Letter From the Editors

Jennifer Ramos, English Language Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

ICIS Newsletter Co-Editor

Patricia Moon, English Language Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

ICIS Newsletter Co-Editor

Dear ICIS Community,  

Greetings from your InterCom newsletter editors! Our ICIS community left the 2026 TESOL Convention in Salt Lake City, UT, both inspired and reflective. We are delighted to share some post-convention reflections in this issue.

We would like to officially thank our outgoing ICIS Chair, Dr. Nichole McVeigh, for her excellent leadership and dedication over the 25-26 academic year. Nichole was at the helm of ICIS during a particularly active year for our community, with several  webinars, coffee hours, and lightning talks. Nichole was similarly critical in our successful participation in 2026 TESOL, where she presented a panel entitled “From Past Lessons to Future Possibilities: Rethinking Interculturality in TESOL” and collaborated with Higher Ed and Program Administration Interest Section to present “Rethinking Success: Implications of Global Power Shifts.”

As Nichole’s tenure closes, we are delighted to have Drs. Leslie Bohon and Melanie van den Hoven as our 26-27 co-chairs. Leslie and Melanie have actively stepped into their new roles, and we are thankful for their energy and commitment to ICIS. Finally, a special thanks to Tatang Banda. Tatang, one of our members-at-large, for his help editing our submissions for this issue. 

In this issue, we have four excellent pieces from scholars and practitioners in Ireland, Colombia and Iceland. Thank you to the authors for sharing your thoughts and experiences! These pieces focus on deepening intercultural sensitivity in multiple ways: through sharing narratives, diving deep into a famous gothic novel, engaging in digital exchanges, and questioning the assumptions we hold about whose English matters. 

1. STORIES THAT HEAL USING SHARED NARRATIVES TO ENCOURAGE INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

2. CONNECTING HEMISPHERES DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND INTERCULTURAL LEARNING

3. TEACHING DRACULA INTERCULTURALLY: FROM GOTHIC OTHERNESS TO INTERCULTURAL AGENCY THROUGH STUDENT PODCASTS

4. ENGLISH IN THE WILD: NAVIGATING GLOBAL ENGLISH AND PROFESSIONALISM IN ICELAND

We are so pleased with the excellent submissions we received for this issue and hope you are inspired to submit something for an upcoming issues. and also become involved with this dedicated interest section. For the October issue, we are looking for lesson plans regarding intercultural communication, intercultural competence, or cultural exchange in your educational setting, but we welcome any submissions that meet our author guidelines. You can find the guidelines here. The next deadline is October 1, 2026. Please email your submissions or questions to [email protected]. 

The upcoming year promises to be very active for ICIS. Please check out the letter from our co-chairs and follow our social media (on LinkedIn, Facebook and X) for upcoming events. If you miss an event, you can find a replay available on YouTube. If you are not a member, we invite you to become part of our group! This is a great community to be involved in! 

Jennifer Ramos, MFA, MAE, is an instructor at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Florida. She has also taught in Europe and Latin America. Jennifer enjoys helping students attain the academic language skills they need to pursue their dreams. She currently serves as the ELI’s reading and writing skills coordinator.

Patricia Moon, MA, is an administrator/instructor at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Florida. Her work since 1994 has focused on scheduling and curriculum for students studying intensive academic English at the University of Florida.