HENB10581U Interacting across cultures: developing awareness, critical reflection and skills

Årgang 2024/2025
Engelsk titel

Interacting across cultures: developing awareness, critical reflection and skills

Kursusindhold

This course focuses on students’ development of intercultural communicative skills through interaction with peers from other Nordic universities throughout the semester.

The course consists of three parts focusing on “Navigating academic cultures”, “The role of language in intercultural communication”, and “Engaging with and reflecting on culture(s)”, which are taught by teachers from the participating Nordic universities.

Synchronous activities, such as online teaching and group discussions, will take place Fridays 12:00-14:00 (Danish time).

Part 1: Navigating academic culture
This first part of the course introduces students to an academic approach to learning and university studies. Focus will be placed on relevant theories and understanding of academic cultural differences, both in text and context. The students will reflect and discuss how to handle the transition between explicit and implicit cultural expectations, including communication between teachers and students, teaching, examinations, independent learning, and initiative-taking.
 

Part 2: The role of language in intercultural communication
This part focuses on intercultural communication, especially the linguistic aspects of communication. Students will have the opportunity -- individually and in a group -- to reflect and process their own experiences of cross-language communication. Topics include intercultural communication, communicative norms, and communicative bias.

 

Part 3: Engaging with and reflecting on culture(s)
This part provides theoretical grounding to support practical cultural analysis, based on an intercultural toolbox and activities that challenge cultural assumptions and may cause cultural dissonance. Guided and spontaneous meta-cognitive/meta-emotional reflection has a core role throughout the course.

A crucial tenet of the course is that students experience a safe space for open, critical and complex, at times difficult, discussion of intercultural themes and related thoughts, emotions, perspectives, and ideas.

Undervisningsmateriale

Materials provided by the teacher during the course. 

The course is delivered online and consists of synchronous instructor-led activities on zoom as well as individual and group activities on the learning platform Digicampus.
Students will engage in and be responsible for brainstorming, discussion, contextualization, and reflection in the virtual classroom.
This course is developed by and offered together with the University of Helsinki, University of Iceland, University of Stockholm, and University of Copenhagen, which means that students from the four universities will meet, interact and gain insights from one another during the course sessions.
The course is based on both synchronous and asynchronous activities, and the students will be expected to participate actively throughout the semester. Synchronous activities will take place Fridays from 13:00.15:00 (Danish time). Asynchronous activities will be based on the learning platform Digicampus (hosted by the University of Helsinki).
The language of the course is English.

This course is open to Bachelor students from all faculties, including exchange students.
Please note that students from Engerom cannot register for this course without an approval from the study board.
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Skriftlig
Mundtlig
Individuel
Kollektiv
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Peerfeedback (studerende giver hinanden feedback)
Point
7,5 ECTS
Prøveform
Undervisningsdeltagelse med opsyn.
Krav til indstilling til eksamen

Form of exam: Active participation that consists of:

  • Written assignments (total of 4-6 standard pages)
  • One oral presentation of 20 minutes plus discussion
  • Group discussions
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