TOWARDS DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS BY IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY

Marzieh Kouhi-Esfahani

Ms. Kouhi-Esfahani holds an MA in Library and Information
Science from Loughborough University in UK. She currently works as the
International Communication Officer for the International Center for
Dialogue Among Civilizations. She has taught literature at the secondary
school level, and has worked as a librarian in a number of
schools.

One of the most important concepts and key elements in the
theory of Dialogue among Civilizations' is knowledge as it is the starting
point for dialogue. In many cases wars and clashes are the result of lack of
knowledge and stereotypes based on misleading assumptions. For moving towards a
war and violence free world it is necessary to find ways of overcoming the
stereotypes. Knowing each other helps in mutual understanding. In this process
clash and war would be reduced day by day. The first step in knowing a nation is
to get familiar with their culture, understand their differences, and recognise
the fact that being different is not always a deficiency, but often is a
privilege.

This paper is based on the Developmental Model of Intercultural
Sensitivity, which has been introduced by Bennett (1986, 1993) as a framework to
explain the reactions of people to cultural difference. The underlying
assumption is that "as one's experience of cultural difference becomes more
complex and sophisticated, one's competence in intercultural relations
increases"[1]. The model is used by many international organisations for
improving their staff ability to have successful communications with
international clients.

This paper discusses ways of applying this model in creating
mutual understanding among people from different cultural backgrounds in order
to achieve peaceful global coexistence.