Course Syllabus
Communication and Conflict:A Cross-Cultural Perspective |
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| Semester & Location: |
Spring 2019 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Core Course - 3 credits |
| Core Course Study Tours: |
Dublin and Belfast |
| Major Disciplines: |
Communications, Media & Ethnic Studies. Rhetoric. |
| Faculty Members: |
Brendan Sweeney, brendan.sweeney@dis.dk |
| Program Director: |
Iben de Neergaard, idn@dis.dk |
| Time & Place: |
Mondays and Thursdays, 10.05-11.25 Location: V10-D11 |
Course Description
We live in paradoxical times: while technology-driven globalization constantly reduces differences between cultures and online communication has become universal and omnipresent, cultural and ethnic tensions within states appear to be on the rise both in the USA and in Europe. What is the role of communication in not just helping to resolve such conflicts but sometimes also in acerbating them?
Drawing on theory and methodology from fields as diverse as media and communication studies, journalism, anthropology, history, sociology and cultural studies to examine cultural and related differences in verbal and non-verbal communication, we will investigate cultural misunderstandings and conflicts in two contrasting European contexts covering four distinct countries: Denmark, Sweden, the UK, and Ireland.
We will analyze news media, images, symbols, narratives, and humor as forms of communication that simultaneously offend and open conversations about controversial subjects such as politics, race, class, gender, and religion.
Students will build up their knowledge and construct arguments based on theoretical readings and analyses of various types of communication: verbally, through news articles, legislation, party politics, street art, and documentary videos as well as non-verbally through images, symbols, clothing and gestures. We will observe and experience Danish society in close up, going on field trips to explore Copenhagen and its majority and minority cultures.
The course will not only follow ongoing debates in Denmark and study the challenges that ‘homogenous’ Danish culture faces integrating other ethnicities, we will also visit our Scandinavian neighbors in Sweden to widen our understanding of regional differences in handling cross-cultural communication. Additionally, we will travel to Northern Ireland to observe first-hand how sectarian groups communicate their beliefs, and how the symbolic landscape of the city itself expresses divides between people caught in a seemingly intractable conflict.
In summary, the class will include a mix of discussions, workshops and field studies. If you have ambitions of a travelling life, a career in an international environment or a future in trade, communications, journalism or politics, this course will give you the opportunity to gain theoretically founded awareness, practical tools and personal experiences to benefit you in future encounters with our multicultural reality.
Learning Objectives
- Experience how speech, texts, images and behaviors are shaped by cultures and interpreted through your own cultural lens
- Identify and negotiate the obstacles to effective communication across cultures
- Explore Denmark, Sweden and Northern Ireland as case studies for critical analysis of how cultures communicate verbally and non-verbally
- Experience the challenges and benefits of cross cultural communication first hand when producing written and multi-media projects for specific audiences and in collaboration with people from other cultures
- Demonstrate mastery of course material and reflect on how it applies to your own life and communication
Course Instructor
Brendan Sweeney
Ph.D. (Political Science, National University of Ireland, Galway, 2005), M.A. (Cand.mag.) (Media Studies, University of Copenhagen, 1999), NCTJ Certificate in Journalism (Rathmines College of Journalism, Dublin, 1982). Worked as journalist for many years in different European countries.
Study tours: Malmö, Sweden and Belfast, Northern Ireland
The course includes a core course week in Denmark with a short visit to Sweden and a week-long study tour to Belfast in Northern Ireland, which has long been a site of religious/ethnic conflict.
Course Culture
Since this is a communications course, the classroom culture will be workshop-oriented with open discussions, debates and creative practices rather than traditional lectures. All students will participate in framing and sharing knowledge and experiences from our readings and study tours. Although I will set an agenda for meetings, I encourage you to share your own ideas, opinions and observations with the class and engage with others doing the same, so that the classroom will become an open forum for vivid discussions and progressive learning.
Required readings
Selected texts as well as various readings online on Canvas. On days with “no readings,” you might be reading texts handed out in previous classes. The texts will always be given to you with enough time to prepare.
