Interculturalism, Meaning and Identity

Interculturalism stands at the interface between the individual,
local groups, societies and cultures. These compete, conflict,
co-exist and trigger reactions and responses on a number of levels
including the social, the economic, the political and the personal.
These are reinforced through language, the media, cultural events,
social institutions and migration policies. Amidst all these dynamic
and static forms of interaction, identities are built and
consolidated.

The previous meeting of this project recognised that identity is not
something which is fixed and predetermined but rather is continuously
created and recreated from the day-to-day flow of living in
communities. With mobility not simply a commonplace factor in society
but continuing to rapidly expand, people are faced with challenges to
and changes in their own identity as a result of encounters with new
cultures, new ways of living and new ways of thinking. People find
themselves forging and reforming their identities through
integration, assimilation, disintegration, reintegration... and so
the pattern continues.

A very important topic to be discussed in the 2015 conference is the
use of interculturalism models in daily life. The previous
conference, the one of March 2014, exhibits the need of discussions
about how to create working platforms within varied professions such
as medical professions: nurses, doctors etc. or social workers,
teachers, local administrative and so on.

The 2015 conference will build on the work of previous meetings in
this series and examine the meaning and parameters of
Interculturalism, how it is studied and what it means. How can we
talk meaningfully of interculturalism? What role does hybridity play
in understanding the way cultures morph, adapt and become suited to
their context?

The 2015 conference encourages people, not necessarily academics,
working in multicultural environments, to describe their experiences
in the field. The first interests would be theories of cultural
sensibility and its practical aspects. The focus of the 2015
Interculturalism conference will be on meeting between cultures and
identities:

- Cultural sensibility? What is it in practice?
- How does understanding of cultural signifiers assist in studying
  intercultrualism?
- Recent criticism of literature has emphasized the problematics of
  identity and meaning associated with globalisation; how so and why?
- What are the implications of processes adopted to consider the
  centre-periphery?
- How do the immersion, absorption and the intersection of cultures
  promote a better understanding of individual and group identities?
- Is "Transculturalism" possible in disputes over resource use?
- How can "Transculturalism" be taught more effectively to
  professional field workers, such asas nurses, teachers, aid workers,
  psychologists etc?
- What can one learn from and about significance of Cross Cultural
  Psychology and Interculturalism, as well as Autism and
  Interculturalism and cultural manifestations of identity,
  Citizenship and Diaspora?
- Are patterns of cognition governed by acculturalisation?
- Is intercultural experience therapeutic or problematic in respect
  of mental health?

Presentations will also be considered which deal with related themes.

Joint Organising Chairs:
Efrat Tzadik: [email protected]
Ram Vemuri and Rob Fisher: [email protected]

The conference is part of the 'Diversity and Recognition' research
projects, which in turn belong to the 'At the Interface' programmes
of Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from
different areas and interests to share ideas and explore discussions
which are innovative and challenging. All papers accepted for and
presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible
for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed
for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications
from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from
interested delegates from the conference.

Inter-Disciplinary.Net believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and
professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should
attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to
make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract for
presentation.

For further details of the conference, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/diversity-recognition/interculturalism/call-for-papers/