Intercultural Practice Research Articles

Intercultural practices in experiential rural tourism, case of an Andean community on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Puno, Perú

The practice of experiential rural tourism involves the active participation of the local population, promoting cultural exchange between visitors and residents generating intercultural relationships. The objective of the research was to analyze the intercultural relationships that are established between local inhabitants and tourists in the practice of experiential rural tourism. The factors that were analyzed are communication, mutual respect, socioeconomic development, cultural authenticity, shared cultural practices, reciprocity, valuation of cultural identity and the environment in the perceptions and experiences of tourists and local residents. The qualitative approach and method was used, the techniques applied were the in-depth interview with the local population and tourists, direct observation of the practice of this activity and content analysis. The results revealed that there are intercultural relations due to the direct and meaningful interaction between tourists and the local population, facilitating the exchange of knowledge, mutual understanding, representation, authenticity and cultural integration, promoting intercultural dialogue as a basis for a more inclusive and responsible tourism, as well as the importance of cultural authenticity in attracting tourists and preserving local identity..

Impact of Zinc Application on Growth, Yield, and Quality of African Marigold in Semi-Arid Conditions

Marigold is a widely cultivated, hardy flower crop known for its adaptability. Among the various intercultural practices in marigold cultivation, foliar application of zinc plays a critical role in enhancing yield and quality, however, standardization of this practice is necessary to optimize commercial production. Hence, the investigation aimed to standardize foliar zinc application for improving productivity in African marigold (Pusa Narangi Gainda) at Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Jaipur, during 2020-21, and 2021-22. Two concentrations of zinc sulphate (ZnSO₄), Z1 (0.2%), and Z2 (0.5%), were applied at 35 and 65 days after transplanting (DAT) in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Results indicated that Z1 (ZnSO₄ 0.2%) was most effective in increasing plant height, and promoting early bud initiation, and flower opening, while Z2 (ZnSO₄ 0.5%) significantly enhanced plant spread, primary branching, leaf dimensions, plant biomass, root-to-shoot ratio, flower diameter, and yield parameters such as flower mass and number. Z2 also improved quality traits like chlorophyll and xanthophyll content. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences among treatments, suggesting that the application of ZnSO₄ at 0.5% may be recommended for optimizing growth, yield, and quality in commercial marigold cultivation, thereby enhancing productivity and profitability.

Effect of Pinching on Growth, Yield, and Quality of African Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) cv. Pusa Narangi Gainda

Marigold is a very common and a hardy flower crop cultivated throughout the world. Pinching is an important intercultural practice commonly followed in cultivation of marigold however, this needs to be standardized for getting higher yields in commercial cultivation. Hence, the present investigation was conducted at Rajasthan Agricultural Research Institute, Durgapura, Jaipur, Division of Horticulture, during 2020-21 and 2021-22 to standardize the commercial pinching practice for getting higher productivity. Three levels of pinching (no pinching, single at 20 days and double at 20 and 40 days after transplanting) were used in the course of the research arranged using a factorial randomized block layout with three replications applied to African marigold variety Pusa Narangi Gainda. The results revealed that treatment P0 (No pinching) was discovered to be the finest in increment in height of plant, early flower bud initiation flower opening and treatment P2 (Double pinching) in boosting spread of plant, primary branches, length of leaf, leaf width, leaf area, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, total biomass, root- shoot ratio, 50% flowering, flower diameter, stalk and ray floret length, fresh and dry flower weight, mass and number of flower per plant, flower yield additionally improved quality characteristics like chlorophyll and xanthophyll content in marigold. Hence, it might be concluded that application of double pinching can be helpful and recommended in improving yield as well as quality characteristics in commercial cultivation of marigold.

