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Theme of the course: "Language comes from our families, our cultures, our class backgrounds, our experiences of different and conflicting realities." (Kit Yuen Quan) The aim of the course is to explore how different cultures are defined through both verbal and non-verbal language, symbols and meanings they assign to the symbols, and values they sustain. In the first part of the course we will deal with the questions What is culture? What is cultural identity? How is my culture different from those of others? How do we perceive the world and How do we interpret the social reality? How are our interpretations interlinked with our culture? Further we will look into ways one's own language reflects one's own culture. The topics will include language and gender, i.e. how females and males communicate, language and stereotypes, language and social power, i.e. how language influences our view of other cultures. The course is to be geared primarily, but not exclusively, to American cultures. Its essential idea, however, lies in deepening and broadening students' cultural awareness. Students should develop positive attitudes towards other cultures. Sessions: Introduction to cultural studies: meanings of culture Cultural identity and Cultural values Worldviews and ethos American values and values in changing world Developing stereotypes: making judgements Cultural diversity in the U.S. Theory of multiculturalism: how to cope with cultural diversity? Cultural diversity at home Culture and language: intercultural communication and gender English language as means of intercultural communication Literature: Holocaust and Human Behavior. Massachusetts: Facing History and Ourselves Foundation, Inc., 1994. ISBN 0-9615841-4-9 Bennet, Milton J. Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. Maine: Intercultural Press, 1998. ISBN 1-877864-62-5 Byram, M., Fleming, M. Language learning in intercultural perspective: approaches through drama and ethnography. Cambridge: CUP, 1998. ISBN 0-521-62559-9 Gudykunst, William B. Bridging differences. effective intergroup communication. London: Sage publications, 2004. ISBN 0-7619-2937-1 Hofstede, Gert J. Exploring culture:exercises, stories, and synthetic cultures. Maine: Intercultural Press, 2002. ISBN 1-877864-90-0 Melucci, A. The playing self: person and meaning in the planetary society. Cambirdge: CUP, 1996. ISBN 0-521-56482-4 Taylor, Ch. Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994. ISBN 0691-03779-5 Tomalin, B, Stempelski, B. Cultural awareness. Oxford: OUP, 1993. ISBN 0-19-437194-8
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