Principles of Intercultural Communication

DIS 721

Western Seminary, Portland Campus

Dr. Donald K. Smith

Fall, 2003

This foundational course is organized into three parts: biblical foundations of mission, the social framework for mission, and functional communication. Part one is a brief review of the role of mission in the conflict of the ages. Parts two and three are built around twenty-three propositions, presented in the basic textbook to be used, Creating Understanding. Each of the propositions are to be thoroughly understood through reading of the text, class discussion, extensive collateral reading, and application of the propositions to ministry.

Subsequent doctoral courses expand one or more of the propositions. For example, DIS726 and DIS727, “Qualitative Methods” and “Quantitative Methods” expand specifically on the twenty-third proposition - "Perceived and actual feedback shapes the message." Cultural Anthropology, DIS741, develops the principles summarized in propositions seventeen and eighteen. Western’s Doctor of Missiology program was specifically built on a model of communication, recognizing that our God-given task is to make known, proclaim, communicate knowledge of His Truth in its fulness. To do that, we must first establish and continue in communion - communication - with Him.

There will be three parallel instructional streams during the two-week module:

1) mastery of two textbooks, including development of a plan for further reading in areas of special significance for each student;

2) lectures and class discussion including exercises and field trips with some short written assignments;

3) development of material by the student that will aid in building more effective ministry by use of the propositions. This material may be in the form of planning strategy, curricula, or papers in which principles are examined in relation to the student’s central problem. Material is to be presented in a way that will aid co-workers to apply the propositions. Alternatively, hypotheses are developed and research procedures are proposed to test those hypotheses (the hypotheses would be derived from one or more of the propositions).

COURSE GOALS

At the end of the DIS721 module, students will be able to:

1 - Name the twenty-three propositions.

2 - Illustrate individual and overall relevance of the propositions to proclamation of God’s Truth.

3 - Use the propositions to develop tools for ministry, and evaluation of existing ministries.

4 - Clearly express the distinction between communication and communication arts, and show biblically how and why communication is a fundamental perspective for effective ministry.

5 - Demonstrate the ability to use the framework of human communication provided in Creating Understanding to evaluate ministry philosophies and effectiveness of evangelistic and church-building strategies.

6 - Be able to build effective ministry strategies appropriate to each situation, rather than following plans and methods developed without reference to the local situation.

7 - Identify and show how to correct persistent problems in inter-cultural communication characteristic of the student's area of ministry.

TEXTBOOKS

Required:

Smith, Donald K. Creating Understanding. Grand Rapids, MI., Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Smith, Donald K. Putting the First Thing, First. Portland, OR., IICC. 2002.

Recommended:

Barnhouse, Donald Grey. The Invisible War. Grand Rapids, MI., Zondervan Publishing House, 1965.

Other books will be recommended during class sessions, both for immediate reading and for future examination.

ASSIGNMENTS

Assignments are individually designed. The broad area will be discussed in class, and the specific way most assignments are developed will depend on the student's program focus. It is desired that all work contribute directly to the primary problem being addressed as the core of the student's program; this will be especially noticeable in the required Integrative Paper.

1. A set of questions relating to each proposition is to be developed. These questions are to guide evaluation of a specific ministry or one that is being planned, and are to be usable even by those who have not studied the material of this course. Discussion with classmates is encouraged, and inclusion of questions developed by them that you consider useful - but always with acknowledgment of the source. Fifty percent, or more, of the questions you use must be your own, however.

2. Students will complete "stress inventories"; the method will be introduced in class.

3. Observational field notes will be presented, from a field trip we will take as a class, and your conclusions about cultures observed.

4. Each student will present an outline of their further work in Communication as it will be developed and become a part of their Final Product, i.e., what theory relates to the specific Problem and how will that theory be applied and tested in fieldwork and writing of the Final Product?

1. Extensive collateral reading is required, totaling at least 1500 pages. Each reading is to be reported following a standard Reading Report form, or the Critical Note Taking approach (which is preferable). Readings must not be concentrated around only one or two propositions, but represent further exploration into approximately half of the propositions. Bibliographies are given in Creating Understanding that provide a beginning point for selection of readings, and further suggestions will be made in the class sessions. Final selections will, of course, be determined by a student's needs and interests in the field.

You are to develop a bibliography to guide further reading in this area at a later date (like the next 10 years!) that goes beyond your work in DIS721, and submit the bibliography as evidence of your exploration of this foundational area for your ministry.

It is recommended that journals in relevant fields that have been published in the last 10 years be the source for at least half of the pages read.

2. An integrative paper (1500 or more words) is required that shows how the material of this Competency Module is relevant to the student's ministry and areas of concern. This paper may well be an important chapter in your Product.

3. Doctoral students are to be involved in tutoring or leading small group work of Masters' level students or in local churches and mission groups, teaching material from this Competency Module. A report of this teaching is to be submitted that tells where you did this, what material was covered, the composition of the group and responses of your students to the material you presented.