About Us
The MCC Intercultural Framework
From Personal Identity to Intercultural Maturity
In today's global society, there is an increased emphasis on producing college graduates who are "interculturally competent citizens who can engage in informed, ethical decision making when confronted with problems that involve a diversity of perspectives" (King & Baxter Magolda, 2005, p. 571). Subsequently, colleges have had to examine exactly how they can promote this type of intercultural competence during the college experience.
Halualani (2008) found that simply working toward diversifying the student body does not adequately promote this type of intercultural understanding. Therefore, structuring the college experience in a way that promotes this type of skill requires a multifaceted approach. It must address intrapersonal, interpersonal and cognitive levels of maturity development. It must also draw a clear connection between the learning of intercultural competencies and engaging social change in individuals, groups and society (Astin, 1996).
In order to fully address the need to promote intercultural competence among the student body, the Multicultural Center (MCC) has organizationally restructured toward an intercultural model. While the MCC will continue to support students of all cultural and identity groups, the staff will now promote new initiatives designed to achieve effective inter and intra-cultural consciousness. Additional information about these initiatives can be found on the MCC website (http://mcc.osu.edu).
President Gee has stated that we must be dedicated to developing students who are committed to creating global change. The MCC staff is dedicated to making students and this goal a priority in our work. By moving towards this new model, we seek to promote a type of intercultural understanding that will make OSU graduates culturally competent, global citizens who engage in creative problem solving by integrating differing perspectives with compassion and confidence.