Module 1: Identity politics and belonging. In a time of massive migration and resulting compound groupings, the need for group identity is clear. People need to belong, and social identity is much stronger than personal identity. How do such societies become “ghettoised”? There are both advantages and disadvantages to such developments. In-groups and out-groups can, in this way, become the basis for many conflicts. The module provides insight into how international migration, both historical and contemporary, changes and develops society’s sustainability, as well as an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in multicultural teams and what this requires of leaders, but also an understanding of how intergroup relations can be the basis for both peaceful coexistence and intense conflict. The module provides the skills needed to lead and form constructive multicultural teams with strong unity and effectiveness.

Module 2: Gender and power. Questions of gender and equal rights are very central in many multicultural problem areas. Many of these contentious issues have been in the media spotlight. It is a question of power and powerlessness, but with many different aspects. They way in which these questions are understood and dealt with is critical in multicultural leadership. The module contributes to understanding how the concept of gender challenges in multicultural meetings, how different perspectives and interests should be balanced in own multicultural leadership, and how to evaluate HR-related questions that have special relevance to multicultural organisations. The module enables the use of the field’s knowledge and methods in own leadership within these complex multicultural challenges.

Module 3: Liberalism and freedom. The ideology of liberalism has been fundamental in Western Europe’s development, and it still dominates the way we evaluate right and wrong, not least in a business economic context. This ideology has often collided with immigrants’ traditions and beliefs. In addition, in recent years liberalism has come up against populist currents. Many central thinkers believe we now need a new form of liberalism. The module covers advanced knowledge about the academic debates on neo-liberalism and identity politics specialised towards multicultural issues, evaluating various theories in the field against each other in order to understand their limitations and interpretive power. The module provides the skills to analyse and evaluate critical information and viewpoints both within the field and in the media.

Module 4: Diversity and coexistence. Muslim Spain holds a special place in European history. For some centuries this region was an unusual example of how Muslims, Jews and Christians could live together in peace, and even create the leading centre of competence in Western Europe. Many streams of thought, skills and innovations come from Muslim Spain and helped to form modern Europe. At the same time, Muslim Spain is also a story about prejudices, persecution and the Spanish Inquisition. We will look at multicultural solutions then and now. We will focus on personal leadership, as well as understanding and skills with which to meet multicultural challenges and opportunities. The module contributes to understanding how multicultural diversity can also bring about creativity and innovation, and thus enables the application of academic knowledge in relation to new themes and phenomena. The module also strengthens the ability to evaluate self and own understanding in exercising multicultural leadership, as well as to apply own knowledge to practical challenges and new areas of mastery.

Module 5: Istanbul/Constantinople – where East and West have always met. This place is a hub for meetings between cultures and religions. The main theme of multicultural and multireligious coexistence is explored with special focus on multireligious challenges, not least contemporary meetings between tradition-rich religions and secular society. We will look at how Constantinople and Istanbul have met these problems in the past and present. The module contributes to international approaches to phenomena that can be seen as local challenges, to perspective-rich knowledge about historical meetings between different religions and secularism, and to an understanding of how skilled multicultural leadership is critical for society’s future sustainability.