Course themes...

Course themes are decided on the basis of discussions with clients.  Below, a number of standard themes are described, which you may either use as suggested below, or as points of departure for developing a more appropriate course.  Feel free to suggest completely different themes as well.

• Introduction to intercultural communication: A short, general course consisting of 1-4 lectures, expandable with a short seminar.  The course is designed as an introduction to communication problems in multicultural settings, for use e.g. in business schools or as an introduction to a larger course.
   
• What is Culture? A short, general course comprising 2-3 lectures, that summarizes the anthropological understanding of "Culture" and points out its relevance in modern institutional settings.
   
• Cross-cultural encounter: A 3-5 day seminar or workshop designed for workplaces with multicultural staff.  The anthropologist outlines a number of questions for the participants, which are discussed, first in groups, later in plenum.  The goal is to enable the participants to discuss their multicultural work situation explicitly.  Initial questions for discussion may be fixed beforehand with the client.  Maximum number of participants: 15-20.
   
• Going into business abroad: A "primer" course designed for businesses, NGO’s or institutions planning to expand their activity into a foreign cultural setting.  The course comes in two standard formats, the first of which involves only one teacher, while the second includes a regional expert in addition to myself.  The course runs over 2-5 days and includes lectures, seminars and workshops.  Maximum number of participants, with one teacher: 15, with two teachers: 25.
   
• Clarity in written communication: This is an IPC (Intensive Practical Course) running over 3-5 weeks, with 3-4 hours a day and 3 days a week used for teaching, and involving extensive independent work by participants.  The course is designed for people who communicate in writing in their native tounge, but whose audience includes readers for whom it is a second or third language.  Clarity in such communication is obviously of the greatest importance, as is the need to make explicit certain cultural assumptions, that one cannot assume that the audience is conscious of.  The course will take as its starting-point real-life examples of texts of this kind, that are supplied by participants.  Maximum number of participants: 10.
   
• Introduction to anthropological field methods: This is another IPC, designed primarily for university departments and business schools.  It comes in a wide variety of formats, from a simple 2-day workshop to a full-blown, one-semester course including practical fieldwork by participants.