Alonzo
03-21-2008, 09:28 PM
I found these one youtube, they are pictures of multicultural week at York University in Toronto, a university I once attended. I've known people who have gone to many universities, including one who attended both York and Boston University. High levels of diversity are present in many schools, but inclusive diversity, as opposed to exclusionary diversity, is often hard to find.
I remember at York they had student organizations such as the Chinese, Japanese, Palestinian, Iranian, Nigerian, Kenyan etc. student organizations but the organizations tended to focus on whether or not you liked that culture, and less on whether or not you were from that culture. Because of this it was common to find white people in the Chinese student association, or black people in the Italian student association and so on. I remember the Japanese student association even had a white guy as its vice president, and all the organizations seemed to hold events targeting the entire student body, not just their members.
I remember the first time I saw their multicultural week. They have a small mall on campus and the entire area was lined with cultural clubs which had food and pamphlets on their culture (dress, traditions etc.). The people at these booths wanted others to ask them questions about their culture.
They also had special events set up where people could participate in traditional dances from various cultures, hear songs etc. and these events took place in the center of the mall.
I often read about various universities and colleges trying to improve diversity on campus and about how they have all these cultural groups designed for students born in that culture. And then I hear students comment on how these people tend to form cliques. But that wasn't the case at york. The cultural groups at york were front and center for everyone to see, and during multicultural week you had to confront it as many of the events were in the most trafficked part of campus, not in some isolated conference room (though some larger events were held in other areas). And the people, I remember the college I attended afterwards and you typically saw the blacks students together, all the asians students together, all the muslim students together and so on. At york people actually had groups of friends from all backgrounds, and integrated circles of friends were more common than segregated ones.
Anyone, here's the video's, maybe if other colleges followed examples of universities such as York there wouldn't be so many complaints about multiculturalism failing in schools. And from what I can tell, they've greatly expanded multiculturalism week since I left there:
2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkefE1srcXM
2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIKcoriKHw
I remember at York they had student organizations such as the Chinese, Japanese, Palestinian, Iranian, Nigerian, Kenyan etc. student organizations but the organizations tended to focus on whether or not you liked that culture, and less on whether or not you were from that culture. Because of this it was common to find white people in the Chinese student association, or black people in the Italian student association and so on. I remember the Japanese student association even had a white guy as its vice president, and all the organizations seemed to hold events targeting the entire student body, not just their members.
I remember the first time I saw their multicultural week. They have a small mall on campus and the entire area was lined with cultural clubs which had food and pamphlets on their culture (dress, traditions etc.). The people at these booths wanted others to ask them questions about their culture.
They also had special events set up where people could participate in traditional dances from various cultures, hear songs etc. and these events took place in the center of the mall.
I often read about various universities and colleges trying to improve diversity on campus and about how they have all these cultural groups designed for students born in that culture. And then I hear students comment on how these people tend to form cliques. But that wasn't the case at york. The cultural groups at york were front and center for everyone to see, and during multicultural week you had to confront it as many of the events were in the most trafficked part of campus, not in some isolated conference room (though some larger events were held in other areas). And the people, I remember the college I attended afterwards and you typically saw the blacks students together, all the asians students together, all the muslim students together and so on. At york people actually had groups of friends from all backgrounds, and integrated circles of friends were more common than segregated ones.
Anyone, here's the video's, maybe if other colleges followed examples of universities such as York there wouldn't be so many complaints about multiculturalism failing in schools. And from what I can tell, they've greatly expanded multiculturalism week since I left there:
2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkefE1srcXM
2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIKcoriKHw