Thesis (M.A.R.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 57-58).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-358).

Between 2005 and 2009, Iran became one of the most significant immigrant sending source countries to Nova Scotia. My thesis examines the settlement experiences of Iranian immigrants in Halifax to determine whether they plan on staying in the province. I engage literature on multiculturalism and transnationality as a theoretical framework to explore what influences newcomers in developing a sense of belonging to Canada. By conducting interviews with Iranian immigrants, I found that social network sites are an important tool for integrating and facilitating political organization and transnational activism. Other findings suggest that lack of employment opportunities and dismissal of foreign experience are the main reasons for out-migration.

This thesis is intended as a critique of Will Kymlicka’s groundbreaking and elegant defense of a liberal theory of minority rights. It argues that although Kymlicka has succeeded in showing that a minority nation may seek and exercise minority rights while still respecting, and even furthering, the ability of its members to live autonomously, Kymlicka is mistaken when he contends that liberalism’s commitment to individual autonomy requires the liberal democratic state to provide minority nations with the self-government and language rights necessary to allow them to sustain their “societal cultures.” Specifically, it is argued that Kymlicka’s autonomy-based argument for according self-government and language rights to national minorities fails to pay sufficient regard to both the fact that the personal costs associated with leaving one’s culture will vary depending on the individual and the cultures involved, and the fact that some national minorities, in order to sustain themselves as distinct societal cultures, will require not only external protections from the actions of the cultural majority, but also the ability to impose liberty-infringing preservationist measures against their own members. Further, since, as I argue, individual autonomy does not actually require that one has continued access to one’s societal culture, it is suggested that both granting and refusing a minority nation the means to sustain its societal culture could be in keeping with a liberal conception of justice, depending on the particular circumstances of the groups at issue. Consequently, the thesis concludes that the question of how to accommodate national minorities should be determined on a case-by-case basis. / Thesis (Master, Law) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-21 13:10:41.185

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of case-based instruction and lecture-discussions in enhancing students' multicultural social work competence and their reflective self-regulation to learn multicultural social work. The sample consisted of undergraduate social work students enrolled in a multicultural social work practice course which was composed of two classes, the Special Bachelor of Social Work (SBSW) and the Regular Bachelor of Social Work (RBSW). The students in the SBSW had higher levels of education, mean age, and mean GPA than the students in the RBSW class. Each of these classes was divided into two sections. Participants were randomly assigned to these two sections in which case-based instruction in a section (n = 20 for the SBSW class; n = 19 for the RBSW class), and lecture-discussions in the other section (n = 20 for the SBSW class; n = 19 for the RBSW class) were used to teach the same course content. To control for instructor effects, the researcher and another instructor both taught the two sections of each class, one with case-based instruction and the other with lecture and discussions. The randomized pretest posttest control group design was used in this study. Case analyses scored through Cross-Cultural Counseling Inventory-Revised and student self-reports using the Multicultural Counseling Inventory were used to measure multicultural social work competence. To measure levels of students' self-regulated learning in relation to the course, students were administered the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The same data were collected both at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study. The length of the study was 8 weeks. Two procedures were followed to ensure treatment fidelity: two observers recorded the extent to which class plans reflecting the content and methods of instruction were implemented and students completed questionnaires evaluating the extent to which each method of instr

The thesis investigates the extent to which multiculturalism is addressed in the practice of landscape architecture in Canada, and proposes recommendations to increase the incorporation of multiculturalism into the profession. In the first chapter, the theoretical underpinnings of multiculturalism are discussed and the term is defined for the purposes of the remainder of the investigation. This is followed by an examination of multiculturalism in the Canadian context, and how it has evolved over time. The thesis then addresses the question; ‘Why should landscape architects care about multiculturalism?’. Once the importance of multicultural issues to the profession of landscape architecture is demonstrated, the thesis turns to discovering how these issues are currently dealt with in the profession. This investigation takes the form of a survey on multiculturalism which was distributed to the Canadian Society of Landscape Architecture (CSLA) and its component associations, as well as seven other types of professional associations in an effort to solicit their strategies for responding to cultural diversity. The results are then compared and analysed before recommendations are made on how the profession of landscape architecture can better include multiculturalism into Canadian practice.

This paper examines the tensions resulting from multiculturalism's quest to achieve equality through the recognition of cultural difference. The author argues that multiculturalism is inherently limited in its potential to recognize deep difference because it operates through the framework of the conceptual heritage of the Enlightenment's political project. Multiculturalism's dependence on Enlightenment evaluative norms means that difference and diversity can be recognized to the extent that they further the objective of achieving liberty and equality for all. The author examines the theoretical legacy of the Enlightenment as it informs the multicultural project and also analyses the impact of poststructuralist theory on multiculturalist conceptions of identity.

My thesis deals with religion, democracy and differences. My interests are primarily philosophical and theoretical, and I intend to contextualize my research with reference to Canadian issues and debates. This thesis addresses the challenges posed to the normative ideal of multiculturalism. In particular, I intend to discuss the difficulties of adopting normative ideals that meet the democratic principles of political equality and inclusiveness while at the same time promoting tolerance toward minorities in order to sustain their distinctiveness. In dealing with the complex relationship between religion, democracy and differences. I highlight the limitations of multiculturalism and propose a theory of liberation of reason, entitled the theory of Daf’ (Repel), in order to address the myriad challenges spawned by this complex intermingling of political and cultural identities within liberal democratic societies. The theory of Daf’ in the context of a deliberative model of democracy complements the normative ideal of multiculturalism.

In this thesis, I claim that the Liberal Multiculturalist arguments for group rights, which would enable group autonomy, are problematic. Such claims are instrumentally justified by the value that groups have for their individual members. I claim that group autonomy and individual autonomy are incompatible. Concern for the freedom of individuals requires that there is a common Liberal legal framework covering all of the cultural groups that may exist within a state. I will argue for such a system, claiming that it must be substantive in scope, while also outlining how decisions on the common rules should be fairly deliberated before being resolved. Furthermore, I will defend my position from both Liberal Multiculturalist and Strong Multiculturalist objections.

The thesis investigates the extent to which multiculturalism is addressed in the practice of landscape architecture in Canada, and proposes recommendations to increase the incorporation of multiculturalism into the profession. In the first chapter, the theoretical underpinnings of multiculturalism are discussed and the term is defined for the purposes of the remainder of the investigation. This is followed by an examination of multiculturalism in the Canadian context, and how it has evolved over time. The thesis then addresses the question; ‘Why should landscape architects care about multiculturalism?’. Once the importance of multicultural issues to the profession of landscape architecture is demonstrated, the thesis turns to discovering how these issues are currently dealt with in the profession. This investigation takes the form of a survey on multiculturalism which was distributed to the Canadian Society of Landscape Architecture (CSLA) and its component associations, as well as seven other types of professional associations in an effort to solicit their strategies for responding to cultural diversity. The results are then compared and analysed before recommendations are made on how the profession of landscape architecture can better include multiculturalism into Canadian practice.