MAIR Course Requirements

First Semester (Residency) (8 credits)

IR 200 Concepts of Intercultural Communication (3 credits)
IR 201 Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations (3 credits)
IR 202 Research I: Ways of Knowing (2 credits)

Second Semester (Residency) (8 credits)

IR 220 Advanced Intercultural Communication Theory (3 credits)
IR 221 Research II (3 credits)
IR 222 Process of Change (2 credits)

Third Semester (Residency) (8 credits)

IR 240 Leadership and Adult Learning (3 credits)
IR 241 Change-Agentry (3 credits)
IR 242 Culture in the Organizational Context (2 credits)

Fourth Semester (No Residency) (8 credits)

Complete credits of electives at the graduate level.

Fifth Semester (No Residency) (8 credits)

IR 297 Graduate Research (4 credits)
IR 299 Thesis (4 credits)


Transfer Credits:

You may transfer into the program up to six semester credits of applicable graduate credit. The courses may be completed before or after admission. Transfer students currently enrolled in other degree programs should consult with UOP or ICI for applicable policies.


Timeframe for Core Courses:

There are three two-week residencies in Portland, Oregon, where you will attend lively, integrative seminars that provide a foundation for the assignments you complete at home. The intensive seminars and the course assignments have been intentionally designed to address all learning styles, and to apply concepts to a wide variety of personal and professional contexts. Therefore, your assignments may include interviewing, analyzing videos, creating projects, conducting research, and participating in other cultures, as well as reading and writing.

   Basic Format:

All nine core courses have a standard format:
  1. Intensive work in class which includes lectures, discussions, exercises, and structured experiences.
  2. Extensive work outside of class, reading assigned books and articles, plus some student-selected options that can include video and audio as well as written materials, plus “participant observations” of various types.
  3. Production of several papers and projects for each class. The specific assignments are listed in the “Evaluation Methods” section of each syllabus, along with the “weight” of each project.

General Goals and Standards of Evaluation:

To be eligible for credit in a course, participants must attend the intensive seminars in Portland and complete all written assignments and other projects. The combined goals for the program as a whole are to develop in students: The ability to meet generally accepted standards of excellence in writing and methods in the field of intercultural communication:

  • A thoughtful and considered perspective both on the state of the discipline as a whole and on particular strategies and concepts within it; and
  • The ability to appropriately apply theoretical learning to practice, always developing and integrating a clear sense of one’s ethical stance in each case.


Basic standards for master’s level work, include:

  • Summaries, paraphrases, and description: Restate important ideas clearly, not merely in general, hitting on most of the important ones.
  • Analysis: Apply important features of the analytical frame (usually suggested by the question) in ways that seem fair to the issues and relevant to the problem.
  • Discussion and Evaluation: Explore all aspects of the material suggested by the question, generally linking ideas to the question’s focus. Evaluation expresses a thoughtful judgment, supported in most cases by reference to the material.
  • Relating and Synthesis: Demonstrate a clear understanding of similarities and differences among ideas and a useful sense of how ideas and theory influence practical decisions.
  • Participation: Involvement in the seminars, as indicated by attentiveness, constructive interaction (as culturally appropriate), and engagement in the material.