1. Communicating in a Global Society
Instructor Information: All Colleges will be incorporating one module from the TTU QEP: Communication in a Global Society. University-wide involvement is an important component of our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) and as instructors, we play a significant role in exposing 1st year students to broaden their intellectual outlook and becoming more aware of societal challenges facing our world in the 21st Century. Students readily perceive subject-material importance and value by instructor’s enthusiasm; please encourage students to become engaged in every aspect of this module. The material provided here were adapted from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Global Challenges course and the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES).
After reviewing the module material, kindly explain to your students that this material is important for making students more prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.
Please be sure students have completed the Qualtrics pre-assessment survey that was sent to their TTU account before starting the module. As the instructor you will also be sent a link to access the survey so that you know what the students have received.
Intercultural Communication and Global Inequality

2. Qualtrics Pre-Assessment
Please attentively complete the Qualtrics survey that was sent to you via your e-raider account before starting this module.
Survey results will be used to enhance education for future Red Raiders.
Instructor information: The office of Institutional Research at Texas Tech University will be sending out an link to students the second week of classes and will be open two weeks for students to complete the survey. A copy of the will be sent to instructors. Please alert your students to keep an eye out for this and to complete the survey once they received the link.
The content of the module should not be covered in class until the survey has closed at the end of the 3 week of classes.

3. Global Mindset
In order to succeed in college, land a job and advance in society, you as a Red Raider need to get along/interact with an ever-increasing diverse society, including peers, faculty and employers
Moreover, to successfully navigate in our diverse society, effective communication with others is essential.
Instructor information: This is an introductory slide that addresses two issues: [i] global mindset (i.e. to be interested in and actively learns about other cultures) and [ii] effective communication to interact with others. If you wish you can read the slide to the students and then consider asking some of the questions from each of the topic sections.
Section 1: Global Mindset
What is a global mindset? The degree to which one is interested in, and proactively seeks to learn about other cultures and their people Global mindset provides the basis upon which one can interact more effectively with people from other cultures. Learning sources include newspapers, the Internet, movies, foreign media outlets, course electives in school, or television documentaries.
Section 2: Effective Communication
What is required for intercultural communication? In college, as in life, our ability to communicate with one another verbally and in written form is one of the most important skills that we can develop during a college experience. Intercultural communication specifically focuses on communicating with those from other cultures. People who can listen to and understand the ideas and feelings of others, and who can effectively communicate their own ideas and feelings, are able to succeed in life and maintain healthy relationships.
To understand the communication process, the message can be broken down into four key components:
“Who” are the people who are communicating: the sender(s) and receiver(s). How should language formality change comparing a conversation with a friend versus a professor?
“What” is the message or content of what is being conveyed. When are idioms or technical language appropriate or to be limited? How can specialized language facilitate or impede communication?
“How” is the medium to convey the message and meaning and might include written text, spoken words and/or nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, body language or tone of voice.
“Why” is the intent/motive of the sender. We might have the intent to hurt someone or try to help with a situation. Our intent influences how and what we communicate although we don’t have complete control over the interpretation of our message.
Part of intercultural communication (i.e. communication between difference cultures) is to match the message with the audience you need to reach.
Part of effective communication is to match the message with the audience you need to reach.

4. Let’s Talk… What is cultural sensitivity?
How does cultural sensitivity impact interactions with others?
How can personal experiences build cultural sensitivity?
Instructor information: These discussion questions are meant to facilitate conversations related to cultural mindset and are just suggestions. It isn’t necessary for you to use every question or go in any particular order. These questions could be administered as a large group, in small groups or pairs. Some questions could be responded to in writing. Please feel free to develop your own questions to stimulate discussion.
What is cultural sensitivity? Being aware and responsive to people of other cultures. A culture can be viewed as a group or community that share common experiences that shape the way they understand the world. Each culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks another person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close a people stand to another when talking—all impact interactions with others. Even when people speak the "same" language, the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures.
How does cultural sensitivity impact interactions with others? By being aware/observant of cultural practices different then ones own and incorporating such verbal and non-verbal actions into interactions with others builds personal interactions/relationships. By following the norms of a given culture, interactions with others is facilitated. Two common cultural barriers are language and religion.
How can experiences build cultural sensitivity? Being aware and responsive to the idea that language and behavior can reduce confusion between people from different places or cultures. Be aware of your own cultural biases. Learn about and seek support/input from members of the different cultural community.

