This course is designed for those planning to work or live in increasingly multicultural, multilingual contexts, and for those interested in the interdisciplinary study of language and culture. While our primary focus will be on the fields of intercultural and cross-cultural communication, we will touch upon related areas of study such as language and thought, linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, language and identity, language and gender, language policy, and educational linguistics. We will explore various theories of culture, foundational and recent research on intercultural and cross-cultural communication, and several related topics such as linguistic relativity, linguistic diversity (including culturally-influenced language practices), language contact, dialect/register variation, and critical, equity-minded cultural competence. We will also perform a self-study of linguistic and cultural exchanges that we engage in throughout the semester.

With consistent, hard work in this course, you should be able to: *Distinguish between intercultural, cross-cultural, and interpersonal communication *Have an informed discussion about the relevance of intercultural and cross-cultural communication in today’s world, especially in relation to globalization and linguistic diversity *Explain some foundational and current theories of intercultural and cross-cultural communication, including aspects of their historical progression in academic discourse *Define culture, tracing the progression of this concept from historical to contemporary scholars *Build a background in a few cross-over disciplines, including linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, language policy, educational linguistics, and language and thought/identity/gender *Know many different ways in which language, thought, and culture relate, including the development of ideas on this topic from past to present *Analyze cross-linguistic examples of language use, showing the interaction of language, thought, and culture at the moment of speech, in language processing/storage, or in language change *Understand the features, scale, and contexts of linguistic diversity, including its manifestations in discourse, thinking for speaking, and language structure *Get hands-on practice communicating across linguistic/cultural differences and situating those experiences in scholarly discussions *Improve your own critical (equity-minded) cultural competence

Homework assignments (e.g. summary-responses, 6 total): 50% Intercultural Experiences Journal: 20% Discussion board participation: 20% Group linguistic analysis/slideshow: 10% Details on all of the above tasks will be provided on Brightspace.