Interdisciplinary learning of homeopathy and intercultural practice

A Homeopatia é especialidade médica reconhecida pelo Conselho Federal de Medicina no Brasil e conta com serviços de Residência Médica. Portanto, enquanto especialidade, precisa ser inserida no ensino de alguma forma durante a graduação. O presente artigo visa relatar a experiência do ensino híbrido e interdisciplinar de Homeopatia via currículo oculto a alunos de graduação para a percepção ampliada de seu potencial não apenas em clínica e em atenção primária, mas em pesquisa, também para demonstrar a distinção entre Fitoterapia e Homeopatia. A ementa e as aulas teóricas foram apresentadas pelo sítio do Projeto Saúde Ambiental, Parasitologia, Bioética da Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Na parte prática, este ensino esteve associado à metodologia ativa com tarefas para resoluções de problemas locais e focais trazidos pela oportunidade de vivência intercultural, inserindo-se o emprego de soluções ultradiluídas e dinamizadas e de extratos vegetais de maneira contextualizada e histórica em nossa sociedade, a partir de estágio ambulatorial no Serviço de Homeopatia da 7ª Enfermaria do Hospital Geral Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Rio de Janeiro. Para mais além de uma função prescritora, o acolhimento e o matriciamento em um espaço de saúde para a promoção à saúde via educação em saúde, em um serviço territorializado e intersetorializado, respeitando-se o perfil plural de nossa clientela de usuários atendidos em nível ambulatorial. Como resultado qualitativo mostra os trabalhos de iniciação científica realizados para conclusão deste curso de extensão piloto e avaliados entre pares. Apresenta ainda projeto maior de sua aula prática através do cultivo de Calendula officinalis, indo desde a semeadura até a visita à farmácia para a observação da farmacotécnica de preparo pelo método hahnemanniano clássico dos múltiplos frascos. Desta maneira, discute o potencial de um projeto de iniciação científica, enquanto exemplo de metodologia ativa de ensino prático que, para sua elaboração, discussão e reflexão precisou entrar em contato com os princípios filosóficos, fisiopatológicos e semiológicos da Homeopatia em doenças crônicas, de sua história clínica e em pesquisa no Brasil, além da sensibilização ambiental no sentido da construção do conceito sobre Saúde Única e que isto envolve o desenvolvimento de competência cultural e competência ética ambiental, expressos através da criação conjunta de um jardim intercultural, uma biblioteca a céu aberto, rica em saberes, mas também em memórias afetivas de membros de Comunidades Tradicionais Étnicas e de Povos Originários que vivem em contexto urbano no Rio de Janeiro/Brasil. Por intermédio deste jardim seguem as investigações em ecofisiologia, fitoremediação e o potencial de emprego para sustentabilidade. Para concluir, este tipo de ensino que mistura metodologias ativas (sala invertida, TBL e aprendizagem baseada em projetos) apresenta-se como promissor para a aprendizagem, porém será necessário o estabelecimento futuro de uma métrica para a sua avaliação didático-pedagógica para incrementar a robustez.

Documenting Territorialidad: an intercultural approach to the provenance of Mapuche land records

Using critical place research and documentary methods, this article examines the Mapuche territorial cause in Chile and exposes the deficiencies of state-produced Mapuche land titles, known as Títulos de Merced, which are required for and (mis)used as evidence by Chile’s Indigenous land restitution program. The Títulos de Merced were granted to Mapuche families during and after the military occupation of Wallmapu (Mapuche territory), as documentation of their relocation to reducciones (reservations) between 1884 and 1929. However, these approximately 3000 titles do not fully represent Mapuche land claims. Instead, they were used by the newly formed Chilean state to reduce Mapuche territory to approximately 5% of its ancestral span, leaving undocumented much of the territories that communities were effectively using before the reduction process––what Mapuche claimants refer to as tierras antiguas or ancestral lands. Despite this, CONADI, the government agency that administers the land program, defines these titles as the primary sources of documentary evidence to prove Mapuche land dispossession. Therefore, not only are the Títulos de Merced not enough, but they negatively impact Mapuche land claims by purposefully reducing, once again, Mapuche ancestral territory, this time discursively. Mapuche claimants are paradoxically forced to validate claims to their ancestral land through documents that were designed to legitimize their dispossession. By examining the insufficiency and inappropriateness of the Títulos de Merced as evidence for Mapuche territorial claims, this paper proposes the intercultural practice of documenting territorialidad—the expression of cultural, economic, and spiritual Mapuche practices over the territory—in addition to colonial demarcations of land, as a form of producing/using evidence for Mapuche land restitution claims. Suggesting the mapu (land/territory) as provenance and territorialidad as evidence, this alternative documentary practice unsettles the Títulos de Merced as the only legitimate form of evidence for Mapuche land claims and theorizes interculturalidad—the recognition of and dialogue between diverse ways of knowing coexisting within the same territory—as a framework for thinking about provenance when working with Indigenous land records.