5. Global Mindset Opportunities
Join an international student organization.
Volunteer at diverse cultural events.
Participate in conversation sessions while learning a second language.
Instructor information: This slide is to get students to begin to think about the many opportunities that are available through the university. For study abroad opportunities thru TTU see

6. Study-Abroad Is Possible…
Courses offered at the TTU Center (Seville, Spain)
Discipline-specific programs outside the U.S. (e.g. Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany & Japan).
Specialized Exchange-Partner Programs via TTU and Provider- Partner Programs at other institutions.
Instructor information: This is an informational slide which could be used to poll students in terms of there non-local travel; also discuss possible options for study abroad. For more information about the programs available google TTU study abroad.

7. Let’s Talk…
What are some of the challenges and/or opportunities that you might encounter working with an instructor or teaching assistant from a different country?
Instructor information: Students often retain information better when abstract concepts are connected to specific life experiences. The question posed here is an introduction to when people of different cultural backgrounds intersect and interact. Listed below are examples of cultural differences that instructors might want to explore with students.
A person for another country may come with a different native language.
Different set of cultural or religious values.
Can be more formal when little talking with strangers.
Personal space may be very different.
More strict or fluid gender roles.
More direct/blunt or more subtle when talking with others.

8. Global Mindset: A Case Study
Sam is waiting for class to start and overhears a small group of students talking about their international teaching assistant. The students complain that they can’t understand the instructor because the instructor “can’t speak English.” One of the students even says that the instructor is “dumb” and questions why she is even allowed to teach. Sam asked the instructor a question last week after class and had a really different experience!
Instructor information: In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study establishes a framework for analysis.
A systematic approach to case-study analysis would be based on addressing a series of prompted questions such as:
What is the issue?
What is the context of the problem?
What key facts should be considered?
What alternatives are available to the decision-maker?
What would you recommend — and why?
An innovative approach to case analysis might be to have students role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters.

9. Global Mindset: A Case Study
He felt like the instructor was very intelligent and helpful, and he didn’t have any problems understanding her. Sam noticed that she seems easier to understand now that they’ve talked one-on-one, and he learned that she has quite a bit of experience working in her country. He feels badly that other students are talking so negatively about her.
Instructor information: Second part of the case study.

10. Let’s Talk…
What challenges might this instructor face teaching in another language?
What can these students do to broaden their perception and attitude?
What can Sam say to his classmates?
Instructor information: Please note that these questions are simply meant as suggestions to start a conversation. You are encouraged to develop your own questions or let the conversation emerge as your students respond to the case study.
What challenges might this instructor face teaching in another language? The instructor faces the challenge of having her accent be understood as well as understanding native speakers that may have a very different accent, tempo for speaking and slang that is commonly used. Comparisons with aspects of local culture may also be very different than what is common or popular in the lecture’s home country.
What can these students do to broaden their perception and attitude? Sam can make an effort to bridge the gap between students that have not routinely interacted with people from other cultures; be open to assisting with unfamiliar or awkward situations that might arise. Sam can also make an extra effort to understand the accent used by and others in which English is not their native language.
What can Sam say to his classmates? Encourage students to be globally minded when interacting with people from other cultures. Part of that mindset is to be aware and responsive to the needs of people of other cultures. By bridging gaps in communication between a lecturer and other students you can reduce confusion and facilitate learning.

11. College is Opening your Circle…
To new friends that look or think differently.
To new experiences that feel unfamiliar or foreign.
To new academic pursuits that challenge our limits.
Instructor information: Intercultural communication is the ability to understand and participate fluently across ones own cultural background or boundaries. As the world moves towards a more multicultural society, Texas Tech provides real-life opportunities to interact with a diversity of people. Employers look for workers comfortable and willing to interact and effectively communication with people of different backgrounds.
Reflection: You can ask for volunteers to describe situations, since arriving at Texas Tech in which a new experience felt unfamiliar or foreign and how he or she overcame or backed off from such an unfamiliar situation.
Whether aspiring to be an engineer, journalist, scientist or teacher, being open to diversity and working well with others is an essential and valued skill. As you join with a diverse group of people, consider seeking those who are most resilient, who have struggled with adversity and shine through to resolve difficulties. Those are the people who will be most successful with school challenges at Tech as well as life challenges afterwards.

12. Where can Global-Mindedness lead?
Let’s Talk…
Where can Global-Mindedness lead?
By opening up our thinking, what problems or challenges are on our global horizon?
Instructor information: Possible answer to the bullet point question.
By opening up our thinking, what problems or challenges are on our global horizon? Part of college is interacting with your peers: socializing, studying, dating and/or developing strong friendships that will last long past your time at Texas Tech. It is also a time to consider societal issues that encompass more than your social circle or life in college. What are societal issues that span across our state, our nation or even the globe? Specific examples are provided on the next slide.

