INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

MA PROGRAMME IN SOCIOLOGY

Tuition fee

Intercultural Communication MA, 2 years
PLN7200/1 year

Admission

Will begin on
April 19, 2024

Enroll
About the programme

In the times of unprecedented mass flow of people from virtually all cultural and national backgrounds around the world, after the great rural-urban migration and in the era of networked but individualized societies both communication and in-depth understanding of the other emerge as highly valuable skills. The given programme has been designed to train flexibility and the ability to adjust and apply those skills with tact and sensibility that will enhance the efficiency of intercultural interactions within one country and internationally. Students will learn how to merge the humanistic with the analytical. They will be provided with emphatic approach to diverse phenomena and especially to the culture of the other: be it different nationalities, ethnicities, religions, classes, genders, and organizational cultures. It is combined with a systematic, analytical, quantitative or qualitative evidence based approach.

The Most Important Courses

Social Philosophy

The course focuses on issues affecting individuals and communities as a result of dysfunctions in the modern society using the tools of philosophical analysis. It seeks to define the perspective from which criticism can be formulated, and how possible solutions can be found. The course is meant to develop students’ critical thinking and the ability to analyse a certain social theory on a normative level.

 

Advanced statistical analysis

The aim of the course is to enable the students to use the statistical theory and quantitative analysis software (SPSS) together with online surveying software (LimeSurvey) to conduct their own statistical analysis for typical purposes of social science. The course is design in two parallel paths: the laboratory work with the data and software and the theoretical workshops for the statistical theory. Both descriptive and inferential statistics are used for a comprehensive understanding of the quantitative inquiry.
 
 

Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis

The aim of the course is to familiarize the students with the work-flow and analytical capabilities of the CAQDA software (Atlas.ti). With GTM (Grounded Theory Methodology) as an example, used by some sociologists, it will be possible to learn how to work with the software for one’s own analytical needs in different approaches of qualitative inquiry, including textual, audio, image or video analysis.
 
 

Basic Concepts of Multicultural Communication

The course provides students with knowledge related to culture and typologies of cultures and builds students’ intercultural competences based on the knowledge of specific ways of nonverbal and verbal communication in different cultures. Moreover, the objectives are focused on enriching students’ knowledge related to negative phenomena (racism, religious oppression, microaggressions, nationalism and xenophobia) and improving students’ interpersonal skills with a view to participants’ functioning in various cultural environments.
The Structure of the Programme

Semester 1 is devoted to the broad subjects, i.e. methodology, sociological theory and cultural practice, and social inequalities to ensure that all students, regardless of their first-cycle study programmes, will become sociologists. A basic philosophical training for analytical skills development and an academic writing course is also offered.

In Semester 2 students are introduced to the communication, conflict and migrations studies. They start working on their research problems applying the research methods in practice.

In Semester 3 the work on the graduate research project is accelerated. One more professor is appointed to assist students in conducting their research project. Students have a research analysis lab at their disposition where they have access to the research software and hardware as well as get all the necessary help to plan and carry out their projects.

During Semester 4 students write their theses and have MA Presentations Lab course which is meant to prepare them to communicating the results of their research projects efficiently.

Advantages of the Programme

Intercultural Contact

Opole, located in the centre of Europe, with its complicated and mixed German, Polish, Bohemian and Silesian heritage on the one hand and you – a group of students coming from all over the world on the other – create a perfect environment for studying and developing intercultural communication. We also provide you with an opportunity to spend up to the half of the programme (a whole year) at one of our partner universities in Europe – with Erasmus+ scholarships available to the vast majority of students.

 

Career Possibilities

There is a great demand for graduates with skills we teach: analytical and critical thinking, problem solving, project work, team work, not to mention communication and understanding of the other.

You can try your chances in whole of the EU – with our diploma, even coming from a non-EU country, you are eligible to work here. We also believe that if you return to your home country you will be a valuable employee for anyone looking for a communication and research expert who is able to think out of the box, be intellectually independent and who has immense international experience.

 
Admission requirements

You can apply for Intercultural Communication if you have:

BA degree in:

Sociology;
Political Studies;
International Relations;
Journalism and Social Communication,
Ethnology;
European Studies;
Pedagogy;
Economics;
Social Politics;
Management;
Philology;
Cultural Studies

B2 level language proficiency in English (confirmed with a recognized certificate or an online oral exam).

Please note that even if you have a degree in one of the above-mentioned disciplines, your transcript of grades still will be verified by the programme’s coordinator. If your previous study programme and the one we offer differ significantly, it might be impossible for you to pursue Intercultural Communication at the University of Opole.