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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Many cultures, one community? : Achieving intercultural harmony in Richmond Aronson, Lesley Cherry
Abstract
The multiculturalism policy which Richmond has adopted underscores the importance of nondiscriminatory contact between members of different racial and ethnic groups. Richmond is in the process of a cultural metamorphosis, and it is the position of this paper that constructive intercultural interaction is a necessary precursor to Richmond fulfilling the goals of its multiculturalism policy; and to Richmond planners successfully planning for growth and change. Intercultural understanding rarely occurs by chance, because humans are programmed to think, feel, and behave in an ethnocentric way, as though anyone whose behaviour is not predictable or is peculiar in any way is strange, improper, irresponsible, or inferior. In order to foster successful intercultural encounters, people must be open to the dynamics of change and of attitudes that are less criticizing, less prejuding, less selecting, and less rejecting of other people's and cultures. This paper explores the importance of intercultural training initiatives in helping Richmond residents develop constructive intercultural interaction skills, and in helping planners, new immigrants, and host society members understand one another's cultures, patterns of communication, and the difficulties and discrepancies that they may face when North American planning ideals are implemented in a city where people have different expectations as to what those ideals should be. To carry out this study, key informant interviews were held with the heads of various cultural and multicultural organizations, and civic service departments in Richmond. Recent publications on topics encompassing intercultural interaction, and notes from a debate by five Richmond Secondary School students on the pros and cons of ESL programs were used as secondary data sources. The study suggests that the assumptions outlined are supported by the data collected throughout this research report.
Item Metadata
Title |
Many cultures, one community? : Achieving intercultural harmony in Richmond
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1995
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Description |
The multiculturalism policy which Richmond has adopted underscores the importance of
nondiscriminatory contact between members of different racial and ethnic groups. Richmond is
in the process of a cultural metamorphosis, and it is the position of this paper that constructive
intercultural interaction is a necessary precursor to Richmond fulfilling the goals of its
multiculturalism policy; and to Richmond planners successfully planning for growth and
change.
Intercultural understanding rarely occurs by chance, because humans are programmed to think,
feel, and behave in an ethnocentric way, as though anyone whose behaviour is not predictable
or is peculiar in any way is strange, improper, irresponsible, or inferior. In order to foster
successful intercultural encounters, people must be open to the dynamics of change and of
attitudes that are less criticizing, less prejuding, less selecting, and less rejecting of other
people's and cultures. This paper explores the importance of intercultural training initiatives
in helping Richmond residents develop constructive intercultural interaction skills, and in
helping planners, new immigrants, and host society members understand one another's cultures,
patterns of communication, and the difficulties and discrepancies that they may face when
North American planning ideals are implemented in a city where people have different
expectations as to what those ideals should be.
To carry out this study, key informant interviews were held with the heads of various cultural
and multicultural organizations, and civic service departments in Richmond. Recent
publications on topics encompassing intercultural interaction, and notes from a debate by five
Richmond Secondary School students on the pros and cons of ESL programs were used as
secondary data sources. The study suggests that the assumptions outlined are supported by the
data collected throughout this research report.
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Extent |
13207007 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-01-13
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0086818
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1995-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.