Communication Across Cultures
INTL 6005 Fall 2005
Dr. Christine Avenarius
class:
M 6:30 - 9:30 pm, Flanagan 284
office hours:
M 2:00 - 4:00 pm, Th 10:00 - 12:00 pm, and by appointment
office:
Flanagan 213
phone:
328-9446
anthro. office:
Donna Evans (Secretary) Flanagan 231
email:
avenariusc@mail.ecu.edu
course material:
http://ecu.blackboard.com
Course Description
This course examines the nature of cross-cultural differences, intercultural contacts, language and other forms of
human communication and interaction to facilitate and prepare students for potential challenges in cross-cultural
communication events. The first part of the course will focus on the cultural element in cross-cultural
communication, especially in international or cross-national circumstances. The second part introduces the basic
elements of linguistics to understand how language codes ideas and expresses actions and how it creates cultural
differences. The third segment explores the context of social encounters taking place between members of different
cultures. We will conclude with a discussion of intercultural competence and guidelines for further applied
research.
The course is designed to be interactive and will involve students in several projects to meet people of different
cultural backgrounds. Students will gain an awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices to be found in human
societies around the world and how such ideas and practices compare, including some limited recognition of how
the ideas and ways of one's own society might be viewed from other vantage points.
Course Texts:
a) book
 Paul Bohannan and Dirk van Elst. Asking and Listening: Ethnography as Personal Adaptation. Prospect
Heights, Ill: Waveland Press 1998. in schedule listed as: Bohannan and Elst
b) articles`
 Please see schedule for detailed source information. You are expected to download or copy the articles prior to
the assigned reading date. Unless otherwise stated, all articles can be downloaded in .pdf-Format from the
blackboard site (http://ecu.blackboard.com - go to INTL 6005). Alternatively, you can download the article
through the E-Journal Locator of the Joyner Library at www.lib.ecu.edu or copy the article from its source in
the stacks of the Joyner library (you would have to find the call number). To obtain a complete bibliography of
all assigned readings, visit http://ecu.blackboard.com and click on "Course Information".

The blackboard site for this class on the web (http://ecu.blackboard.com) is an important part of this course.
Your User-ID is your ECU email address, your password is the same password you use for your ECU email
account and it changes accordingly. Please familiarize yourself with the features of this site, especially
downloading articles from the section "Course Documents" and the section "Communication Tools" to send
email and files to classmates and to the instructor. There is also a section called "Student Tools" where you can
look up your grades. Let me know if you have trouble with the site. In case of an emergency there is an old
fashioned mailbox with my name where you can put your paper. This shelf is in the anthropology department’s
mailroom, Flanagan 227. However, please notify me ahead of time by using the phone to leave a voice mail or
writing an email) if you need to use this method of delivery.
Course Requirements:
a) Participation
Active participation is strongly encouraged. Your participation grade has two components: a) your actual
contribution in class discussions (worth 10% of the final grade) and b) electronic submission of discussion points
regarding the assigned readings for each class period (worth 15% of your final grade).
Verbal contributions to discussions in which you actively share your views and insights with the rest of the
class will be evaluated and graded by the instructor. Be advised that it helps to familiarize yourself with a culture
of your choice and contribute some of your knowledge as comments during lectures and discussions. In addition,
you should be willing to participate in classroom exercises and games.
The other main component of your participation grade is your regular submission of written preparations
for discussions. You are requested to write down the most noteworthy points in each of the assigned articles. Your
comments can be written in list format or in full sentences. You may identify what you found most confusing or
most interesting and list questions regarding the material for further discussions. Depending on your insights
regarding individual assignments, these "points for discussion" may be between 1/2 page and 1 page in length, but
no longer than 2 pages.
Please submit your discussion points on the due date for each assigned reading list by 12 noon to my email
address. Please label the file with your name and the date of the class session (e.g. "petersmith sept7.doc" for the
first submission of your notes on the readings on ‘culture’). In case you have to miss a class, you are nevertheless
expected to submit your discussion points for the assigned readings to my email account.
b) Cultural Background report
Write a 2 page typed description of your own cultural background. Be sure to cover the ‘components of culture’
(i.e. building blocks of culture) we discuss in class, such as: economic organization (e.g. socioeconomic influences,
education, etc.), social organization (e.g. family, residence, kin group, common interest groups, etc.), political
organization, religious organization, arts, language, etc. Also, reflect on how you think these components influence
your communication with others at ECU and your potential workplace in the future. I will not grade you on
content. In fact, if you feel uncomfortable writing about yourself, you may describe the cultural background of a
friend. Rather, I evaluate your report based on effort in terms of reflecting on all the building blocks of culture we
discuss in class.
