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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "CMS 280-6"
COURSE NAME: "Intercultural Communications"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2024
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Marie Moise
EMAIL: [email protected]
 HOURS: TTH 1:30 PM 2:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An exploration of some of the historical and political conditions that make intercultural communication possible, the barriers that exist to effective intercultural communication, and possible solutions to the problem of intercultural misunderstanding. The course examines examples of differences in communication styles not only between cultures but also within. As a result, issues of race, nation, class, gender, religion, immigration, and sexual orientation will be of significant concern. The course stresses the notion that knowledge of human beings is always knowledge produced from a particular location and for a particular purpose. As a result it encourages students to think carefully about the discipline of Intercultural Communication—its conditions of possibility, its assumptions, and its blind spots—as well the need to be mindful of the limitations and interests of our positioning as investigating subjects.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This course will provide students with the opportunity to investigate how culture influences the communication process. Through lectures, screenings, written assignments, and class discussion, we will explore some of the historical and political conditions that make intercultural communication possible, the barriers that exist to effective intercultural communication, and possible solutions to the problem of intercultural misunderstanding. We will examine examples of differences in communication styles not only between cultures but also within. As a result, issues of race, nation, class, gender, religion, immigration, and sexual orientation will be of significant concern.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Analyze the complexity of communication in an intercultural communication exchange

2. Consider popular culture as forms of global culture and intercultural contact

3. Examine how power, privilege, and difference shape intercultural exchange

4. Describe the historical conditions that make intercultural communication possible

5. Explore the role identity plays in intercultural communication

6. Recognize the influence of our own cultural situation upon the sending and interpreting of messages

7. Theorize globalization and its impact on intercultural communication

8. Consider how new information technologies impact intercultural communication

9. Examine how issues of genre inform attempts at intercultural communication
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Intercultural communication in Context, 8th ed.Martin, Judith N., Nakayama, Thomas K.McGraw-Hill HumanitiesISBN-10: 9780073385129  Hard Copy  
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Auto-ethnographyStudents will be required to write a short autoethnography—a kind of autobiographical field report. Students will self-assess their own strategies for negotiating different cultures.15%
Final ExamStudents must develop a research-informed essay that discusses crucial issues and opportunities for ICC about a topic to be defined in the classroom.35%
Research ProjectStudents must gather with colleagues to form a project (website, blog, written essay, video, or audio formats) that invites some of the theories seen in the course while applying its teaching to real-world situations. The project can assume the form of a reflexive essay, a public 45 policy proposal, or a communication strategy that responds to practical issues experienced by communities around the world.35%
Attendance and participationStudents are required to attend and participate in classroom debates, activities, and engage in discussion with colleagues. Part of this score also refers to the ability to create, innovate, and propose alternatives for ICC in multiple contexts.15%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
SCHEDULE

Week 1 

 

 - Overview of the course. Motivations, expectations and objectives

What is intercultural communication?

- History, approaches, self-awareness and ethical imperatives of intercultural communication.

 

Readings: Ch.2 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts 

Week 2

- What is culture?

- What is communication? 

Readings: Ch.3 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts 

Week 3

- Communication and power 

Auto-ethnography exercise - part.1

- Communication and context.

Auto-ethnography exercise - part.2


Readings: Ch. 3 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts 

Week 4

 

- Historical frames shaping intercultural communication.

From History to Stories: Family and Nation


- From History to Histories: Gender/Sexual and Colonial/Racial History

Readings: Ch. 4 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts 

Week 5 

- Identity and Intercultural communication:

Membership, expression and multiplicity of identities.

Readings: Ch. 5 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts 

- Constructing the Other identity:

Perceptions, stereotypes and ascpritions

 

Readings: Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Introduction (pages 1-30), 1st Vintage books ed., Vintage Books, 1979.



Week  6

- Identity and Intercultural communication in Cinema Part. 1

Watching : Pride by Matthew Warchus, 2014

- Intercultural communication and Cinema Part. 2

Watching: Where do we go now by Nadine Labaki (2011)

Week 7

- Language and communication styles

 

Readings: Ch. 6 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, Ch.1

- Translation and interpretations

 

Readings: Moïse, Ghebremariam Tesfau, Notes toward an Italian decolonial Translation

 

Week 8

- Nonverbal codes

Readings: Ch. 7 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others.” American Anthropologist, vol. 104, no. 3, 2002, pp. 783–90.


- Cultural Spaces

Exercise: Mapping cultural spaces

 

Readings: Hall, E.T. & Hall, M.R. Key concepts: Underlying structures of culture. In J.N. Martin, T.K. Nakayama & L.A. Flores (Eds.) Readings in intercultural communication: Experiences and contexts. (pp. 165-171). USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Week 9 

- Migration and (inter)cultural transitions


Readings: Ch. 8 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

 Watching: Crossing the colorline by Sabrina Onana, 2022

- The female experience of liminality: Women living on the borders

Readings: Anzaldua, G. (1999). Borderlands/La frontera: The new mestiza (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Press.

Ehrenreich, B., & Hochschild, A. R. (2003). Introduction. In B. Ehrenreich & A. R. Hochschild (Eds.), Global woman: Nannies, maids, and sex workers

Week 10

- What is Popular culture

Readings: Ch. 9 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, media, language. London: Hutchinson.

- The influence of Representations in popular culture 

Readings: Hall, Stewart. Hall, Stuart, Representation & The Media”Lecture Transcript, Media Education Foundation, 1997.

Week 11

 

- Dialectics of intercultural relationship: benefits and challenges

Readings: Ch. 10 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

Chen, L. (2002). Communication in intercultural relationships. In W. B. Gudykunst & B. Mody (Eds.), Handbook of international and intercultural communication

(pp. 241–258). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.


- Intercultural relationships in pedagogical contexts

Readings : Ndack Mbaye, Marie Moïse, Empower(ed). Highschool toolkit for challenging discrimination, Acra

Week 12

- Cultures in conflict: research approaches

Readings: Ch. 11 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts

- Managing intercultural conflicts

Group simulation

 

Readings: D. Augsburger, Conflict Mediation Across Cultures (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), pp. 206–208.

Week 13

- Intercultural conflicts in Cinema

Watching: The Old Oak by Ken Loach (2023)

- Analyzing intercultural conflicts.

Readings: Edward Said, "The Clash of Ignorance", The Nation, October 4, 2001

 

 

Week 14 

- Becoming Intercultural communicators: Individual and contextual competence

- Intercultural communication knowledge applied

 

Readings: Ch. 11 from Intercultural Communication in Contexts