The City University of Macau (CityU Macau) held the third lecture of " Distinguish Professor Online Lecture Series" today (8) for comforting the students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The last chapter invited renowned expert of Intercultural communication studies, Prof. Lixian Jin, Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, to introduce theory and practices of Intercultural Communication Studies.
CityU Macau pays close attention to student's physical and mental health during this challenging time. The lecture series aim to enrich online education resources and encourage students to keep learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the virtual lecture, Prof. Jin talked about her experience living and teaching in the United Kingdom and said that “Intercultural communication is everywhere in our daily life.” She introduced three “W” in the studies, which are “What”, “Why”, and “How”, to elaborate the concepts of “culture”, “communication” and “intercultural communication.” Prof. Jin explained, “culture is an organic practice system created by man,” intercultural communication is to overcome different systems based on verbal and non-verbal messages to achieve negotiation, sharing, and mutual understanding. Prof. Jin also took CityU Macau as an example to demonstrate Macao’s endeavor in helping different cultures flourish in harmony.
Prof. Jin introduced practices of intercultural communications in actual scenarios, such as classes and international business meetings. She explained that understanding norms and behaviors between different cultures could be a pivotal pathway to effective interaction and a trusted and peaceful relationship. Prof. Jin also encouraged removing generalizations and stereotypes on specific groups of people and staying open-minded to face dynamic social changes.
To achieve smooth communication between people with different cultural backgrounds, Prof. Jin suggested presenting opinions with reasonable explanations and holding a fair mind to think from others’ perspectives. She said having an appreciation for people’s works and showing empathy could help others engage in conversation.
Prof. Jin also suggested students to develop critical cultural consciousness and communication skills, stay close to global exchanges, learn more norms across different cultures, and go along with various press voices towards other cultures. By doing so, could help students to complete tasks such as writing statements, articles, reports, delivering speeches, and telling Chinese stories with confidence on the international stage.
After the virtual event, Prof. Jin answered questions from the students, providing a crystal understanding of cross-cultural exchange to help students adopt practical communication skills to exert their advantage in studies. If you wish to review the lecture, please click here to watch the video.
