CO2051 Intercultural Communication
Study Abroad: Ghana - Landmark College
Summer 2014
Instructor: Geoffrey Burges
e-mail: gburgess@landmark.edu
Class Schedule: see attached calendar
Office Hours: by appointment
Course Description:
In this course we will explore the ways in which our cultural values, attitudes, and assumptions are
reflected in our communication with others. We will examine how differences in perception, worldview, values, language, and nonverbal communication can lead to misunderstanding when people with
different cultural backgrounds interact.
Learning Objectives:
• To develop a greater awareness of your own cultural identity and the unconscious cultural values,
assumptions, and attitudes that influence your interactions with others
• To gain understanding and appreciation of cultural differences that influence communication
between co-cultures in the United States as well as between various national cultures
• To develop a basic understanding of key concepts in the field of intercultural communication
Skills Development Goals:
• To develop ability to participate effectively in class discussion
• To develop ability to think critically about abstract concepts
• To relate course material to prior knowledge and personal experience
• To develop ability to step back from personal viewpoints to assume a different perspective
• To continue to develop basic study skills
Required Texts:
Customized Courepack created by Geoff Burgess
“Culture Smart: Ghana, the essential guide to customs & culture” by Ian Utley
Grading:
20% Journal
Description: Complete frequent in-class writings (prompts provided) to elicit personal observations,
reflections, and connections regarding course content. These will originally be ungraded and may take
the form of free writes and/or lists for later polishing toward a graded Final Journal. The Final Journal
will include a one page cover letter that captures the main ideas and themes (big picture) of each
student’s study abroad experience. (The initial journal entry about personal history and heritage
assigned as pre-trip homework should also be included.) The Final Journal can be expected to be 4-7
pages in length (including cover letter) and is due on the day of the Final Exam. Inclusion of artwork,
photos, or video is welcome and encouraged.
10% Travel Blog
Description: Provide one original entry about a meaningful out-of-classroom experience that relates to
intercultural understanding and communication. Program related trips and activities such as homestay
encounters, visits with village chiefs, learning about slave castles, or participating in art/dance
workshops would be suitable.
Due dates will be assigned and the several paragraph long entries are submitted to “webmaster” Debbie
Hayward for posting. (Debbie will also be making regular entries to the blog.) The entry should provide a
descriptive, eye-witness account and be aimed toward a public audience (friends and family). The blog is
intended to represent the different voices and perspectives of the participants on this trip and to let the
people back home learn about our varied experiences.
20% Reading Review Questions
Description: Reading and writing homework is assigned before each class session (a total of nine
homework assignments for ten class sessions). Students will read 10 to 20 pages per assignment and
answer two-three related questions. Most questions will require a paragraph long response. Students
will submit Reading Review #1-4 together for a grade (Reading Review 1), and submit Reading Review
#5-9 for a grade (Reading Review 2). Specific due dates for Reading Review 1 and Reading Review 2 will
be announced.
25% Final Project
Description: This is an opportunity to dig deeper into one aspect of the course. Each project will be
developed by the individual student and the instructor. Investigations might include observations and
interviews of public market behavior, or research on family life and dynamics, or the role of a particular
crafts in shaping individual and cultural identity. Final projects may involve media such as images and
audio and will likely culminate in an in-class presentation.
25% Final Exam
Description: On the final class day of the study abroad trip students will take an in-class final exam. It will
include unanswered Reading Review questions as well as several longer summative questions that will
demonstrate analysis and synthesis of course content. In preparation students will receive the questions
the evening before the in-class writing period. Overall amount of writing for Final Exam may be between
3-5 pages.
Besides the policies described in the Study Abroad handbooks, students should be aware of the
following:
Landmark College Student Code of Conduct:
The following standards of conduct are examples and general expectations for all student members of
the Landmark College community:
1.
Honesty: Students will exhibit honesty in academic endeavors and in all aspects of campus life.
2. Safety: Students will make a commitment to contribute to a safe, clean, congenial, and productive
learning environment.
3. Understanding: Students will make a commitment to understand their own strengths and
challenges, and to work towards academic and personal growth.
4. Respect for Others: Students will show respect for the feelings, time, efforts, and physical wellbeing of others, and for their capacity for growth.
5. Respect for Property: Students will show respect for the property and materials of Landmark
College as well as the personal property of all members of the Landmark community.
6. Respect for Community: Students will respect the rules and regulations of Landmark College and
its governing bodies, and the laws of the State of Vermont and of the United States.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism
As an academic community, Landmark strives to instill and foster intellectual honesty and integrity.
Effective evaluation of student work can occur only in an environment where intellectual honesty is
respected. Academic dishonesty, which includes the inappropriate giving or receiving of aid during any
test situation, is a clear violation of academic integrity.
To plagiarize is to give the impression that a thought or a piece of writing is original, when, in fact, it was
borrowed from another. A form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism is a violation of intellectual integrity
and academic responsibility.
The individual student is responsible for ensuring that his or her work does not involve plagiarism.
Ignorance of the nature of plagiarism or of Landmark rules may not be offered as a mitigating
circumstance. Students with questions on matters of plagiarism should consult their English course
instructor and the instructor of the course for whom they are preparing work.
The minimum penalty for plagiarism is no credit (recorded as a zero for the purpose of determining the
student’s course grade) in the unit of work in which plagiarism has occurred. The maximum penalty for
first offense plagiarism is failure for the course in which the plagiarism occurred; in cases of repeated
offense, suspension or expulsion from Landmark may be imposed. No opportunity may be granted to
make up or otherwise fulfill the requirements of the unit of work involved. A student suspended from
Landmark may not transfer to Landmark any course credits earned at other institutions during the
period of suspension.