Intercultural Studies (ICST)

Students are introduced to the study of intercultural communication in domestic and global contexts. Students learn about the various dimensions of culture and identity. They examine how differing cultures, languages, and social patterns influence the way individuals relate among themselves as members of groups and with members of other ethnic and cultural groups. The development of interpersonal skills for communicating effectively across cultures is emphasized.

Students revisit the colonial and postcolonial era doing archaeological work on cultural representations related to gender, ethnicity, and class through literary explorations of travel narratives, colonial and postcolonial literature, and migrant literature. Students critically analyze various intercultural and transcultural encounters, experiences, and-or phenomena through engagement with literary texts, autobiographies and memoirs, documentary, and feature film.

Students examine how migration and mobility affect German identity and Germany’s perception as a multicultural society. Students study German literatures and cultures in translation from the guest worker program to the present.

Students examine the history, organization, material culture, and cultural diversity of Rome’s western provinces, with particular attention paid to Britannia. Students also consider Roman imperialism and the interaction of Romans and subject peoples.

Students examine various Indigenous Canadian literary productions (oral literature, plays, poetry, novels, literary criticism) in French and the sociohistorical and institutional contexts in which they emerged. In a more sociohistorical and political perspective, students examine the challenges of writing in the context of minority literatures, cultures and languages. Key concepts include colonial power relations, resistance and resilience, cultural survival, “writing back” and “writing home”. Other related but equally important concepts include literary reception of texts, and literary institutions. With regards to the aesthetic specificities of these texts, a greater focus is put on the formal characteristics of these texts: characters, plots, and representations of space and time as particular expressions of worldviews. Much emphasis will be put on the inseparable symbolic and formal characteristics which inform these texts.

Students examine ethics, policies, and legal frameworks associated with the protection of cultural property in a global world with a cross-cultural perspective. The emphasis is placed on the roles of law enforcement, cultural institutions, and intergovernmental agencies with respect to the preservation of cultural property. International cases involving the restitution of material culture, illicit trafficking, destruction of cultural monuments, and looting is considered.

Students are provided with a community-service learning component where they put in practice the knowledge and the know-how they have gained in the Intercultural Studies program. Students have different options to choose from: study-abroad programs, Community Service Learning (abroad or local), and specific projects (international volunteering, etc.) Students must submit a project proposal and a research topic. They must also demonstrate the relevance of their project to the broader context of intercultural studies and produce an academic plan highlighting the means to achieve their objectives.

A study of selected major works in various Franco-Canadian literatures outside Québec: Acadie, Ontario, and Western Canada. Students gain an historical and cultural appreciation of the Francophone communities outside Québec. They also study literary works from a variety of theoretical perspectives.