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2025/2026  BA-BMAKV2501U  Developing cultural sensitivity

English Title
Developing cultural sensitivity

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course First Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board of Service & Markets
Course coordinator
  • Maribel Blasco - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Intercultural studies
  • Sociology
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 27-03-2025

Relevant links
Learning objectives
  • Formulate a research question that problematises a cultural experience you have had, and which addresses a ‘puzzle’, inconsistency, observation, question or curiosity you experienced, either in a familiar or unfamiliar culture
  • Craft a literature review that draws on suitable course literature as well as appropriate extra-curricular academic literature for illuminating the chosen cultural issue (cf exam guidelines)
  • Apply appropriate readings, theories/ concepts taught during the course to analyse the chosen cultural issue
  • Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the theories/concepts presented during the course for explaining a chosen cultural issu
  • Reflect critically on own positionality and cultural assumptions, with a point of departure in analysis of experiences with a familiar or unfamiliar culture
  • Craft and apply a research methods approach that is appropriate for investigating the chosen research issue
Examination
Developing Cultural Sensitivity:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Essay
Release of assignment An assigned subject is released in class
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Description of the exam procedure
 

 

 

The course exam is an individually written essay based on a theme that students select themselves, within set guidelines. The essay will be an analysis of a cultural experience had by the student, which should be related to one of the main course themes and discussed it in the light of the theoretical perspectives and concepts taught during the course. Students are required in the exam guidelines to bring in at least 2 texts from outside the course curriculum in their essay.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Today’s business graduates are likely to be employed in multicultural organisations in Denmark and/or abroad. The ability to work sensitively and effectively with people from a wide range of backgrounds is therefore increasingly crucial. Cultural sensitivity involves awareness of one’s own cultural assumptions, respect for cultural differences, and the ability to respond appropriately to people from different cultural backgrounds, and it is an essential competence in international professional contexts, whether at home or abroad. A large part of cultural sensitivity involves being aware of how one's own cultural norms and biases may influence interactions and decision-making, and adapting one's behavior to communicate respectfully and effectively with individuals from diverse cultures.
  
“Developing Cultural Sensitivity” is designed to foster and train these abilities. The aim of the course is to encourage critical reflexivity concerning students’ own cultural identity and positionality, and about the ways in which they apprehend and negotiate difference. Students will be introduced to theories and concepts that will enable them to practice such critical reflection both in a familar context (where they regard themselves as 'insiders') and in an unfamiliar/foreign context (where they regard themselves as 'outsiders').  Different theoretical approaches to culture, identity and difference will be presented (e.g. social identity theory, communication accommodation theory, cross-cultural adaptation theory, inclusion/exclusion and belonging, acculturation, alterity, positionality, recognition, materiality and embodiment), as well as approaches to analysing and writing about one's own experiences in a scientific manner (autoethnographic approaches, sense-making).

 

These theories will be applied to students' experiences both in an 'insider' and  'outsider' context:

 

'Outsider' cultural context: We will take the point of departure for teaching in students’ own experiences of navigating unfamiliar cultural contexts where they regard themselves as 'outsiders' (for instance, an exchange semester abroad or another unfamiliar culture students have experienced in their lives (e.g. a holiday abroad, a new sports club, or a move from Jutland to Sjælland). Students' experiences will be discussed in the light of the cultural assumptions, positionality and identity issues that they raise.

 

'Insider' cultural context: With a point of departure in their own experiences, students will be introduced to the challenges, including cultural blind spots, involved in critically reflecting on their own cultural assumptions, identity and positionality in a familiar cultural context where they regard themselves as 'insiders', e.g. a Danish organisation or institution (such as CBS, a workplace, sports club or family context).

 

Students will therefore be expected to draw on the perspectives and concepts taught during the course in explaining and reflecting on their experiences both as cultural 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. 
Research-based teaching
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
  • Classic and basic theory
Research-like activities
  • Development of research questions
  • Data collection
  • Analysis
  • Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
  • Students conduct independent research-like activities under supervision
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures, workshops and individual supervision. In addition to the extensive course readings, we will be working with a partly student-driven curriculum where supplementary texts pertaining to the course themes will be identified by students and shared in a common 'resource pool' that all students can draw on.

Data will to a large extent be generated by the students themselves, who will draw on their own previous experiences with culture.
Feedback during the teaching period
The students receive feedback on seven occasions during the course:

1) Two x 15 minute individual supervision sessions with a teacher will assist students in choosing and refining the students' ideas for their assignment;
2) Five assignment development workshops will be held where the students receive input from a teacher about how to write their assignments, and will receive feedback from peers and from the teacher.

