Justification of this course and objectives

Justification

Current economic and social trends in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world have led to the emergence of forms and production models that are simplifying and, to a certain extent, homogenizing many cultural aspects. Institutions, social relations, territorial systems, demographic, political and economic phenomena produce commonplaces that are generalized and / or culturally imposed through artifacts, the media and socio-economic entities. In this specific title, by employing a variety of theoretical approaches to interculturality, we propose to train professionals to be able to identify and analyze in depth some of the main current phenomena and challenges linked to these processes: migration, poverty, human development, and other global changes. The University Expert in Interculturality will also acquire tools to design intercultural social, geographic, political, linguistic, educational, existential and development projects.

Interculturality recognizes and promotes the encounter and exchange between different cultural groups without attempting to dominate or homogenize. It avoids cultural absolutism and proposes understanding culture not only in an ethnic sense, but also in terms of symbolic material and social relations that result from the consolidation of different human groups (e.g. professional, generational or social). Furthermore, territory is also understood as a cultural construction: the product of norms, customs, symbols and techniques derived from a geohistorical evolution. Natural and cultural phenomena, their connections and repercussions have a location in space, and a distribution that can be examined from different humanistic perspectives.

By promoting intercultural studies at the University of Oviedo, we are also committed to the decolonization of knowledge, and to the transfer of this concept to all areas of society, politics and personal relationships. First, the design of diverse intercultural dialogue projects proposes to identify and dismantle racist, xenophobic, homophobic and sexist power structures. For this, we will bring together studies of comparative philosophy and various ontologies (African, Asian and South American), theories of justice and political philosophies on emigration, development and poverty, with case studies that involve the analysis and design of specific projects in different intercultural areas.

Second, we aim to examine the existing relationship between population, human development and identity using different critical perspectives and theoretical approaches (philosophical, geographic, etc.). In addition, we will address the concepts of regional inequality and place, socio-territorial vulnerability, the fragility of urban and rural areas, the patrimonialization of culture and nature, as well as the generalized processes of urbanization associated with the expansion of a global culture and sustained by technological development and industrial production.

Objectives

The main objective of this course is to train university experts in the field of interculturality, in order to acquire both theoretical and practical resources and knowledge to face the challenges posed by the current geopolitical and social situation. The general objectives of the four main modules are the following:

• Identify and understand in depth the main current challenges in the field of global justice, such as migration and forced displacement, poverty and development, particularly in Europe and Africa. In addition, to be able to draw on Western and African political philosophies and theories of justice, among others, in the context of a globalized world.
• Know and be able to critically assess urbanization in relation to the expansion of global culture, the changes in spaces and human groups in rural areas, and tourism in order to understand the links between population, human development and identity from a geographical point of view.
• Acquire methodologies of comparative philosophy and basic tenets of Indian, African and Mexican ontologies.
• Learn about applications of intercultural approaches in the field of law, education and languages, to gauge the potential and the challenges of interculturality in these fields.