Topic outline
Introduction
Dear student:
Welcome to the Intercultural Competence online course!
Developing Intercultural Competence is becoming increasingly important in today’s globalized world and, with this online course, you will have the chance to:
-know some key concepts related to culture (definitions, understanding of how cultures differ, the relation between culture and identity and stereotypes),
-reflect on what Intercultural Competence is and how it can be developed;
-learn some strategies to overcome barriers to cross-cultural communication in face-to-face and online modes.
The course is structured around three modules and each module is subdivided into different units:
Module 1 - Culture
Unit 1 – What is culture?
Unit 2 – How cultures differ
Unit 3 – Culture and Identity
Unit 4 – Stereotypes
Module 2 – Intercultural Competence
Unit 1 – Intercultural Competence Models
Unit 2 – Becoming Interculturally Competent
Module 3 – Intercultural Challenges
Unit 1 – Barriers to Cross-cultural Communication
Unit 2 – Intercultural Virtual Teams
As you are going to learn during the course, developing Intercultural Competence demands a lot of critical thinking and, therefore, we strongly encourage you to complete each of the proposed tasks very mindfully.
To get you started, we have posted in this introductory section an icebreaker activity for you to tell us about yourself and to get to know your course colleagues.
In this section, you will also find the guide for the course, which will help you to understand course organization and assignments as well as explain to you how to study and how your personal achievements will be assessed.
We hope you enjoy this experience!
Module 1. Culture
- Unit 1 - Culture
- Unit 2. How cultures differ
- Unit 3. Culture and Identity
- Unit 4. Stereotypes
Module 2. Intercultural competence
- Unit 1. Intercultural Competence Models
- Unit 2. Becoming Interculturally Competent
Module 3. Cross-cultural challenges
Unit 1. Barriers to Cross-cultural communication
Unit 2. Intercultural Virtual Teamwork