ADVANCED CORE COURSE
The Relational Roots of Intercultural Communication
Rediscovering their relevance to domestic and global diversity
Dr. Milton J. Bennett
OVERVIEW
Originally, the important part of “intercultural communication” (IC) was communication. In The Silent Language, the first popular treatment of the topic, Edward T. Hall defined culture as a kind of collective communication, stating that the key to cross-cultural effectiveness was learning how to operate in alternative communication systems.
Over the years, the emphasis in IC has shifted to culture— particularly to the comparison of cultures in terms of values, beliefs, and behaviors. This course returns to the relational roots of the field with an updated form of the original concept of intercultural communication to demonstrate its applicability to current issues of domestic and global diversity, including but not limited to intercultural training and education for more coherent development of IC competence.
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Intercultural practitioners (trainers, facilitators, consultants, coaches) and scholars of intercultural communication are impeded by paradigmatic confusion in the field; we generally want outcomes that improve communication, but we often use training and research tools that are based in comparative anthropology or cross-cultural psychology.
Following the principle of “coherent theory generates powerful practice,” the course provides a practical way to improve coherence and effectiveness by coordinating intercultural practice methods and outcomes within a communication paradigm.
(Re)visit the fundamental what, why and how (practice) of understanding, developing, and using constructed observational categories to “engage with others” (relationally) in order to more effectively recognize and communicate across cultural differences.
The course instructor is Dr. Milton J. Bennett, whose Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and other contributions to the IC field are considered seminal.
In this course, you will learn how to help yourself and those you work with so that you/they can better:
- Increase awareness of the origin and development of the field of intercultural communication and explore how different knowledge paradigms relate to the goals of empathy and mutual adaptation.
- Appreciate the importance of using communication-based theory and practice to coherently facilitate developing communication competencies in domestic and global training and education contexts.
- Learn an updated and expanded version of the original intercultural communication approach to observing cultural differences.
- Share illustrative experiences of applying communication-based strategies to domestic and global training and education contexts.
- Apply innovative facilitation techniques based in communication theory, such as inoculation for stereotyping (while encouraging generalizations) and strategic/tactical integration.
This course format is one that uses conceptual inputs, discussion, peer sharing, and demonstrations of different techniques.
This course is for you if you are
- An early-career level intercultural practitioner (trainer, facilitator, consultant, coach) seeking a coherent introduction to the origins of the field.
- An intermediate-level practitioner (trainer, facilitator, consultant, coach) who designs and delivers intercultural training / learning in either domestic multicultural or global intercultural contexts and seeks to improve coherence and effectiveness of intercultural work.
- Academic / scholar working in intercultural communication and related fields who wishes to explore an updated communication-based alternative to various cultural comparison schemes often used for research and curriculum design in education, social service, and business contexts.
COURSE TYPE
Advanced Core: Intercultural Communication
DURATION/DATES
2 days/9-10 July 2026
AUDIENCE LEVELS
All levels
TUITION FEE
€1050 before 15 Feb
€1125 after 15 Feb
includes certificate from the University and the Institute
Milton Bennett, PhD
Thanks to Dr. Milton Bennett’s four decades of seminal contributions —including the groundbreaking Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)— the study and practice of intercultural development holds, today, a core position within the greater Differences field.
A consummate teacher and eloquent communicator who is frequently requested to comment on current affairs, Milton has held a tenured position at Portland State University (US), executive development positions with Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business (US) as well as several corporate universities, and currently maintains adjunct appointments in Europe.
In addition to his ongoing research, consulting, and training, he has recently introduced the Intercultural Viability IndicatorTM, an instrument designed to assess and support organizational-level intercultural competence.
“It has been an honour to learn from Dr. Bennett.”
“Participating in Milton Bennett’s session was an intense and intellectually stimulating experience. It was incredibly enriching and expanded my understanding of different topics.”
“A great scholar in the field. Being able to discuss issues directly was really eye-opening.”
