Intercultural Learning

This is intercultural learning, and you belong here.

Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.(bell hooks, 2003: 197)

The Intercultural Learning Department is dedicated to fostering equity, inclusion, and meaningful belonging at TRU. We do not shy away from talking about or acknowledging our differences, or all the complex issues that can make connection and thriving both challenging and empowering. We strive to acknowledge those differences, to engage with all their complexities, and to better understand our histories so that we can move forward together in a good way.

What We Do

Intercultural learning has a dual mandate to:

  • Foster equitable belonging at TRU in the context of increasing internationalization,
  • Nurture and support work that addresses our decolonization and reconciliation responsibilities in local and global contexts.

We work to address the complex social and equity issues that are associated with internationalization at TRU, which is occurring in the context of increasing polarization, heightened migration, social upheaval, and the global climate crisis. We also seek to nurture Indigenous and settler relationships founded on empathy, radical trust, and mutual commitments to decolonial futures. In keeping with our reconciliation responsibilities, this includes the provision of:

"...this includes the provision of "skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism"(Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, 2015, Call 24, 27, 28, 57, 92 iii)

Our small-but-mighty team works pan-institutionally with faculty, students, and staff, as well as community members and organizations. For information on how to get involved or find support, explore the initiatives and opportunities on this website or contact us at intercultural@tru.ca

Who We Are

  • Dr. Kyra Garson

    Dr. Kyra Garson (she/her/hers)
    Intercultural Coordinator
    kgarson@tru.ca
    250-852-7184

    Bio

    Kyra is an educator and faculty developer who is passionate about intercultural learning, inclusive pedagogies, and combating discrimination in educational spaces. Her research interests include critical pedagogies, multicultural group work and critical internationalization studies. Kyra’s doctoral study entitled “Are we graduating Global Citizens?” received the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education’s dissertation of the year award in 2014. In 2011, the Canadian Bureau for International Education selected her to receive the Internationalization Award for her work with faculty to intercuturalize the curriculum. In 2017, she was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award by the British Columbia Council for International Education. In 2020 she received TRU’s Excellence in Interculturalization Award.

  • JIANG Yujie

    JIANG Yujie* (she/her/hers)
    IUSC Research Assistant
    dianajyj719@hotmail.com

    Bio

    JIANG Yujie is a first-year Master of Education student at TRU. In her role as IUSC Research Assistant, she collaborates with the Intercultural Understanding Sub-Committee of Senate to research and report on intercultural understanding performance indicators at TRU. She has been especially involved in research relating to intercultural narratives, having successfully collaborated on a research ethics application and survey creation, she is further engaging in data generation, analysis, and dissemination of results.

    As an Intercultural Ambassador at TRU, Yujie enjoys intercultural learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), Indigenous cultures, active witnessing, and intercultural communication. She also practices her intercultural awareness and development in many volunteer activities in the community. During this journey, she works to improve her cultural self-awareness by learning more about her own culture. Passionate about foreign language teaching, she wants to integrate intercultural education into language teaching to help foster intercultural development among her students.

  • Dr. Amie McLean

    Dr. Amie McLean (she/her/hers)
    Intercultural Coordinator
    ammclean@tru.ca
    250-828-5301

    Bio

    Amie is a sociologist, writer, educator and parent whose academic interests are on equity and social justice issues in Canadian post-secondary education and work. Her perspective is rooted in anti-racist, anti-colonial feminist thought, with an expanding focus on disability studies. She has published on post-secondary funding policies for Indigenous students, neoliberalisation and trucking industry regulation, and the racialized politics of mobility among long haul truckers. While supporting the intercultural department at TRU, Amie is on leave from her position as Project Manager for Justice, Equity, and Inclusion for Work-Integrated Learning at Simon Fraser University. She previously served as Co-Chair of the Learning at Intercultural Intersections: Towards Equity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation international conference and co-edited a resulting special issue in the Journal of Intercultural Studies. She sits on a wide range of committees focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion and engages in community advocacy work related to these topics.

  • Sourajita Panda

    Sourajita Panda (she/her/hers)
    Intercultural & EDI Co-op Research Assistant
    spanda@tru.ca

    Bio

    Sourajita is not only a first-year post-baccalaureate student in Human Resources Management, but also the Communications Coordinator of the Human Resources Management Club, an Intercultural Student Ambassador at TRU, and a Co-op student with the EDI fellows and Intercultural Learning department.

    Originally from India, Sourajita's upbringing has given her a unique perspective that enriches her ability to carry out various roles. She has always been an active volunteer with several non-governmental organizations in India, and these experiences have deepened her commitment to fostering an inclusive community at TRU. Sourajita strongly believes that interacting with students from diverse cultures not only strengthens the "TRU" community, but also leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation of one's own culture.

    In addition to her roles at TRU, Sourajita is passionate about creating an inclusive climate. Her dedication to this cause has led her to become a Co-op student with the EDI fellows and the Intercultural Learning department, where she attempts to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all students, staff and faculty.

* In many regions of the world, name order does not follow the Given Name, Family Name order that is common in Canada. In much of China, where Yujie is from, family name comes before given name. Since Canadian name order is enshrined in law and custom, many folks from international pathways face pressure or have no choice but to change their name order. We are striving for a TRU where all names and name orders are welcomed and spoken. Learn more.

For general inquiries, please email intercultural@tru.ca

Publications

Dr. Kyra Garson

Academic Publications

Garson, K. (2023). Exploring the rationales and motivations for internationalization in the Canadian context. In S. Kamyad & R. Raby (Eds). Internationalization of Higher education Practices and the Unintended Consequences. Routledge.

