TBA

• Individual assignment     30%
  
  
  
  • Students will be completing an individual 1-5 page assignment assessing their own cultural backgrounds and biases and how these could influence their career paths in media or business.
  
  
  • A specific rubric will be presented in class, but generally, the following will be evaluated:
    
    
    
    • Respecting page limits [10%]
    
    
    • Self-assessment based the following theories covered in class: [40%]
      
      
      
      • Hofstede’s cultural dimensions [10%]
      
      
      • Cultural logics [10%]
      
      
      • Self-construal [10%]
      
      
      • Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory [10%]
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • Inclusion of scores on validated measures [5%]
    
    
    • Discussion of biases based on existing theories and introspection [20%]
    
    
    • Discussion of how biases may affect choices in specified career path [20%]
    
    
    • English quality [5%]
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Late assignments will be docked 5% per 24-hour period that they are late, to a maximum of 20% of the total project grade lost. Projects more than a week late will not be graded and will receive a 0.
  
  
  
  


• Final project                      35%
  
  
  
  • The final project will consist of a creative piece of journalism on a topic relevant to the international community at NCCU. Both the format and the topic discussed must be pre-approved by Dr. Cook by the end of class on October 28, 2025.
    
    
    
    • Examples of formats:
      
      
      
      • Podcast
      
      
      • YouTube-style video
      
      
      • Recorded livestream
      
      
      • Traditional pre-recorded broadcast
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • Examples of possible topics:
      
      
      
      • The shifting political alliances of Taiwan
      
      
      • Living in a Face Culture as a Dignity or Honour Culture Member
      
      
      • The Impact of Colonialism Around the World
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Students will be given the option of completing this project either as a solo piece, in pairs, or in groups of 3 students.
    
    
    
    • Length of project for solo piece: 10 minutes
    
    
    • Length of project for pair of students: 15 minutes
    
    
    • Length of project for 3-person group: 20 minutes
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • The full rubric will be presented and discussed fully in our first class. However, this is the basic breakdown of grading:
    
    
    
    • Demonstrated a clear understanding of the topic, and able to communicate it effectively to a non-academic audience [35%]
    
    
    • Respecting time limits [5%]
    
    
    • Included at least two interviews [10%]
    
    
    • Clear and understandable English – as it is spoken English, and targeted at a non-academic audience, written grammar and word choice will not be graded, but it must be easily understood by the instructor [15%]
    
    
    • Included information about … [30%]
      
      
      
      • Why the chosen topic is important for new media professionals to understand [10%]
      
      
      • What current research has to say about the chosen topic [10%]
      
      
      • Further resources an average person could use to find out more about the chosen topic [10%]
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • Creativity/Originality [5%]
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Late projects will be docked 5% per 24-hour period that they are late, to a maximum of 20% of the total project grade lost. Projects more than a week late will not be graded and will receive a 0.
  
  
  
  


• Final exam                         35%
  
  
  
  • Short- and long-answer questions
  
  
  • Subject matter will include everything covered in class.
  
  
  • Content from in-class discussions WILL be included.
  
  
  
  

1. Sorrells, K., & Sekimoto, S. (2015). Globalizing Intercultural Communication. SAGE Publications, Inc.


2. Hamelink, C. J. (2014). Global Communication. SAGE Publications, Inc.


3. Cook, C. L., Schaafsma, J., Antheunis, M. L., Shahid, S., Lin, J.- H. T., & Nijtmans, H. W. (2021). Trolls without borders: A cross-cultural examination of victim reactions to verbal and silent aggression online. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 549955. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.549955


4. Cook, C. L., Patel, A., Guisihan, M., & Wohn, D. Y. (2021). Whose agenda is it anyway: An exploration of cancel culture and political affiliation in the United States. SN Social Sciences, 1, 237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00241-3


5. Evans, O. G. (2023). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/bronfenbrenner.html


6. Ganghariya, G., & Kanozia, R. (2020). Proliferation of Hallyu wave and Korean popular culture across the world: A systematic literature review from 2000-2019. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 11, 177-207. https://doi.org/10.31620/JCCC.06.20/14


7. Gelfand, M. J., Raver, J. L., Nishii, L., Leslie, L. M., Lun, J., Lim, B. C., … & Yamaguchi, S. (2011). Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study. Science, 332, 1100-1104. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197754


8. Graham, J., Haidt, J., Koleva, S., Motyl, M., Iyer, R., Wojcik, S. P., & Ditto, P. H. (2013). Moral foundations theory: The pragmatic validity of moral pluralism. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 47 (pp. 55-130).


9. Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014


10. Leung, A. K.- Y., & Cohen, D. (2011). Within- and between-culture variation: Individual differences and cultural logics of honor, face, and dignity cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 507-526. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0022151


11. Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224-253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224


12. Norris, M. J. (2010). Exploring Japanese popular culture as a soft power resource. Inquiries: Social Sciences, Arts, & Humanities, 2(5). Retrieved from http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/253/exploring-japanese-popular-culture-as-a-soft-power-resource


13. Peng, A. C., & Tjosvold, D. (2011). Social face concerns and conflict avoidance of Chinese employees with their Western or Chinese managers. Human Relations, 64(8), 1031-1050. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711400927


14. Postmes, T., Spears, R., & Lea, M. (1998). Breaching or building social boundaries? SIDE-effects of computer-mediated communication. Communication Research, 25(6), 689-715. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365098025006006


15. Würtz, E. (2006). Intercultural communication on web sites: A cross-cultural analysis of web sites from high-context cultures and low-context cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 274-299. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00013.x


16. Rawat, R. K. (2017). Propaganda and journalism. Amity Journal of Media & Communications Studies, 7(2), 77. Retrieved from https://openurl.ebsco.com/EPDB%3Agcd%3A10%3A22001002/detailv2?sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Ascholar&id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A141621909&crl=c