Intercultural Communication (CJ 314) Spring 2008

Professor: John Oetzel

Office: 2 C & J

Office Hours: T 10-11; Th 12:15-1:15 or by appointment

Phone: 277-1905

E-mail: joetzel@unm.edu

Course Description and Objectives

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 sets of communication challenges and skills that can help people be more competent intercultural communicators.

The following learning objectives are addressed in this course:

1) To understand yourself as a cultural being and enhance self and other awareness about cultures.

2) To demonstrate 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) To acquire knowledge and skills at various layers that increase your intercultural communication competence.

4) To identify barriers—racism, sexism, and systems of privilege—that arise from histories of colonization, exploitation, and discrimination, and learn ways to creatively address these inequities.

5) To gain a critical perspective on local/global issues by examining the historical and political dimensions of intercultural relations.

Required Text

Oetzel, J. G. (2009). Intercultural communication: A layered approach. Boston: Pearson.

Course Assignments

There are four assignments that you need to complete in this course: 2 projects and 2 exams. I recognize that there are different learning styles and that you might have a preference for certain types of assignments over others. I also assume that you like choices so I have integrated several choices in the course. The first is that you get to choose how much you’d like to weigh each of the four assignments. If you love exams and don’t like papers/presentations, you can weight the exams up to 35%. If you hate exams, you can weight them 15%. You can select any value between 15 and 35 percent so long as the four assignments collectively equal 100. This choice needs to be made by the end of the second week and cannot be altered once made. If you do not submit the weighting, the default is 25% for each assignment. You don’t get to see how you do before you make these choices.

Midterm Exam 15-35%

Final Exam 15-35%

Project 1 15-35%

Project 2 15-35%

Total 100% (you choose the weighting for your these four projects to total 100)

The second choice is among the projects that you are required to do. You get to pick what projects are most interesting to you. The key is that you must do one oral presentation and one written project. The third choice is that you can do either of the projects as an individual or as a member of a team. You can work in a team of 2-5 members. All members will get the same grade. At the end of the syllabus, I provide some suggestions for working in teams. The exams must be done individually.

EXAMS

Midterm and final. The exams will not be cumulative. The midterm will cover Chapters 1-6 (introductory, individual contexts, and interpersonal contexts). The final will cover Chapter 7-12 (organizational contexts and community/societal contexts).

The exams will consist of both “objective” (i.e., multiple choice, true/false) and essay questions. They will test your understanding and ability to apply key concepts and theory. I emphasize critical thinking and application over memorization on exams. On exams, you have the opportunity to turn any multiple choice or true/false question into a short answer essay. Sometimes, you might feel the answer is a “trick” (although I never intentionally try to trick students); this way, if you know the answer you can write it out to show me what you know. If you select the wrong answer, but your explanation was accurate, you get the points. The reverse is also true—you can select the right answer, but your explanation is wrong so you don’t get the points.

PROJECT 1: WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is a written project of approximately 10 pages for an individual; for a team of 2-3 it should be about 15 pages and for a team of 4-5 it should be about 20 pages. The project must utilize a minimum of 6 outside references as an individual (only 1 of which can be a web site; you can use more web sites, but they can’t count toward the six). For each additional member of the team, you must add 3 references. Additionally, you must consider layered effects of whatever topic/project you choose.

Papers are to be typed, double-spaced, one inch margins, no title page, and completed using APA style (or some other accepted style guide). Assignments should be submitted using Web CT. Grading criteria are described in a later section. You may select one of the following assignments:

1) Case study analysis. Select an intercultural situation that demonstrates a challenge or benefit/opportunity. Describe the case and analyze what went right or wrong using key concepts and theories. The paper should have four main sections: a) description of what happened and introduce the paper, b) introduction of the concepts/theories, c) analysis of the case using the concepts/theories, and d) conclusions including lessons learned for others.

