INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION - Online Resources



INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIONInstructor: Office: Phone:E-mail: Office Hours: Course Context and General ObjectivesWelcome!! In this course, we are all learners and teachers. Your experience and capacities as human beings are valuable resources for us all. Respect for yourself and others is essential for creating a positive learning environment in this class. I look forward to working with you to make this happen.This course is a journey. As most journeys, our travels take us to places both known and unknown. In the process, we will learn a great deal about others—their values, standpoints, ways of thinking, behaving, and communicating. We will also learn about ourselves and how we are shaped by culture, positions of power and forms of inclusion and exclusion. Reflection upon oneself as a cultural being is an important aspect of intercultural communication. In our exploration of new territory in this class, we go away from home, leaving what is familiar and “normal” and we return home with new insights, perspectives and actions.The purpose of this class is to understand how culture and communication intersect in the context of globalization. Communication across cultural groups is complex and challenging and often leads to misunderstanding and conflict in our global world. Intercultural communication is also informing and creative and can lead to personal, local and global change, growth and innovation. While both difficult and rewarding, intercultural communication is central to all our lives in the global context. You will have the chance to gain knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will increase your intercultural communication competence. A variety of teaching methods including lecture, discussion, film, group work, exercises, and creative modalities will be used to address issues in this class.Specific Course ObjectivesTo explore cultural self-awareness, other-culture awareness and the dynamics that arise in interactions between people from different cultures.To understand how communication processes differ among cultures and to acquire knowledge and skills that increase intercultural competence.To understand that socially constructed systems of exploitation and exclusion--racism, sexism, and classism, for example--are historically based; to recognize how privilege, disadvantage and discrimination are perpetuated today and to develop alternative attitudes and actions to challenge and dismantle these systems of exclusion and oppression.To make critical connections between local and global issues as well as the past and the present by examining the historical, political and economic dimensions of intercultural communication in the context of globalization.Required TextsSorrells, K. (2016). Intercultural communication: Globalization and Social Justice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Additional reading (articles and narratives) provided in a reading packet or online.Course PoliciesDue Dates: The dates are firm. Papers are due as assigned in the syllabus. Late papers will be reduced one grade point for each class day they are late.Writing Mechanics and Style: All papers should be typed and presented according to guidelines for each assignment. PROOFREAD YOUR PAPERS. Academic HonestyCourse RequirementsClass Participation (10 points):This portion of your grade will come from your participation in all classroom activities over the term. It is important to make meaningful contributions that demonstrate your engagement with the material, rather than making comments that are not based on the readings.We will begin our sessions (most, not all) by sharing intercultural “insights.” Insights refer to “ah-ha” experiences, observations, understandings, or acts where we make connections between something in our everyday lives and our understanding of intercultural communication processes and practices. Each student is expected to offer at least one insight during the semester.Reading Responses and Experiential Exercises (20 points):The purpose of the reading is to provide a foundation for the material covered in class. Class discussion will build from the reading so it is assumed that the reading has been completed by the assigned date. There are four (4) responses to the readings, which take the form of response papers and experiential exercisesResponse Papers: These are short (2 page) essay-style papers responding to a set of questions related to the reading for the particular class session. All papers should be typed. Papers will be evaluated on: 1.) demonstration that reading has been completed, 2.) application of concepts and ideas, 3.) clarity of writing. Experiential Exercises: You will create a photo essay of your cultural space and a description of an intercultural conflict you have experienced. Further details appear on the Reading Response/Experiential Exercise sheet at the end of the syllabus. Intercultural Field Experience and Research Paper (10 points):This assignment requires that you engage with and learn about a culture that is different from your own. The important consideration here is involvement, not just as a bystander or observer, but engagement with people from a cultural group other than your own. Attendance at cultural events or rituals, spending time at places where people from the culture hang out, along with interviews of people from the culture are all excellent ways to engage with the cultural group you select. As you do your field experience, you will also support your understanding of the culture through library research. Examples and ideas will be discussed in class. For this assignment, students are required to write a five-seven page (double-spaced) paper that includes:A description of the cultural experiences Analysis of the experience using theories and concepts from the courseSupport for field research through library resourcesA summary of reflections on what you have learned from the experienceReferences or Works Cited (APA or MLA accepted)Multicultural Team Project and Paper (20 points):This multicultural project involves a team approach to investigate and present a critical topic or issue in intercultural communication. The purpose of the project is to gain understanding and experience working collaboratively in multicultural teams, to learn in more depth about the intercultural dimensions of current