Cross-cultural Communication

Previous courses: Reading 2 (EL007IU/EL007WE), Writing 2 (EL008IU/EL008WE), Listening 2 (EL009IU/EL009WE), and Speaking 2 (EL010IU/EL010WE)

Course description: The course begins with a focus on some key definitions culture, communication, intercultural and cross-cultural communication. Students are expected to read assigned materials ahead of class meetings and come with thoughts and questions. Then the students are required to trace the sources of cultural bias leading to stereotypes and then ethnocentrism. Further, the importance of self-awareness and self-reflexivity to gain a deeper understanding of the self and one’s context at the interstices of gender, class, culture, race/ethnicity, religion, privilege, and power is highly illustrated via class discussion, group reading and project presentation. These activities connect theory to current events and case studies through careful analysis. In studying cross-cultural communication, it is vital to critically examine one’s own cultural values and assumptions, which strongly influence one’s worldview and interactions with members from different groups. We will then encourage the students to develop critical thinking regarding intercultural relations in order to better analyze and understand complex contexts. The class topics, the popular cross-cultural issues, such as personal spaces, work customs, death and funeral customs, superstitions…will foster, monitor and evaluate the extent to which students get close to cultural relativists.