Course syllabus

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CLS045 Global and intercultural competence lp3 and 4 VT24 (7.5 hp)

The course "Global and intercultural competence" is offered by the Department of Communication and Learning in Science. It is open to all Chalmers students from any discipline. 

Contact details

Course purpose

Since many students will work in global and interdisciplinary environments, the skills to do this are increasingly in demand. This course focuses on the key areas that a globally competent student should be aware of, in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In addition, this course trains communication skills for working in these environments.

Student comments from last year

"I feel that I have gained a greater appreciation for the importance of intercultural communication and that I am better equipped to navigate cross-cultural situations in the future."

"I want to express my genuine appreciation for this course and I will definitely recommend it to all my friends!"

"The course has been engaging and a nice change to the usual setup at Chalmers"

 

Schedule

Check here first: Schedule information (also check that you receive announcements from the course on a regular basis in your notifications)

Meetings will take place roughly every week on Friday mornings (both on campus and digitally). The course has a teaching slot on Fridays 8:00-12:00. However, the majority of the sessions will start at 8:30 which you'll notice in TimeEdit and the Canvas calendar. But sessions that are focused on tutorials or presentations will start at 8:00. Check each session page to be sure.

Please note that the on-campus sessions have compulsory attendance. In urgent cases, up to 2 on-campus sessions can be missed if there is a good reason. 

Course literature

All links to the literature can be found in the modules. There is no course book. Please see the guide to reading for advice on working with the reading in the course. 

Course design

The course focuses on the participants’ own experiences of culture, which will be discussed in the light of intercultural theory, particularly a non-essentialist approach. 

The course is divided into two main parts.  Part 1 (study period 3) contains more reading and planned activities. Part 2 (study period 4) is connected to your own project. Students can find information for each session under home. 

Part 1 (study period 3):

Explores culture in terms of self, others and society as a whole. Aspects which will be included are:
  • Intercultural theoretical background
  • Values, beliefs
  • Conflict resolution
  • Intercultural group work
Part 2 (study period 4): 
Project work in a smaller group focused on a cultural group different to your own. Participants will choose an area to work with to reflect on and apply the concepts discussed in part 1.

Changes made since the last occasion

-more focus on intercultural competence in business (new collaboration with International House)

-added a discussion forum on readings

-more guidance in reflective essay writing, e.g. positioning

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

  • Analyse definitions of culture based on theoretical frameworks
  • Engage in an informed discussion of their own and others' cultural identities, based on aspects such as nationality, ethnicity, profession, gender, age
  • Analyse cultural incidents through the lenses of relevant theories and personal experience
  • Reflect on affordances and challenges of intercultural groupwork
  • Apply cultural knowledge to real life situations
  • Demonstrate communicative competence in presenting written and oral information 
  • Give and receive constructive criticism on written and oral work (peer response).
  • Use references correctly and appropriately.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Assessment 

Final grade: Pass/ fail

Grade is based on the written and oral assignments during the course. All assignments should be completed and be a pass. The criteria for the assignments can be found here (criteria for LP3)

The assignments are divided into the following areas: 

1) Discussion forums

2) Diary entries

3) Two interviews and reflective text

4) Final project consisting of a reflective essay and final interactive presentation

The assignments as a whole are designed to explore the areas of culture, both your own and others. All the assignments build on one another. For example, the reflective text might contain information from the diary. The final project might contain interviews similiar to the assignment "interview with students". 

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due