COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & SOCIETY

 

COMM 490 Communication, Culture & Society, Autumn 2000

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.

University of Illinois–Chicago, BSB 285

Kevin G. Barnhurst, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Communication

Office BSB 1148A. Hours Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., and by appointment

(312) 413-3231 E-mail <kgbcomm()uic.edu> Web page: http://www.uic.edu/~kgbcomm

 

Description

This course examines the relationship between communication and culture by exploring theories and research at the nexus where people’s cultural background affects them in the act of communicating. It is not an in-depth examination of a specific culture but aims to —

Build appreciation for the ways cultural factors influence how people communicate,

Identify obstacles to competent intercultural communication and strategies for overcoming them,

Analyze cultural patterns, verbal codes, and nonverbal behaviors in interpersonal relationships,

Develop skills needed to contrast cultural paradigms such as ethnicity, gender, and class, and

Based on the skills and knowledge acquired in the course, provide a renewed experience of communicating with individuals from another culture.

Activities

Each week you will have a reading assignment before an initial lecture/discussion period. Then you will complete a brief homework assignment, followed by an in-class learning activity. The course is divided into four units, with an exam and a major assignment due at the end of each unit. Each assignment involves communicating across cultural divides and writing about the experience.

Reading. The required textbook is Myron W. Lustig and Jolene Koester, Among Us: Essays on Identity, Belonging, and Intercultural Competence (New York: Longman, 2000). Graduate students also read individual research articles from a supplementary readings list.

Discussion. Each topic listed in the outline will begin with an informal lecture, but the focus of the class will be on discussion. You are expected to participate. Please ask for clarification if you don’t understand a concept or an assignment. Feel free to share examples from your own experiences in class. If you have questions you would rather not raise in class, please bring them to my office hours.

Course Web Site. Discussion will also take place (as part of your participation) on the CourseInfo Web site: http://courseinfo.uic.edu:88/courses/comm490f00/ Your CourseInfo login ID is your UIC NetID (in lower case; i.e. kgbcomm). Your initial CourseInfo password is the last 8 digits of your SSN. Please change your password as soon as you login to CourseInfo (to protect our site!)

Experience. The major assignments in the course involve experiential learning — building understanding by doing. Weekly assignments will be announced during the lecture/discussion session and will be due at the following class meeting. You will also complete a class project, a group project, and an individual project.

Class Project. Members of the class participate in the Life History & Media Project. After identifying a young adult living in Chicago, who has not attended college and who is from a cultural group different from your own, you will work with them to write their life history narrative of five pages, describing their experiences. Forms and instructions are available on the project Web site: http://www.uic.edu/~kgbcomm/lifehist (Class members who for personal reasons do not choose to participate will complete an alternative project, which will require writing a 15-page paper on a topic assigned by the instructor.)

Group Project. You will work with a group of five-to-seven students in the class to prepare an intercultural simulation, for which you will prepare a script, hold a rehearsal to get feedback from a non-participant, and then do a ten-minute demonstration for the class. Graduate students do a different project: a field study with one or more partners culminating in a class presentation.

Individual Project. All class members also complete an individual project and write a six-page paper about it, applying concepts from the course. You can select any of the following options. Make your choice during the first week of class and notify me, then make an appointment during the two weeks after the second exam to meet with me and discuss your progress. Turn in your paper the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. These deadlines affect your project grade.

Intercultural Events. Attend six public events held by and involving people from another culture, such as a festival, performance, or craft demonstration, and gather information about intercultural interaction by talking with participants and attendees.

Listening Journal. Choose a long-term personal relationship within your own culture and keep a journal describing each of your communication interactions (they must be frequent, at least a few times a week).

Conversation Partner. Arrange to meet weekly with an international student or a recent immigrant who is learning to speak English and adjusting to American culture and keep a log that describes how you facilitated your partner’s goals and what you learned about the communication patterns of your partner.