Due September 19th.- you may submit this work electronically.
c) Intercultural Workplace Interview
Learn about intercultural interaction at the workplace. You and a classmate are required to build a team and
interview a person who works in an intercultural setting. The two of you may contact either a person born in the
United States who interacts with people from other cultural background on a day- to day basis or choose a recent
immigrant (who has lived less than 10 years in the United States) as an interviewee who works in a U.S.
corporation or institution. Workplace settings may include areas such as small businesses (e.g. Mexican food
store), corporate offices, education, health care provision, art promotion, etc. You have to design a questionnaire,
conduct the interview (assign roles in your team: one interviewer, one note-taker) and write a 6-8 page report (not a
transcript) on your findings including a discussion of your results and a reflection of both the interview process and
your experience with team work (typed, double-spaced).
The proposal for your interview is due on October 19th: simply list the names of your team members, the
workplace setting of the person you plan to interview, and your questions.
The interview report is due on Nov. 21st. Please present it as a hardcopy.
In addition, be prepared to talk about your findings in class that day.
d) Take-home Essay Exam
This course has one essay exam. On November 7th you will receive two questions regarding material covered in
class and are requested to submit your answers electronically by Sunday, November 13th at 2:00 pm in the
afternoon. (PS: you will need Sunday evening to prepare for your evening class the next day. The main objective
of this exam is to practice your essay writing skills in preparation for your M.A. comprehensive exams. Your grade
will equally depend on the content and the execution of your answer (e.g. presentation of clear definitions, order of
thoughts, depth, range, and integration of introduced concepts).
e) Research Paper
Research and write about a topic of your choice relevant to questions of intercultural communication. You can
choose a research question that interests you within the areas of business, international politics, multicultural social
spaces in the United States, e.g. family and kinship (see for example interethnic marriages or adoption), workplace,
immigration, public health, social work), tourism, promotion of the arts, education. Ideally you should pick a topic
that is related to either your M.A. thesis or your intended specialization upon graduation. Your paper could serve
as a proposal for your own future research project or give an overview of the current research findings regarding
your desired field of future employment (e.g. 'ethnic marketing', 'social work in multicultural settings', or 'ethnic
differences at court').
To clear research topics and sources of information with me you are requested to turn in a one-page research
paper proposal by October 24th : list your research idea, background information, and a few titles of books and
articles you plan to use as references.
The final research paper has to be 10 pages long
For guidelines on writing a research paper see: http://www.ecu.edu/anth/papersguide.htm.
The paper is due on November 28th (no extension of deadline will be given) and may be submitted earlier. The
paper should be submitted as a hardcopy. I will return your papers with comments on December 5th. You have the
option to submit a revised version of your paper - this is only meant for those who wish to improve their grades –
no later than December 12th, 9:00 am.
Course Grading:
Your final grade will be based on a total of 100 points and calculated as follows:
Participation
- contributions in class (10%)
- submission of discussion points for each
reading (15%)
Cultural background report
Intercultural workplace interview
Take-home essay exam
Research Paper
Total
Max. points possible
Percentage
25
25%
5
20
20
30
100
5%
20%
20%
30%
100%
Attendance:
Graduate students are expected to attend and participate in class. Your attendance record will influence your
participation grade and may be used as a means to determine borderline grades. You are responsible for making
sure I have checked your name on the class roster in case you have to come to class late or have an excused
absence. If you need to leave class early, please notify me before the class starts.
Course Schedule: see next page!
Course Schedule:
Date
Topic
Aug. 29
Introduction to the field of intercultural
communication
Labor Day: no class (moved to 10/19)
Culture and its influence on
communication: overview of the
definitions and functions of culture
Sept. 5
Sept. 12
Sept. 19
Sept. 26
Oct. 3
Understanding others who are different:
patterns, classifications and taxonomies
a) Streeck in "Handbook of Interpers.
Comm." 1994: p. 286-319.
b) Bohannan and Elst p. 1-18.
c) Goodenough in "Relevance of
Culture" 1989: 93-97.
a) Fang in "Int. J. of Cross Cultural
Management" 2003, 3 (3): 347368.
b) Voronov and Singer in "J. of
Social Psychology" 2002, 142 (4):
461-480.
