Welcome to the IDRInstitute!
In addition to this website, the Intercultural Development Research Institute is a physical place with offices in Washington State, USA and Milan, Italy. More importantly, it is a group of people dedicated to coherent theory and experience. Most centrally, IDRInstitute is a “school of thought.” The main focus of our work is on intercultural/multicultural social relations, but the constructivist and developmental theories we support apply to a wide range of other contexts: critical thinking in education, strategic leadership in global corporations, and sustainable development in international cooperation. In these and other areas, changing conditions are demanding the new forms of conscious adaptation that we are exploring.
IDRInstitute is a nonprofit corporation registered in the State of Oregon, USA, and IDRInstitute Europa is a non-profit cultural association registered in Italy. The two entities operate together to propose constructivist research and projects, generate funding, and publish results in print and electronic media.
IDRAcademy is the academic wing of IDRInstitute. It conducts public and in-house courses in “new paradigm” constructivist theory and practice for professionals in teaching, training, coaching, and administration. In addition to individual course certificates, IDRAcademy offers the Diploma in Constructivist Development for completing a relevant curriculum.
IDRConsulting is the business wing of IDRInstitute. It coordinates a network of professional interculturalists to consult with corporations on issues of global leadership and multicultural team management, with schools and universities on issues of international study and domestic multicultural relations, and with agencies on community relations and sustainable human development.
Upcoming Courses: March 2026 - Milan, Italy
coming soon
IDRInstitute Statement of Social Justice
The Intercultural Development Research Institute supports bringing unceasing attention to the systemic denial of equal humanity woven into the fabric of American and other societies. Until that fact is acknowledged and rectified, we believe there can be no real progress towards building just multicultural societies.
But we do not think that the default condition of humankind is social justice, nor do we believe that simply removing the impediment of prejudice will let justice prevail. On the contrary, humans have mostly exalted their own familiar groups and derogated others in endless real or imagined struggles for survival. Building social justice therefore demands much more than restructuring racist institutions, although recognizing personal and systemic prejudice is a necessary beginning. The larger imperative is to restructure consciousness itself – to extend our perception of self beyond our particular group and into larger constellations of diverse peoples.
Posts
Consciousness is resistance
Milton J. Bennett, Ph. D. Feb 9, 2025 A form of resistance that we can all do and teach..... The ...
Creating the Future of Intercultural Communication
Milton J. Bennett, Ph. D. Jan 23, 2025 As I first wrote last year at this time, I am a ...
It is time to upgrade our conceptual operating system
Milton J. Bennett, Ph. D. Jan 29, 2024 This is the short (but more complete) article from which some phrases ...
