COMM240

Course Summary

Course : COMM240 Title : Intercultural Communication

Length of Course : 8

Prerequisites : N/A Credit Hours : 3

Description

Course Description: This course develops interpersonal, group, and presentational communication skills that are applicable in personal and professional cross-cultural relationships, and focuses on differences in values, message systems, and communication rules across cultural boundaries and in multicultural settings.

Course Scope:

This course is an introduction on the topic of intercultural communication. Intercultural communication is communication that occurs between individuals and entities that are culturally unalike. Intercultural communication is filled with challenges and opportunities and the general goal of the course is to understand these challenges and opportunities to enhance the quality of intercultural communication.

Intercultural communication is grounded within key historical, political, organizational, and interpersonal contexts that shape our individual interaction with people from different cultures. That is, our behaviors are layered within specific contexts and intercultural communication takes place at each layer. For example, intercultural communication takes place in organizations, but organizational context also influences and is influenced by individuals’ communicative behavior. At each layer, there are a set of communication challenges and skills that can help people be more competent intercultural communicators.

Objectives

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Examine yourself as a cultural being and enhance self and other awareness about cultures.
2. Apply an understanding of and sensitivity to a variety of cultural perspectives and be able to identify ways of understanding and appreciating cultural similarities and dealing with challenges that arise from cultural differences.
3. Classify and interpret skills and knowledge that increase your intercultural communication competence.
4. Identify barriers—racism, sexism, and systems of privilege—that arise from histories of colonization, exploitation, and discrimination, and learn ways to define, recognize and distinguish these inequities.
5. Formulate a critical perspective on local/global issues by examining the historical and political dimensions of intercultural relations.

Outline

Week 1:

Topic

Defining Intercultural Communication; A Layered Approach to Intercultural Communication

Definitions of Culture and the Layered Approach

Learning Objectives LO 1

LO2

Readings

Baldwin, et al., Chapters 1-4

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 1 Lesson. Assignment

Forums:

Week 1 Introduction Forum Week Forum

Week 2:

Topic

Identity and Attribution in Intercultural Communication Learning Objectives

LO 1

LO 2

Readings

Baldwin, Chapter 5

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 2 Lesson. Assignment

Week 2 Forum

Week 2, Essay 1

Week 3:

Topic

Identity and Attribution in Intercultural Communication Learning Objectives

LO 1

LO 2

LO 4

Readings

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 3 Lesson. Assignment

Week 3 Forum

Week 5:

Topic

Interpersonal Relationships in Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Friendships

Learning Objectives LO 1

LO 2

LO 5

Readings

Baldwin, et al., Chapter 13

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 5 Lesson. Assignment

Week 5 Forum

Week 6:

Topic

Organizational Contexts Higher Education Learning Objectives

LO 1

LO 2

LO 3

Readings

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 6 Lesson. Assignment

Week 6 Forum Article Evaluation

Week 7:

Topic

Organizational Contexts

The Workplace and Healthcare

Learning Objectives LO 1

LO 2

LO 3

Readings

Baldwin, Chapter 15

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 7 Lesson. Assignment

Week 7 Forum

Week 8:

Topic

Community and Social Contexts

Intercultural Communities, Media and Popular Culture, and History/Future of Intercultural Communication

Learning Objectives LO 1

LO 4

LO 5

Readings

Baldwin, Chapter 11

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 8 Lesson. Assignment

Week 8 Forum

Annotated Bibliography and Reflection

Week 4:

Topic

Interpersonal Relationships in Intercultural Communication

Initial Interactions Learning Objectives LO1

LO2

Readings

Baldwin, Chapters 7 & 12

See Reading and Resources for readings in the Week 4 Lesson. Assignment

Week 4 Forum

Essay 2

Evaluation

Grading:

