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Highlights
of our achievments
Intercultural community development
Issues and questions raised
In 1994 IIM turned its attention to the state of intercultural
relations within the social movements and community development
in Quebec. A series of questions were raised for reflection and
investigation : to what extent do communities of diverse cultural
origins participate in the networks of community and social action
groups ? What initiatives have been taken to build bridges between
these communities that compose Quebec society of today ? What is
the nature of community discourse with respect to cultural, racial
and religious diversity ? More over we at the IIM felt that there
is a need to focus on neighborhood living in a multiethnic and multicultural
environment.
Actions taken
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A project
to do a survey on intercultural/interethnic relations in the
Mile End and Parc Extension districts of Montreal. We consulted
60 Quebecois, ethnocultural and multiethnic organizations. (1995-96)
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A project
for intercultural neighbourhood living was initiated to bring
together three communities (Quebecois, Greek and Portuguese)
to examine their historical roots in the Mile End and Parc Extension
neighbourhoods. (1996-97)
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Introduction
of a new program entitled “ Social Movements and Cultural
Pluralism” with a goal to encourage participation of people
from immigrant and ethnocultural communities in Quebec’s
social movements and to propose actions for intercultural relations
within these movements. (1998)
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In order
to implement these goals we have carried out two important projects
in partnership with 12 community organizations : a. Development
of Intercultural Modalities for Cooperation at the Grassroots.(1999-2000);
b. Interculturality in Community Action. (2002-2003)
The reports of these projects are available at the Institute
and can be obtained upon request.
Interreligious dialogue and
social action
In many cultures of the world, religion and culture are inseparable,
thus inter-religious dialogue is integral to intercultural relations.
This has been one of the basic principles of intercultural practices
at the Institute. There have been innumerable programs and activities
offered over the past four decades. But in recent years, we can
observe a resurgence of interest in diversity of religions and in
inter-religious questions in the school system as well as in social
interactions. Communities of particular religious origins have been
targeted for anti-social activities and students of certain religious
background have been affected by unfavorable institutional policies.
In this present context, we need to understand the deeper issues
related to religious diversity in our societies and their social
implications.
Programs offered
2002-2003
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A colloquium
on Conditions for and Obstacle to Inter-religious Dialogue where
people from four different religious communities were invited
to speak and engage in a dialogue.(Christianity, Judaism, Islam
and Sikhism)
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A one-day
training program on Inter-religious Conflict Resolution. Four
different approaches to conflict resolution developed by various
organizations, were offered.
2003-2004
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A Public
Forum on the theme of Religious Traditions and Social Responsibility,
was held at Centre Communautaire de Loisirs Côte-des-Neiges
in a multi-ethnic neighborhood of Côte des Neiges. Leaders
of six religious communities (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Sikh,
Buddhist and Hindu) were invited to share the views of their
traditions on social responsibility. Questions such as , How
can we engage in social action with an inter-religious approach
? and is inter-religious dialogue in itself a social responsibility
?
Direct services to the public
Over the years many services were and are still being offered in
order to meet the needs and requests of people from various communities,
organizations and institutions. Some of these services compliment
our education and training programs and others provide information
on diverse cultural communities, religions, intercultural resources,
that are sought by people.
Referral Service
Besides our library and ethnodocumentation services, we provide
Referral Services to the public. The following is a statistical
profile of this Service :
Profile of
those who use this service : community organizations, social and
health-care institutions, educational institutions, immigrant/ethnocultural
and multicultural organizations, government institutions, media,
individuals and students.
Intercultural Bulletin Board
This monthly Bulletin Board provides information on intercultural
activities that are going on in various communities and organizations.
It also serves an important instrument to create and maintain links
between people and groups active in the intercultural field.
(500 subscribers to this Bulletin Board from different regions of
Quebec)
Intercultural Consulting and Counseling Service
The IIM offers an expert consulting service to individuals and professional
assistance to community organizations, civic and public institutions.
