Overview of Course

We live in a global world. Regardless of where you reside, your course of study or your intended career, you will be working and living with people who have different values, norms and communication styles. In this course, you will be introduced to the wide range of global diversity in communication channels, settings and actors through the lens of intercultural communication theories. Foundations of communication style (e.g. ecology, demographics, cultural values, religious beliefs) will be explored so that you will better understand culture-based conversational, linguistic and nonverbal communication patterns. These concepts will be applied to different communication settings such as the classroom, workplace, health care and diplomacy as well as to the development of more intimate intercultural relations. Ethical considerations regarding intercultural communication will be discussed. We will analyze case studies, films, intercultural training materials and negotiation and diplomatic mistakes.