CONVIVENCIA Y CONFLICTO INTERCULTURAL Jóvenes universitarios indígenas y mestizos en la Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas

Th is paper analyzes the historical and sociocultural characteristics of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, the city where Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas is located. Racism and intercultural confl ict are identifi ed as structural elements of the confl ictive relationships among the diverse ethnic groups that make up the city’s population and are reproduced in the university. Based on the refl ections of the young students who participated in a collaborative research project, the paper presents various intercultural conflicts that occur between indigenous and mestizo university students; intercultural interaction is limited by the presence of striking social, economic, and academic asymmetries. An analysis of the operation of the university’s intercultural educational model sustains that native language classes and subjects from the area of community association are curricular spaces that have the potential to transform the confl ict and encourage more harmonious intercultural relations within the student community.