Negotiating the Complexities and Polysemy of the Notion of Interculturality in Higher Education: Views from Students at a Minority-Serving Institution

Abstract

The notion of interculturality is complex and polysemous in global research and education. Considering the turbulent times that the world has experienced in recent years, it is increasingly important to confront and enrich this significant scientific notion to make it more inclusive and epistemologically diverse. This paper has two main objectives. First, it reviews the current state of the global literature on the notion of interculturality in education published in English, observing how different ideologies occupy the field—from dominating voices to ‘minor’ ones which are more glocalized (global + local). On the basis of this review calling for more ‘minor’ voices to be heard, the core of the paper is based on the analysis of discussions between Chinese students at a specific institution of higher education (a ‘minority-serving institution’ or Minzu University) in China, where students from the 56 different Minzu groups of China live, study and cooperate together. The glocal ideology of Minzu (often mistranslated as ‘ethnic’ in English), a form of interculturality, is specific to this context and has not been systematically researched. Three groups of students with different ‘Minzu/ethnic’, linguistic and study profiles were paired together to discuss what interculturality could mean and entail. Three interrelating layers of discourses were identified through a dialogical discourse analysis of what the students co-constructed together: glocality, politics and philosophy of life for all. In general, the students demonstrated a nuanced understanding of interculturality that intersected partly with global academic discourses of interculturality. Their insights contributed advanced reflections and critical thoughts on the notion, highlighting the need for a collaborative and innovative approach to its understanding and utilization.