Cross cultural issues- A. Jorand Manco , 15 weeks starting September 2024.
Have you ever felt your conversation was at cross-purposes?
Or suspected your well-worded message was just not getting through?
It is a widespread feeling and it contributes to the current obsession about the importance of communication ( or sometimes compunication…). And the issue can be very serious.
That is why we should explore what hinders one another’s vision, and what clouds understanding, even when protagonists try to avoid conflict. The usual culprit is culture….
Although the role of culture can be exaggerated, behind banal words, or behind what we would assume to be normal behaviour, are many traps: ideas, assumptions, norms, values or sensibilities - and several of those are cultural.
We will not discuss folklore, but rather about the deeper forces and values that drive us, many of which we may not be aware of. Here we should then discuss the codes which many talk about, and in the last part of our course we will see how this directly impacts today’s management, virtual teams, and of course all the work situations where culture is diverse, and where work ethics may be far from identical.
There will be reading assignments as a basis for exchange, and your own experience will also be called upon. I look forward to lively discussions!
Nota Bene -The course is marked by continuous assessment, including:
- 2 or 3 prepared oral tasks - for example in the form of dialogues written, acted out, then discussed by the class, around misunderstandings or conflicts (30%)
- Participation (30%)
- 2 or 3 written assignments, prepared at home but carried out in class (40%)
Continuous assessment also means that after 4 unjustified absences, your mark cannot be expected to be above 11/20
- Teaching coordinator: Langlois Laura Hilary
- Teaching coordinator: Manco Annick