About

Although the agreement for the UNESCO Chair has been signed with the National University of Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia - UKM) as a whole, the effective post of command for the "UNESCO Chair on Social Practices in Intercultural Communication and Social Cohesion" is located at KITA -

the Institute of Ethnic Studies, a component of the UKM. 

 

KITA institute comprises of anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists and linguists who work with researchers from other public and private universities in Malaysia and beyond in order to conduct the various research programs under the UNESCO Chair.

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The three places of sociality that constitute our conceptual umbrella have been translated into five action-research programs or "clusters" in order to operationalize our research activities within the context of Malaysia. These clusters have been labeled as follows:

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•  Empowering urban poor neighbourhood communities;

•  Curbing down alienation and discrimination at the workplace;

•  Diminishing marginalization of ethnic minorities through short food supply chains;

• Preventing oblivion of cultural heritage for creolized communities;

• Ensuring the welfare of religious-based communities through interfaith dialogue.