Name	Grade %
Forums	50.00 %
Week 1 Forum: Introductions	5.56 %
Week 1 Forum: Irreplaceable	5.56 %
Week 2 Forum	5.56 %
Week 3 Forum	5.56 %
Week 4 Forum	5.56 %
Week 5 Forum	5.56 %
Week 6 Forum	5.56 %
Week 7 Forum	5.56 %
Week 8 Forum	5.56 %
2 Short Essays	20.00 %
Week 2: Essay 1	10.00 %
Week 4: Essay 2	10.00 %
Abstract	10.00 %
Week 6: Article Evaluation	10.00 %
Final Paper	20.00 %

Week 8: Annotated Bibliography and Reflection

20.00 %

ExCredit	2.00 %
XCR1	1.00 %
XCR2	1.00 %

Materials

Book Title: Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life – e-book available in the APUS Online Library; link also available in the classroom Lessons section.

Author: Baldwin Publication Info: Wiley Lib ISBN: 9781444332360

Required Readings

All articles are uploaded to the course folder (heretofore referred to as “Article, 1, 2, 3…and so on).

1. Brooks, David. “The Human Community”. The NewYork Times, May 11, 2007, p. 27.
2. “Heritage Precious, But Don’t Rule Out Change”. Chinadaily.com, November 7, 2007.
3. “Can The ‘People In The Clouds’ Survive?”: South China Morning Post, June 10, 2008, p. 6.
4. “Cartoon heroes”. South China Morning Post, August 13, 2008, p. 5.
5. Osborne, Darren. “I’ll Have to Google The Meaning”, The Courier Mail, May 14, 2008, p. 20.
6. DerGurahian, Jean. “Breaking Barriers: Hospitals Work To Make Sure Cultural Issues Don’t Hinder Quality Of Care”, Modern Healthcare, July 7, 2008, p. 28.
7. Cowan, Erik. “Building business across cultures”, The Korea Herald, February 26, 2008.
8. “Top tips: Cultural diversity in businesses”, The NewZealand Herald, August 17, 2008.
9. Widhalm, Shelley. “People in other lands now seem less foreign; Teachers from abroad share their cultures”, The Washington Times, November 5, 2007, B1.
10. Simmons, Deborah. “The pull of pop culture: Inside an American schoolhouse”, The Washington Times, January 18, 2008, p. A7.
11. “Diversity, not separation, in schools”. The Toronto Star, November 13, 2007, p. AA06.
12. Kang, Shin-who. “Connecting Classrooms’ to Nurture Global Citizens”, Korea Times, March 4, 2009.
13. “Iran and Iraq celebrate ‘bridge of friendship’”. BBC Monitoring Middle East – Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, September 28, 2007.
14. “Economics and Culture Nurture Ties”. Chinadaily.com, May 8, 2008.
15. Fields, Suzanne. “Stereotype redeemed: No more dividing us by category”, The Washington Times, November 6, 2008.
16. Kaplan, Karen. “Racial stereotypes and social status: People who fall into poverty or go to jail are more likely to be perceived as black, a study shows”, Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2008.
17. “Who are we?” South China Morning Post, June 11, 2007, p. 12.
18. Angola Press Agency. “Minister Defends Approach of Cultural Identity”, Africa News, July 10, 2008.
19. Marginson, Simon. “Stereotypes Tell Us Nothing In Uni Debate: Comment & debate”, The Age, July 28, 2008, p. 13.
20. Ha, Michael. “Lessons in Intercultural Communication”, Korea Times, October 17, 2008.

Additional Resources Websites

In addition to the required course texts the following public domain Websites are

useful. Please abide by the university’s academic honesty policy when using Internet sources as well. Note

web site addresses are subject to change.

Site Name            Website URL/Address

Opening Message: Communication Between Cultures

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=AlMf_RGlaQU

Week 2: Comparing Different Cultures: Intercultural Communication s — Rey Ty

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=3gRXMzR_8BY&NR=1

Week 4: Inter Cultural Effectiveness – Culture Shock Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=SFbPCj_cajY&feature=rela ted

Course Guidelines

Citation and Reference Style

Students will follow APA format as the sole citation and reference style used in written assignments submitted as part of coursework in Communication courses within the Humanities Department.

