Cultural Encounters

Course goals

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Explain key concepts and theoretical approaches related to interculturality.
2. Analyze real-world cases of intercultural contact in media and discourse, putting into practice the theoretical concepts and approaches covered during the course.
3. Present an intercultural analysis both orally and in writing, following academic style conventions.

Content

In this course, we explore how cultural images are constructed and communicated in today's world. You analyze content from your everyday life: social media, blogs, and forums, as well as films, tourism texts, advertising campaigns, and literary works. You learn to identify the stereotypes, representations, and narratives that shape how we perceive the cultural 'other'. How is diversity portrayed in the media? What narratives dominate when different cultures meet? By the end of the course, you will have developed analytical tools to critically interpret intercultural encounters in media and discourse.
 

Additional information

Important note for students in the multilingual track of the MA Intercultural communication:
Students in the multilingual track of the MA Intercultural communication will be given the option to produce and turn in course assignments in English or Dutch, regardless of the language used for teaching, reading, listening, and speaking in the course.

Active participation in class sessions is mandatory.