It is important and mandatory to read all required material prior to class time in order to get the full benefit from classes.
Sample reading list:
Beyond Fortress Europe: The Theory and Policy of European Border Control, Maria Salvatori & Laetitia Incera in Belgarde Journal of Media and Communications, Vol VI, 12/2017
Selling Conflict Heritage through Tourism in Peacetime Northern Ireland: Transforming Conflict or Exacerbating Difference? Sara McDowell, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol.14, No. 5. Sept. 2008, (Routledge)
A Beacon of Loyalism, Or a Stillborn Entity in Belfast? Andrew Walsh in "Belfast '69, Bombs, Burnings and Bigotry," Fonthill media Ltd., 2015
The Problems of Forgetting National and Local Histories, Francis O'Gorman in "Forgetfulness: Making the Modern Culture of Amnesia," Bloomsbury, 2017
Memory and Forgetting, Benedict Anderson in "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism," (Revised Edition), Verso, 1991
To Veil or not to Veil?: A Case Study of Identity Negotiation among Muslim Women in Austin, Texas , Jen'nan Ghazal Read and John P. Bartkowski, Gender & Society 2000 14: 395, (Sage Publications)
Interaction in a Multicultural World in Communication Between Culture, Larry Samovar et al in "Communication between cultures 8th Edition", p 1-24
European Liberalism & the Muslim Question in A New Politics of Identity, Bhikhu Parekh, Palgrave 2008, p. 99-129
Nonverbal Communication: The Messages of Action, Space, Time and Silence in Communication Between Culture, Larry Samovar et al, p. 254-269 + 288 (from “Silence”)-293
The Cultures of Rhetoric, Robert Shutter, Marquette University, in "Perspectives on Rhetoric and Communication", p. 11-17
Identity and Culture: Situating the Individual, Larry Samovar et al, p 232-243
Discourse and the Construction of Society, p. 18-26, Bruce Lincoln
Understanding the ‘Northern Irish’ Identity, John Garry & Kevin McNicholl, Queen’s University Belfast
Negotiating Civic Space in Belfast or The Tricolour: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Dominic Bryan, Working Paper No. 13: 2009
Symbols and identity in the "new" Northern Ireland, Dominic Bryan and Gillian McIntosh, 2006, p. 126-137
Regulating Sympathy for the Muslim Man, Evelyn Alsultany, p. 100-131
Political Parody and Public Culture, Robert Hariman in Quarterly Journal of Speech 94.3, 2008: 247-272
Grading
Remember not to let grades deter you from taking intellectual risks and to learn just for the fun of learning. Grades are not a punishment or a reward for a certain behavior, but an honest assessment of your academic performance at this moment in time. Grades will be uploaded to Grade Center on Canvas.
Participation in general: 25%, includes blog entries, notes from field studies, and participation in class and on tours.
Assignment 1/ CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION - A PICTURE SAYS MORE THAN A THOUSAND WORDS 20 %
Write a 3-4 page thesis driven paper based on a picture you have taken or seen during our core course week related to cross cultural communication between a majority and minority culture in Denmark or Sweden.
Assignment 2/ A FIELD REPORT FROM BELFAST: 20 %
While in Belfast, write an article and take a photograph that relates to how communication stirs conflict. Analyze how the communication you have observed reflects cultural norms in the way it is verbally and non-verbally constructed and in the way it is perceived. Apart from a two-page article, you will also submit two pages of analysis on your writing.
Assignment 3/MY VIEW OF DENMARK - COLLABORATION AND REPORTING ON DANISH CULTURE: 35%
Develop a media project on some aspect of life in Denmark related to cross-cultural communication in collaboration with other students and reflect on how your own culture affects the collaboration and the outcome. The project has both written and multimedia elements.
Paper Policy
It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work - including in-class projects - has to be completed in order to pass. Late work will be penalized by lower grades, unless a valid reason for the delay can be documented.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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