UNITY STAR: Communicating Across Cultures (DIV 044)

The ability to enhance understanding through effective cross-cultural communication is an important skill in today’s world. The workshop, Communicating Across Cultures, as facilitated by UCF’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion introduces this extensive topic through discussions and activities that focus on the following:

• gaining an understanding of foundational concepts such as the Communication Model and the three types of communication,
• learning about the perspective of high-context and low-context cultures,
• defining culture as detailed by Pellegrino Riccardi,
• describing 10 potential causes of verbal miscommunication across cultures, such as conventions for courtesy, accents, and hot buttons,
• exploring cross-cultural differences (and similarities) in various forms of nonverbal communication, such as eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, and body distance,
• considering micromessages and microaggressions and how they may be received differently in other cultures, and
• developing skills to assist in the process of communicating effectively across cultures.

Emphasis is placed on the idea that differences in communication patterns and styles across cultures are important reflections of human diversity, and on how inclusive attitudes around this aspect of our uniqueness contribute to a world in which we all matter.

Registration Information

Faculty, A&P, USPS, OPS: Register online at myUCF.edu > Employee Self Service > Learning & Development > Request Training Enrollment. 

Students: Register online via KnightConnect @ https://bit.ly/KnightConnect_ODI Be sure to log-in with your NID and NID password.

Please note: Webcourses are open only on the indicated dates and at the specified times. On average, Communicating Across Cultures takes between 3 – 4 hours to complete. Pre-registration is REQUIRED by no later than three days prior to the start of the workshop. Registrants will receive an invitation to participate in the Webcourse.

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