Prof. Pica-Smith Publishes Book on Intercultural Education

Cinzia Pica-Smith, Ed.D., associate professor of Human Services & Rehabilitation Studies and coordinator of the Working with Children & Adolescents in Community Settings Concentration, had her second book published in April. 

The book, Intercultural Education: Critical Perspectives, Pedagogical Challenges and Promising Practices (Nova Science Publishers), was co-edited by Prof. Pica-Smith and two colleagues. Prof. Pica-Smith served as first co-editor. The book brings together “scholars from across the globe who delve critically into the frameworks of interculturalism and intercultural education to go beyond the European context, to reorient our perspectives on the frameworks and engage in new conversations across various institutional contexts and countries,” according to the publisher’s website. 

“It was an honor having the opportunity to work with so many scholars across the globe, and across discipline and experience,” said Prof. Pica-Smith.  “While our first book focused on a critical analysis of intercultural education as it is understood in the European context, this volume casts a much wider net with chapters from scholars ranging from Peru to New Zealand to Mauritius to Mexico to Greece and France and the United States. In addition to important continued critical analyses, several authors share important re-orientations and re-conceptualizations and ask salient questions about what can be learned, for example, if we look to the Global South to understand the possibility and promise of intercultural education. Others yet share ‘promising practices’ that may support the goals of intercultural education: intercultural dialogue, prejudice reduction, and living together in an increasingly diverse and globally connected world.” 

Throughout its pages, this book provides critique of the issues that surround intercultural education; expands dialogue to include different perspectives and new practices; and engages the theory and practice of intercultural education. Prof. Pica-Smith and her colleagues “provide a roadmap to real-life possibilities for changes to the framework of intercultural education” that will lead to meaningful changes for children, their communities, and the future of intercultural education. 

In addition to serving co-editor, Prof. Pica-Smith co-wrote the preface as well as the first chapter, “The Multiculturalism-Interculturalism Debate: An Interview with Tariq Modood.” For this chapter, she conducted an in-depth interview with professor Modood, a prominent sociologist and leading scholar on the multiculturalism-interculturalism debate.

For more information about the book, click here.