Other assignments
(list of due dates)
Cultural Background
Report due
c) Beekun et al. in "J. of Business
Ethics" 2003, 42 (3): 267-279.
Modern human diversity: identity,
a) Spencer-Rodger and McGovern in
ethnocentrism and racial prejudice in the "Int. J. of Intercultural Relations"
age of economic globalization
2002, 26: 609-631.
b) Gaertner et al. in "Int. J. of
Intercultural Relations" 1996, 20
(3/4): 271-290.
c) Bohannan and Elst p. 96-102.
Cultural variables that influence
a) Strauss in "Human Motives and
communication: Cognition = the
cultural models" 1992: p.197-224
organization and distribution of
b) Lakoff in "Women, Fire, and
knowledge within a culture
dangerous things", p. 380-415.
c) Bar-Tal in "Int. J. of Intercultural
Relations" 1996, 20 (3/4): 341-370.
Oct. 10
How to study culture? Using
anthropological methods as a tool for
understanding humans
Oct. 17
Fall break: no class! But Wednesday
class!!!
Introduction to ethnolinguistics: the
relation between language, thought and
culture
Oct. 19
WednesDay!
Reading Assignments
Oct. 24
Verbal communication and the structure
of human languages: phonology,
morphology, syntax and semantics
Date
Topic
a) Bohannan and Elst, p. 19-65.
b) Dewalt and Dewalt: in "Handbook
of Methods in Cult. Anthro." 1998:
p.259-299.
c) Trice and Beyer in "Academy of
Management Review" 1984, 9 (4):
653-669.
a) Hardin and Banaji in "Social
Cognition" 1993, 11: 277-308.
b) Gill in "Philosophy Today" 1997,
41 (2): 255-262.
a) Bavin in "Annual Review of
Anthropology 1995, 24: 373-396.
b) Trush in "Technical
Communication" 2001, 48 (3): 289296.
Reading Assignments
Proposal for
"Workplace
Interview" due
Proposal for Research
Paper due
Other assignments
(list of due dates)
Oct. 31
Nov. 7
Nov. 14
Nov. 21
Nov. 28
Dec. 5
Non-verbal communication: body
language and the display of emotions
a) Bond, M.H. in "Journal of Nonverbal Behavior" 1993, 17: 245-262.
b) Casimir, M. and Schnegg, M. on
"Shame across culture" 2002, p. 270300.
Language change and variations over
a) Urciuoli in "Annual Review of
time: historic linguistics and
Anthropology" 1995, 24: 525-546.
sociolinguistics
b) Gonzales Velasquez in "Gender
Articulated" 1995: p. 421-446.
c) Haviland in "American
Anthropologist" 2003, 105 (4): 764774.
Intercultural encounters: interpersonal
a) Bohannan and Elst, p. 67-90;
relationships, social roles, social
b) Heydenfeldt in "Int. J. of
networks, and the structure of
Intercultural Relations" 2000, 24 (3):
conversations
383-407.
c) Lin and Miller in "Int. Marketing
Review" 2003, 20 (3): 286-303.
Intercultural contexts: interaction in the a) Mishra, Shiraz et al. In "Health
arenas of business, politics, education,
Education and Behavior" 1998, 25 (5):
health care, social work, tourism, etc.
653-670.
b) Money, Bruce et al. in "Journal of
Marketing" 1998, 62: 76-87.
Intercultural encounters within the US:
a) Berry in "Applied Psychology"
integration of cultural differences among 1997, 46 (1): 5-34.
members of different ethnic groups
b) Rumbaut in "International
Migration Review 1994, 28 (4): 748794.
Intercultural competence: tools, ethics,
a) Driskill and Downs in "Int. J. of
conflicts and solutions (summary)
Intercultural Relations" 1995, 19 (4):
502-522.
b) Waxin in "Int. J. of Intercultural
Relations" 2004, 28: 61-79.
c) Palthe in "Int. J. of Intercultural
Relations" 2004, 28: 37-59.
"Mid-term": Takehome essay exam
Due Sunday Nov. 13th
at midnight!
Report on "workplace
interview" due
Be prepared to talk
about your findings
Research paper due
Optional: Revised
paper due Dec.12th by
electronic submission
(only if you submitted
first draft by Nov 28th!)