Third Culture Kids Today
Ruth Van Reken, author and speaker on global mobility for families and individuals.
Ruth Van Reken speaks and writes about issues related to globally mobile families. She is co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd ed., co-founder and past chair person of Families in Global Transition (FIGT), and currently Chairperson of the Governing Board of Safe Passage Across Networks (SPAN).
In this interview she tells the story of the progression of Third Culture Kids (TCK) from her personal view/story from where it was to where it is now.
Ruth provides some simple strategies for those who care and work with or raise their own cross-cultural kids can do to help them grow with increasing strength and deal constructively with the inevitable challenges such a lifestyle also brings.
The topics covered in this exploration of TCKs and globally mobile families include:
- The changes globalization and increased transportation plus internet have created in our world.
- How cross-cultural is becoming the norm while so many models of development are based on testing them in a more monocultural framework.
- Where do we go from here with so many societal changes and understanding compared to early days of this topic?
Read Ruth Holmes' article about cross-cultural families and Third Culture Kids today to find out more
Speaker Biography
Ruth Van Reken, author and speaker on globally mobile families
Ruth Van Reken is a second generation Third Culture Kid* (TCK) and mother of three adult TCKs. She is co-author of Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, 3rd ed., and author of Letters Never Sent, her personal journaling seeking to understand the long-term impact of her cross-cultural childhood.
For more than thirty years (pre-covid!) Ruth travelled extensively speaking about issues related to the impact of global mobility on individuals, families, and societies. She is co-founder and past chairperson of Families in Global Transition. In addition to her two books and many articles, she has written a chapter in other books including Strangers at Home, Unrooted Childhoods, and Writing Out of Limbo.
In 2019 she received an Hon. Litt.D from Wheaton College for her life's work. Ruth is currently Chairperson of the Governing Board of Safe Passage Across Networks (SPAN). She now lives in Indianapolis, IN with her husband, David.
Host: Fiona Murchie, Managing Editor and Founder, Relocate & Relocate Global
Fiona Murchie, has over 25 years’ experience in management and HR publishing and global mobility. From this unique perspective, she combines understanding of the HR and global mobility market with knowledge of business drivers and an appreciation of management thinking and the wider influences on company and regional growth brought about by changing global markets, demographics, economics and geo-political factors.
She launched Relocate magazine in 2004, to promote creativity and best practice in mobility, explore new topics, and stimulate debate on relocation-related subjects. Relocate Global has become the leading multimedia for international managers, HR, global mobility and relocation professionals, with a growing international reputation for thought leadership, innovation and people support.
