An International Master´s Degree Programme in Cultural Diversity

Contact with foreign cultures has become as much a basic feature of modern societies throughout the world as the interweaving of people and nations. Globalisation brings people closer together but also creates an awareness of diversity and difference. This increase in the contact between people who originate from various ethnic, cultural and religious background also gives rise to many conflicts related to questions of values, symbols and rights.

The Cultural Diversity Programme addresses these global issues and problems by exploring them in a comparative framework from a multidisciplinary point of view, providing a forum for studying problems and issues that cut across traditional, national or cultural boundaries. The programme aims at establishing appreciation and respect for diversity and pluralism in society and in this way, supports the development of human rights, democratisation and peaceful socio-cultural change in the world. In this programme, special focus will be given to questions that deal with encounters between western cultures and other cultures and religions (e.g. Islam).

The Cultural Diversity Programme is an international Master's degree programme taught in English at the University of Joensuu, Finland. The programme is coordinated by the Subject Group of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Regional Studies. The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, is the patron of the programme. The programme is funded by Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education.

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