Fachbereich 05: Sprache, Literatur, Kultur - Intercultural Communication and Business - Intercultural Communication and Business Master of Arts (Studienbeginn ab WiSe 2020/21)

This course examines how culture shapes communication, media, AI, and business practice in an increasingly interconnected world. Moving beyond static, nation-based models of culture, the seminar introduces students to classic frameworks—Hofstede, Hall, Hofstede's successors, Weber—while critically engaging newer perspectives that treat culture as fluid, practiced, and constructed (Holliday's "small cultures," platformization, algorithmic culture, consumer culture theory).
The course is organized around three thematic arcs. The first weeks establish theoretical foundations, examining how culture operates at the level of interaction, individual self-construal, and institutional/economic life. The course then turns to media and games as sites of cultural representation and adaptation, asking how global content is localized—and what gets lost or gained in translation. A third arc addresses culture in the context of artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction, exploring whether AI systems flatten, amplify, or simulate cultural difference, and what ethical frameworks should govern AI across cultural contexts. A final thread examines social media marketing as a space where cultural meaning, consumer identity, and algorithmic targeting intersect.
By combining theoretical rigor with applied, scenario-based learning, the course equips students to analyze cultural dynamics critically and to navigate them strategically in media, technology, and business contexts.