issues and to creatively present the results in our classroom. Teams are expected to approach the topic/theme from both a global and local perspective specifically addressing intercultural dimensions of the issues. The topics below are ideas to get started. Each team will select one issue/topic from the list.MC Team 1: Intercultural dimensions of the immigration debate; IC dimensions of migration; border politics in the U.S. and globallyMC Team 2: Intercultural dimensions of media representation of non-dominant groups; intercultural dimensions of global media circuitsMC Team 3: Intercultural interpersonal relationships; the role of race, class, religion, national, and/or linguistic differences in interpersonal relationshipsMC Team 4: Intercultural dimensions of intercultural business relations; intercultural dimensions of economic disparity, poverty; intercultural dimensions in the exploitation of world labor (within and outside the U.S.)MC Team 5: Intercultural conflict globally and locally; causes/solutions for intercultural interpersonal, community and international conflict; intercultural communication dimensions of conflict managementMC Team 6: Intercultural dimensions of social justice, civil rights and human rights; intercultural dimensions of current movements for social change (immigrant rights, GLBT rights, economic justice-Occupy protests, Arab Spring)The multicultural team project will proceed according to the following steps:Form a multicultural team based on broad topic interestDiscuss, define and narrow group topic in consultation with instructorResearch for the topic should include:Empirical data gathering (i.e. questionnaires, interviews, focus groups)Library-based researchPrepare presentationAll group members need to participateBe creative with your presentationInclude a 3-5 minute video produced by the group about the research topicWrite an individual paper (8-10 pages including bibliography). All papers are due one week after presentation!!Present in class (Your presentation should offer new information; do NOT duplicate the textbook)Exam 1 and 2 (20 points each):The mid-term and final will consist of a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions that require students to synthesize and apply material and discussions covered in class, and the required readings.Course EvaluationParticipation10Reading Responses 20Multicultural Team Project & Paper20Exam 120Field Experience Paper10 Exam220Total100Tentative Schedule(Supplemental articles or narratives can be added) Week/Date/AssignmentsTopicReadingIntro/FoundationsIntercultural Com & the Global ContextDefining Culture Ch. 1Intercultural Praxis2 Key Concepts in ICArticleIC & GlobalizationCh. 23IC & GlobalizationCh. 2Current EventsArticleFilm or Video ClipsGlobalizing Body PoliticsCh. 3History, Power and ICArticleDUE: Response #1 Racism, PrivilegeCh. 3WhitenessArticleFilm or Video ClipsDUE: Response #2 6Intersectional Identities: Race, Ch. 3Gender, Class, SexualityIntersectional IdentitiesArticleFilm or Video Clips 7 Cultural SpaceCh. 4DUE: Response # 3Nonverbal & Verbal ComCh. 4 Article 8 Exam #19 IC RelationshipsCh. 5Film or Video ClipsMC Team 3: IC Relationship IssuesCh. 510 Crossing BordersCh. 6Video ClipsMC Team 1: Immigration IssuesCh. 611 Media and ICCh. 7MC Team 2: Media IssuesCh. 7DUE: Field Experience Paper 12 Culture of CapitalismCh. 8MC Team 4: Capitalism IssuesCh. 813 IC ConflictCh. 9DUE: Response #4 MC Team 5: IC ConflictCh. 914 IC & Social JusticeCh. 10MC Team 6: IC & Social ChangeCh. 1015 Semester Review and ReflectionArticleIntegrating 4 Principles16 Exam 2 Intercultural CommunicationReading Responses and Experiential ExerciseResponse Papers: These are short (2 page) essay-style papers responding to a set of questions related to the reading for the particular class session. All papers should be typed. Papers will be evaluated on: 1.) demonstration that reading has been completed, 2.) application of concepts and ideas, 3.) clarity of writing. Experiential Exercise: Read the assignment description below.Response #1 Reading Response Paper: Chapter 3 Based on your reading of Chapter 3:a.) What role does power play in the “text” we call “history?”b.) How does history influence intercultural interactions? c.) How does the socially constructed category of “race” impact your everyday life?Response #2 Reading Response Paper: Chapter 3 a.) Define white privilege. b.) What constitutes white identity?c.) Discuss your relationship to white privilege and whiteness. How have you experienced it (either as an advantage/benefit and/or as a lack of advantage?) Response #3 Photo Essay Experiential Exercise: Chapter 4 The purpose of this assignment is to enhance your observations and insights about cultural spaces and the cultural groups that construct them. After reading Chapter 4, take pictures of your neighborhood and bring a selection of about 20 of them to class. Use the ideas and concepts presented in chapter 4 to discuss the intercultural dimensions of the cultural space(s) of your neighborhood. Bring photos and a 2 page typed analysis to class. Use the following questions to guide your analysis:Do residents of your neighborhood identity with the place they live? Why or why not?What evidence do you see of de-territorialized and re-territorialized cultures?Research the history of when and why different cultural/racial groups have lived in and moved from your area.How is your particular “here” (your neighborhood) linked to places “there” (othernations, cultural groups around the world)?What historical and current events/crises/trends explain why people from differentcultures are present in your neighborhood?What evidence do you see of segregated cultural spaces? ExplainWhat evidence do you see of contested cultural spaces? ExplainWhat evidence do you see of hybrid cultural spaces? ExplainResponse #4 Reading Response Paper: Chapter 9a.) Consider an intercultural conflict you have experienced. The conflict could be interpersonal, group or community-based. Write a 2 page paper addressing:b.) Write a brief description (1-2 paragraphs) of the conflict. c.) Read Chapter 9. Analyze the conflict based on the ideas and concepts in the chapter. Specifically, identify the micro, meso and macro-level dimensions of the conflict. d.) Based on your understanding of intercultural communication, what suggestions can you offer to resolve the conflict? ................
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