Xenophilia-Schweiz ("Xenophilia Switzerland") is a computer game for young people that seeks to help individuals of different cultures, backgrounds and lifestyles understand each other better. Its playful methodology raises participants' awareness of topics such as migration, integration, racism, prejudices and cultural misunderstandings.

Today's societies are marked by a high level of contact with people of different mentalities, behaviours and lifestyles, which enriches our lives to a large degree. Yet at times we have trouble accepting these differences and dealing with the people who represent them.
Xenophilia-Schweiz, the intercultural learning game on CD ROM, is designed to make this process easier.

This entertaining quiz game focuses on situations, facts and biases that result from contact between different cultures, and raises players' awareness of how to deal constructively with cultural differences and foreign mentalities and behaviours.

Learning objectives

• Dismantling prejudices and fears of foreign mentalities/behaviours.
• Increasing tolerance and understanding of different behaviours and mentalities.
• Questioning the boundaries between one's own and foreign cultures.
• Providing information about Switzerland, other countries, and migration-related issues.

Content

The 100 quiz questions are divided into two topic complexes:

• Foreigners in Switzerland: This section provides information about foreigners and immigrants in Switzerland as well as about Switzerland itself, in order to dismantle prejudices and misunderstandings.
• Foreigners abroad: This section uses concrete situations to raise young players' awareness of different interpretational frameworks for both foreign and their own behaviour, gestures and statements.

The game has two modes. The "Knowledge and Understanding" variant lets teachers choose topics and questions in a targeted manner in order to discuss them in greater detail later in the classroom. In "Trophy" mode, the questions are posed by the system instead of sorted by category. Players receive points for correct responses, which gives this variant a higher competitive component.
The accompanying instructional manual serves as a teaching aid. It contains useful information about the game as well as ideas and suggestions for more extensive activities and group discussions.

Target group(s)

Xenophilia-Schweiz is designed primarily for young people between the ages of 13 and 17, in all types of secondary schools. It can be used in a wide range of courses, such as geography, religion, ethics, civic studies, and German. It is also valuable for libraries, project weeks, and substitute teachers. Moreover, it can benefit older students and adults as well. By successfully combining complex, difficult topics with simple, entertaining questions, the game is sure to remain attractive and instructional for a broad segment of the public.

An adapted version was made for the french speaking part of Switzerland.

Katharina Haab
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+41 (0)32 344 30 54

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