Its aim is to enable these individuals and organizations to evaluate
their needs, clarify their intercultural training objectives, assist
in the creation of intercultural programs, help to reach and establish
contacts with diverse communities, assist in creating intercultural
programs, and provide follow-up to training in intercultural intervention.
Statistical profile of this service 2003
The IIM has always been engaged in reflection and action. But in
1989 we began to do research-action through particular projects
on various issues and topics. Particularity of this reseach-action
is the intention to explore and articulate an intercultural and
community-based research method. These projects are the means to
develop resource materials for those who are confronted with cultural
diversity in their workplace. Ethnocultural and intercultural investigation
into the realities of specific cultural communities and social groups,
such as immigrant families, youth, elderly, have been the focus
of these projects in recent years.
A list of resource publications 2003
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La gang
: une chimère à apprivoiser. Marginalité
et transnationalité chez les jeunes Qébecois d’origine
afro-antillaise. Éditions du Boréal, Montreal,
2003. ( in french only ). Authors : Marc Perreault & Gilles
Bibeau (with the collaboration of Kalpana Das).
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Living
Conditions and Mental Health of the Elderly in Ethnocultural
Communities of Montreal. Analytical report. Intercultural Insitute
of Montreal. Authors : Lomomba Emongo , Anee-Josée Grégoire
( under the direction of K.Das ) In english and french.
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Caring
for the Elderly in Ethnocultural Communities. A Reference Guide.
Intercultural Institute of Montreal. Authors : Kalpana Das &
Lomomba Emongo (collaboration of Anne-Josée Grégoire).
In english and french.
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L’interculturalité
dans le travail communautaire. A Video training document. Intercultural
Institute of Montreal. ( Conception : Kalpana Das, Direction
: Maurice Bulbulian ) In french only.
INTERculture journal
INTERculture intends to contribute to the discovery and emergence
of viable alternative approaches to the fundamental problems of
contemporary Man, in both theory and practice. Its approach is meant
to be integral, which means : Intercultural, Inter and trans-disciplinary
and dia-logical (beyond duality between mythos and logos)
A list of last issues of Interculture
"Beyond the religion and culture of Human Rights, the Nation
State and the Rule of Law. A chronicle / testimony of IIM's research-action
(1970-2002)", By Robert Vahon. Issues 143, 144, 146.
"Worldviers in collision. The Challengge of Genetic Engineering".
By Scott Eastham. Issue 145.
"The Hindu and Haitian youth of Montreal speak about their
community, identity, marginality and help-seeking strategies".
By Lomomba Emongo and Kalpana Das. Issue 142.
"At the threshold of the African soul. The Fulani-Mininanka
way". By Yaya Diallo. Issue 141
Our story in brief
For the first two decades (1960s and 1970s), the Intercultural
Institute of Montreal had devoted its energy toward opening up various
vistas for reflection and raising public awareness of cultural,
racial and religious diversity in Quebec and Canadian societies
as well as in the world. In order to reach this goal, a multitude
of programs and services were developed and offered to the general
public, communities and institutions. Features of our action had
been the following : providing information on cultures and religions
of the world, giving voices to the immigrant and ethnocultural communities,
exposing immigrant communities to the culture(s) of the host society,
advocacy for the Aboriginal Nations of Canada, offering innovative
intercultural education and training programs for the key actors
(professionals) in community organizations and in various institutions,
elaborating methodologies and approaches for intercultural and inter-religious
relations and for research-action, publishing an international Journal
INTERculture and other documents.
Since mid-1980s we have integrated explicitly three other features
into our action, namely the international dimension of interculturality,
empirical research-action projects on social issues concerning diverse
communities and research-action for intercultural community development.
Moreover, the inclusion of local-global and North-South dynamics
of interculturality and the concern for affecting social change
in the pluralistic context of our societies, had given a new direction
to our work.
Thus since 1990s a new image of the Intercultural Institute of Montreal
began to emerge. Today its vision, philosophy and action are articulated
around three fundamental notions : grassroots, interculturality
and alternatives. Revitalization of civil society and its diverse
communities, engaging in community-based interculturalism and search
for intercultural alternatives for our common good, find their expression
in our programs, activities and services.
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