A Qualitative Study on the Experience of Operating Communication Programs by Professional Instructors at Family Centers: Focused on Intercultural Practice

A Qualitative Study on the Experience of Operating Communication Programs by Professional Instructors at Family Centers: Focused on Intercultural Practice

A Call for a Cultural Shift in Oceanography

Oceanography stands at a critical juncture, confronting the coupled challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss while also addressing calls for equity and justice in ocean economic development and governance. This paper defines and advocates for the weaving of three perspectives into oceanography education, research, and policy practice: the Socio-Ecological Lens, the Humanist Approach, and Equitable Intercultural Practice. By embracing these frameworks, the field can transcend the challenges of classical oceanography, paving the way for academic and professional practices that are more inclusive, equitable, and attuned to the intricacies of human-ocean relationships. Such a shift will foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration, elevate the role of humanities in oceanographic education, and push for decolonizing methodologies for ocean policy engagement, thereby enabling ethical career paths. Ultimately, these perspectives will empower oceanographers to cultivate a deeper and more equitable bond with the oceans, helping them to steer society with the transformative science practices that are fundamentally needed in a successful United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Perceptions of Diversity, Curriculum and Intercultural Practices: The Case of A Greek Intercultural School

Perceptions of Diversity, Curriculum and Intercultural Practices: The Case of A Greek Intercultural School

PARTICIPATION OF GENDER IN PADDY CULTIVATION PRACTICES

The present study was conducted in Assam focusing on gender roles and division of labor in different activities related to paddy cultivation. A total of 320 numbers of respondents were selected for the study. The data were collected through personal interview with the help of research schedule during 2022. The participation of respondents engaged in paddy cultivation were studied in seven domains: activities related to seed, raising of nursery and transplanting, preparation of field, fertilizer application, water management and intercultural practices, harvesting and Post- harvest and marketing of produce. The responses were collected in frequency and percentage in three-point continuum of “Active participation”, “Partial participation” and “No participation” having the score of 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The overall extent of participation of both men and women in paddy cultivation was calculated to gain an overall view of low, medium and high level of participation. A two sample Z- tests was performed to determine whether there existed any difference in paddy cultivation practices between men and women. Thus, frequency, percentage, Mean, Standard deviation and two sample Z test were used as statistical tools to conduct the present study. The results revealed that majority of the farm women (57.50%) had active participation in seed preservation, transplanting of seedlings into main field (83.75%), post- harvest activities (91.25%). Men were playing role in fertilization (66.25%), water table maintenance (89.38%), chemical applications (89.38%), marketing related activities (90.63%). It can be concluded that women contribute equally with men. They should empower with all necessities which will help to reduce gender gap in agriculture.

