KC-301R Integrative Studies: Intercultural Studies † *

A writing-intensive capstone course for the General Education curriculum that provides students with guidance in their application of interdisciplinary knowledge to problem solving. Students are challenged to practice critical and creative thinking skills, and they are expected to demonstrate competence in oral, written, and other creative modes of expression. This course is open to all majors. An interdisciplinary course designed to develop students' cultural self-awareness and intercultural competence through the application of concepts and perspectives drawn from a variety of academic fields (language and linguistics, communication, cultural studies, ethics, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology) to a range of problems and situations involving intercultural encounters. Students will consider their own culturally-based assumptions, biases and practices; articulate and analyze similarities and differences between cultures and subcultures; use both direct experience and technologies to enhance their knowledge of and experiences with intercultural encounters; consider ethical dimensions of cross-cultural encounters; and develop a problem-solving approach to improving communication and interactions with those from other cultural backgrounds. Through a deeper understanding of their own and other cultures, students will enhance their critical understanding of salient features of intercultural encounters.