The Other in Business Communication 1.S3.EPC.EB.2

Course objectives:
The main objective of the course is to confront students with the concept of ‘The Other’ and to introduce critical reflection on culture. The aim is also to recognize the complexity of one’s identity and to understand that it is also a certain cultural and social construct. Within the process of learning, reading, confronting with each other, students will be able to recognise their cultural affiliation or social belonging and, as a result, their own identity. By researching the idea of ‘The Other’ students would able to understand the changing ideologies and as a result will be aware of contemporary ethics and philosphical currents. Participaiting in the course will help students to understand how our identity/self-image is constructed and how it emerged from humanistic concepts. The aim of the course is also to show students how to involve oneself in development of new ideas and help them to establish tolerant attitudes towards opinions and judgments resulting from different cultural experiences.

In general, the course is designed to improve one’s ability for critical thinking, formulation of judgments about the ideas, concepts and processes related to the area of culture and knowledge production. During the classes students will learn how to draw axis between particular problems that emerge in philosophy and humanities. The course provides conceptual tools necessary to elaborate or develop relevant problems of contemporary humanities
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Course content:
Course participants are introduced to the concept of ‘The Other’ in the field of philosophy, psychology, sociology and culture. The basic problems related to that term will be presented in topical axes.

The main themes that will be discussed during the classes will cover issues such as: identity, otherness, othering, alterity, social norm/normativity, gender and sex, queer, feminism, postcolonialism, posthumanism, human/non-human etc.
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Methods of instruction/ forms of classroom activity
Theoretical and seminar classes (discussions, group work), enriched with field trips, guided tours to museums, galleries, historic buildings/objects. During the classes students are introduced to the topics which they discuss on the forum. Students are asked to supplement their knowledge by reading the proposed texts.