Introduction to Intercultural Communication

This course gives an introduction on basic theories regarding intercultural communication. These theories will be linked to different contexts, ranging from education and business, to migration and media. Drawing from different exercises and assignments throughout the course, we will finally focus on enhancing your own intercultural awareness and applying the theories to personal experiences with linguistic diversity and cultural otherness.

In this course, participants will be introduced to basic theories regarding intercultural communication. These theories will be linked to different contexts, ranging from education and business, to migration and media. We will start by looking at approaches which study cultures from a top-down approach, such as advertising in business contexts and cultural values and differences in communication styles. We will also study the representation of cultural groups in media and texts. These top-down approaches will then be critically discussed, after which the notion of interculturality is introduced. Here, culture is studied from a bottom-up approach. Interculturality is mainly concerned with investigating the relevance of culture for identity and its influence on interaction between individuals from different countries. On the one hand we will look at ways to analyse culture and identity in real-life interaction. On the other hand we will discuss competencies enabling speakers to reach understanding across cultures. Finally, drawing from different exercises and assignments throughout the course, we will focus on enhancing your own cultural awareness and applying the theories to personal experiences with linguistic diversity and cultural otherness.

This course is offered in cooperation with the master Intercultural Communication .

Course leader

dr. Jan D. ten Thije

Course aim

To provide students with a clear and broad introduction to the field of Intercultural Communication.

Fee info

EUR 300: Course fee
EUR 200: Housing fee