2) Describing an intercultural experience. The purpose of this paper is to describe an intercultural encounter that you have had. It could include (a) a sojourn, (b) an intercultural interaction(s), or (c) exploring your identity in the context of our larger society (e.g., what does it mean to be biracial in the U.S?) If you team up, you only need to describe one of your experiences. You will need to describe the intercultural experience (including your feelings) and then apply relevant concepts such as (but not limited to): a) intercultural adaptation, b) conflict management, c) social identity, or d) identity/relationship themes. It should have five sections: a) Provide an intro to the paper, b) describe the intercultural experience (including feelings), c) Define the concepts/theories being used, d) Apply the concept(s) to the experience, and e) Conclusion (you could conclude by showing how things could be improved in the future—how you can become more competent)

3) Understanding your own culture. The purpose of this paper is to research and describe the communication norms and rules of your own culture both with culturally similar and different members. Every culture has key rules for appropriate communication behavior and your goal is to summarize what the rules are. If it helps you focus your paper, you can focus on rules in a single context (for example, communicating at work). To help complete this project, you can conduct interviews with members of the culture and/or do observations of cultural members in a particular context (highly recommended); 2 interviews = 1 outside reference and 2 hours of observation = 1 outside reference (up to 6 interviews or hours of observation; so, 3 outside references can substituted for). Make sure to focus both on rules for communicating with members of your culture and with members of other cultures. The paper should have the following sections: a) provide an introduction of the culture, b) describe the context(s) for the rules, c) describe the rules of communication for members of the culture (provide detailed examples), d) describe the rules of communication for members of other cultures (provide detailed examples), and e) Conclusion that includes recommendations for people interacting with your culture.

4) Situating your culture. The purpose of this assignment is for you to locate yourself in the complex contexts of intercultural relations from historical, political, cultural, racial, gender, and socioeconomic perspectives. Your paper should explore and reflect on your own culture and cultural identities in relation to a specific history and/or current event. You will choose a topic from historical events and/or current social issues and make connections with your identities, cultural positioning, positions of privilege and marginalization, etc. You can interview individuals who can speak about the history/event (highly recommended). 2 interviews = 1 outside reference (up to 6 interviews). The paper should have the following sections: a) introduction of the paper, b) description of the history/event, c) introduce key concepts/theories, d) using the concepts to interpret the history/event making sure to focus on how the history/event frames intercultural interactions today, and e) conclusion.

5) Journal. The purpose of this assignment is to keep a journal to reflect on a lot of activities throughout the semester. You must complete a journal entry for each of the chapters of the text (the paper is due after Ch. 8 so you’ll have to work ahead). The entry can be a reflection about the chapter or an example in the text, completion of a suggested exercise, or a class activity. It should be one page or so. After completing these journal entries, you should complete the paper so that it reflects on your own abilities and knowledge of intercultural communication. The paper should have the following sections: a) introduction, b) describe your intercultural abilities at the beginning of the semester, c) analyze your growth using key concepts/theories, d) discuss your future goals using key concepts/theories, and e) conclusion. The journal entries should be included as an appendix to the paper. This paper only needs to be about 6 pages for an individual.

6) Other. If you have another idea for a paper, tell me about it and I’ll consider it.

PROJECT 2: ORAL PRESENTATION

For this project, you must complete an oral presentation with visual aids and outline (can be a power point outline or word document). The presentation will vary in length from 8-10 minutes for an individual to 30-35 minutes for a 5-member team. You must select a topic by the end of the third week of class and I will inform you of the date of your presentation at that time. We will coordinate presentations with topics in the class.

You can choose to integrate your own video production if you have the skills or you can rely on more traditional visual aids such as handouts, video clips, power point slides, web sites, etc. The project must utilize a minimum of 6 outside references as an individual (only 1 of which can be a web site; you can use more web sites, but they can’t count toward the six). For each additional member of the team, you must add 3 references. Additionally, you must consider layered effects of whatever topic/project you choose. Finally, your topic needs to be distinct from Project 1—you cannot simply do the same topic and write a paper and give a presentation on it. I want you to explore different cultures and topics with these two papers.

You can select among the following topics.

