Multiculturalism and Intercultural Dialogue

Course Description

This course contributes to the consolidation of the students’ academicprofessional profile by showing them that nowadays the reality in most Western countries is highly diverse and multicultural. They will also learn that this ethnic diversity has produced all kinds of new socio-cultural phenomena that need to be investigated in order to tackle the problems our societies are facing. The texts students will be reading present them with new challenges that cannot be adequately dealt with by using traditional approaches. They will be encouraged and taught to find both effective and ethical solutions to these challenges.

The main aims of this course are: to make students think of social and cultural diversity as integral components of the human condition, to promote dialogue in order to gain mutual understanding and a fairer society. It will also improve their communicative skills in English and show them how to use proficiently the key concepts in disciplines related to the Humanities.

Contents
1. ETHNICITY AND RELATED CONCEPTS.
2. COLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL PROCESSES IN THE M. AND C. WORLD.
3. DYNAMICS IN THE CONTACT ZONE: DOMINATION AND AMBIVALENCE.
4. MIGRATORY PATTERNS AND MODELS OF CULTURAL INTEGRATION.
5. RACIAL / ETHNIC PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION.
6. ETHNIC GROUPS AND ETHNIC BOUNDARIES IN TODAY’S WORLD.

Methodology
In order to acquire and develop the above-mentioned competences, the following teaching-learning techniques will be used:
- Close reading of specific sections from both scholarly and literary texts and follow-up discussions of the topics therein represented in the classroom.
- Exposure to audio and visual materials to activate and reconstruct the knowledge of other cultural traditions around the globe—primarily in the Americas.
- Reading and researching autonomously alternative ethnic minority materials.
- Preparing a term paper on a text or film covering some of the themes in the course.
- Brief presentations in groups about short fictional pieces from Entre dos mundos.
- Re-writing short fragments of fiction or academic pieces from various perspectives.
- Working on the study questions at home and, then, reporting on them in class.
- Quizzes and on-the-spot exercises on the reading materials.

Assessment
The assessment of the students’ work will be progressive and formative. It will include the following:
- Participation in discussions, study questions, quizzes: 30 %
- Team presentation and term paper: 30 %
- Results of final exam: 40 %

N.B. Students will only get credit for this course if: a) they hand in the term paper on the appointed day and following the guidelines they will be given, b) they do their group presentation, and c) they receive a passing mark in both parts of the final.