Concepts of Culture

Module 1 of the Intercultural Train-the-trainer Course

An in-depth analysis of the many approaches to culture is at the center of this first module. We look at which definitions are appropriate for use in training and how they define the participants’ job profile of the intercultural trainer.

The overall goal of the module is to guide participants towards their own professional profile as intercultural trainers. While this will be an ongoing topic in the other modules, too, these three days will show the broad spectrum of theoretical concepts in which the intercultural trainers are operating.

We discuss ‘culture‘ from an academic perspective and derive its numerous interpretations historically. From there, we make the practical connection to intercultural training and provide you with tools for an effective introduction, including methods to visualize cultural preferences.

Considerable time is dedicated to the comparison of cultures using different approaches towards identifying and analyzing culture. We discuss in detail the significance of the works of Hall, Hofstede, Trompenaars and others for intercultural training.

Finally, we also look at the mutual influence of culture and religion. In many situations 'intercultural' and 'interreligious' cannot be separated. For trainers, especially those without a religious background, this is can be a challenge.

Topics discussed:

• Culture: how to find a definition that can be used in intercultural training.
• Intercultural, multicultural, transcultural — three approaches and their influence on intercultural training.
• Dimensions of cultural comparison and their practical application in intercultural training.
• Training methods for the analysis and visualization of value systems.
• Religion and intercultural training.
• Short introduction to intercultural philosophy: important thinkers from Hegel to Bhabha.
• Job profile of the intercultural trainer.