1) Presentation on a class topic. The purpose of this presentation is to illuminate a key intercultural communication concept or theory. This should be a concept or theory that is to be covered in the class. You (or your team) will be responsible with leading the class discussion for a short period of time. You should introduce the concept/theory, describe/explain it, conduct an activity to help us understand it, have a discussion about it etc. The key is that you are to teach us something about the concept beyond what is presented in the text (hence the research). It is important to focus this presentation, as you can’t do too much in the amount of time you have so planning is critical. Your presentation should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion like any good speech. You need to make sure that you have a clear structure to this presentation.

2) Investigate communication difficulties of two cultures. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the intercultural relations of two cultures that have historically been poor and provide explanations as to why this might be the case. For example, you might consider Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, Palestinians and Israelis, Hutus and Tutsi in Rwanda, the Darfur conflict, Turkish and Greek Cypriots, groups within the US, etc. The possibilities are endless. What you will need to do is research the two cultures and the historical events surrounding the strained relations. What has lead to these events? What intercultural communication concepts and theories help to explain these events? How does the situation get perpetuated? What is being done to improve relations? What else might work? These are some of the possible questions you can consider. The presentation should be focused and have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion like any good speech. You need to make sure that you have a clear structure to this presentation.

3) Documentary on an intercultural or cultural community. The purpose of this project is to carefully document and describe a cultural or intercultural community. You will need to learn a lot about a particularly community (physically co-located or virtual) and their ways of interacting with one another. If you choose this project, you will need to provide documentation of this culture. For example, you might use your video production skills to record what is going on in this community. Or, you might use photography to capture the culture or screen captures of blogs. The presentation should be focused and have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion like any good speech. You need to make sure that you have a clear structure to this presentation. Unlike the other presentations, I envision the documents being the major part of the presentation with the “live presentation” being secondary.

4) Other. If you have another idea, let me know and I’ll consider it.

Grading Criteria

The projects and exams are graded on the same criteria: (a) grammar/spelling (for the presentation, this will include delivery), (b) organization/structure, (c) accuracy, (d) originality of analysis, (e) depth of critical thinking, (f) quality of arguments—using evidence to support opinions, and (g) following instructions. I also want to emphasize a couple of other points:

1) I have high standards for excellent work. To receive an excellent grade you will need to work hard and do excellent work. Hard work is necessary, but not sufficient to receive high grades.

2) The assignments are designed to challenge you. I am expecting you to think independently in the class. That is, I will expect you to go beyond basic memorization of ideas. For example, on the exams, I will expect you to know concepts well and be able to apply them to specific examples. On other projects, I will expect you to come up with original ideas (ones not covered in class or the readings). It is not a matter of simply following instructions.

3) I also provide a lot of support to help you do your best. For example, I provide a study guide for the exams so that you don’t have to know everything we discuss in class. These guides will limit the amount of information that you are responsible for.

4) I will provide detailed and honest feedback about your performance. I assume you want an honest assessment of your performance (good or bad).

5) Page/presentation length—I do not grade on page/presentation length. For example, I say the paper needs to be about 10 pages. However, if you turn in a paper that is only 5 pages, I will not deduct points. I simply grade on the substance. That said, I strongly suspect that a 5 page paper will not adequately meet the criteria stated above and thus you probably will get a below average grade. On the other hand, if you can do a great job in fewer pages, so much the better.

Grading Scale: 93-100 A 87-89 B+ 77-79 C+ 60-69 D

90-92 A- 83-86 B 73-76 C below 60 F

80-82 B- 70-72 C-

Course Policies

1) Attendance and participation: Because some students learn by doing concrete activities, while others learn by talking about abstract ideas, I utilize a variety of instructional tools including (1) brief lectures, (2) discussions, (3) videos, and (4) class/group activities. I usually lecture for no more than 20-30 minutes at a time--I know it is tough to listen to a long lecture. During the course, we’ll utilize a lot of group activities. These groups will be utilized to discuss ideas and complete activities in class. The purpose of the groups is to share ideas to help one another learn (e.g., talking about a reading or lecture). Basically, 1-2 times each week, I’ll give you a task to complete and you will be required to complete that task within your group. Then, we’ll discuss the task as a class. Because of this active involvement everyday, attendance and participation will be taken into account in determining final grades. Specifically, I will take attendance throughout the class and for every absence over 2 (excused or unexcused) will result in a deduction of 3 points from your overall grade. If you are not participating in an activity, I will count that as an absence. I also reserve the right to include pop quizzes to check for preparation. If you cannot pass the quiz with a 70%, I will count that day as an absence.