Garson, K. (2022). Weaving together Critical Education Perspectives to Teach for Social and Ecological Justice. In A. Farrell, C. Skyhar & M. Lam (Eds.). Teaching in the Anthropocene. Canadian Scholars Press.

Garson, K. (January 2018. online first). Practitioner oriented Journals. In J. Liontas, (Ed.). The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, First Edition, Organizational and Administrative Issues. [M. DelliCarpini (Project Ed.); Salas, S. (Volume Ed]. Boston, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118784235

Garson, K. (2017). Internationalization and intercultural learning: A mixed method inquiry. In Pérez, G.M. G. & Rojas-Primus, C. (Eds.) Promoting Intercultural Communication Competencies in Higher Education. IGI Global: Hershey, PA.

Garson, K., Bourassa, E., & Odgers, T. (2016). Interculturalizing the curriculum: Faculty professional development. In K.Garson, G. Ramirez, M. Pidgeon (Guest Eds.). Learning at Intercultural Intersections. Special Issue of Journal of Intercultural Education. Routledge, Taylor and Francis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2016.1240506

Garson, K. (2016). Reframing internationalization. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(2), 19-39.

Reid, R. & Garson, K. (2016). Rethinking multicultural group work for intercultural learning. Journal of Studies in International Education. 1-18. DOI: 10.1177/1028315316662981 Salas, S., Garson, K, Khanna, S, & Murray, B. (2016). Using freewriting to make sense of literature. English Teaching Forum, 54(2), 12-19.

Garson, K. (2012). Ethical considerations for international education: Perspectives from global citizenship education. Research Series. Canadian Bureau for International Education: Ottawa. Garson, K. (2009). Applying transformative learning to cross-cultural training endeavors. VDM Verlag: Saarbrücken, Germany

Editor and Research Publications

Garson, K., Lindstrom, G., & McLean, A. (Eds). (2021). Editors’ Introduction. Learning at Intercultural Intersections: Toward Equity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 3 (42).

Garson, K., Dimitrov, N., & Bourque Bearskin, L. (Eds). (2019). Learning at Intercultural Intersections: Indigenization, Internationalization and Intercultural Learning. New Directions in Teaching and Learning (Special Issue). 157, 7-12. Wiley Periodicals. Doi.org/10.1002/tl.20326

Garson, K., Pidgeon, M., & Ramirez, G. (2016). Eds. Editors’ introduction. Learning at Intercultural Intersections. Special Issue of Journal of Intercultural Education. Routledge, Taylor and Francis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2016.1240506

Garson, K. (2013). Are We Graduating Global Citizens? A Mixed Methods Study Investigating Students’ Intercultural Development and Perceptions of Intercultural and Global Learning in Academic Settings. Unpublished dissertation. Simon Fraser University.

Dr. Amie McLean

Academic Publications

Garson, Kyra; Lindstrom, Gabrielle; McLean, Amie (eds). 2021. “Learning at Intercultural Intersections: Towards Equity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 42 (3): 273-280.

McLean, Amie. 2016. “Battling Blind Spots: Hours of Service Regulations and Contentious Mobilities in the BC-Based Long Haul Trucking Industry.” Canadian Journal of Sociology, 41 (3).

McLean, Amie. 2016. “‘Four Guys and a Hole in the Floor’: Racial Politics of Mobility and Excretion among BC-Based Long Haul Truckers.” Pp 45-61 in Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies, 6 (1).

McLean, C. Amie. 2008. "Colonialism, Governance, and Indigenous Post-Secondary Education in Canada." Pp 81 - 101 in Mobilizations, Protests and Engagements: Canadian Perspectives on Social Movements, edited by Marie Hammond-Callaghan & Matthew Hayday. Fernwood Press, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Research Reports and Other Contributions

McLean, A. (Lead author), Williams, H., Ahmed, S., Thakur, A. Michel, T., Li, T. & Chu, H. 2021. “Advancing Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Work-Integrated Learning: A Toolkit for Employers and Community Partners.” CEWIL Canada, September 2021. Available: https://acewilbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/formidable/3/IHUB_Toolkit_Final.pdf

McLean, A. (Lead author) & Williams, H. 2021. “Foundations of Intercultural Development for SFU Employees: Report on a Pilot partnership Initiative Between SFU’s Work-Integrated Learning EDI Team, Human Resources EDI, and Faculty Relations EDI.” Simon Fraser University, Fall 2021.

Mclean, A. 2020. “Moving Forward: A Needs Assessment and Recommendations Report on EDI Learning and Supports for WIL Staff.” Research Report and Recommendations for Work-Integrated Learning. Simon Fraser University, August 2020.

McLean, A. 2017. “‘We Used to be Kings of the Road’: Negotiations of Ethics, Embodiment and Subjectivity in the BC-Based Long Haul Trucking Industry.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University. Vancouver, BC. Available: https://summit.sfu.ca/item/17764

McLean, A. & Gauthier, A.. October 2010. “Families in the Middle: Family Finances in Greater Vancouver.” Research Report: Families in the Middle, Department of Sociology; University of Calgary; Department of Sociology, University of British Columbia Okanagan.

McLean, A. & Woodland, A. (co-authors). May, 2008. “Report on Developing the Urban Aboriginal Health Research Network.” Research Report: Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine; Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences. University of Calgary.

McLean, A. 2007. “Indigenous Education and the Post-Secondary Student Support System: Colonial Governance, Neo-Liberal Imperatives, and Gendered Outcomes.” MA Dissertation, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University. Vancouver, BC. Available: https://summit.sfu.ca/item/8145

References

  1. bell hooks. (2003). Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Routledge.
  2. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Winnipeg: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf