Comm 3190-003 : Intercultural Communication / F 05 / M W 3:00 – 4 ...

Comm 3190-003 : Intercultural Communication / Fall 2006 / M and W 3:00– 4:20 / OSH 136
Trine Kvidal
Office location: LNCO 2930 C
Office phone: (801) 581-7998
E-mail: trine.kvidal@utah.edu
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 1:00 – 2:00 pm and by appointment
Course description:
This course focuses on the understanding of basic concepts and principles in intercultural communication
and the relationship between culture and communication. Through reading, discussing, writing, and
reflecting on relevant texts you will be acquainted with the theory and research in this area. You will also
be asked to examine yourself, your culture(s), and your communication patterns and skills. The purpose
of this course then is not only gaining knowledge and understanding, but also self-examination, and selfimprovement.
The course is designed to offer help in applying knowledge and understanding to
improving human interactions in different contexts, both locally and globally. The course also strives to
help you develop insights into social, cultural, structural and historical dimensions of relations among
cultural groups and further improve your communication skills in managing cultural diversity in your
community. Various perspectives, such as social scientific, interpretive, and critical, are drawn from in
the course and the readings. Students will demonstrate their comprehension and apply their understanding
of methods of communication criticism in quizzes, written papers, presentations, and through active
participation.
Course goals
• To cultivate understanding and use of intercultural theory and research.
• To encourage critical examination of your own and your culture’s communication patterns.
• To improve your own communication skills in managing cultural diversity in your community.
Required readings
• Jandt, F. E. (2004). Intercultural Communication: A Global Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage
Publications.
• Additional readings are on reserve in the Marriott Library and/or e-reserve:
http://ereserve.lib.utah.edu/webpac-1.2-bin/DoReserve?coursenum=7091&instructor=kvidal
Course policies and expectancies
• Presentations must be given on scheduled days. Reports, reviews, and papers may be turned in any time
prior to the due date, but they must be submitted no later than the beginning of class on scheduled days,
unless otherwise noted. Students who do not observe this policy will not be permitted to make up their
presentations, and late work will not be accepted. Exceptions may be made for those with dire
circumstances confronting them, but only if those circumstances are (a) discussed with me in advance, if
at all possible; (b) documented; and (c) verifiable.
• Regular and thoughtful participation is expected and required in this course as part of the grade (15%);
accordingly, attendance is necessary in order to meet that requirement. Students are expected to have read
and reflected on class readings in order to ensure the relevance and thoughtfulness of their contributions.
Be aware of the power of your body language as well as your spoken word. Remember, respect for self
and others is crucial in our multicultural world. You are expected to use proper language and terminology
devoid of sexism and racial epithets. Unpopular positions on controversial topics are welcomed as long as
they are presented sensitively and respectfully. In order to ensure further the quality of class discussions,

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please be in class on time and remain in class for the entire period; interruptions can be distracting. See
the following link for more information: http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/handbook/attend.htm
• Make sure your e-mail address is current in your student record in order to receive all e-mails I send to
the class roll. Check the status of your e-mail at www.utah.edu (from Student menu select Registration
and Records, then update your Student Profile if your e-mail address is not correct or one that you usually
check).
• The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people
with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given
to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with
you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All written information in this course
can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.
See the following link for more information: http://www.sa.utah.edu/ds/
• The registrar cautions students that withdrawing from a course and other registration matters are the
student’s responsibility. The last day to withdraw without tuition penalty is September 1. See the
following link for more information: http://www.sa.utah.edu/regist/pages/Deadlines.html
• In accordance with university policy (as articulated in the Student Code), academic misconduct—
including cheating, fabrication of information, and plagiarism—is not tolerated in this course. A student
found engaging in this behavior will receive a failing grade. If at any time you are unsure whether your
actions constitute academic misconduct, please see the instructor in order to clarify the matter. See the
following link for more information: http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html
• Readings and materials assigned for this class have been carefully selected. As we study intercultural
communication, we will apply the concepts we engage to a variety of examples, including those that
occur in the venue of popular culture. Some students may find some of the materials, presentations,
lectures, or audio/visual materials controversial or in conflict with their core values. Please be assured that
all the material that I present, assign, or require you to encounter and address has been selected for its
overall value and its operationalization of concepts we are engaging. I will not make content
accommodations for this material. It is your responsibility to review the syllabus, readings, assignments,
and materials to be sure that this is a course you wish to take. Should you have questions or concerns,
please see me immediately. Details on the university’s accommodation policy are available at this link:
http://www.admin.utah.edu/facdev/accommodations-policy.pdf
Course requirements and grade distribution
Participation and attendance: 15 points
Cultural collage: 5 points
Quizzes: 15 points
Reading report and presentation 15 points (10+5)
Group project and presentation: 25 points (20+5)
Final paper and presentation: 25 points (24+1)
Total: 100 points
Grading scale
A 100-94 A- 93-90
B+ 89-87 B 86-84 B- 83-80
C+ 79-77 C 76-74 C- 73-70
D+ 69-67 D 66-64 D- 63-60
F 59 and below

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Quizzes (15 points)
The class is discussion based and in order to intelligently contribute to the discussions you will need to be
familiar with the material. Occasionally, there will be random quizzes to check your reading habits. I will
not announce quizzes beforehand, so please come prepared. Quizzes will usually be given at the
beginning of class. If you are late to class or absent you will not be given the opportunity to make up a
quiz.
Cultural collage (5 points)
Create a collage to visually tell the class about yourselves in terms of your culture (cultural values and
experiences, practices, observations, etc.). Reflect on yourself and your cultural background and be
creative, you will be sharing who you are with the class. Pay attention to how your peers share their
cultural stories and be open to engage in constructive dialogue. This self-reflexive work gives you a
chance to introduce yourselves to others through your culture as well as understand other’s culture at the
level that they share their personal history with you.
Individual reading report and individual presentation (10+5 points)
You will be assigned to present one of the articles in our reading list to the rest of the class. This
assignment emphasizes understanding of intercultural theory and research.
Write a 1-2 page report, summarizing the article’s key points and main arguments. Include at least 3
discussion questions directly related to the article or relevant to issues raised by the article. Based on the
report and the discussion question you should deliver a 10-minute presentation. The report is to be
submitted for evaluation after the presentation (see writing requirements on p. 5). Presentation format and
guidelines will be discussed further in class (see presentation guidelines on p. 6).
Group project and group presentation (20+5 points)
This assignment aims to help you understand the way intercultural communication plays out in real life.
At the beginning of the semester you will be assigned to a project group and you will develop a team
agreement with your group in class. You are responsible for acting in accordance with your group’s team
agreement. Each group must conduct a case study of a specific cultural group by engaging in an
intercultural activity. You are free to design the project yourselves and use whatever resources your group
members have. For instance, you can conduct library research about a minority group, interview people
within the group and compare what you learn from the books with what you find out from the interview.
You can also attend cultural events different than the ones you usually attend (such as fair, religious
service, community gathering, political rally, sport event, etc.) to experience being outsiders or
newcomers and then compare and contrast this experience with one that you are familiar with. You can
also draw on different group member’s cultural background to compare and contrast each member’s
experience of the same cultural event. To avoid having several groups focusing on the same cultural
event, all groups must run their topic by the instructor. I will go by a first-come-first-pick policy here; if
your project is similar to another group’s event/topic, you will have to find another event/topic for your
project.
Write a 5-7 page paper based on the case study, detailing the process, the findings and conclusions of
your study. You are free to choose among social scientific, interpretive, and critical approaches. Your
written argument(s) should draw from your group’s cultural field experience (use specific examples) and
must be supported through library research. Use at least three library sources. In addition, you may use as
many of the readings from class as you want. The group must give a 15-20-minute presentation to the
class based on their findings. The paper must be submitted for evaluation after the presentation (see
writing requirements on p. 5). Presentation format and guidelines will be discussed further in class (see
presentation guidelines on p. 6).

Final paper and presentation (24+1 points)
This assignment aims to help you use intercultural theory and research to examine and understand
intercultural communication. Choose one paper option (A, B, or C). Use at least two library sources as
part of your paper. In addition, you may use as many of the readings from class as you want. You must
also prepare a 5-7-minute presentation to be given during the last weeks of the semester. Presentation
format and guidelines will be discussed further in class (see presentation guidelines on p. 6).
