Intercultural & Transcultural Communication

Department

Master's Program International Health & Social Management

Course unit code

IHSM-EU-HEM-E2.2.2

Number of ECTS credits allocated

Name of lecturer(s)

Guibert Isabelle, MA MA

Mode of delivery

Recommended optional program components

none

Recommended or required reading

Required pre-course reading with guiding questions, available on Sakai/Resources:
- DIETRICH, WOLFGANG (2005): "Peace - Remarks on the Difficult History of a Key Cultural Term", SOSKinderdorforum, Vol. 30 (Innsbruck), 11-15
- ESTEVA, GUSTAVO (2011): "Intercultural Inspiration: The Life and Work of Raimon Panikkar" in Dietrich, Wolfgang and Others (Eds.): The Palgrave International Handbook of Peace Studies: A Cultural Perspective, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 570-585
- GALTUNG, JOHAN (1969): "Violence, Peace and Peace Research", Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 69, 167-191
- ROGERS, CARL R. & RICHARD E. FARSON (1987): "Active Listening". In R.G. Newman, M.A. Danzinger, M. Cohen (eds). Communicating in Business Today. D.C. Heath & Company
- SATIR, VIRGINIA (1988): The new peoplemaking, Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior BooksRecommended reading, partly available on Sakai/Resources:
- BRAUD, WILLIAM AND ROSEMARIE ANDERSON (1998): "Conventional and Expanded Views of Research", in Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences: Honoring Human Experience, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 3-26
- EUROPEAN COMMISSION (1998): What? Me? A Racist? Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
- INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS & PEACE (2024): Global Peace Index 2024: Measuring Peace in a Complex World, Sydney
- LEDERACH, JOHN PAUL (2003): The Little Book of Conflict Transformation; Intercourse, Good Books
- MARMOT, MICHAEL, WILKINSON, RICHARD G. (2003): The Solid Facts. Copenhagen: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe
- ROSENBERG, MARSHALL (2003): Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, PuddleDancer Press
- SEARS, MELANIE (2010): "Preface" and "A Crisis in Health Care", in Humanizing Health Care: Creating Cultures of Compassion in Health Care with Nonviolent Communication
- WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT (2024), New York, Sustainable Development Solutions Network
- ZAKI, JAMIL (2019): The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, Crown

Level of course unit

Master

Year of study

Spring 2026

Semester when the course unit is delivered

Language of instruction

English

Learning outcomes of the course unit

• Gain awareness of
- the interconnection between peace, conflict, health
- the different meanings and expressions of violence
- the plurality of peace and the peace families
- your personal understanding of peace
- conflict as a potential for transformation
- inner peace as a prerequisite for interpersonal and social interaction
- your own needs and feelings
- culture and intercultural communication
• Practice communication tools for conflict transformation
• Explore your own conflicts, and hence increase your empathetic qualities
• Gain insight into your communication styles to identify mechanisms leading to dysfunctional communication and generating misunderstandings/conflicts in the private sphere, at work, in society
• Improve your listening and empathetic skills
• See through new lenses and take a step back from your own (cultural) worldview
• Enhance your abilities by balancing mental, physical, emotional, spiritual skills
• Learn through experiencing

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

• Interactive teaching and participatory learning – Students are constantly invited to self-reflect and express themselves.
• Unconventional teaching approaches involving mind, body, spirit, heart
• Inputs and open discussion
• Individual and collective work (presentations, simulations, research, reflection)
• To enhance interaction and participatory learning, the sessions will be completely free from devices (smartphones, computers, tablets).

Work placement(s)

none

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