Intercultural communication is omnipresent in our everyday lives. Often, we do not even recognize it and generalizations manifest themselves favoring (mostly) negative preconceptions and wrong conclusions. "Germans do not respect their parents - when they are old, they let them live by themselves!" Provocative statements like this were presented to students participating in the workshop "Intercultural communication" on December 01, 2012, to get them to question their personal moral concepts and possible perspectives of people from other cultures.
Using practice-oriented examples, numerous exercises and diverse methods, instructor Munira Jamal (4th from right) took interested participants into the exiting world of intercultural communication. It became clear very quickly why it is worth it to expand one's own intercultural competencies. Many employers increasingly emphasize business relationships with foreign companies. Someone who is capable of critically questioning his/her own patterns of thinking and customs using tools and strategies, to discover his/her own blind spot in terms of prejudices and discover different communications styles is definitely at an advantage.
At the end of the meeting students agreed that it was well worth their time and input. They would highly recommend the workshop to anyone who is planning a longer stay abroad, has already spent time abroad, lives in Germany as an exchange student or works with people from other countries.
