Introduction to the course content
In today’s globalised world, intercultural competence is an essential qualification for success. We come into contact with “foreigners” in our own countries and when we go abroad, in business and in social situations. In this course, you are given an introduction to intercultural communication, made aware of your own cultural conditioning, and sensitized to other viewpoints, lifestyles and ways of doing business in other cultures.
The course will take both a theoretical and practical approach and amongst others will look at the following topics:
- Discourse and language skills
-English presentation skills across cultures and English writing skills
- Unconscious bias
-Definition of Culture and Intercultural communication
- The importance of self-awareness, reflection, and values
- Intercultural academic theories from Hofstede, Trompenaars and Hall
- Four layers of diversity
- Barriers to effective ICC
- Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)
- Culture Shock
In this C1 class, we will touch upon global topics that are relevant to everyone, such as:
How do we learn from the past (or do we?)?
What shapes our identity?
What is beauty?
What happens when we leave our comfort zone?
How can we deconstruct racism?
What is a luxury and what a bare necessity?
How do digital media influence our lives?
How do we deal with our ocean suffocating in plastic?
How can we find new solutions and think outside the box?
In this special semester, the course will be taught online, you will receive material - videos, texts, exercises - to work with on your own. Since this is a language course and you should also have the opportunity to do some speaking, we will form study buddy groups, which can get together virtually and discuss our topics. All the details will be explained in my introductory video which will be available from April 20.
Test description
