Universities as spaces for engaging the other: A pedagogy of encounter for intercultural and interreligious education

Abstract

Internationalisation of Higher Education coupled with students’ mobility across the globe in the 21st century has led to universities in many countries having to deal with an unprecedented flow of human diversity. Such diversity can become a potential source of conflict due to increased “otherness”, but at the same time, it also presents an ideal lifelong learning opportunity for engaging the other through intercultural and interreligious education. This paper begins with a literature review, exploring the challenges of international higher education and the opportunities it offers in fostering intercultural and interreligious dialogue and deeper engagement across values, beliefs, world views, habits of mind and ways of being. The review highlights that on the one hand, rich diversity and otherness within universities can easily be built up in so-called educated individuals as givens and therefore be treated with insensitivity or indifference. On the other hand, diversity can evoke the possibility for the exchange of thoughts, values and world views, sharing experiences, engaging with each other’s foreignness, and making the encounter a real enrichment and transformation. Next, using the narrative of a case study about conflicts within an international students’ residence, the author illustrates the necessity of encounter and engagement with otherness as decisive avenues for intercultural learning and interreligious understanding. Through a further analysis of the case study, she establishes that pedagogical strategies formulated around encounter, dialogue and engagement should be integrated into the students’ life at international universities so that they serve to bridge religions, cultures, world views and other differences, thus creating a sustainable culture of dialogue and peace. The paper concludes by suggesting a few key elements which seem useful for implementing a pedagogy of encounter in both formal and informal lifelong learning settings.