Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka hur undervisningen i historieämnet kan bidra till en interkulturell identitetsutveckling. Min målsättning var att utifrån lärarnas upplägg och metoder kunna dra slutsatser om hur lärare arbetar med den kulturella identiteten i historieämnet. För att får svar på detta har jag dels fördjupat mig i teorin om kulturell identitet och interkulturell kompetens samt intervjuat tre lärare verksamma i olika kommuner i Sverige och med olika stor erfarenhet av elever med annan kulturell bakgrund. Metoden jag använde mig av var kvalitativ intervju där jag intervjuade lärare enskilt och ställde övergripande frågor och dels följdfrågor. Svaren har jag analyserat och resultatet av undersökningen visade att lärarna inte har någon medveten strategi i undervisning utifrån elever med annan kulturell bakgrund i klassen. Lärarna använder sig av flera metoder så som läroboken, att belysa olika kulturer men framförallt lägger ansvaret på lärarna som undervisar i ett annat modersmål. I min undersökning framkom inte någon skillnad i undervisningssätt utifrån många eller få elever med annan kulturell bakgrund och den kulturella identiteten tas för givet. Min undersökning visar att de två senaste århundradena av historien inte hinns med och just de två århundradena anser lärarna viktiga för den kulturella identiteten. / The purpose of this paper was to examine how teaching of history can contribute to an intercultural identity development. My goal was, that on the basis of teachers' concepts and methods, to draw conclusions about how the teacher works with the cultural identity in the subject of history. To answer this, I first look into the theory of cultural identity and the intercultural competence. I also interviewed three teachers working in different municipalities in Sweden with different experiences of students with different cultural backgrounds. The method I have used is a qualitative interview where I interviewed the teachers individually. I asked them both global issues questions and follow-up questions.The answers I have analyzed, resulted in that teachers do not have a conscious strategy of teaching students with different cultural backgrounds in the class. Teachers use different methods such as textbooks, to highlight the different cultures but above all they places the responsibility on the teachers who teach in another mother tongue. In my study it did not revealed any difference in teaching methods from many or few students with different cultural backgrounds and the culture identity is taken for granted. My study shows that teachers belives that the last two centuries of history is most important for the cultural identity but they do not teach in the last two centuries.

This study aims to describe the conditions, of which some youths who live in a segregated area in Sweden, see as important for their development of an identity. The study have been conducted in a manner where we put the youths own words in focus. The youths are in charge of deciding what they regard as important for their own development of their own identity. In this study we assume certain contexts, of which we base the study. These contexts include the society, the urban districts, the school, the family, and the language. A central concept in this study’s technical framework is symbolic interaction, and ethnology. The data in this study comes from group discussions with students in a school in an urban district which has been, and is segregated. Theoretical concepts and the youths own concepts serve as tools in this study. The participants in this study describe them self as not being a part of the Swedish society. They are different. Even though almost everyone of the participants in this study are born in Sweden, none of them feel that they are Swedish. Their sense of feeling secure is connected to the urban district of which they live in, school, and family. The youths describes the possibility of social networking as an important part of being secure. They describe the Swedish society as being hostile towards them as a group. They experience that the Swedes defends Sweden against them. They feel that their language is different from the regular Swedish. The participants see both a positive and a negative side of their language. They feel that the Swedes does not accept their Swedish. At the same time they feel proud of their language. They mention it as being alive. Even though they experience the difficulties in the Swedish society, they feel hopeful about their future. They see themselves in a positive way. They have an positive view of their identity.

