economy, or quite literally with natural disasters impacting so many. It is clear there are monumental challenges that face us all throughout the world, and as the African proverb says,rain does not fall on one roof alone.

As language educators, we have the opportunity, and arguably the responsibility, to engage our students to think critically about the world around them. Navigating such complex issues can be difficult, particularly in a second/foreign language. However, through well-designed English language teaching activities, we can enable English language learners to reflect and share their perspectives, as well as collaborate to discuss solutions to both personal, local, and global issues.

With this said, we as English language teaching professionals must also advocate for our profession, and most importantly our students, outside of the classroom. The stance of the current U.S. administration toward undocumented students is especially concerning. It is vital that we pull together to share stories and resources to help each other and support students who face possible and immoral deportation. Democracy only works if we all participate and show a sign of solidarity to our elected representatives and leaders.

ICIS is committed to this mission through intercultural education and dialogue and will be offering several presentations at TESOL 2018 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Through academic sessions and collaborations with several other interest sections, we will be presenting on topics such as critical cultural theory and classroom practice, the sharing of immigrant and refugee voices through personal narratives, the representation of diverse cultures in EFL/ESL materials, and how computer-assisted language learning and technology can be used to promote cultural awareness and intercultural exchange.

For those of us who might not be able to attend TESOL 2018, ICIS will continue to host a series of webinars, starting with intercultural teacher educator and scholar, Dr. Michelle Kohler. There are also always opportunities to engage and participate through ICIS membership, the TESOL Community page, and submission of articles to this ICIS newsletter. We invite you all to join the ICIS community, and we sincerely hope you enjoy this edition of InterCom.

Ramin Yazdapanah

ICIS Chair