CM 373 - Intercultural Communications Competence

This course offers an introduction to the multidisciplinary field of intercultural communication with specific application to students’ Berlin experience. The course will comprehensively exposure students to the key theories and concepts in the field as well as provide familiarity with a variety of approaches to the field: social science (essentialist), descriptive (process) and critical approaches. Intercultural competence requires both an awareness of one’s own cultural perspectives as well as the target culture. The course is designed to train students in making cultural observations, reflecting on their own cultural perspective, making preliminary analyses of observations and revising their analyses as more information becomes known. Students will be encouraged to practice mindful intercultural communication as part of their study experience in Germany.