COM. 337. 3

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

SPRING SEMESTER 2003

PROFESSOR AGNES G. DOODY

How to find Prof. Doody:

Phone: office 874-4727 home: (401) 789-6259

Fax: office 874-4722 home: (401) 789-1581

e-mail: TALKDOC@uri.edu

Office hours: Room 102 Ind. Hall: TR, 10:45 ≠ 11:45 a.m.; F, 9-12 a.m. and by

app't.

COM. 337: Intercultural Communication: More than thirty years ago Marshall McLuhan predicted we'd all be living in a global village. His prediction is correct for modern technology has dramatically changed the way we travel, communicate, and do business. Multinational corporations are now the norm; business is being done on a global grid; travelers, for both work and pleasure, are truly international. So that we can better understand others, and ourselves, and therefore function effectively in the global village, we need to study our own culture and its values as well as the cultures and values of others and observe how those values are communicated. That is what this course is designed to do: increase each student's understanding of the global village in which she/he will travel, study, work and play.

Required resource materials:

Klopf, Donald W. Intercultural Encounters, 5^th ed. (IE) Englewood, CO: Morton Publishing

Co., 2001.

Around the World distributed by Torpedo Software - torpedosoftware.com

Course requirements:

Attendance is required. Should any student have more than two (2) non-university sanctioned absences, she/he will have her/his final grade dropped by one letter grade. For each two additional absences the final grade will be dropped another letter grade. The reason attendance is required is that a great deal of learning will take place in the classroom through both discussion and class exercises. As this class meets at 8:00 a.m., plan to get yourself here on time and ready to participate actively in class.

All assignments must be computer-generated. Use spell check on computer before handing in any assignment. Proof read all papers carefully before submitting them. All assignments must be handed in on date due: no late assignments will be accepted.

No assignment will receive a grade until it is free of all composition errors, including paragraph development, grammar and the mechanics of writing. If the errors are all corrected the first time the paper is returned for corrections, an individual may receive the letter grade of A if the content of the assignment is quality. However, if a paper has to be returned more than once for corrections, the highest possible grade a student may receive is the letter grade of B. Naturally if the paper has to be returned again for corrections (more than twice), the letter grade will continue to "drop." Please make all corrections on the original assignment; do not re-write the entire paper. Should a student demonstrate inadequacies in his/her writing, that student will be required to seek assistance in the Writing Lab., Rm. 313 Ind. Hall.

Plagiarism: Unfortunately, there appears to be an increase of plagiarism on college campuses nationwide. The faculty of the Communication Studies department has spent a great deal of time ≠ and anguish ≠ discussing this phenomenon here at URI. Consequently, we will all be on the alert for plagiarized assignments. Should any plagiarism be discovered in this class, that student or those students will be subject to the URI policy on plagiarism. (See University Manual for details.) Simply put: do your own work and exercise your own code of ethics. Let me trust you to do that.

Basis for grading: There will be unannounced quizzes, executive summaries (ES) on some of the

assigned readings, two oral reports, an Intercultural Journal and a term paper.

Grading:

class participation 15% (See guidelines, end of syllabus)

class quizzes/ES 20%

Intercultural Com. Journal 15% (See detailed requirements for ICJ at end of syllabus.)

term paper 50% (See detailed requirements for term paper at end of

syllabus.)

Note: This syllabus is not "carved in stone." Depending upon how the semester unfolds, and the learning occurs, it may be necessary to adjust the syllabus.

CLASS SCHEDULE

21/1 Introduction to Intercultural Communication

For 23/1 ≠ Read chap. 1, IE; hand in #5, p. 17

23/1 Discussion ≠ Diversity ≠ The American Norm

For 28/1 ≠ Read chap. 2, IE; hand in an ES of the chapter; read term paper (t.p.)

requirements at end of syllabus

28/1 Discussion ≠ Culture Is Communication Is Culture

For 30/1- Read IE, chap. 3; hand in an ES of that chapter

30/1 Discussion ≠ Communicating Interculturally

For 4,6/2≠ Read IE, chap. 4; prepare for a quiz on this chapter

4,6/2 Discussion and quiz: Perceptual Influences on Intercultural Communication

For 11/2 Read IE, chap. 5; on 13/2 hand in a paper in which you describe the country

youπve chosen for the subject of your term paper and reason(s) why you selected that

country.

