The capstone course is designed to equip students with strong intercultural communication and critical thinking skills in business, economics, politics, international relations, education, media, etc., in an increasingly globalized world. The course begins with an introduction to key concepts in Chinese culture, philosophy, and thoughts. In particular, students will read and discuss the passages from Analects and Daodejing. It then moves on to discuss Sino-U.S. intercultural communication in modern history, focusing on the shared history of the Chinese and American people in education and culture. Next, it examines case studies in contemporary popular culture, academic exchange, and business industry, in particular in terms of cross-cultural conflict, misunderstanding, and appropriation. Finally, students apply the theoretical and cultural concepts they have learned from this course and conduct research with enhanced intercultural sensibility, a comparative perspective, and an open mind.
Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. All work submitted must be original and properly cited. Plagiarism, cheating, or any form of academic dishonesty will result in immediate consequences as outlined in the university's academic integrity policy.
The use of AI is not permitted in this course and is considered a violation of academic integrity. Consequences are severe: any assignment found to involve AI use will receive a grade of zero; the student will be advised to withdraw from the course at any point during the semester; and the incident will be reported to the Office of Student Integrity.
This is a Core IMPACTS course that is part of the Humanities area. Core IMPACTS refers to the core curriculum, which provides students with essential knowledge in foundational academic areas. This course will help students master course content, and support students’ broad academic and career goals. This course should direct students toward a broad orienting question: How do I interpret human experience through creative, linguistic, and philosophical works? Completion of this course should enable students to meet the following learning outcome: students will effectively analyze and interpret the meaning, cultural significance, and ethical implications of literary and philosophical texts or of works in the visual/performing arts. Course content, activities and exercises in this course should help students develop the following career-ready competencies: ethical reasoning, information literacy, and intercultural competence.