Course Syllabus

Welcome to CAS 271N: Intercultural Communication

Course Overview

Course Overview
CATEGORY INFORMATION
Credits 3
Prerequisites None
Delivery Web (Canvas, https://psu.instructure.com)
Dates See the Calendar.
Instructor See the Orientation module under the Modules tab.

 

Description

In today’s globalized world where many of us are frequently in contact with people from different cultures, continents, and contexts, we cannot assume that our own cultural values and beliefs, behaviors and expectations are universal. We discuss definitions of culture and explore the various cultures we encounter in our daily lives. In this course, specifically, we apply three conceptual lenses to the study of intercultural communication: the social scientific, the interpretive, and the critical perspective. These approaches are complex and diverse, and we work on integrating their contributions to provide a comprehensive picture of Intercultural Communication, a fascinating and multi-faceted academic field. From applying these approaches to examples of intercultural communication, we come to appreciate the complexity involved in intercultural exchanges, and to acknowledge the influence of context and power in our intercultural interactions. This learning process gives us an opportunity to enhance self-reflection, flexibility, and sensitivity in intercultural communication settings that can be applied to both personal and professional environments. Our approach is interdisciplinary in perspective and global in outlook.

 

Objectives

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Utilize a conceptual vocabulary for explaining and understanding intercultural communication, and will practice applying these concepts to real-world situations
  2. Assess how factors such as gender, race, history, socio-economic and cultural background affect the way we see our world(s)
  3. Analyze and share intercultural encounters from their daily lives and practice finding solutions to (potential) conflicts
  4. Practice reflective thinking and interpret intercultural experiences from perspectives other than their own

 

Organization

This course includes 12 lessons.

For each lesson, you will complete the following activities and assignments:

  • Work through our assigned readings.
  • Explore our online course content, such as lectures and blog discussions. An optional worksheet is included for each lesson. 
  • While certain assignments are completed by all course participants (i.e., our “Who am I?”-Paper, as well as our Midterm Group Project and Capstone Assignment), you get to choose which two out of nine Think Pieces you want to submit. Please note that one Think Piece needs to be submitted before our Midterm Group Project is due and the second before our Capstone Assignment is due. This flexibility also applies to the eight blog contributions you are expected to submit. Please find detailed instructions regarding our blog contributions under Online Participation below. 
  • Each of the 12 lessons has one corresponding short quiz consisting of 10 randomly selected multiple-choice questions.  Each short quiz is worth 30 points, which translates into each question being worth 3 points. You have 10 minutes to take your quiz. Your answers will automatically be submitted when the time expires. You can take up to 11 quizzes of which the lowest score will be dropped, making it 10 quizzes that count toward your final grade. Each quiz can only be taken once, meaning that quizzes cannot be retaken. The quiz for each section opens when the corresponding lesson starts and remains accessible for the rest of the course: All quizzes are available until the end of our course. That way, it is up to you when to take your quizzes.

 

Expectations

This course involves reading, writing, and group discussions. Our class is developed to be a fast-paced academic commitment to yourself, your classmates, and your instructor. You will at times collaborate in teams and must realize that your individual effort as a team player in this environment will be prized by your peers and appreciated by your instructor. You will need to put in consistent effort throughout the entire term. You will also need to speak up in discussions on our blog and demonstrate active learning, not passive absorption.

In all our written assignments, you are required to follow basic rules of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Failure to do so will result in the deduction of points. Further, you are expected to cite credible, scholarly sources right in each piece of work submitted for this class and to include references/bibliographies at the end of your essays or papers. Although I do not require that any particular style be followed, I ask that you are consistent with whatever style you select and follow the rules of that particular style. Acceptable styles include APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago. 

Our class shall maintain professional language use; sexism, ageism, racism, disrespect toward religion or any other affiliation will not be tolerated. It is important that we all work together so our class becomes – and remains - a comfortable and engaging place for everyone.