Activations of the Threshold

The early practices and theorizations of interculturalism have been critiqued extensively for their Eurocentric bias, with intercultural practices shown as reproducing existing hierarchies. In the last decade there have been important theoretical efforts to revisit the questions raised by interculturalism beyond the contours of its definition and practice of the 1980s and 1990s. While they highlight the liminal/threshold quality of these practices, stressing a utopian dimension, the present paper explores the potentiality of interculturality/intraculturality as activation of an experience of what Bernhard Waldenfels has termed ‘radical alienness’. Rather than reifying the boundaries of the ‘other’ or imagining a utopia, the experience of radical alienness offers an experience that reveals ordering processes and their limits, and a possible experience beyond that order. I specifically investigate auteur film-maker G. Aravindan’s engagement with the modern circus in the historic context of the fading away of circus as a popular art form in India. Thampu (The Circus Tent, 1978) is a ‘docu-fiction’, using both performers of the Great Chithra Circus and actors. Using a non-linear and episodic structure that foregrounds duration, Thampu places the affective experience offered by an itinerant circus coming to a village in relation to the varied rhythms and experiences in the village. I investigate how in the film, rhythms are conceived as activating space-times that define experience, with special attention to performance and music as sites of activations. I argue that approaching experience through rhythm, the film attempts to stage the complex simultaneous connections and separations between varied experiences in the space-time of the village, bringing into orbit a threshold experience of the radical alien that allows one to experience a deep sense of alienation, pleasure and labour.

Sustainable wheat production strategies in blast-affected areas of Bangladesh

Bangladesh experienced widespread wheat blast infections for the first time in 2016. The outbreak of the disease has significantly affected wheat acreage and production. This study uses an ‘action theory’ framework to identify the determinants that affected wheat growers to adopt certain production practices to deal with the situation. We followed a multistage sampling procedure and interviewed 150 wheat growers from two severely blast-affected districts, Meherpur and Kustia. According to 91.3% of farmers, the most remarkable adoption strategies were ‘improved intercultural practices,’ ‘shifting variety,’ ‘shifting crops’, and ‘undertaking off-farm activities,’ of which farmers mostly followed the former. We also used multivariate probit model analysis to identify factors that shape farmers’ adaptation choices in wheat blast-affected areas. The adaptation strategies are influenced mainly by farmers’ education, primary occupation, family size, government incentives, extension services, access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and annual income. According to the notable similarities between the four adoption strategies, an adoption study should consider all potential factors influencing farmers’ adoption decisions. Policy implications include strengthening extension services, developing tailored adaptation strategies, and conducting relevant research.

Towards a translational landscape: a study of Coloane’s urban features through the lens of translational spaces

ABSTRACT Macao's Coloane is a contested place for intense China-West convergence. The multiplicity and reciprocity of languages, visual icons, and the surrounding geographical features play out to create an ever complicated translational scene in the multilingual urban area of Coloane. This article seeks to explore and theorize the central role of translation in urban signification and imagination. The notion of translational spaces is applied to reveal the multilayered meanings embedded in cross-cultural experiment and existence. By integrating linguistic landscape research, visual studies, and architectural studies into translation studies, the article contributes to the debate on urban language. The concept of translational landscape is proposed as a descriptive and analytical tool to investigate multifaceted translation issues in multilingual cities. Seeing translation as a key epistemological concept and an intercultural practice, this study offers insights into the way translation studies can theorize discursive, semiotic and cultural meanings in respect of cities.

Eric fighting in Guatemala. Adaptation and proximation of medieval Arthurian literature in Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Erec y Enide

Abstract Europe boasts a large number of traditions and cultures which coexist in a relatively small space. However, despite this, different literary motifs and topics have been readapted and transformed into other different traditions. The Arthurian legend is a prime example of this. Whilst it originated in the British Isles, it rapidly expanded throughout the continent in many different cultural manifestations, from poetry to decorative arts, music to drama. The Arthurian legend acquired special importance in France, where Chrétien de Troyes’s Erec et Enide gave it a courtly touch. The Welsh version of the story, Geraint ap Erbin, is less courtly than its French counterpart but keeps elements proper to the Welsh tradition. Thus, the Arthurian legend developed in different cultural traditions throughout the Middle Ages and it is the object of readaptations even today. Erec et Enide was recently rewritten and readapted into Spanish as a contemporary story focusing on modern-day problems. Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Erec y Enide is an exceptional example of intercultural practice tailored to a culture (or even cultures) different from the original one in which it was composed. This article analyses the process of transferring and recreating the European medieval time and space of the French and Welsh texts into a Latin-American contemporary context, where brigands and thieves are substituted by henchmen and guerrillas and argues how translation can play a key role in the recreation of the medieval world in a contemporary setting.

