Let’s Talk: A Masterclass in Intercultural Communication

Host Institution	Université Paris-Saclay
Start	2026-02-24 00:00:00
End	2026-04-21 00:00:00
Duration	2 months
Mode	Online
Location	Online via Zoom
Target Groups	Master students; Undergraduate students
Contact Person	Csilla Ducrocq csilla.ducrocq@universite-paris-saclay.fr

Let’s Talk: A Masterclass in Intercultural Communication, co-created by five European universities, aligns with the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture. It provides a unique opportunity to raise intercultural awareness and sensitivity in order to foster creativity in culturally diverse and interdisciplinary contexts. The skills developed through this certificate programme are among the top ten most valued by employers.

The main objective of the masterclass is to enhance effective cross-cultural communication and collaboration through active listening, mediation, and critical thinking, thereby promoting acceptance and respect for cultural diversity. These competences enable students to address the challenges of today’s globalised and multicultural academic and professional environments.

Participation Levels

Level 1: Lectures and online collaboration 
Students who attend at least 8 out of 12 lectures (see programme below) and participate in the online student collaboration tasks will receive:

• a certificate attesting to “Competences for Democratic Culture and Intercultural Dialogue”, in compliance with the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture; and

• a certificate attesting to skills in “Mediating Communication in Plurilingual Environments”, in compliance with the new descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Level 2: Online collaboration only 
Students who attend fewer than 8 lectures, or do not attend lectures at all but participate in the online student collaboration tasks only, will receive:

• a certificate attesting to skills in “Mediating Communication in Plurilingual Environments”, in compliance with the new descriptors of the Common European Framework of Languages (CEFR).

Level 3: Lectures only 
Students who attend at least 8 lectures but do not participate in the online student collaboration tasks will receive a certificate of attendance. Students who attend fewer than 8 lectures and do not participate in the online collaboration tasks will not receive a certificate of attendance.

Lecture Content and Dates

Lectures take place on Tuesday mornings via Zoom (see dates and times in the table below) and are delivered by professors from the following universities:

• UPSaclay – Université Paris-Saclay (France)

• USZ – University of Szeged (Hungary)

• UPorto – University of Porto (Portugal)

• UAH – University of Alcalá (Spain)

• LMU – Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Germany)

Collaborative Project

In addition to the lectures, students will be assigned to small groups of 5–6 students from different EUGLOH universities to complete collaborative tasks and work on a common project. The aim of this collaboration is to simulate real-life conditions of working in culturally diverse and interdisciplinary contexts.

Students are expected to participate in five online video calls, scheduled by the students themselves within a given timeframe:

• 1st video call: by 8 March

• 2nd video call: by 15 March

• 3rd video call: by 22 March

• 4th video call: by 29 March

• 5th video call: by 19 April

Participation

• Participation in lectures is unlimited.
• Participation in the student collaboration tasks will be limited to 35 students. In the event of more than 35 applications, participants will be selected with the aim of ensuring a balanced representation from the nine EUGLOH partner universities.

Date	8:30–9:30 CET	9:45–10:45 CET	11:00–12:00 / 12:30 CET
24 February	Kick-off Session – Introduction to the Masterclass (MANDATORY)	—	—
10 March	Culture Definitions of culture; Hofstede’s onion and pyramid models; deep culture; developmental model of linguaculture learning (UPSaclay)	Culture and Mythology Mythology as a common denominator across cultures; similarities between mythological traditions; the “hero’s journey” (Joseph Campbell’s monomyth) and its relevance in the modern world (USZ)	Cultural Dimensions Core of the onion model of culture; Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions; Erin Meyer’s eight cultural scales; comparison of models and application to real-world intercultural situations (UPorto)
17 March	Culture Shock Identity and its link with culture shock; stages of culture shock; the double bind; culture shock as being, doing, and seeing (UPSaclay)	Language and Culture I How language shapes and reflects culture; cultural influences on communication styles, meaning, and worldview (UAH)	Language and Culture II Analysis of culturally embedded language; reflection on students’ own linguistic and cultural practices (UAH)
24 March	Science and Law The history of race as a social construct validated by pseudo-sciences (17th–20th centuries); its discrediting through DNA research; contemporary debates on genetic selection (UPSaclay)	Law and Culture Interconnections between law and culture; law as a system of formal authority versus cultural norms; how legal norms reflect and reshape cultural values (USZ)	Student Collaboration Tasks: Follow-up Workshop (UPSaclay)
14 April	Bias Identifying bias in everyday situations; psychological mechanisms of bias; appreciating cultural differences (UPSaclay)	Cultural Misunderstandings & Critical Incidents (UPSaclay)Psychological mechanisms of misunderstandings; impact on the self; contribution to intercultural learning	Discrimination (11:00–12:30) Individual, institutional, and structural discrimination; privilege and disadvantage; critical engagement and strategies to challenge discrimination (LMU)
21 April	Wrapping Up the Student Collaboration (UPSaclay)	—	—