Michael (Mhike) J. So

Special Assistant, Kuangchi Program Service (KPS) and Jesuits Engaged in Social Communications in East Asia and Oceania (JESCOMEAO)

RCCongress 2010 Workshop:

Bridging the Digital Divide: Social Marketing Applied

RCCongress 2010 Panel Member:

Cultural Diversity and Communication

Michael Jaramillo So, or Mhike (as his friends call him), has been working for 12 years at Kuangchi Program Service, a 51 year old Jesuit production house in Taipei. He also works as secretarial assistant in JESCOMEAO – Jesuit's Engaged in Social Communications in East Asia and Oceania.

Mhike started a computer training school for the Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) at the Hope Workers Center (HWC) in Chungli City, Taiwan. He later trained his former students and founded the IT Team – a group of OFWs trained to teach other OFWs in addressing the digital divide. Due to great demands of the program, another IT Team in Hsinchu City was created. This new branch just celebrated their 1st year anniversary this November 2009.

In May 2007 as a recognition of his contribution to bridging the digital divide, Mhike was awarded the Life Sustainability Award by Renlai Magazine presented by the former Taiwan President Chen Shui Bien.

From 2005-2009, Mhike served as a Board Member of SIGNIS (The World Catholic Association for Communication) and was also the former Secretary of SIGNIS Asia.

Mhike has a diploma in social and religious communications from CREC AVEX, a center affiliated to the Université Catholique de Lyon, France focusing on Internet and Evangelization, Leadership and Spirituality of Communications, Religious Radio and Video Production. To sum it all up - "Media and New Culture."

He also obtained a certificate on "Church and Communications" (2006) from the University of Dayton, Ohio, USA, through their continuing education online programs.

Bridging the Digital Divide: Social Marketing Applied

Living in a fast paced, technologically advanced environment it is easy to forget those who slip through the cracks. This workshop will discuss and reveal the experience of how a small ITC project in Taiwan began, grew, and has changed the lives of migrant workers. The 4P's and Social Marketing parallel to how this project materialized and succeeded will be discussed.

Cultural Diversity and Communication

In all modern societies, one of the most difficult contemporary debates is about "social cohesion" and "cultural diversity," the integration of different cultural and religious groups into an increasingly pluralistic society in which it seems harder than ever to find common ground and values. This topic is especially important to religious communicators because religion plays such an important part in shaping the identities of individuals and groups.

These issues are played out day-by-day in the media which both reflects the unfolding situation and at the same time has an important role in framing the debate and shaping perceptions, especially of minorities and other groups deemed to be "outsiders."

What, then, are the responsibilities of religious communicators within this context? How can religious communicators influence the debates about cultural diversity? To what extent is religious communication itself a problem? How have different societies balanced the demands for diversity and for cohesion? What can religious communicators from different countries learn from each other?

This panel, made up of people from different cultures and countries, will seek to open up these questions and challenge religious communicators as how best they can respond.