Cultural Diversity in a Globalizing World

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What is cultural diversity; when and where does cultural diversity become salient? This course focuses on cultural difference and identity in an era in which the nation seems to lose its unifying significance in matters of personal identity and group identity formation. It seeks to analyze how globalization influences identity and culture and the ways in which these interact with social differences, gender, ethnicity, religion and nationality. Its orientation is both practical and theoretical. Students will get acquainted with different theories of globalization and culture such as Hybridization (Nederveen Pieterse), McDonaldization (Ritzer), or the Clash of Civilizations (Huntington), concepts such as Orientalism (Said), Occidentalism (Margalit and Buruma), and Multiculturalism. Throughout the course theoretical discussions are linked to real life, actual and sometimes pressing practical debates and examples such as multicultural dilemmas, national identity formation, fundamentalist terrorism, and migration. Themes: Cultural Diversity; Gender and Ethnicity; National Identity; Multiculturalism; Orientalism; Occidentalism; Fundamentalism. Disciplinary perspectives: Cultural Studies, Migration Studies, Gender and Diversity Studies, Sociology