Proposing Chinese English as a lingua franca (ChELF)

Scholarly attention to English in relation to L1 Chinese speakers in China has yielded fruitful research insights and publications, which present us with various names, such as Chinglish, Chinese English, China English and a few more, leading to terminological controversies (e.g. Eaves, 2011; Y. Li, 2018; Zhang, 1997). A review of different theoretical stances illuminates that recent research under different names converges toward an attempt to reflect the role of English as a lingua franca (ELF) for Chinese individuals, given the context of globalisation and digitalisation. The article proposes to address terminological puzzles by adopting the notion of Chinese English as a lingua franca (ChELF) to elucidate the role of ELF and acknowledge Chinese ownership of English, hoping for collaborations among researchers interested in Chinese legitimacy in English creativity emerging in intercultural practices.

The Chinese History of Translation in the Framework of Cultural Communication

Understandings and beliefs about translation activities related to a culture constitute the "translation view" of the culture in a specific historical period. And the history of translation is the intercultural practice of culture and the history of intercultural human communication. In the early history of translation, the translation view of the mainstream culture strengthened the image of the cultural center of the Han group including Confuses’ canons. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, due to political corruption, people felt disappointed, depressed and helpless in real life and turned to Buddhism for spiritual shelter. Since then, the translation of Buddhist scriptures has been popular. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, western translation of science and technology emerged, and introduced western spiritual and institutional culture, and new vitality into the development of Han culture.

Sustaining Qatari heritage as intercultural competencies: towards a global citizenship education

ABSTRACT This study explores critical challenges for global citizenship education (GCE) in Qatar. This study contributes to Global Citizenship Education (GCE) studies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. It reimagines cultural practices as pedagogical strategies to reorient students into global awareness and intercultural views, as stated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In effect, the study draws attention to the pivotal role of education in nurturing a global ethical outlook by achieving a balance between local culture and global citizenship. The aim is to infuse the educational system with myriad social and family ethics in a way that vehemently transcends local specificities. It examines intercultural ethics within the Islamic and Qatari settings. How can intercultural practices born from the Qatari Islamic culture develop global citizenry? The study identifies two Qatari shared values that advocate for an intercultural understanding of global citizenship. More specifically, it examines specific intercultural practices, such as Al-Nafla and Al-Majlis, beyond the local level to endorse ethical responsibility toward global citizenship.

The Language Diamond: An Intercultural Model to Teach and Learn (through) Languages

The starting point (1) of our proposal is the observation of the lack of intercultural practices in schools in France, even in the crucial context of teaching French to migrant children (2). Thanks to previous studies, we, therefore, develop theoretical anchors (3) about learning territories, the ways to recycle language, and cultural experiences that can encompass all the context parameters (a pan-language approach) to elaborate an intercultural model for learning and teaching. The aim is to propose, methodological reflections to offer a model which could help change the representations and practices of the educational community regarding multilingualism so that students’ language and cultural experiences could become an asset to achieve academic success (4). It leads to a discussion about leads to the creation of the intercultural language diamond model to teach and learn (through) languages (5). Projects based on the language model give the opportunity to discuss this proposal (5): interests and possible limitations (6). The conclusion (7) pledges the use of the language diamond to counterbalance the ideology which considers diversity as an issue, and therefore adopt a holistic, maximalist point of view: a pan-language and pan-cultural approach to encompass the complexity of education challenges today.

