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From the Ottoman Empire to contemporary nation states, governments have needed to manage the diverse populations that live within their borders. Today, migration due to war is increasing globally, and it’s predicted that by 2050, the effects of the climate emergency will have created 140 million “climate migrants” (World Bank, 2018). Super-diversity will be the reality of daily life not just in large cities, but on a national scale. Multiculturalism is a political approach to the new reality of diversity. Multicultural policies allow ethnic minorities to maintain their distinctive cultures, beliefs and practices, and accord all cultures within the nation equal esteem. They are opposed to an assimilation or “melting pot” approach, which expects everyone to adapt to the norms of the host society.
This course focuses on multicultural countries in western Europe and north America that have experienced mass immigration. In these countries, there has been increasing criticism of multicultural policies. Students will engage with this debate and ask:
--how should nations accommodate diversity and give everyone the same opportunities?
--how can we encourage different communities to live together and avoid segregation and racism?
-how do multiculturalism and diversity affect the education that we receive and the media we consume?
Joe Lines has an MA in Irish Literature and a PhD in English, both from Queen’s University Belfast. He has published research articles in Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Eighteenth-Century Ireland, and Romantic Textualities. He has taught English for Academic Purposes at the University of Warwick and at Chang’an-Dublin International College in Xi’an, China.