China has become one of the world’s economic engines. One major driving force is the rapid urbanization. Such fast development results in resource and energy depletion, pollution and environmental deterioration. The government has recently endorsed green buildings and urged ministries to work out a national action plan. It is predicted that green building will be the next big thing in China. But before importing any foreign green technology and green designs, is there something to be learned from the Chinese ancestors? In the long history of China, the Chinese have always employed a system of construction with the influences of geography, climate, culture, philosophy, economy and politics deeply rooted in China, making the Chinese traditional architecture distinct. Embedded in the formation of the city, siheyuan 四合院, the courtyard house in Beijing was one exceptional dwelling example that inherited the quintessence of the thousand years of building experiences and knowledge of the ancestors. This traditional urban type not only celebrated the rich and unique cultural heritage of China, it also played an important role in maximizing the natural forces to create a pleasant and comfortable environment for living. Population growth, political and economic reforms over time however have drastically changed the fate of this historical heritage. Especially under the pressure of the fast development and economic boom after the introduction of the Open Door Policy in 1978, the traditional courtyards were the first to be demolished due to the lack of modern facilities and the inability to accommodate the growing population. They were often replaced by apartment blocks and high-rise towers – imported types based on planning regulations developed in the West, outside the cultural and environmental milieu of Beijing. As a result, the city is now filled with many energy intensive buildings that eat away both the “city’s essence” and the valuable natural resources. With the current policy and ambition of China, the teardown courtyard sites within the old city wall that are still waiting for development offer the potential to address the remediation and reinterpretation of the traditional typology in a contemporary city. The thesis investigates the essences of the traditional courtyard house and explores the way to apply such qualities to the design of a new courtyard typology in contemporary Beijing. The proposal anticipates a holistic approach on both environmental, social, cultural and economic level, so as to carry out preservation that manifests in experience rather than physical restoration, and to create a project that is truly sustainable.

Using feminist poststructuralist and postcolonial lenses, I explore how young Lebanese-Canadian women construct health, obesity, and the body within the context of the dominant obesity discourse, which over-emphasizes supposed links between inactivity, nutrition, obesity, and health. Participant-centered conversations were held with 20 young Lebanese-Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25. The conversational texts were analyzed according to two consecutive methods: a thematic analysis which allowed us to focus on what the participants had to say about health, obesity, and the body followed by a poststructuralist discourse analysis which helped us to decipher how the participants spoke about these topics. The findings of this study attest that the young women construct health, obesity, and the body as matters of individual responsibility. They speak about achieving health and avoiding overweight/obesity through disciplinary practices such as rigorous physical activity and proper dietary restrictions. The participants also construct health in close linkage with the physical appearance of the body; moreover, they conflate the “healthy” and “ideal” female body, which they represent as thin. As such, the young women reject “fat” and portray obesity as a disease, a matter of lack of will, and an “abnormal” physical appearance. Finally, the young Lebanese-Canadian women report their involvement in various practices such as restriction of the quality and quantity of their nutritional intake, rare and non-organized forms of physical activity, and problematic practices such as the use of detoxes, dieting pills, and compulsive exercise, all in the name of health. Throughout this study, I highlight the participants’ multiple and shifting subjectivities: While the young Lebanese-Canadian women most often construct themselves as free neoliberal subjects re-citing elements of dominant neoliberal discourses (of self-authorship, self-responsibility for health, traditional femininity, and obesity), they at times construct themselves as “poststructuralist” subjects showing awareness of, and “micro-resistance” to such discourses. The impacts of the Lebanese and Lebanese-Canadian cultures on the participants’ constructions of health, obesity, and the body comprise an important part of this thesis. The participants accentuate the major importance of beauty and physical appearance—particularly not being fat—in the Lebanese and Lebanese-Canadian cultures. However, they also attempt to distance themselves from “Lebanese” ways of thinking about health, obesity, and the body, and in doing so they replicate homogeneous representations of Lebanese, Lebanese-Canadian, and Canadian women. I offer practical suggestions to inform health and obesity interventions that target Lebanese-Canadian women and women from ethnic minorities and I discuss future research possibilities that may stem from the present thesis.

