Abstract
The paper outlines an international research project based on the analysis of journal entries written by a multinational cohort of German, Polish, Asian and US-American Master students during a time span of 15 months as part of the course requirements for a module entitled “Applied Intercultural Communication” in the MA “International Management and Intercultural Communication/GlobalMBA” at TH Köl). One of TH Köln´s main educational principles is to train and prepare students for global citizenship. Graduates of this international program are, consequently, expected to operate at the interface of business and culture. The journal writing project, which was started in 2013, is intended to serve two main purposes: (1) For our international management students, the journals are intended to be a personal “learning log” to gain greater awareness of their own cultural values and to critically reflect on the processes of cultural adjustment and team-building. (2) Researchers at the four program locations explore collectively how this experience-based approach allows to chart students´ development and attitudinal shifts from the beginning to the end of a 15-month master program, in terms of personal and academic growth and intercultural learning. Consequently, the diaries are intended to serve as a tool to assess which aspects of human experience are globally shared and observable and which areas require the students to undergo processes of cultural localization and adaption in order to function adequately in new cultural environments. The findings of our qualitative and quantitative research are fed back into the process of curriculum development.
Presenters
Veronika Elke SchuchProfessor of Intercultural Communication and Cultural Studies, Institute of Translation and Multilingual Communication, Technische Hochschule Köln / TH Köln, Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Vectors of Society and Culture
KEYWORDS
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE AND COMMUNICATON, CULTURAL LITERACY, INTERNATIONAL MBA STUDY PROGRAMS
