SUBJECT

Intercultural Training

SOCM17-111

practice

Master

Faculty of Education and Psychology

Social Integration MA

2

Semester 2

Spring semester

Course description:

The course brings the understanding of the mechanisms of intercultural relations into focus. Besides providing an insight into the theories of intercultural interactions and relations, the course makes participants aquainted with the close connection between culture and human thinking, emotions and behaviour, the characteristics of intercultural relations, through personal experiences.. It aims to increase intercultural sensitivity, competence, gender awareness and improve the efficiency of intercultural communication. It aims to replace the monocultural view with an intercultural one and to provide the necessary knowledge and skills related to the latter.

Learning outcomes and competencies

knowledge:

• Knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics of the values of different cultures

• Knowledge of the main achievements of modern cultural psychology

• Knowledge of the historical and cultural aspects of the relationship between majority & minority groups

• Knowledge of the basic processes of intercultural communication

• Knowledge of basic forms of intercultural relationships and social practices

attitude:

• Openness to accepting the values of other cultures

• Acceptance of the norms of intercultural communication

skills:

• Ability to work efficiently in intercultural organizations and to win partners’ cooperation

• Ability to reflect on the hidden assumptions of one’s own culture, to identify and critically relate to others’ prejudices and ethnocentric views

• Ability to understand the characteristics of intercultural communication, to apply them in organizing partners’ work and to deal with possible conflicts efficiently

Course content

Main content

The course gives an insight into theories of intercultural interactions and relations (e.g.: identity strategies, identity negotiation approach) and their application in practice. It illustrates the close relationship between culture and human thinking, emotions and behavior and the nature of intercultural relations through own experiences, furthermore, it increases intercultural sensitivity, competence and efficiency of intercultural communication.

Ethnocentrism. Raising awareness of diversity. Framing; description, interpretation, evaluation.Theories of intercultural interactions and relations (Ting-Toomey’s face-negotiation theory, Berry’s stress and coping model, Argyle’s culture-learning theory, Phinney’s approach of identity, Camilleri’s and Cohen-Emerique’s identity strategies, identity negotiation approach). Culture and human thinking, emotions and behaviour, the characteristics of intercultural relations, through personal experiences..

Learning activities, learning methods

Interactive lecture, training method, experiential learning, simulated expert group, case analysis (e.g. film)

Evaluation of outcomes

Requirements:

• Active participation in the training - maximum half day absence (4 hours)

• Reading the assigned readings

• "Intercultural Trial (Heptathlon)": group exercise which consist of  creating group tasks and solving those tasks (participants devise seven experience-based simple group tasks that will be realized by other participants from the group)

• Writing a paper about the experiences of “Intercultural Trial (Heptathlon)"

Method of evaluation: 

Pratice mark. The writing assignment will be evaluated by grades and text feedback.

Criteria of evaluation:

• Constructive participation in the course

• Relevance of the topic in written assignment, and meeting the criteria set by the instructor

• Self-reflexivity of the written assignment

• Coherence and complexity of the writte assignment

• Bennett J.M. (2009). Cultivating intercultural competence: a process perspective. In Deardoff, D. (Ed.) The Sage handbook of intercultural competence. Sage Publications. Los Angeles. 121-140.
• Deardoff, D.K. (2009) (Ed.) The Sage Handbook of Intercultural competence. Sage Publications.
• Gudykunst, W. B. (2005). Theorizing about intercultural communication. Sage Publications Ltd., Thousand Oaks, CA.
• Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J., & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27(4), 421-443.
• Landis, D.; Bennett, J. M.; Bennett, M. J. (eds.) (2004): Handbook of intercultural training (3rd edition). Sage Publications. - Matsumoto, D. (2010) The APA Handbook of intercultural communication. APA, Washington DC.