11,13/2 Discussion ≠ The Influence of Culture on Behavioral Predispositions

For 20/2- Read IE, chap. 6; hand in ES of chap. 6. On 27/2 hand in an essay in which

you explain, in greater detail than does your text, one of the non-Western religions.

20/2 Discussion ≠ Cultural Antipathy

For 25,27/2 ≠ Read IE, chap. 7

25,27/2 Discussion ≠ Cultural Foundations: Social Institutions

For 4,6/3 ≠ read IE, chap. 8; hand in an answer to #4, p. 156

4,6/3 Discussion and quiz ≠ Cultural Diversity in Interpersonal Relationships

For 18,20/3≠ Read IE, chap. 9; on 20/3 hand in an outline of your term paper and

include your bibliography, to date, at the end of the outline

HAPPY SPRING BREAK

18,20/3 Discussion ≠ Language and Its Cultural Implications

For 25/27/3 - Read IE, chap. 10; on 27/31 hand in an ≥observerπs report.≤ Observe people interacting in a public space. Identify that space in your report and describe what kinds of nonverbal communication you observed.

25,27/3 Discussion ≠ Communicating Nonverbally Interculturally

For 1/4 ≠ Read IE, chap. 11

1,3/4 Discussion ≠ Coping with Cultural Diversity

For 8/4 ≠ Class discussion: The Intercultural Community at URI. Be prepared to share with

the class examples of cultural differences you have both experienced and observed

here on campus.

8/4 Class discussion ≠ the Intercultural Community at URI

For 10,15/4 ≠ Sharing your final term paper with the class; on 17/4 hand in your Intercultural

Communication Journal

10,15/4 ≠ Class Presentations: Each member of the class will give a 3-5 minute presentation

summary of his/her term paper. Details TBA

On 29 April hand in your completed term paper.

17-22/4 - In-class cross cultural conflict simulation and discussion

24-29/4, 1/5 Class discussion ≠ Each student will share with her/his classmates one way in which

she/he recommends ways to increase to increase cross-cultural communication and

understanding.

6/5≠ Summary: Intercultural Communication; term papers to be returned at the end of class

Guidelines for out-of-class assignments:

Intercultural Communication Journal

Daily we are surrounded with messages in the print and electronic media. Many, many of those messages shape our perceptions, reinforce stereotypes, introduce us to something new about our cultural or othersπ cultures. To help develop an awareness of the impact the media has on shaping your perceptions, Iπm asking each of you to hand in every Thursday two examples of Intercultural Communication as presented in the media. Put these two examples together, place them in a folder, with your name written clearly on the outside and hand your work, in the folder, every Thursday after class. If an example is from the print media, and you can cut it out, do so, mount it on a piece of paper and below the example, write a brief description of

the Intercultural concept the example represents. If your examples come from either the print media, where you can not cut it out, or the electronic media, briefly describe, in a paragraph or two, what concept in Intercultural Communication the example represents. Do not hand in your assignments in a three-ring notebook. Place all your ICJ entries in the folder hand in that folder to me so that I may evaluate it and assign to you the grade you will have earned on the ICJ.

TERM PROJECT ≠ DUE 29 April 2003

For your term project weπre going to assume that URI requires all students to spend one semester studying abroad. Also assume that, because of your expertise in intercultural communication, the administration requests of you a detailed paper about the country in which you plan to study. That paper will go on file in the Study Abroad office here on campus for other students to use as a guide. For the content of your paper, include:

1. A brief historical description of the country, including its present form of government, its

major exports, its cultural institutions of note (examples: libraries, museums, bodies of literature, major art works)

2. The anticipated major culture shocks

3. The differences in nonverbal codes and cultural space between the person's country

of origin and the USA

4. Customs in the country of origin, including

a. traditional holidays

b. food preferences

c. religious beliefs

d. high or low context

e. gender roles

f. family structure

5. Once youπve completed most of the research for your paper, interview an individual who

has come from the country in which you want to study. In that interview share with

that person your perceptions of the country on which you are writing your term

paper. In addition, ask that person what major cultural shocks he/she experienced

when coming to the United States. Include your findings from the interview in your

term paper.

Include the following when developing the format of your term paper:

a. title page

b. preface

c. table of contents

d. introduction

c. body in which you develop 1-4f above

d. conclusion

f. bibliography

e. appendix when appropriate

f. number each page