Option A:
Write a 5-6 page paper after you have participated in and attended two events coordinated, presented,
sponsored by, organized by, and performed by members of a culture other than your own. You must have
the events approved by me before you attend them. You may not use previous intercultural experiences
for this assignment (like the one(s) related to your group project). Examples of these cultural events
include cultural fairs, volunteer experiences, church socials, weddings, performances, etc. You can locate
events by looking in the school and local newspapers, contacting student and local organizations, and
through friends, family, or classmates. Your objectives in attending these events are 1) to learn as much as
possible about the culture within the confines of the event experience and 2) to reflect on your position as
a nonmember of a culture. This can be accomplished by using effective observations skills, by talking
with cultural members (if they are willing) about the significance of the event in their culture, and by
gauging your responses (emotional, behavioral, cognitive) to the event. You should note your own
reactions, thoughts, and feelings elicited by the experience. You should then make connections between
what you learn at the event and concepts/theories of intercultural communication discussed in class.
Option B
Write a 5-6 page critical review of a film that deals with some aspect of intercultural communication. (See
instructions on p. 5.) The goal of this review is for you to apply your understanding of intercultural
communication to cultural interactions reflected in films. A list of possible movies is provided. Be sure to
approve other films with me before beginning your review.
Alvarez, Louis and Kolker, Andrew, American Tongues
Blue Tullip Production, SLC Punk
Caro, Niki, Whale Rider
Cronenberg, David. M Butterfly
Eyre, Chirs. Smoke Signals
Feng, Hsu, Farewell My Concubine
Kanievska, Mark. Another Country
Katz, Ross. Lost in Translation
Kershaw, Andy. To Kill a Mockingbird
Nayar, Deepak and Chadha, Gurinder, Bend it like Beckham
Peters, William. A Class Divided
Tanovic, Danis, No Man’s Land
Trevino, J. Salvador. Birthwrite: Growing Up Hispanic
Wang, Wayne. The Joy Luck Club
Wombat Film & Video. Visible Target
Option C
Write a 5-6 page critical review of a novel that deals with some aspect of intercultural communication.
(See instructions on p. 5.) The goal of each of the review is for you to apply your understanding of
intercultural communication to cultural interactions within novels. A list of possible novels is provided.
Be sure to approve other titles with me before beginning your review.
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James Baldwin, Another Country
Alice Walker, The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy
Dorothy West, The Wedding
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Richard Wright, Black Boy
Langston Hughes, The Ways of White Folks
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood among Ghosts
Amy Tan, The Kitchen God's Wife
Carlos Bulosan, Americas in the Heart
Gish Jen, Typical American
Louis Adamic, Laughing in the Jungle: The Autobiography of an Immigrant in America
O.E. Rolvaag, Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
Louise Erdrich, The Beet Queen
N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn
Paula Gunn Allen, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows
Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accent
Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
Ana Castillo, So Far From God
Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Line of the Sun
Américo Paredes, With His Pistol in His Hand
Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running
José Antonio Villareal, Pocho
Instructions (option B and C)
As you watch the film/read the novel, you should be reflecting on the ideas we have read for class and
discussed in class. Although you will be giving examples from the film/novel to help you explain your
ideas, the review is not a film/book summary. At most, you might include a beginning paragraph that
summarises the story line. However, your focus should be on making arguments about some aspect(s) of
the film/novel as they relate to intercultural communication topics discussed in this course, such as
ethnicity, gender, identity, language, sexuality, and/or power. For example, if you believe that the
film/novel explains how prejudices are formed and how categorical thinking and fear of difference impact
intercultural communication, then your thesis would state this and your paper would explain the
relationships you see between prejudice and intercultural communication, with some examples from the
film/novel to illustrate. Perhaps your film/novel illustrates the importance of language to identity. If so, you
might explain the relationship between language and identity, again including relevant examples. To help
structure your thoughts, begin with one, some, or all of the following questions. You may choose to
specifically answer one or some of the questions provided; however, you are not tied to them. They may
help you determine a thesis that is informed by them but not constrained by them.
1. Is language a means of preserving identity?
2. How do the characters (or the character) resist being completely oppressed and disempowered by the
dominant culture?