Students may develop their ongoing idea into their exam paper; they are, however also free to choose a completely new topic if they prefer.

These different feedback opportunities will equip students to apply the conceptual tools they have been taught in order to analyse their experiences with familiar and unfamiliar cultures.

Students are also strongly encouraged to make use of the coordinator's office hours to discuss any questions they may have about the course. These sessions are not, however, intended as additional supervision sessions for students' exam assignments.
Student workload
Preparation for and participation in lectures 50 hours
Preparation for and participation in supervision and workshops 50 hours
Exam assginment 106 hours
Expected literature

Holliday, A. (2020). Culture, communication, context, and power. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication, 39-54.

Osland, J. S., & Bird, A. (2000). Beyond sophisticated stereotyping: Cultural sensemaking in context. The Academy of Management Executive, 14(1). Read pp. 65-70 for this lecture*

Whitaker, E. M. (2017). Emic and etic analysis. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, 1-2.

Schein, E. H. (2010). The three levels of culture. Business and Management: Organizational Culture and Leadership, 23-33.

Simmel, G. (1950) The Stranger. In The Sociology of Georg Simmel. K.H. Wolff (ed.) New York: The Free Press, 1950

Bhabha, H. (994) The Location of Culture, London/NY: Routledge

Bichler, S., Albert, I., Barros, S., & Murdock, E. (2020). Exploring cultural identity in a multicultural context. Human Arenas, 3, 310-330. Read pp. 311-315, top paragraph

Settles, I. H., & Buchanan, N. T. (2014). Multiple groups, multiple identities, and intersectionality. The Oxford Handbook of Multicultural Identity, 1, 160-180.

Swidler, A. (1986). Culture in action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological review, Read pp. 273-286

Taylor, C., & Gutmann, A. (1994). The politics of recognition. Contemporary Sociological Thought, Extract pp. 25-26

Bauman, Z. (1996). From pilgrim to tourist–or a short history of identity. Questions of cultural identity, 1, 18-36.

Singh et al. (2021) Measurement of Intersectional Microaggressions: conceptual barriers and recommendations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 956-971.

Al-Faham, H., Davis, A. M., & Ernst, R. (2019). Intersectionality: From theory to practice. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 15, 247-265.

Hogg, M. A., Terry, D. J., & White, K. M. (1995). A tale of two theories: A critical comparison of identity theory with social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 255-269.

Nöth, W. (2007) The spatial representation of cultural otherness. In S.K. Gertz et al. (eds) Semiotic Rotations, Charlotte: Information Age Publishing

Barth, F. Boundaries and connections. In A. Cohen (ed.) Signifying Identities, London: Routledge. Read extracts highlighted in yellow on pp. 17-18, 19-20, 27-28.

Hogg, M. A., & Gaffney, A. M. (2023). Social identity dynamics in the face of overwhelming uncertainty. In In J. P. Forgas, W. D. Crano, & K. Fiedler (Eds), The psychology of insecurity: Seeking certainty where none can be had. New York: Routledge 244-264.

 

Winkler, I. (2018). Identity work and emotions: A review. International journal of management reviews, 20(1), 120-133.

Dewaele, J. M. (2016). Why do so many bi-and multilinguals feel different when switching languages?. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(1), 92-105.

Maertz Jr, C. P., Hassan, A., & Magnusson, P. (2009). When learning is not enough: A process model of expatriate adjustment as cultural cognitive dissonance reduction. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 66-78.

Toomey et al. (2013) Bicultural Identity Negotiation, Conflicts, and Intergroup Communication Strategies, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 42:2 Read extracts p. 113 & p. 115-117).

Donohue, C. (2022). Growing up as a third culture kid and its impact on identity and belonging. Counselling Psychology Review, 37(1).

Kraimer, M. L., Reiche, B. S., & George, M. M. (2022). An Identity Work Perspective of Expatriates and Cross-cultural Transitions: A Review and Future Research Agenda. Expatriates and Managing Global Mobility, 258-281.

 

McDonnell, T. E. (2023). Cultural Objects, Material Culture, and Materiality. Annual Review of Sociology, 49, 195–209.

Connell, C., & Mears, A. (2018). Bourdieu and the Body. In  Medvetz, T., & Sallaz, J. J. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Pierre Bourdieu. Oxford University Press.

 

 
Last updated on 27-03-2025