Please note that no formal citation style is graded on forum assignments in the School of Arts & Humanities—only attribution of sources (please see details regarding forum communication below).

Tutoring

Tutor.com offers online homework help and learning resources by connecting students to certified tutors for one-on-one help. AMU and APU students are eligible for 10 free hours of tutoring provided by APUS. Tutors are available 24/7 unless otherwise noted. Tutor.com also has a SkillCenter Resource Library offering educational resources, worksheets, videos, websites and career help. Accessing these resources does not count against tutoring hours and is also available 24/7. Please visit the APUS Library and search for ‘Tutor’ to create an account.

Late Assignments

School of Arts & Humanities Late Policy

Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date and to complete the course according to the published class schedule. As adults, students, and working professionals, I understand you must manage competing demands on your time. Should you need additional time to complete an assignment, please contact me before the due date so we can discuss the situation and

determine an acceptable resolution.

Work posted or submitted after the assignment due date will be reduced by 10% of the potential total score possible for each day late up to a total of five days, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and assignments. Beginning on the sixth day late through the end of the course, late work, including forum posts/replies, quizzes, and assignments, will be accepted with a grade reduction of 50% of the potential total score earned.

Turnitin

Assignments are automatically submitted to Turnitin.com within the course. Turnitin.com will analyze an assignment submission and report a similarity score. Your assignment submission is automatically processed through the assignments area of the course when you submit your work.

Academic Dishonesty

Academic Dishonesty incorporates more than plagiarism, which is using the work of others without citation. Academic dishonesty includes any use of content purchased or retrieved from web services such as CourseHero.com or Scribd. Additionally, allowing your work to be placed on such web services is academic dishonesty, as it is enabling the dishonesty of others. The copy and pasting of content from any web page, without citation as a direct quote, is academic dishonesty. When in doubt, do not copy/paste, and always cite.

Submission Guidelines

Some assignments may have very specific requirements for formatting (such as font, margins, etc) and submission file type (such as .docx, .pdf, etc). See the assignment instructions for details. In general, standard file types such as those associated with Microsoft Office are preferred, unless otherwise specified.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure the all submitted work can be accessed and opened by the instructor.

Disclaimer Statement

Course content may vary from the outline to meet the needs of a particular group or class.

Communicating on the Forum

Forums are the heart of the interaction in this course. The more engaged and lively the exchanges, the more interesting and fun the course will be. Only substantive comments will receive credit. Although there is a final posting day/time after which the instructor will grade and provide feedback, it is not sufficient to wait until the last day to contribute your comments/questions on the forum. The purpose of the forums is to actively participate in an on-going discussion about the assigned content. “Substantive” means comments that contribute something new and important to the discussion. Thus a message that simply says “I agree” is not substantive. A substantive comment contributes a new idea or perspective, a good follow-up question to a point made, offers a response to a question, provides an example or illustration of a key point, points out an inconsistency in an argument, etc.

As a class, if we run into conflicting view points, we must respect each individual’s own opinion. Hateful and hurtful comments towards other individuals, students, groups, peoples, and/or societies will not be tolerated.

Students must post a response to the weekly forums prompt and post the required number of replies to other students – refer to the grading rubric and/or forum instructions for specific expectations on number of replies and word count requirements.

The main response to the forum is due mid-week – refer to the grading rubric and/or forum instructions for specific expectations. Late main response posts to a forum may not be accepted without prior instructor approval.

Replies must be posted in the week due and replies after the end of the each week may not be graded.

Quizzes and Exams

Quizzes and exams may consist of true/false, multiple choice, and short essay questions. Each quiz/exam is accessible only once. Once a quiz/exam is accessed, you will not be able to access it again if you disconnect. Therefore, allocate time to complete your quiz. Weekly quizzes must be submitted by midnight Eastern Time, Day 7 of the assigned week. Late quizzes or exams will not be accepted without prior instructor approval.

University Policies

Student Handbook

Drop/Withdrawal policy Extension Requests Academic Probation Appeals

Disability Accommodations

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