3. What, if anything, does the film/novel’s style tell us about the world view of the author?
4. What does this film/novel suggest about cultural differences? Similarities across cultures?
5. What is the relationship between the main characters in the film/novel and the mainstream or dominant
culture? How does the main character negotiate that relationship?
6. What insights can we draw from this film/novel about intercultural communication?
7. How does this film/novel help us understand the relationships among culture, communication, context,
and power?
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Writing requirements
Your written work should provide critical and thoughtful insights into intercultural communication. Your
work will be graded on how clearly you present and develop your thesis and how fully you demonstrate
your arguments and ideas. In addition, your work will be graded on the quality of your writing, including
organization, grammar, syntax, style and spelling.
• Name, date, course information (including instructor’s name) in upper left-hand corner; no cover page or
folder
• Type, double-spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, stapled in upper left-hand corner
• Follow APA or MLA writing style guides (available at the library and online), include bibliography
(works cited) as an additional page to include all of your source
Presentation guidelines
You will do three different presentations this semester. Although length of the presentations vary, all three
presentations should be well organized and professionally delivered and not exceed the allotted timeframe.
Make sure you rehearse before the presentation day (individually and as a group).
• Brief introduction (including name of speaker(s), clearly stated purpose, short preview of main points)
• Main points clearly explained
• Short conclusion
• Visual aids highly recommended
Tentative course schedule
This schedule is subject to change, which will be announced in class or in class e-mails. In case of an
absence it is always your responsibility to find out about changes to the schedule. Read all listed
articles/chapters before you come to class.
Aug. 23 Syllabus, housekeeping
Aug. 28 Jandt 1, Culture as context…
Jandt 2, Defining communication as element…
E-res, Martin, Three approaches…
Submit article review request
Aug. 30 MNF 1, A dialectical approach…
MNF 2, Thinking about “culture”…
Cultural collage due
Sept. 4 No class, Labor day
Sept. 6 E-res, Hall, What is intercultural…
E-res, Chen, Intercultural awareness
Sept. 11 Jandt 3, Cultural influence
E-res, Eggen Røislien, Religion is not just…
Sept. 13 Jandt 4, Barrieres to intercultural…
E-res, Tatum, Defining racism
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Sept. 18 Jandt 5, Stereotypes and prejudice…
E-res, Hall, The whites of eyes
Sept. 20 Jandt 6, Nonverbal
E-res, Borisoff, Gender and nonverbal…
Sept. 25 Jandt 7, Language as barrier
E-res, Houston, When black women…
Sept. 27 Film: A class divided
Oct. 2 E-res, Gaski, Voice in the margin
Martin, Nakyama, and Flores, ch. 15, “I can’t do that!” but I…
Oct. 4 E-res, Mayer, Living Telenovas
Work in project groups on team agreements
Oct. 9 E-res, Morris, Living in/between…
E-res, Terry-Azíos, My life as a…
Work in project groups on team agreements continued
Oct. 11 Martin, Nakyama, and Flores, ch. 27, The cycle of cross cultural…
E-res, Pineda, The internet…
Oct. 16 Group project time
Oct. 18 Group project time
Oct. 23 E-res, Ono, Deciphering Pocahontas…
E-res, Seiter, Different children, different…
Oct. 25 Group presentations
Oct. 30 Group presentations
Nov. 1 Group presentations
Nov. 6 Group presentations
Nov. 8 E-res, Acosta-Alzuru, “I’m an American”…
Nov. 13 E-res, Lind, The representation of Arabs…
E-res, Battles, Gay characters in conventional…
Nov. 15 No class, National Communication Association Convention
Nov. 20 Film: Touch Guise
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Nov. 22 Jandt 10, Comparative cultural patterns
Jandt 11, Women, families, and children
E-res, Bronski, Gay culture…
Nov. 27
Films: Still killing us softly and Beyond killing us softly
Nov. 29 Jandt 12, Contact between…
E-res, Salwen, Cultural imperialism
Dec. 4 E-res, Lipsitz, “Home is where…”
E-res, Lull, Globalization and cultural…
Nov. 6 Final paper presentations
Final paper due at beginning of class
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