UTEP Fall 2011 Comm 3353 Intercultural CommunicationInstructor: Eduardo Barrera Office Hours: Quinn Hall 101-B • TR 1:00-1:30 & 3:00-4:30 747-6516 eduardo@utep.edu

Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. - Edward Tylor 1871

Culture is the webs of significance... systems of meaning. Clifford Geertz, 1973 Culture is a whole way if life... must be interpreted in relation to its underlying system of production. - Raymond Williams, 1958 Culture is a whole way of struggle. - E.P. Thompson, 1961

Intercultural Communication (ICC) is the process through which we gain the insight provided by different perspectives and experiences. Few other topics can match the human interest inherent in intercultural communication. COMM 3353 is a content-oriented class designed to introduce basic concepts involved in the cross-cultural communication process across a number of situations. This course seeks to raise consciousness about cultural differences and to help students become more competent in cross-cultural communication. The second part of the course is about International Communication, which deals with power, politics, and the process of influencing other nation-states. It grew from international propaganda research in the two World Wars. It provides a comprehensive analysis of developments in international communication at a time when the political, economic, and technological contexts in which media and culture operate are becoming increasingly global. Some of the topics to be discussed are Maquiladoras, racist stereotypes, corridos, gentrification of downtown El Paso, and propaganda, among others.The course involves lecture, demonstration, exercise or discussion during each class period. The student is responsible for the completion of the assigned readings prior to the class meeting time. At the beginning of each class the instructor will answer any questions on previous readings or lecture material. Students may also write the questions and submit them to the instructor.Attendance. Attendance is mandatory for a complete learning experience. Material from the lecture will not be repeated should the student miss class. Students must initiate withdrawal from this course during the appropriate time period specified in the Fall Semester Bulletin. There will be no make-up exams unless there is an emergency (i.e. surgery, accident, jury duty, etc.) for which the student must provide the appropriate documentation. Students missing four classes per semester cannot expect to make more than a B in the course, just as a student who misses more than six classes cannot expect to make more than a C in the course. Special cases should be discussed with the instructor at the beginning of the course.

Course Requirements Grade %Midterm Exam 45Final Exam 50Attendance & Class Participation 5

Students are responsible for the Scantron form for each exam, as well as for #2 lead pencils and eraser. The exam content and question type will be reviewed the previous period. Exams will cover readings as well as lectures and the final is semi-comprehensive.Textbooks:• Klyukanov, Igor. Principles of Intercultural Communication. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2005.• Reading Packet.

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READINGSAug. 23 OverviewAug. 25 Introduction • Klyukanov, Introduction • Raymond Williams (1976). Keywords. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~dml3/880williams.htmAug. 30 Punctuation Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 1Sep. 1 Uncertainty Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 2Sep. 6 Performativity Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 3Sep. 8 Positionality Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 4Sep. 13 Commensurability • Klyukanov, Ch. 5Sep. 15 Continuum Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 6Sep. 20 Pendulum Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 7Sep. 22 “Unconstitutional” • VideoSep. 28 Orientalism • “Orientalism: A Key Concept”

www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/key-concepts/Orientalism.htm• Video “Orientalism”

Oct. 4 Transaction Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 8Oct. 6 Synergy Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 9Oct. 11 Sustainability Principle • Klyukanov, Ch. 10Oct. 13 Midterm ExaminationOct. 18 Columbus Day • “Trudell” (Video)

• Jack Weatherford. “Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus” http://www.hartford-hwp.com/Taino/docs/columbus.html

Oct. 20-25 “The Corporation” • Video.

Oct. 27 Maquilas• E. McDaniel and L. Samovar, “Cultural influences on Communication in Multinational Organizations: The Maquila.”

Nov. 1 Disaster Capitalism • “The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” (Video) • Naomi Klein (2005). “The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” The Nation, May 2. http://www.thenation.com/article/rise-disaster-capitalism• Naomi Klein (2007).The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, excerpts. http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Naomi_Klein/Surviving_Democracy_SD.html

Nov. 3 Racism • “Race: The Floating Signifier” (Video) • Stuart Hall, “The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media.” In Gail Dines & Jean M. Humez, Gender, Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1995, pp. 18-22.. • Eduardo Barrera, ”And Memín crossed the border: Waving the neighbor's racism.” Ciudades, No. 69, 2006, 15-20.

Nov. 8 Corridos • José Limón, Mexican Ballads, Chicano Poems. (Berkeley: U. of CaliforniaNov. 10 Mexicanness • Alex Saragoza”The Selling of Mexico: Tourism and the State, 1929-1952.” In G.

Joseph, et. al., Fragments of a Golden Age (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001), pp. 90-115.

Nov. 15 Elitism in El Paso • Mikaela Hagen, ”El Paso: Elite Politics and Community Power.” 2007. http://www.pasodelsur.com/elitist.htm

Nov. 17-22 Disney Propaganda • “Mickey Mouse Monopoly” (video). • Eric Smoodin, Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons from the Sound Era (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,

1993), pp. 136-150. Nov. 29 Global Media • “Weapons of Mass Deception” (video).

• Anup Shah (2009). “Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership.”

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http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership

Dec. 1 Wrap-up and Study GuideDec. 6 Final Exam 4:00 PM

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