Now, how to best survive this class, you might inquire? Simply do your best work, ask for clarification when necessary, and communicate as you would in a professional environment: Be kind, polite, and respectful.

In a Nutshell:
Be an enthusiastic and active participant in this class.
Take ownership of your responses and work.
Leave helpful suggestions and constructive feedback.
Develop creative work and have FUN.

 

Online Learning and Attendance

This course has been developed to promote asynchronous learning. The instructor and students do NOT meet on a designated day and time each week. For each lesson, there is a time frame to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that time frame. However, you must adhere to the due dates outlined on the Calendar. (Due dates can also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

 

Online Participation

Each of our 12 lessons is accompanied by a set of discussion questions posted on our blog. Your informed contributions to our discussion blog are absolutely necessary. Each week two “Discussion Leaders” are named who are responsible for initiating a discussion of our weekly readings (different students are contacted each week to see who wants to do so). Your work in this function can be counted and graded as one of your four blogs entries. Please feel free to post on our blog at any point during the actual week we are discussing a particular lesson/set of discussion questions – you do not have to be called upon to act as a “Discussion Leader” to contribute! As a basis for our blog engagement, we use discussion questions listed both on our blog and in Canvas. In 200 words or more, discussion leaders accurately and creatively answer our discussion questions by Tuesday 11:59 PM each week and the class can then post comments of the same length (i.e., 200 words or more) as soon as possible. Be creative: post comments, ask/answer questions, expand threads, and, most importantly, provide creative examples that illustrate, explain, and help us understand one or more of the concepts discussed in the readings.

Please note: At least one scholarly, credible source needs to be referred to and cited directly in the text of each blog entry. If this key requirement is not met, 30% (i.e., 9 points out of 30) will have to be deducted.

All in all, a minimum of four blog entries and four blog replies is required for our coursewith two blog entries and two blog replies to be posted the very week the various lessons/chapters you wish to comment on are being discussed and before the deadline for our Midterm Group Project approaches. The same procedure applies to our remaining two blogs and two blog entries as they need to be submitted to our specific Canvas drop boxes before our Capstone Assignment is due on our last day of class. Again, please remember that all comments shall be posted the specific week the lessons/discussion questions are being covered.

The goal is to motivate students to contribute to our blog on a weekly basis. Therefore, you get the opportunity to select the two strongest blog entries and two best blog replies you wish to have graded and submit them to our corresponding drop boxes on Canvas. In other words, each of the two blog entries and two blog replies needs to be posted on our blog during the actual week we are discussing a lesson/set of discussion question to then be submitted to Canvas before our Midterm Group Project is due. During the second part of our course, it is up to you again to choose another set of two blog entries and two blog replies and to submit it to the corresponding drop boxes on Canvas before the end of our course. If a student does not hand in his/her selections before these two deadlines, no points can be awarded for any blog contributions made before each deadline.

A quick reminder here that only those blog entries and blog replies posted during the actual week we are discussing each of our 12 chapters and 12 corresponding sets of discussion questions are eligible to earn points toward your grade - this means before Sunday 11:59 PM. In other words, only timely posting can be eligible to earn points as these postings help create a vivid, meaningful online learning environment. Simply feel free to post as often as you want or can during each week - I look forward to you sharing your thoughts, research results, and experiences!

Texts and Other Materials

There is one required text.

  • Martin, J.N., Nakayama, T.K. (2022). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (8th edition). Boston: McGraw-Hill. ISBN13: 9781260837452

It is highly recommended that you work with the electronic version of our textbook (ebook) which is available for purchase directly on the publisher’s website. Follow the instructions below to purchase your textbook online:

  • Visit: www.mheducation.com
  • Use search bar to enter ‘Nakayama’ under 'Highered'
  • Scroll to locate correct book and edition
  • Select Student purchase options
  • There they will see the ebook available for purchase

Please note that this ebook is immediately accessible after purchase.

Additional materials will be made available on our weekly blog (see link on Canvas). 