This thesis investigated the relationship between subjective uncertainty, threat, and psychological and behavioural acculturation from the perspective of well-educated Canadian women who emigrated from Asia. In the first study, 153 women completed a questionnaire. These women lived in Canada for an average of 17 years, and were proficient in English. In the second study, in-depth qualitative interviews with three women who scored high and three women who scored low on the cultural uncertainty scale in the first study illustrated how women describe uncertainty in their lives. Subjective uncertainty reduction theory (SURT) posits that higher uncertainty leads to stronger group identification. However, Study 1 and Study 2 contradicted SURT, in that higher certainty was related to stronger cultural and Canadian identities. Women in this research identified strongly with their cultural group and as Canadians, they reported low levels of uncertainty, and they did not feel very threatened. Womens stories from Study 2 illustrate these findings. Moreover, threat and uncertainty were not related, suggesting that they are two conceptually different constructs. In Study 1, uncertainty and threat significantly contributed to the prediction of womens strength of social identifications after controlling for background variables, providing support for social identity theory. As well, Study 1 and Study 2 found support for the bidimensional approach to acculturation, remooring of cultural identity, and the compatibility of womens cultural and Canadian identities. These findings are consistent with past research, and suggest that women had very secure cultural and Canadian identities. The six interviews demonstrated the breadth and idiosyncratic nature of womens experiences. However, several themes revealed that social identifications served three functions for women: enhanced self-esteem, ingroup cooperation and cohesion, and social interactions. Whether these motives are derivatives of subjective uncertainty needs further investigation. Taken together, these results suggest that SURT may be more applicable as a theory of adaptation, in that the initial adjustment period may induce high uncertainty and insecure social identifications. More broadly, the findings suggest continued application of theory to real-life settings is critical to the investigation of the motivational dynamics of identity choice and maintenance.

Using feminist poststructuralist and postcolonial lenses, I explore how young Lebanese-Canadian women construct health, obesity, and the body within the context of the dominant obesity discourse, which over-emphasizes supposed links between inactivity, nutrition, obesity, and health. Participant-centered conversations were held with 20 young Lebanese-Canadian women between the ages of 18 and 25. The conversational texts were analyzed according to two consecutive methods: a thematic analysis which allowed us to focus on what the participants had to say about health, obesity, and the body followed by a poststructuralist discourse analysis which helped us to decipher how the participants spoke about these topics. The findings of this study attest that the young women construct health, obesity, and the body as matters of individual responsibility. They speak about achieving health and avoiding overweight/obesity through disciplinary practices such as rigorous physical activity and proper dietary restrictions. The participants also construct health in close linkage with the physical appearance of the body; moreover, they conflate the “healthy” and “ideal” female body, which they represent as thin. As such, the young women reject “fat” and portray obesity as a disease, a matter of lack of will, and an “abnormal” physical appearance. Finally, the young Lebanese-Canadian women report their involvement in various practices such as restriction of the quality and quantity of their nutritional intake, rare and non-organized forms of physical activity, and problematic practices such as the use of detoxes, dieting pills, and compulsive exercise, all in the name of health. Throughout this study, I highlight the participants’ multiple and shifting subjectivities: While the young Lebanese-Canadian women most often construct themselves as free neoliberal subjects re-citing elements of dominant neoliberal discourses (of self-authorship, self-responsibility for health, traditional femininity, and obesity), they at times construct themselves as “poststructuralist” subjects showing awareness of, and “micro-resistance” to such discourses. The impacts of the Lebanese and Lebanese-Canadian cultures on the participants’ constructions of health, obesity, and the body comprise an important part of this thesis. The participants accentuate the major importance of beauty and physical appearance—particularly not being fat—in the Lebanese and Lebanese-Canadian cultures. However, they also attempt to distance themselves from “Lebanese” ways of thinking about health, obesity, and the body, and in doing so they replicate homogeneous representations of Lebanese, Lebanese-Canadian, and Canadian women. I offer practical suggestions to inform health and obesity interventions that target Lebanese-Canadian women and women from ethnic minorities and I discuss future research possibilities that may stem from the present thesis.

