Rethinking 'Us' & 'Them': Integration and Diversity in Europe

Tell us: Who to you is a 'real German' (or Spaniard, Brit, Canadian, or anything else!)

In this chapter, you've been given a lot of food for thought on identity and belonging as it is understood on the personal and academic levels in Europe, Canada, and beyond. This is a topic that has likely hit home for many of you who may or may not be tied to particular borders, have questions or concerns about who belongs in your society, or may still be unsure about the whole thing. The 'Us' & 'Them' course community would love to hear from you:

Here are some guiding questions to draw from:

• What do you think the criteria should be for becoming a 'real' citizen or resident of your country?
• What makes you a 'real' anything? (German, American, Spaniard, Turk, etc.)?
• Do you see a cognitive vs. emotional dissonance in the way your society sees immigration, belonging, citizenship, etc.?
• How do you identify with the word 'multiculturalism'? Do you see yourself or your society as multicultural?
• Who is represented as nationals or residents of your country in public life?
• How do politicians and public figures in your society or country portray multiculturalism? As a good, bad, or normal thing? What about schools and museums?
• What type of language do you use to talk about the 'Other' or what kind of language do you prefer others use in reference to you? (e.g. migration background vs. migration history, 'Turkish-German' or 'German with Turkish roots', etc.)

Now what?
Click 'Start in Journal', and fill out the entry. How you do this is up to you: You can use just words, or add pictures or links to articles or videos to highlight your point!

Is this journal assignment required?
No! Nothing in our course is 'required', and there are no grades, but we encourage you to reflect on these topics and share if you feel comfortable, so that others in the course can benefit from your experiences.