Introduction

The goal of this textbook is to introduce students to a critically informed and applicable framework for developing interculturality. This book is the fruit of work with many students in KPU’s GLBL 2000 Intercultural Engagement course since 2021, and reflects students’ responses to course content and feedback on their learning.

Much of my career has focused on thinking about how groups of people relate across difference. Over the past two decades, I have had the privilege to work and learn from speakers of non-dominant languages in Southeast Asia, international students in British Columbia, and families transitioning to Canada having experienced forced migration. None of the work presented here would be possible without the many things I have learned through these relationships.

A challenge in presenting a textbook-length treatment of interculturality is the broad scope of the topic, and the areas of contention that exist within different sectors of the community. Even the terms intercultural and interculturality include their own “baggage”, particularly when they have been used to discuss difference without considering social structures and ongoing patterns of marginalization. Despite this challenge, I have sought to present a range of theories and approaches to interculturality while promoting critical thinking about how these theories intersect, and sometimes even contradict each other. Key assumptions that shape the approach in this book are:

• Intercultural theories, even those without critical frameworks, can be beneficial knowledge to individuals as they first explore cultural difference. This foundational knowledge can support earlier stages of intercultural development, leading to more nuanced understandings over time.
• Interculturality is developmental, and in an undergraduate textbook, it is important to consider what theories might be useful to both young adults and mature professionals in their personal and professional growth.
• Theories are by nature imperfect, and part of the learning process for students is assessing and critically evaluating the ways interculturality is described.
• Discussions of interculturality are incomplete without discussing issues of equity, belonging, and justice. Well-developed interculturality prepares students to challenge racism and other forms of discrimination.

The materials presented in this book are also intended to support professional development and lead to action. The book integrates Inclusive Innovation as a framework for applying learning to businesses, organizations, and other community development. This book also integrates the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for considering how interculturality might support development that cares for the environment and people.

A text on interculturality is necessarily context-dependent. I am hopeful that adaptations of this resource will reflect the needs, hopes, and aspirations of learners in their own local context.

Christina Page, PhD

May 2026