Inter-cultural communication is a field that examines how people from different cultural backgrounds act, communicate and perceive the surrounding world in similar and disparate ways and how they handle communication situations over cultural borders. Culture is understood here in an anthropological sense, with a focus on nations, professions, teaching, socio-economic groups, diaspora and post-colonial perspectives, as well as questions of equality, inclusion and social sustainability.
The study of intercultural communication includes fields such as anthropology, media technology, leadership, psychology, culture and media studies, social and economic sustainability. The course also covers how media, media technology, and media systems work in different cultures particularly with respect to freedom of the press, advertisement and propaganda, entertainment imperialism, teaching and communication patterns.
After passing the course, the student should be able to
- handle intercultural communication situations in teaching and in future work
- describe and analyse issues in the area of intercultural communication in a critical and systematic way, including the importance of the area for equality, inclusion, and social sustainability in working life and society
- read and demonstrate an understanding of current research literature in the area of intercultural communication for example by summarising research articles
- analyse and predict the importance and use of different media and communication technologies in intercultural communication
in order to
- understand how people from different cultures communicate with one another in organisations and companies
- improve the ability to successfully communicate with people from other cultures (intercultural competence).
- promote equality, inclusion and social sustainability in working life and society.
