Intercultural Communication

Syllabus | Blog | Contact Info

• Why intercultural communication? (discussion)
• How this class works (blog)
• Notebook guidelines (blog)
• Syllabus (www)
• My Teaching Philosophy (www)

Class participation / Due Thursday by 10pm 

2. Blog: Introduce Yourself. Again, using our course blog, respond to the INTRODUCTIONS blog posting.

A) Tell us a bit about yourself: First name, hometown, year in school, major, etc.

B) answer this question: why should we concern ourselves with the subject of intercultural communication?

Class participation / Due Thursday by 10pm

First Steps

*Online class day*
 

• Read Rogers & Steinfatt, pp. 1-38 (text)
• Read Gannon, pp. 1-18 (text)

3. Blog: Take-home Lessons. What were the 3 most interesting "take-home" lessons you learned from this week's reading assignments.

Class participation / Due Friday by 10pm

4. Notebook: My cultural metaphor brainstorm. In your notebook, and based on your understanding of Gannon's approach to presenting cultures through metaphors, list as many different cultural ritual ideas that pertain to your life and experience as you can. Then, narrow this down to the one or two most interesting to you. Choose one and sketch some notes that you'll be able to use when you write your more formal "My cultural metaphor" assignment.

25pts / Due Week 8 when you turn your notebook in

• Defining culture, communication, and intercultural communication (discussion)
• Review of last week's reading assignments (discussion)
• Introduction of new students (Welcome: Rikard, Courtney, & Sam!)
• Read Rogers & Steinfatt, Chapter 2
• News.google.com : web resource for today's blog assignment. Do several searches for intercultural communication issues in the news. Be sure to also scan cable news, the newspapers, etc. when looking for your story. Try and choose something that's relevant to your life and interests.

Class participation / Due Wednesday by 10pm 

6. Blog: Intercultural Communication & the News. First, scan the infosphere and identify an interesting news story concerning intercultural communication. Again, try to make it something relevant to your interests and values. Second, briefly describe the important facts about the story. Again, no BS here--give us what we need to understand at a basic evel. Third, describe how an understanding of intercultural communication might help us cope with the issue presented n the news story you've chosen to present.

25-pts / Due Wednesday by 10pm

*I may have been ambiguous regarding this due date. If you were under the impression that this was due tomorrow due to something I said in class, then operate according to tomorrow's due date. If you thought it was today and want to get it over with, go for it.

Ramadan & Islamic Culture

*Online class day*
 

• Islam & Ramadan (blog)
• About Ramadan, from the History News Network (www)
• Sighting the Ramadan Moon, from Religion & Ethics News Weekly (www)
• Answers to Common Questions about Islam, from IntroductiontoIslam.org (www)
• Self-Exploration of Islamic Culture, from Wikipedia (www)
• Clash of Civilizations, from Wikipedia

Not Required, but interesting: The Clash of Civilizations, by Samuel P. Huntington

7. Blog: Why can't we all just get along? What do you think about Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis? Are Western culture and Islamic culture irreconcilable? What common values and beliefs are shared among the Middle East and the West? Is dialogue among civilizations possible?

25-pts / Due Friday by 10pm

8. Blog: Week 2 Virtual Attendance. Let me know you're working today and ask any questions you might have.

Class participation / Due Friday by 10pm

• Crash plot summary from IMDB.com

Chapter 2 & Crash

*Online class day*
 

• Rogers & Steinfatt, chapter 2 review

• Discuss Crash using the terminology from Rogers & Steinfatt, chapter 2
• Read Rogers & Steinfatt, chapter 3

Crash Essay

*Online class day*
 

9. Blog: Virtual Attendance. Check-in, ask questions if you have any.

10. Blog: Crash Character Analysis. Choose a character from the movie that you believe exemplifies several of the key ideas from Rogers & Steinfatt, chapters 2-3. In about 500 words, define 3-5 terms and give examples of how the character you chose lives out these important intercultural communication ideas.

50-pts / Due Friday by 10pm

• World Party Planning Meeting

World Party Planning &
Intercultural Sojourns
 

• Choose a chapter (a cultural metaphor) in Gannon and read it. Be ready to discuss the significance of your intercultural sojourn in Tuesday's class. Be prepared to tell us why you chose the culture you chose, and what you learned in the reading.

11. Blog: World Party Planning. During class we each discussed how we might contribute to the planning of the World Party. Log in and remind us how you're plugging into the system.

Class participation / Due Friday by 10pm

12. Blog: Final Project Ideas. In 500 words or less, give me 1-3 ideas you're tossing around in your head regarding the final project. Remember, you are required to choose an identifiable sub-culture in Butte, one that you would be considered an outsider or stranger in. In this posting, identify your subcultures and say why you think this might be an interesting project.

Class participation / Due Friday by 10pm

• World Party Planning Updates (discussion)
• Overcoming Cultural Differences (from Rogers & Steinfatt, ch.3: p.107 (discussion)
• Signs: Icon, Index, Symbol
• Cultural Metaphors (discussion)
• Read Rogers & Steinfatt, ch. 4: Communication

13. Notebook: Cultural Metaphor Brainstorm. I like to think of metaphors as "thick signs" -- figures of speech that suggest a relationship that sometimes isn't readily apparent. After you've settled on a cultural ritual or artefact as a metaphor for a culture, brainstorm all of the ways that it stands for that culture. That's what signs are, things that stand for other things. Re-read your Gannon essay, or the introduction to Gannon's book if you're confused. This assignment is meant to help you write a more thoughtful blog for Thursday. Example: How is St. Patrick's Day a metaphor for Butte? Or, Mariah's Challenge, on the flip-side?

Brainstorms are supposed to be just that--storms, flurries of cognition caught on paper. Don't censor, just get all your ideas on paper and choose the best to write about.

Due by Thursday, but I'll collect it Week 8 with your notebooks.

Online Class Day

• Announcements
  • Notebooks due Next Week
  • Midterm Week 9 (study guide forthcoming)
• Overcoming Cultural Differences (from Rogers & Steinfatt, ch.3: p.107 (discussion)
• Semiotics & Signs: Icon, Index, Symbol
• Review Chapter 4 in Rogers & Steinfatt: Communicatioin

14. Blog: My Cultural Metaphor. Patterned after the chapters in Gannon, write a 500-700 word essay describing your personal cultural metaphor. As we've discussed in class, this metaphor should describe a significant ritual that you participate in, one that stands for key aspects of your personal cultural heritage. Write formally for this blog entry; pay attention to punctuationi, capitalization, and such.

50-pts / Due Wednesday by midnight.

Online Class Day
 

• Read Rogers & Steinfatt, chapters 5-6 (Verbal and Nonverbal Communication)

Midterm

Online Class Day
 

• Be prepared to discuss Rogers & Steinfatt, chapters 5-6 (Verbal and Nonverbal Communication)

15. Create a Research Blog / Email me the blog address. I am going to monitor your research projects this year via blog. That means, you each need to go to www.blogger.com and create your own research notebook/blog. For your first post, write me a 500 word introduction descriing your cultural immersion research project. Send me an email (COkrusch@mtech.edu) with your blog address. I'll subscribe to the RSS feed from your blog and can monitor your progress and nudge you in this direction or that.

• Matt's Blog
• Jackie's Blog
• Laci's Blog
• Rikard's Blog

Class Participation / Due Friday by midnight.