This course is designed to interrogate different aspects of cross-cultural communication and cultural differences: family life, social relationships, the workplace, government, education, gender, romance, and religion. Throughout exploring these topics, we will strive to engage in personal self-reflection, hands-on experience, and to understand the connections to larger social structures. The cornerstone of the course is being involved in a cultural subgroup that you are not familiar with in or around the East Bay (e.g. student group, church, volunteer organization, internship, etc.). You will be expected to join this co-culture regularly (weekly or biweekly) throughout the semester and write a final paper on the experience.

With globalization, the internet, and the general shrinking of time and space, cross-cultural interaction has become a necessity in people’s everyday lives. This course approaches the field of cross-cultural communications both on the level of large-scale cultural differences as well as common everyday interactions.


This class is designed to be an applied culture class — one in which we are seeking to apply intersectional concepts of culture in everyday life and society. As such, the class is run as a blend of seminar and workshop with guided lectures and case studies to support the overall direction of the course. In addition, with the support of the instructor, each student will select a cultural subgroup of their choice and will engage in participant observation (ethnographic fieldwork) in order to investigate the group’s values and beliefs.


In class, we will interrogate different aspects of cross-cultural communication and cultural differences: race, socioeconomics, family and child rearing, education, politics, gender, disability, and relationship to the land. While exploring these topics, we will strive to engage in personal self-reflection and hands-on experience, and to understand the connections to larger social structures.


Specifically, the goals of this course are:

To learn, describe, and analyze common and important social and cultural patterns;

To provide a space for students to reflect on their own personal experience with cultural difference;

To develop self-awareness of one’s own constructed social and cultural and subjectivity;

To encourage students to engage hands on with different cultures and to meaningfully experience and grow in their cross-cultural communication skills.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.