Interculturalism: Cultures and Identities
Call for Participation 2016

A Cultures, Traditions, Societies Project
9th Global Meeting

Monday 18th July – Wednesday 20th July 2016
Mansfield College, Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

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 key focus to be explored is the use of models emerging out of intercultural models of thinking, working practices and daily life. Previous meetings of this project clearly identified the need for 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 2016 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?

A significant theme for debate will be assess the changing and continually morphing relationship between cultures and identities, looking particularly at theories of cultural sensibility and its practical aspects. The conference encourages people working in multicultural environments to describe, analyse and reflect on their experiences in the field. Indicative themes to be considered include:

Cultural sensibility? What is it in practice?
the various relationships between 'interculturalism' and 'multiculturalism'
How does understanding of cultural signifiers assist in studying interculturalism?
Recent criticism has emphasized the problematics of identity and meaning associated with globalization, diaspora and modernity; 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 as 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?
Fear of the other. What society should do in order to overcome these feelings of fear?
interculturalism in an educational context
religious issues and interculturalism
interculturalism in art, literature and film
the philosophy of interculturalism
interculturalism and the politics of the academy i.e. interculturalism and interdisciplinarity
interculturalism and language
resistance to interculturalism through monoculturalism
race, ethnicity and interculturalism
racism, violence and interculturalism
interculturalism and sexuality
interculturalism and politics

Presentations will also be considered which deal with related themes.

Furthjer details and information can be found at the conference website:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/cultures-traditions-s...

Call for Cross-Over Presentations
The Interculturalism project will be meeting at the same time as a project on Suicide. We welcome submissions which cross the divide between both project areas. If you would like to be considered for a cross project session, please mark your submission "Crossover Submission".

What to Send
300 word abstracts, proposals and other forms of contribution should be submitted by Friday 29th January 2016.
All submissions be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.

You will be notified of the panel's decision by Friday 12th February 2016.
If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 3rd June 2016.

Abstracts may be in Word, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: Interculturalism Abstract Submission

Where to Send
Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chairs with listed emails:

Organising Chairs:
Efrat Tzadik: efrat@inter-disciplinary.net
Rob Fisher: interculturalism9@inter-disciplinary.net

This event is an inclusive interdisciplinary research and publishing project. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

A significant number of eBooks and paperback volumes have already emerged from the work of this project. 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.

Ethos
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. Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.