 

Library Services

Penn State Libraries provides a wide variety of services and resources. To learn how to take advantage, refer to the Online Student Library Guide at http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/onlinestudentlibraryguide. This guide serves as your starting point for access to all that Penn State Libraries can offer you as an online student. Use this guide if you have questions on library services offered to you, how the library can help you, how to use the library, or what resources you can access via the library! The guide will connect you to important pages and resources within Penn State Libraries and save time from you searching for the information you need.

Grading

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the scale below.

Scale

Scale
LETTER
GRADE
MINIMUM
PERCENT
A 95
A- 90
B+ 87.9
B 83.3
B- 80
C+ 75
C 70
D 60
F 0

 

Due Dates

Please be aware that Canvas follows the Eastern Time (ET) time zone. Assignment due dates adhere to this time zone, and it is your responsibility to submit them accordingly. If you are outside of the ET time zone, you can set your Canvas account to sync to it. Refer to the Set a Time Zone article in the Canvas Guide https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2891 at .

All assignments are due by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the date indicated on the Calendar. (Due dates can be also be viewed under the Syllabus tab.) As a general rule, you will NOT be able to go back and make up missed assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up with your assignments. Students with an excused absence (e.g. hospitalization, jury duty, family emergency, or military service) may be asked to produce proper documentation in order to make up graded work. All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor (for more details, please see our Late Policy below).

Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or spouses with unique circumstances (e.g. upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, disabilities, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

Notes

  • To Do List: Some assignments may not appear in the To Do list under the Home tab. Use the Calendar or Syllabus to ensure that you are fully aware of assignment due dates.

 

Grade Disputes (24/7 rule)

Should you earn a grade that makes you unhappy or confused, I ask that you take 24 hours after I return the assignment to think about the grade and determine if you believe it was fair. If you believe so, but have questions regarding how you might improve, please contact me to strategize for improvement on the next assignment.

After 24 hours, if you believe the grade is unfair, please contact me via email discuss your concerns about the grade. When disputing a grade in this course I ask that you prepare a specific proposal regarding the grade you believe to be appropriate based on what was turned in. Your proposal should be typed and include a compelling argument outlining the reasons why you believe the grade change is appropriate. Additionally, all grade disputes must be handled within seven days after the initial assignment is returned.

 

Late Policy

It is in your best interest to carefully note and adhere to the assignment deadlines on the course calendar. If an emergency arises that prevents you from completing your work on time, please let me know as soon as possible before the deadline approaches so we can make arrangements for you to keep up with the course. If an assignment is submitted past the deadline without consulting with me before the due date, it cannot be accepted. To avoid this scenario, keep in touch – communication is key in this course! If an extension is granted, please note that the grade of assignments received up to one week after the due date will be reduced by ten percent. Each additional week late will result in an additional 10 percent grade reduction. Any work more than 3 weeks late cannot be accepted, meaning that a three-week extension is the longest to be granted.

Assignments

Basic information about each assignment group is provided below. For detailed directions about an individual assignment, see the assignment information under the Modules tab.

Assignments
ASSIGNMENT
GROUP
WEIGHT
"Who Am I?"- Paper 10%
Think Pieces 20%
Discussion Entries 12%
Discussion Replies 8%
Quizzes 30%
Midterm Project 10%
Capstone Project 10%
Total 100%

"Who Am I?"-Paper (10%)

The course's first writing assignment. You will introduce yourself, your identity and cultural values.

Think Pieces (2 x 10% = 20% total)

Regularly occurring writing assignments asking you to write about your thoughts on course topics. You will have a few options to choose from for each of the two required submission. One must be completed before the Midterm Project (Lessons 3, 4, 5), and one must be completed after (Lessons 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

Blog Entries (4 x 3% = 12% total)

You will be contributing regularly to the course blog, and will submit your very best entries for grading. Two entries must be submitted before the Midterm Project, the other two must be submitted after.

Blog Replies (4 x 2% = 8% total)

You will be contributing regularly to the course blog, and will submit your very best replies for grading. Two replies must be submitted before the Midterm Project, the other two must be submitted after.