This thesis investigated the relationship between subjective uncertainty, threat, and psychological and behavioural acculturation from the perspective of well-educated Canadian women who emigrated from Asia. In the first study, 153 women completed a questionnaire. These women lived in Canada for an average of 17 years, and were proficient in English. In the second study, in-depth qualitative interviews with three women who scored high and three women who scored low on the cultural uncertainty scale in the first study illustrated how women describe uncertainty in their lives. Subjective uncertainty reduction theory (SURT) posits that higher uncertainty leads to stronger group identification. However, Study 1 and Study 2 contradicted SURT, in that higher certainty was related to stronger cultural and Canadian identities. Women in this research identified strongly with their cultural group and as Canadians, they reported low levels of uncertainty, and they did not feel very threatened. Womens stories from Study 2 illustrate these findings. Moreover, threat and uncertainty were not related, suggesting that they are two conceptually different constructs. In Study 1, uncertainty and threat significantly contributed to the prediction of womens strength of social identifications after controlling for background variables, providing support for social identity theory. As well, Study 1 and Study 2 found support for the bidimensional approach to acculturation, remooring of cultural identity, and the compatibility of womens cultural and Canadian identities. These findings are consistent with past research, and suggest that women had very secure cultural and Canadian identities. The six interviews demonstrated the breadth and idiosyncratic nature of womens experiences. However, several themes revealed that social identifications served three functions for women: enhanced self-esteem, ingroup cooperation and cohesion, and social interactions. Whether these motives are derivatives of subjective uncertainty needs further investigation. Taken together, these results suggest that SURT may be more applicable as a theory of adaptation, in that the initial adjustment period may induce high uncertainty and insecure social identifications. More broadly, the findings suggest continued application of theory to real-life settings is critical to the investigation of the motivational dynamics of identity choice and maintenance.

This thesis aims to study obstacles which Turkey faces regarding EU accession. The main focus will be at the historical context and background information to clarify Turkey-EU relationship and institutional aspects such as; the Copenhagen criteria will be analyzed. Interaction between identity politics and Turkeys Europeanization project will be examined by analyzing arguments regarding this issue. The historical context is important for realizing in how Turkey's negotiation process is affected and how the process is evolved. By examining this, a more transparent understanding is going to develop in the issue of why Turkey never will be able to identify itself with the EU. Analysis regarding why Turkey as a secular state develops into an increasingly Islamized state is highlighted. Answers must be given to whether Turkey can be interpreted as a "bridge" between East and West and where we can place Turkey in the spatial context.In relation to this process, it`s important to notice that changes in Turkey from the Euro-friendly attitude it once had has gradually turned to the more Euro-skeptic position. One of the several reasons to Euro-skepticism may be the ongoing economic growth. This, as many other factors contribute to the self-confidence, which in turn affects internal arguments about a new era of the so-called neo-ottomanization. By presenting arguments related to the process, it will be made clear how Turkey increasingly clarifies its position within the civilizations. The thesis will present that there is a trend towards Islamization which the AKP government gives impetus for. The intention is to see if the era with the AKP government will push Turkey to democracy or even more of an Islamization. This paper will point out the actual intentions of AKP and its politicians. It will clarify their ideas about a possible EU membership, Europeanization and integration. This process will be illustrated by using Samuel Huntington’s theoretical perspective by the "Clashes of civilizations" as inspiration throughout the thesis. In the part of empirical analysis, debates and arguments is cited and examined, with a critical idea analysis and also structured with argumentation analysis.

Anatolia has been the cradle of many different cultures throughout history. One of these was the Celts who migrated from Europe to Anatolia in the 3rd century BC and had various impacts on the settlement pattern of the region called Galatia after their arrival. Therefore in Anatolia urbanization history we know them as Galatians. The main statement of this thesis is that, cultural identity is not a static, inherent quality, but a dynamic and contigent aspect of the existence of people. Therefore cultural identity should be regarded as a pattern continuum. In thisd study, in order to predict the Galatian settlement pattern until thr Roman dominance in the late 1st century BC in Anatolia, European Celtic settlement pattern has been reviewed as well as archaeolgical evidence and the Celtic language. The Hallstatt and the following La Tene periods in European history have been investigated since La Tene period is isochronic with Galatians in Anatolia. From the archaeological evidence in Europe, it is clear that the Celts established defended settlements, mastered the art of iron working and mining, and traded with the classical world. In previous literature, Anatolia Celts/Galatians have been regarded as nomads who were involved mostly in warfare. However, the location of their forts and village-like settlements along the ancient trade routes implies that they were settled people who were engaged in production and trading activities as well, similar to La Tene in Europe. Settlement types and their distribution pattern, linguistic and archaeological evidence investigated in this thesis verify that Celtic cultural identity in the history of Europe and Anatolia should be regarded as a pattern continuum.

Diss. Helsinki : Helsinki Universitet. 2008.