Making Canadian Culture Visible: An Examination of Acculturation Processes in Contact Zones

• In Event: Roundtable Session 96
  In Roundtable Session: Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Cultural Perspectives

Abstract

Acculturation research based on the theoretical model of acculturation strategies put forward by prominent acculturation scholar John Berry is in need of re-examination. Current acculturation research based on this fourfold approach of assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization has been critiqued for its failure on several grounds. This paper examines these critiques while utilizing a unique qualitative approach combining participant photography, artist statements and interview narrative to explore the acculturation process as a reciprocal, ongoing, multi-voiced, poly-contextual and multi-scripted process within the “contact zone” of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Author

• Lisa Michelle Turner-Colling, The University of British Columbia