What is intercultural communication for the professional world?
In today's increasingly globalized society, business, government and education, among other sectors, seek people who can foster intercultural communication and promote understanding across differences. This cognate will help you gain the cultural knowledge, communication skills and linguistic skills necessary to succeed in diverse workplaces and teams, understanding how professional behaviors and language practices are shaped by culture. With advances in technology, a global economy and more diverse populations, the valuable expertise provided by this cognate can help broaden your future career prospects and increase your impact.
Why study intercultural communication at UNH?
At UNH, you’ll take an interdisciplinary approach to intercultural communication, following case studies focused on a particular region of the world. You’ll enhance your coursework with language studies and complete your cognate with a study abroad experience in your target country or region. Take advantage of extracurricular opportunities to complement your studies, including language conversation groups, the Civil Discourse Lab and the Global Humanities Undergraduate Research Lab.
Potential career areas
- Arts/music
- Business/international business
- Communication/public relations
- Community organization/advocacy
- Diplomacy/international aid
- Education
- Global health/public health
- Government and non-governmental organizations
- Law/international law
- Marketing
- Non-profits
- Social services
Curriculum & Requirements
This cognate is designed to provide students with the means to develop a global perspective, intermediate communication skills, and an understanding of the dynamics of intercultural communication. Research has linked study abroad experience with students’ future employability, and “intercultural/global competence” in particular is a skill valued by employers in a wide range of fields. This cognate provides students a means to attain these valuable, marketable skills, as well as a means to demonstrate this to potential employers.
Contact the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures with questions LLC.dept@unh.edu or call (603) 862-4005.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Course | ||
| LLC 535A | Professional Culture in Europe 1 | 4 |
| Language Skills | ||
| Choose any modern language course numbered 503 or above (503, 631, 632) consistent with the region covered in the professional culture course above and the study abroad experience below | 4 | |
| Study Abroad Experience | ||
| Choose any program in country for 5 weeks or longer that involves coursework in the target or host language/language other than English 2 | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
- 1
Taught in English, fulfills WC Discovery, no prior knowledge assumed.
- 2
Students can petition for an alternate experience, such as The Washington Center Program, as long as the internship placement involves foreign language use. Preferably, this will relate to the same region covered in the professional culture course and the language skills course, but that is not required.
Credit toward the cognate will only be given for courses passed with C- or better, and a 2.00 grade-point average must be maintained in courses for the cognate. Courses taken on the pass/fail basis may not be used for the cognate.