2) I will accept late papers for one week after the due date. Assignments are due at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. I will deduct one letter grade (10%) per day as a penalty.

3) Makeup examinations are only allowed if you make special arrangements with me BEFORE the exam date (or under extreme cases such as a family emergency).

4) I will expect you to take an active role in your learning. If you are having trouble, you need to come see me. I am very happy to help you out--that is what I am here for. I am willing to work with you until you completely understand. Please take advantage of my services. Please do not be afraid to come see me. Further, if you do not understand something, I will expect you to ask questions. I give ample opportunity to ask questions. I will often say, “Are there any questions?” If there is no response, I assume everyone understands. If you are embarrassed to speak up in front of the class, come and talk to me after class or in my office.

5) Procedures for appealing exam/paper scores: I will go over exams and papers in class. This time is not for debating scores; it is a time for understanding the exam questions and answers. If you believe your grade is incorrect and would like to appeal the score, you have two choices: (1) write out the appeal, carefully explaining why you feel you deserve more points and I will notify you of my decision in writing within 2 days or so, and/or (2) make an appointment to discuss the issue in my office. The first appointment will be 24 hours after the exam/paper is turned back to you.

6) You must check your UNM provided e-mail. I will use these addresses to communicate any pertinent information for the class.

7) ADA Accessibility: Qualified students with disabilities needing appropriate academic adjustments should contact me as soon as possible to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner. Handouts are available in alternative accessible formats upon request.

8) Diversity: This course encourages different perspectives related to such factors as gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and other relevant cultural identities. This course seeks to foster understanding and inclusiveness related to such diverse perspectives and ways of communicating.

9) Ethics: The course emphasizes ethical practices and perspectives. Above all, students and instructors should strive to communicate and act, both in class interactions and in assigned coursework, in a manner directed by personal integrity, honesty, and respect for self and others. Included in this focus is the need for academic honesty by students as stated by the UNM Pathfinder. Students need to do original work and properly cite sources. For example, be aware of plagiarism—directly copying more than 3 or 4 words from another author without quoting (not just citing) the author is plagiarism. Further, course content will encourage the ethical practices and analysis of intercultural communication. Students should not be submitting the same paper for assignments in different classes.

Course Outline

This table provides the targeted agenda for the course. For each date, I list the topic, readings, and any assignments that are due. The dates are subject to change due. If changes to the schedule are made, I will provide advance notice and a revised course outline.

Date	Topic	Reading	Assignment
1/22	Introduction to the Course
1/24	Introduction to Intercultural Comm.	1
1/29	Ethics and social justice	1
1/31	The layered perspective	2	WEIGHTING OF ASSIGNMENTS
2/5	Different approaches to culture	2
2/7	Characteristics of identity	3	SELECTION OF ORAL TOPICS
2/12	Identity development and differentiation	3
2/14	Identity negotiation and layers	3
2/19	Attributions	4
2/21	Attitudes	4
2/26	Initial interaction: Cultural adaptation	5
2/28	Initial interaction: Communication strategy	5
3/4	Intercultural friendships and romantic relationships	6
3/6	Intercultural romantic relationships;	6
3/11	Midterm Review
3/13			MIDTERM EXAM
3/18-20	Spring Break
3/25	Educational disparities and classroom communication; Go over midterm	7
3/27	Disparities and learning styles	7
4/1	Workplace diversity challenges/benefits	8
4/3	Intercultural communication in the workplace	8	WRITTEN PROJECT
4/8	Health disparities; Review papers	9
4/10	Explaining health disparities	9
4/15	Community and culture	10
4/17	Challenges to intercultural community	10
4/22	Media production and messages	11
4/24	Media reception	11
4/29	History	12
5/1	Future of intercultural communication	12
5/6	Open for catching up or presentations		PROJECT 2 DUE IF NOT SUBMITTED EARLIER
5/8	Presentations; Final review
5/13	12:30-2:30		FINAL EXAM