Quizzes (10 x 3% = 30% total)

There are twelve quizzes made up of multiple choice questions. The lowest two quiz scores will be automatically dropped at the end of the term which results in only the 10 highest scores being counted toward your grade.

Midterm Project (10%)

A team of you and your classmates will choose a country or region and discuss its culture according to a set of guidelines.

Capstone Project (10%)

You will choose a popular movie, then analyze and write about it according to a set of guidelines.

University Policies

Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity, an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.   

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity G-9: Academic Integrity). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic sanctions, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes (see ).

Unless your instructor tells you otherwise:

  • Always include an in-text citation that includes the author(s) last name(s) and the year the source was published at the end of any sentence or below any image that includes words, images, or ideas you found in a source, always included quoted text within quotation marks, and always include a reference for any source at the end of your paper (ask your instructor about the format you should use).
  • All of your graded coursework must be created by you without help from anyone in the course or otherwise. If you have questions about this, you should ask your instructor before submitting work for evaluation.
  • All course materials you receive or access are protected by copyright laws. You may use course materials and make copies for your own use, but unauthorized distribution and/or uploading of materials without the instructor’s express permission is strictly prohibited. Students who engage in the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials may be held in violation of the University’s Code of Conduct and/or liable under Federal and State laws.

Disability Access

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources website provides contact information for every Penn State campus. For further information, please visit the Student Disability Resources website (Links to an external site.) at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation (Links to an external site.) described at http://equity.psu.edu/student-disability-resources/applying-for-services. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

Counseling and Psychological Services

Penn State's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) office offers residential and distance-based Penn State students non-emergency mental health services in the form of case management, community resource referrals, supportive listening, care giver support, and much more.

Students may request assistance from CAPS regarding a variety of common mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, and stress. CAPS services are designed to enhance students' ability to fully benefit from the University environment and academic experience. Call CAPS at 814-863-0395 (8 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday EST) or submit an inquiry online (Links to an external site.) at https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/form/caps-contact-form to schedule an appointment with a mental health advocate, who can help you address mental health concerns that may interfere with your academic progress or social development. This appointment will include a one-on-one session that can be conducted via telephone, teleconference (Skype, FaceTime, etc.), or locally at Penn State University Park. For more information on services provided through CAPS, please visit the Penn State CAPS website (Links to an external site.) at http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/. Students enrolled at the World Campus are also encouraged to visit its Mental Health Services page (Links to an external site.) at http://student.worldcampus.psu.edu/student-services/mental-health-services.

Reminder: These services are for non-emergencies only. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis situation, please call your local crisis center or 911.

Nondiscrimination

Penn State is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University's educational mission, and will not be tolerated. For further information, please visit the Affirmative Action Office website (Links to an external site.)

Reporting a Bias Incident

Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated and can be reported through Educational Equity via the Report Bias webpage (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/.

TEACH Act

The materials on the course website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.


University Emergency Procedure

In the event of a University-wide emergency, the course may be subject to changes. Exigent circumstances may require alternative delivery methods, class materials, and interactions with the instructor and/or classmates. In addition, there may be revisions to grading policies and the Calendar, including assignments and their due dates.

In the event of a University-wide emergency, please refer to the Canvas website at https://psu.instructure.com for specific information related to the course. For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to the Penn State website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://www.psu.edu or Penn State News website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://news.psu.edu.

To register with PSUAlert, a service designed to alert the Penn State community when situations arise that affect the ability of a campus to function normally, please go to the PSU Alert website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. at https://psualert.psu.edu/. Subscribers can receive alerts by text message to cell phones, and also can elect to have alerts sent to an email address.


Syllabus Subject to Change

The class will likely adhere to the information outlined in this Syllabus and the Calendar, but adjustments may be made based on what actually transpires during the semester. Remaining in the course after reading this Syllabus will signal that you accept the possibility of changes and responsibility for being aware of them.

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due