This course will review the major concepts, theories, and models that contribute to a general process description of communication across cultures, and it will consider how cultures pattern communication. This work is intended to provide a vocabulary and framework for analysis and discussion throughout the program. Important topics in this course include: The dynamics of face-to-face interaction, conflict styles across cultures, societal influences on ethnocentrism and racism, cultural value orientations, nonverbal dimensions of communication, language interaction, stereotypes, relationship development, and intercultural adaptation.

Course Objectives:

• Identify how cultural values are learned and how they are communicated through behavior
• Comprehend that “perception influences the attribution of meaning” well enough to use this principle in analyzing culture-based communication in general and intercultural miscommunication in particular
• Analyze the core assumptions and values of constructivist and identity negotiation theories
• Examine the ways these can translate into mindful intercultural practice