Group Management and Coordination

Teamwork is both a rewarding and frustrating fact of life. However, it is a necessary skill and one that many organizations require. This project will help improve your teamwork skills and give you an opportunity to learn and/or practice teamwork. It will take a lot of effort on your part to create a cohesive unit. If you are cohesive, the work will be relatively easy and should show up on your grades. If not, you and your group will likely suffer.

To help you achieve more rewards than costs, I have attached a set of general rules for improving teamwork. This specific sheet is designed to provide you the details of running a self-managed team. I will expect you to operate as a self-managed team. That is, you will need to plan and take care of most of your problems. To do this, you will need to write up a contract of what you agree to do. You can set high or low standards, but everyone must agree. I strongly suggest setting high standards, as this is a key for group success. The contract should include:

a) degree of commitment to the group

b) time and amount of meetings

c) punishments for missing meetings or not meeting deadlines

d) other relevant factors if you like--for example, dealing with conflicts, your attitudes for procrastination or planning, etc., giving feedback for each other.

Finally, I hope that you can deal with difficulties among your group. However, I do recognize that you may want some advice from me or you may want to let me know what problems are occurring. Please make an appointment or see me during office hours. I prefer to meet with the entire group unless it is an individual problem.

Common Errors That Groups Make:

1. Thinking that individuals can complete parts of the assignment on their own without talking with other members. Many groups try to do group projects like individual assignments. They divide the work up, have everyone do their part, meet the day before the project is due, and put the pieces together. These projects typically end up being awkward and disorganized. COORDINATION AND FREQUENT COMMUNICATION ARE A MUST.

2. Relying on one person too much (usually because they are hard working).

3. Allowing other members to take advantage of your hard work. By the end of the semester, you will likely blow up at these people and they will wonder why you are being such a pain. Stand up for yourself at the beginning and punish free riders. The easiest way (and the least confrontive) is to have a clear contract that outlines consequences.

4. Not putting together a good contract. Most groups take this very lightly and figure they’ll deal with problems as they come. (you can do this too; it works for some groups). However, when the problems arise, members realize they don’t see eye to eye about the issues. It is easiest if you take care of these issues in advance. That is, plan for problems and problems won’t be that big of deal.

5. Not spending time getting to know one another and establishing trust and strong relationships. This is especially important for collectivistic people (we’ll go over this in class). Not everyone can just get down to work without establishing some trust.

6. Waiting until the last minute to do the project.

Some final suggestions for effective teams:

Keys to Productivity Being an Effective Group Member

*Clear Team Goals *Don’t Blame Others for Group Problems

*Clear Roles *Encourage Goal and Role Clarification

*Working Together *Encourage Open Communication and

*Open Communication Structure Feedback

*Spend Time Planning How to Make Decisions *Promote Appropriate Ratio of Task

and Solve Problems and Supportive Comments (65/35)

*Establish Norms Encouraging High Performance *Promote use of Effective Problem-Solving

Quality and Success *Create Norms supporting Productivity

*Accept Different Behaviors so long as it Innovation, and Freedom of Expression

Contributes to the Task *Go Along with these Norms

*Cooperative Conflict Resolution *Promote Cooperation

Intercultural Communication

Student Data Sheet

Please provide a little background information about yourself.

Name_______________________________

Major_______________________________

Why are you taking this course?

What do you hope/expect to learn from this course?

Do you have any overseas experiences? If so, what are they?

Do you have other experience communicating with someone from another culture? What?

Do you speak another language? Which one?

What are your career aspirations?