This volume originates from the fourth and fifth Intercultural Horizons conferences, held in New York and Sardinia, respectively. It reflects a diverse array of research, case studies and theoretical reflections on intercultural studies, civic engagement and varied perspectives on migration issues in the Mediterranean region. The book will be of interest to a broad audience both within and beyond academia, including researchers of intercultural education and communication, service-learning and related issues; college and university administrators responsible for intercultural and service-learning initiatives; and students enrolled in intercultural and service-learning courses. The papers within will also be useful to persons who serve as intercultural mediators, including trainers and coaches involved in intercultural studies in business and other non-academic settings.

This volume brings together a representative set of the papers given at the third annual Intercultural Horizons conference held in Siena, Italy, in October 2013. The conference attracted presenters and attendees from a variety of nations throughout five continents. The papers included in this volume are drawn from a series of conference sessions in which academicians and practitioners in the field offered theoretical analyses, case studies and other perspectives on intercultural studies, civic engagement and related topics. The volume is divided into four sections: Theoretical Considerations of Intercultural Competence and Interculturalism; Intercultural Development and Assessment: Practical Examples and Research; Civic Engagement in International and Culturally Diverse Contexts; and Intercultural Education and Training. The reader will find that most of the papers address a variety of intercultural topics beyond their specific chapter designations. In particular, the theme of second language acquisition, education and use was an overarching theme that emerged from a large number of papers and presentations, specifically with regards to the complexities now faced by intercultural educators and researchers as a result of the increasing dominance of English as a “lingua franca” both in academe and many nations.

This volume features a collection of papers from the second annual Intercultural Horizons conference held in October 2012 in New York City (USA). The 2012 conference was the second in what is becoming an annual series of meetings, and the present volume therefore is a companion to one issued last year by Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Intercultural Horizons: Best Practices in Intercultural Competence Development, 2012). The papers included in this volume reflect a diversity of approaches both to intercultural education in the North American setting and to its application in service-learning and related contexts in diverse cultural settings in other nations. Our authors provide faculty and student perspectives, primarily from the level of postsecondary education but including a look as well at intercultural education at the primary level. Many of the papers focus in one way or another on issues of curriculum, teaching and learning in relation to developing intercultural competence in students in North American colleges and universities, particularly though not exclusively through the use of service-learning. All of the papers touch in one way or another on another important development now affecting almost all institutions of higher education in North America and, increasingly, in other nations worldwide—that of the university’s engagement with the community. During the past thirty years, such engagement has moved from the periphery to the core of many North American colleges and universities. Similar efforts are now emerging among many Asian universities and in Europe as well. The paper in this volume on the Polisocial initiative at the Politecnico di Milano in Italy is a good example of how the theme of university-community engagement is taking hold in a city and nation facing similar intercultural and economic challenges to those in North America—and serves as a preview of themes the International Center for Intercultural Exchange hopes to explore in its future conferences. www.ticfie.com

Peace Studies, Public Policy and Global Security is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Peace Studies, Public Policy and Global Security provides the essential aspects and a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world such as: Processes of Peace and Security; International Security, Peace, Development, and Environment; Security Threats, Challenges, Vulnerability and Risks; Sustainable Food and Water Security; World Economic Order. This 11-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, issues on Peace studies, Public Policy and Global security. These volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.