Responsible Tourism. If you will be visiting another culture before the end of the year, gather information about the host culture’s ways of living, expectations of visitors, and local customs involving communicating and thinking, and include if possible an evaluation of how that knowledge helped you adjust as a visitor.

 

Tentative Outline

Part I. Communication & Cultural Competence

August 22. Introduction. Read Chapter 1.

August 24. Assignment 1.

August 29. Cultural Differences. Read Chapters 2–4.

August 31. Group work day.

September 1. Last day to drop without penalty (optional drops through October 13).

Sept. 5. Assignment 2.

Sept. 7. Communication Competence. Read Chapters 5–7.

Sept. 12. Assignment 3.

Sept. 14. Exam 1.

Part II. Cultural Differences in Communication

Sept. 19. Cultural Patterns. Read Chapter 8.

Sept. 21. Assignment 4.

Sept. 26. Taxonomies. Read Chapters 9–11.

Sept. 28. Assignment 5.

Oct. 3. Identity, Bias & Contact. Read Chapters 12–14.

Oct. 5. Assignment 6.

Oct. 10. Exam 2.

Oct. 12. Class Project due.

Part III. Coding Intercultural Communication

Oct. 17. Verbal Communication. Read Chapter 15.

Oct. 19. Assignment 7.

Oct. 24. Nonverbal Communication. Read Chapters 16–18.

Oct. 26. Assignment 8.

Oct. 31. Coding Effects. Read Chapters 19–21.

Nov. 2. Assignment 9.

Nov. 7. Exam 3.

Part IV. Communication & Intercultural Relationships

Nov. 9. Interpersonal Relationships. Read Chapter 22.

Nov. 14. Assignment 10.

Nov. 16. Episodes & Contexts. Read Chapters 23–25.

Nov. 21. Individual Project due.

Nov. 23. Thanksgiving Holiday. No class.

Nov. 28. Potential Tools & Ethics. Read Chapters 26–28.

Nov. 30. Group Project Presentations.

Dec. 6, 1–3 p.m. (Tentative) Final Exam, location TBA.

 

Policies

Now for the heavy stuff: rules and regulations. These aren’t meant as scare tactics, but you should be forewarned about things that I’m very strict about. So here goes . . .

Attendance. Class attendance is essential to your success in the course. If you aren’t able to come fully prepared to class, please come anyway. You’ll benefit. Please talk to me in case of illness or another verifiable emergency that prevents you from attending class. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. The penalty for unexcused absences grows exponentially (the first costs 2 percent from your course grade, the second 2 percent squared, the third 2 percent cubed, and so forth).

Because arriving late is disruptive, each late arrival counts as half an absence. If you come in after your name has been called from the roll, you are responsible immediately after class to arrange for the recorded absence to be converted into a late arrival.

Deadlines. Written assignments are due at the beginning of the period assigned. The penalty for late work is 20 percent of the grade. Be sure to make prior arrangements if you must turn in work in advance due to a University approved absence or late due to a verifiable illness. No late work will be accepted after one week beyond the due date.

Tests, quizzes, oral presentations, and other examinations will be scheduled only once and cannot be made up. In cases of verified and excused absence, alternative testing (such as oral examination) will be arranged.

Accuracy. All assignments must be typed and proofread for errors. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and writing style are important factors in grading all written assignments. Be precise about citing the sources you draw from. Original work is expected from every student, and any plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course. Please ask if you are in doubt about plagiarism.

 

Grading Criteria

Grades are on a scale with A 100–91 percent, B 90–81, C 80–71, D 70–61, and E 60 percent or lower. Grades will be computed from 1000 points possible, based on the following break-out:

Participation, 150 points

Weekly Assignments, 100 points

Class Project, 150 points

Group Project, 100 points

Individual Project, 100 points

Exams, 4 exams, 100 points each

Attendance, deducts from your earned points (see above)

Accommodations. Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course must be registered with the Office of Disability Services at (312) 413-2103 or TTY (312) 413-0123.