Communication Studies

People are basically the same wherever you go. We are fundamentally very nice. We all have the same hopes and fears. We all hope for peace. We all want our children to grow up and be happy.

By Pumbaa80 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
People are basically the same everywhere, aren’t they? We all want to be happy, don’t we? Then why do we have so much trouble in the world, so many wars, so many disagreements? Credit for photo.

 Are we actually very different in many ways? Are these differences leading to misunderstandings and failure to make progress? In this course, we are going to try to understand cultural differences as a way of improving communication across cultures. After all, it may be very, very important to improve our ability in this respect! We start from this position: we don’t just need to better understand other people; we also need to better understand ourselves.

[WpProQuiz 4]

Gnothi_seauton
Know thyself. The Temple of Apollo at Delphi.  Photo.
DaodeTianzun
Lao Tsu. The Tao Te Ching. “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.” Photo.

We’ll be doing two things on this course: practicing talking about Japan and thinking about cultural differences. Hold on to your hats!

Featured image:

By Wang Ximeng (王希孟) (http://guoxue.zynews.com/XianFeng/2008/2202.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons