Course specification for SOC3001

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SOC3001 Global Conflict Communication

Semester 1, 2020 Online
Short Description: Global Conflict Communication
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 090301 - Sociology
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students will require access to email and have general internet access as well as access to UConnect for this course.

Rationale

In the field of social science, professionals work locally, nationally, and globally. Their work involves collaborations as members of increasingly multicultural teams, communications with multi-faceted audiences and stakeholders, as well as interactions with clients from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. Context appropriate communication is an essential element for effective service provision, professional conduct, and conflict resolution in each of these settings. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the concepts of intercultural communication. The course will be of interest to students studying social justice and other disciplines in the humanities such as anthropology, history, and international relations, but also to students in business, education, law, psychology, and the sciences.

Synopsis

This course develops insights into how effective intercultural communication and an understanding of the concepts of intercultural communication are critical to the successful management of social justice projects, problem solving, critical thinking, and conflict resolution in contexts with an intercultural dimension locally, nationally, and globally. For example, graduates who find themselves working for government or non-government organisations (e.g. UNICEF, Oxfam, Red Cross, WWF, World Bank, IMF) will operate in international teams with overlapping local, national, and international dimensions. In this course, the concepts and tools necessary for effective intercultural communication and conflict resolution are examined. The concepts and tools that are covered are explored at different levels, including cultural, micro-cultural and socio-relational. Through the examination of global conflict and social justice cases, students are encouraged to evaluate the suitability of various approaches in different contexts of conflict.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. explain how intercultural contexts impact upon social justice projects, programs and initiatives;
  2. Synthesise the essential features of the theory of intercultural communication, especially as it applies to global social justice;
  3. Solve problems within realistic social contexts, especially intercultural relationships;
  4. Apply appropriate cross-cultural communication skills in conjunction with problem solving and critical thinking to draw analytical conclusions within each dimension of the global social justice environment;
  5. Synthesise and discuss the issues involved in resolving intercultural conflict.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. The Necessity for Intercultural Communication 10.00
2. Intercultural Communication Contexts 25.00
3. Verbal and Non-Verbal Codes 25.00
4. Intercultural Relationships and Conflict Management 25.00
5. Social Justice Case Studies 15.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=SOC3001)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Neuliep, J.W 2017, Intercultural Communication - A Contextual Approach, 7th edn, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Baker, W 2015, Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca: Rethinking Concepts and Goals in Intercultural Communication, Developments in English as a Lingua Franca, Volume 8 edn, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, Germany.
Baldwin, JR, Means Coleman, RR, Gonzalez, A & Shenoy-Packer, S 2014, Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK.
Goodman, MB 2013, Intercultural Communication for Managers, Corporate communication collection, 1st edn, Business Expert Press, New York, New York.
Hynes, GE 2015, Get Along, Get It Done, Get Ahead: Interpersonal Communication in the Diverse Workplace, Corporate communication collection, 1st edn, Business Expert Press, New York, New York.
Jandt, FE 2018, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community, 9th edn, Sage Publications, Los Angeles.
Piller, I 2017, Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edn, Edinburgh ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Press, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Spencer-Oatey, H 2009, Intercultural Interaction: a Multidisciplinary Approach to Intercultural Communication, Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 39.00
Private ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 126.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
Essay 100 25 01 Apr 2020
Online Quiz 100 25 20 May 2020
ONLINE EXAM 100 50 End S1 (see note 1)

Notes
  1. This will be an online exam. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via ¾«¶«´«Ã½appDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the Alternate Assessment Schedule has been released.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    1. It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.

  6. Examination information:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    CLOSED: Candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into a closed examination.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Assessment notes

  1. Referencing in assignments must comply with either the Harvard (AGPS) referencing system OR the APA referencing system. This Whichever system is adopted, it should be used consistently by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (APGS) Whichever of these styles is chosen it should to be used is as defined by the USQ library’s referencing guide. This guide can be found at .
    An alternative referencing system can be used with permission of the examiner, and if an appropriate style guide is provided.

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.

Other requirements

  1. Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and general Internet access as well as access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

  2. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.

Date printed 19 June 2020