Why we should gain intercultural communication skills?

23.01.-27.01.2017, University of Veliko Tarnovo

The world, we live in, is marked by crossing borders and therefore by encounters among members of different countries and origins. The direct touch with distantness, we can witness nowadays, is considered as one of the mechanisms of deconstruction, but reconstruction too, of the auto- and hetero-stereotypes, of understanding as well as misunderstanding the other cultures. The main question what arises against the background of a global movement of people – businessmen, tourists, students, migrants – is how to avoid the mental barriers and achieve a successful communication by correctly analyzing the communicators themselves, their cultural origin and the intercultural context they are placed in. This turns the intercultural knowledge into an increasingly valuable skill. Though a part of this course addresses a Bulgarian perspective, it generally focuses on characteristics of specific cultures and how one culture may interfere with another.

The specific course objectives are as follows:

?to explore cultural self-awareness, other culture awareness, and the dynamics that arise in interactions between the two,

?to understand how communication processes differ among cultures,

?to identify challenges arising from these differences in intercultural interactions and learn ways to creatively address them,

?to discover the importance of the roles of context and power in studying intercultural communication,

?to acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes that increase intercultural competence.

→Throughout The Course students learn about cultural differences and develop intercultural sensitivity by participating actively and interfering as members of their own culture. As a result of attending the course they should gain new attitudes, points of view and also the ability to interact in new or less known intercultural contexts, led by a sense of tolerance and avoiding misunderstanding. They are expected to develop strategies of approaching complex or stressful situations, based on cultural differences as behaviors, different norms, attitudes and values of other cultures.