How do we live with the quickening mash-up of cultures that is the result of mass migration?
What precisely happens, on a personal and societal level, when an individual makes their way from one corner of the globe to another in the 21st century?
This is what Richard C. Morais, celebrated author of The Hundred-Foot Journey and the newly-released The Man with No Borders, will be exploring this fall during the ‘Cultures Collide’ Tour, as he walks through all the issues – creative and destructive, individual and collective, spiritual and mundane – that the human drive to migrate unleashes in the world.
Cultural Vistas is pleased to host Morais for the first of three talks in three cities on Thursday evening, October 17, when he provides the keynote at the Cultural Vistas Awards Gala at the Tribeca Rooftop in Lower Manhattan. Established in 2018, the Cultural Vistas Awards Gala will bring together leaders from across the business, education, government, and diplomatic communities for an evening celebrating the diversity of people, ideas, knowledge, and skills shared through international exchange.
The following week the tour heads to the West Coast for the first of two events co-hosted by Cultural Vistas and Hostelling International USA (HI USA) on Monday evening, October 21 at HI USA’s Fisherman’s Wharf location in San Francisco. Fittingly, the third talk will take place during International Education Week on Thursday evening, November 21 at HI USA’s Boston location.
In San Francisco and Boston, Morais’ talks will be followed by a panel discussion including local community experts and a light reception.
All proceeds will support Cultural Vistas’ and HI USA’s efforts to expand access to immersive international learning and travel opportunities through each organization’s need-based scholarship funds.
- Learn more about the Cultural Vistas Fellowship
- Learn more about HI USA’s Explore the World Travel Scholarships
About Richard C. Morais
Richard C. Morais is an American journalist and novelist. He is best known as the author of the New York Times and international bestseller The Hundred-Foot Journey, a novel about an Indian chef in France that sold in 35 territories worldwide. In 2014, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey released The Hundred-Foot Journey as a film starring Helen Mirren and Om Puri. His latest novel, The Man with No Borders, is the story of an aristocratic Spanish private banker dying in Switzerland and coming to terms with his life, and was released globally on September 1, by Amazon’s literary imprint, Little A. Morais’ sophomore novel Buddhaland Brooklyn is about a Japanese Buddhist priest building a temple in New York, and is currently in development as a premium TV series with K&L Productions. The complex issues that arise around diversity and the challenges and opportunities inherent to cross-cultural experience are a cornerstone of Morais’ literary works. During the tour, his three novels will serve as a jumping off point to discuss the immense blessings and very real dangers that occur when different cultures encounter each other. Read Richard’s full bio
About Cultural Vistas
Founded in 1963, Cultural Vistas is a nonprofit exchange organization whose mission is to enrich minds, advance global skills, build careers, and connect lives through international exchange. Cultural Vistas develops international professional experiences that create more informed, skilled, and engaged citizens. Every year, Cultural Vistas’ 30-plus unique exchange programs empower people in the United States and in more than 130 countries around the world to drive positive change in themselves, their organizations, and society. Learn more at culturalvistas.org.
About Hostelling International USA (HI USA):
HI USA is a nonprofit, member organization founded on an enduring belief in the power of travel to foster a deeper understanding of people, places, and the world around. HI USA promotes a dynamic community of global citizens who have the wisdom and humanity to actively make the world a better place. As the nation’s leading hostel brand, HI USA hosts more than 1 million overnights annually across more than 50 hostels, with guests from more than 100 countries. For over 80 years, HI USA has provided a network of affordable hostels in converted mansions, reinvented lighthouses, and historic urban buildings all across the country. Learn more at hiusa.org