Agronomic Interventions for Higher Water use Efficiency in Greengram (Vigna radiata): An Overview

Agronomic manipulations are imperative for apposite growth of crop leading to higher yields. Various management practices like seed rate, planting time and method, plant population, intercultural practices, weed management, fertilizers and irrigation application, intercropping, mulch application for soil moisture conservation, etc. results in increased water use efficiency (WUE) of the crop. Also selection of crop which necessities lesser water usage for crop growth encourages diversification. Greengram is paramount preference for areas with scarcity of good quality water. Being rich in protein content and minerals, it serves the purpose of healthy regimen. Timely sown crop results in better growth due to favorable climatic conditions. Whereas late sown crop is adversely affected by pest attack, temperature fluctuation etc. ensuing reduced water use efficiency and yield diminution. Planting method, plant population and intercultural operations are essential in agronomic point of view. Selection of apt irrigation regimes directly effects water use efficiency in any field study. As crop productivity is equal with water productivity, the efficient irrigation schedule assures water saving without affecting the crop yields. Because, where no irrigations are given, the water use may be low by the crop but, this may affect crop yields. Use of recommended fertilizers may facilitate the use of irrigation water by crop for its better growth and improved WUE. Insertion of low water requiring crop as intercrop can unswervingly increase water productivity. Applying mulch conserve moisture as its use lowers evaporation from soil surface. Usage of weed management practices conserves irrigation water as weeds compete with crop plants for water and nutrients. Wherefore, the present review will reckon upon the impact of innumerable agronomic interventions in increasing water productivity.

Refugee Minors from Ukraine and their Families - First Experiences from an Intercultural Practice for Child and Adolescents Psychiatry and an Outpatient Clinic for Refugees/Hamburg

Due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, many families were forced to flee to Germany, often having to leave relatives behind.The outpatient clinic for refugees at Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf coordinates the psychosocial and psychotherapeutic care for refugee minors from Ukraine in Hamburg. The intercultural practice for child and adolescents psychiatry offers on-site consultations for children and adolescents in camps in order to provide a low-threshold access to counseling and diagnostics. Diagnostic and therapeutic experiences to this point indicate the contribution of multifactorial stress to the development of symptoms in Ukrainian minors.The threat of war and displacement seems to be only one of many factors. Although there are some remarkable resilience factors for Ukrainian refugee children and adolescents in comparison to refugees from other countries of origin, the forced adaptation to living and studying conditions in Hamburg bears challenges for many. Additionally due to war experiences psychotherapeutic and psychiatric care is frequently needed. On Germany's side, there is a need for action to ameliorate the accessibility to the health care system for refugees and migrants. Support of therapists in this complex working field is thereby as important as advocacy for the needs of minor refugees in German society.

Intercultural Worship and Decolonialization: Insights from the Book of Psalms

This essay unpacks the relationship between an intercultural approach to worship and the vision of decolonization. It argues that for justice and liberation to be front and center in intercultural practices, there is a need to analyze the power dynamics that are present in the midst of a diverse worshipping community. Equally important is that the vision of decolonization needs the intercultural approach because of its ability to build bridges between people who are different, so that the faith community can overcome fragmentation by experiencing truth telling, healing, and transformation. The essay goes on to suggest that the book of Psalms offers rich resources for envisioning an intercultural worship that seeks to embody alternatives to oppressive, exclusionary, and alienating politics of assimilation and segregation. The book of Psalms, which was, for the most part, composed or redacted in the shadow of different empires, proclaimed God’s reign as a faith posture in the face of oppressive empires. This central motif of God’s reign, which appears in psalms of lament and psalms of praise, restores the agency of the oppressed by giving them a voice and holds those who abuse their power accountable. Practices such as lament and praise allow a diverse worshipping community to pay attention to how people experience power differently, and it calls them to be authentic and truthful so that these diverse people may work together towards transformation, justice, and healing.