No More Tower of Babel: Multiculturalism, The Media & Technology

The buzz: “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” (President Jimmy Carter) But Canadian social psychologist John Berry observes that multiculturalism is dependent on both the “cultural maintenance” by immigrant groups and “cultural acceptance” by host societies. Strong cultural maintenance by immigrants and weak cultural acceptance by a host society lead to separation and marginalization. Conversely, weak cultural maintenance by immigrants leads to assimilation into the host culture. (psychologytoday.com) Through media globalization and cross-border connectivity, technology is playing an integral role in balancing cultural preservation with fluid cultural exchange. And this creates a real-time multicultural experience. We’ll ask Court Stroud, Sarah Carberry, Diego Lastra and Ana Crandell for their take on No More Tower of Babel: Multiculturalism, The Media & Technology.