13. Global Challenges of Substance…
Limited Natural Resources
Population Growth, Migration and Aging
Information Integrity, Social Networking & Big Data
Instructor information: Listed here are major global challenges that face currently face our society. It is important to recognize what problems face our society before we can begin to focus our intellectual capacity to solve such issues. This is an opportunity to explore what are some of the issues within each major topic such as Natural Resources or Population.
Natural Resources Most of us understand that food, water, and a majority of our current energy sources are finite, so we need to utilize them more efficiently and effectively. Food, water, and energy are critical resources both in America and around the world, and their relationships to the other challenges — especially population, economies, governance, and conflict — are paramount. Natural resources also introduces the controversial and complex issue of climate change.
Population The issue of global population growth is not just about how many people will live on Earth but also how the global population is composed and distributed. For example, where are populations declining or growing, which countries have relatively older populations and which are more youthful, and how will demographics influence population movements across regions?
Information While ideas spread quickly, assisted by the integration of open-source models like wikis and blogs, there are risks associated with connectivity such as information integrity, privacy of personal data and profiling of select socio-economic groups. The collection of large data sets are beginning to be used to predict complex behavior whether tracking human disease or criminal behavior.

14. Let’s Talk… INCOME AND POWER INEQUALITY
Can medical and social-science studies connect well-being with societal inequality?
Can medical and social-science studies connect well-being with societal inequality? Yes, in most first world countries, people in richer areas live anywhere from 5 to 12 or even 14 years longer than people in poor areas. This is a society issue which is considered by some to be a tremendous human-rights abuse. Data from world health organizations indicate that countries with greater equality — with the rich less rich and the poor better off —have better overall health and citizenry based on many public indices.

15. Global Challenge: Economic Inequality
Core Video
Economic inequality and working together, TEDGlobal (2018, 12 min)
Ancillary Material
Does money make you mean? Ted Talk (2013, 14 min)
Instructor information: As citizens of the 21st Century part of our challenge is to identify how to make the world a better place. Being open and sensitive to other cultures is necessary to address modern problems of our world. This part of the module will examine one such global challenge: how economic inequality harms society.
Core Videos
How economic inequality harms societies We feel instinctively that societies with huge income gaps are somehow going wrong. Richard Wilkinson charts the hard data on economic inequality, and shows what gets worse when rich and poor are too far apart: real effects on health, lifespan, even such basic values as trust.
A conservative's plea: Let's work together
Conservatives and liberals both believe that they alone are motivated by love while their opponents are motivated by hate. How can we solve problems with so much polarization? In this talk, social scientist Arthur Brooks shares ideas for what we can each do as individuals to break the gridlock. "We might just be able to take the ghastly holy war of ideology that we're suffering under and turn it into a competition of ideas," he says.
Ancillary Material
Does money make you mean? It's amazing what a rigged game of Monopoly can reveal. In this entertaining but sobering talk, social psychologist Paul Piff shares his research into how people behave when they feel wealthy. (Hint: badly.) But while the problem of inequality is a complex and daunting challenge, there's good news too.

16. Discussion
Instructor information: These discussion questions are meant to facilitate discussion based on the Global Challenges: Economies video. These questions could be administered as a large group, in small groups or pairs. Some questions could be responded to in writing.
Is absolute income related to human well-being in developed societies? The video presents data that relative income inequality but not absolute income is related to well being in developed societies.
Does this study show that availability of public services is correlated with human well-being? The video does not examine the role of social services with human well-being. Indeed, societies which have a high or low tax structure (Belgium versus Japan, respectively) have equally high wellness provided income inequality is low. If social-services availability is related with the tax base, governmental social-services may not be directly related to human wellness.
How can government and/or industry reduce income inequality? Government and/or industry can lower economic inequality by increasing taxes on high income earners or reduce income differences for all wage earners.
Is absolute income related to human well-being in developed societies?
Does this study show that availability of public services is correlated with human well-being?
How can government and/or industry reduce income inequality?

17. Follow-up Reading Material
Globalization, technology, and inequality: It’s the policies, stupid. Brookings Institution (Feb 16, 2018) front/2018/02/16/globalization-technology-and-inequality-its- the-policies-stupid/
Instructor information: The core video can be covered in class while the ancillary video and this article from the Brookings Institution would be more appropriate for optional out-of-class reading.

18. Qualtrics Link to Post-Assessment
Please use your computer or mobile device to complete the Qualtrics Survey that will be sent to your account.
Again, kindly be attentive to complete the survey, as results will be used to enhance education for future Red Raiders.
Instructor information: Kindly encourage students to complete the Qualtrics Post-Assessment Survey that will be sent via to their TTU account through the means you see most effective. A participation grade in the course for completing the assignment as well as emphasizing the importance of the assessment in improving educational outcomes for future Red Raiders will be most productive in achieving high student participation in the assessment component.
Thanks for your participation as an instructor in enhancing education at Texas Tech.
Guns Up!