Apr 19, 2024  
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Intercultural Communication (INCC)


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OMAR KA, Chair
NICOLETA BAZGAN, Graduate Program Director

Degree Offered

M.A. (Degree Types )

Faculty

Professors

BELL, ALAN S., (Emeritus) Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Modern Spanish literature, language teaching methodology
FIELD, THOMAS T., Ph.D., Cornell University; Socio-linguistics, literacy, textual analysis, French studies
LARKEY, EDWARD, Ph.D., Humboldt- Universität; German popular culture and media, transcultural television and media studies, history and theory of Intercultural communication, German identities, GDR studies
MOORJANI, ANGELA, (Emerita) Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Modern French literature and culture, intercultural pragmatics, gender studies
SINNIGEN, JOHN H., (Emeritus) Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Modern Spanish and Latin-American narrative, ideologies and literature, political economy of culture, interculturality and equality

Associate Professors

BAZGAN, NICOLETA, PhD., Ohio State University; French film studies, gender and cultural studies, political economy of culture
FATIH, ZAKARIA, PhD., State University of New York at Buffalo; Francophone studies, enlightenment, critical theory
KA, OMAR, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Phonology, sociolinguistics, African linguistics, Wolof language, French language
MCCRAY, STANLEY, (Emeritus) Ph.D., University of Michigan; Historical linguistics, French studies
OSKOZ, ANA, PhD., University of Iowa; Second language writing, intercultural development, communities of inquiry, social tools.
POGGIO, SARA Z., Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Sociology, Latin- American societies, Latino Immigrants in USA and Europe. Gender, Class, and Race in Immigration Theory.
ROSENTHAL, ALAN S., (Emeritus) Ph.D., Rutgers University; Modern French literature, language teaching methodology, Franco-American relations
RUSINKO, ELAINE, Ph.D., Brown University; Russian and Soviet languages, literature, culture and society, Carpatho-Rusyn studies
SCHNEIDER, JUDITH M., Ph.D., (Emerita) Duke University; Modern French studies, Latin- American and U.S. Latino literature, Jewish writing of the diaspora
SCHWARTZ, ANA MARÍA, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Language teaching and curriculum development, learning strategies, media, heritage Spanish speakers
SLOANE, ROBERT A., (Emeritus) Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Golden-Age Spanish literature, language teaching methodology
STOLLE MCALLISTER, JOHN, Ph.D., University of Minnesota; Latin American popular culture, social, indigenous and environmental movements.
YOUNG, STEVEN, Ph.D., University of Chicago; Historical phonology, Slavic and Baltic linguistics

Assistant Professors

HOGAN, ERIN K., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles; Peninsular literature, Cinemas of Spain and Latin America, Cultural studies of contemporary Spain
LAMBERT-BRÉTIÈRE, RENÉE, Ph.D., Université de Lyon; Cognitive linguistics, typology, language and culture, Caribbean Creoles, Fon (Benin), Kwoma (Papua New Guinea), description and documentation of Innu (Northeastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada)
LIZARAZO, TANIA, Ph.D., University of California, Davis; Latin American cultural studies, performance studies, digital storytelling, transnational feminisms, memory studies
MUÑOZ DAVASLIOGLU, THANIA, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine; Latin American literature and culture: 20th and 21st; Latinx Literature; Spanish language literature in the U.S.; border and memory studies; autofictional writing

Program Description

The Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) offers a program leading to an M.A. in Intercultural Communication, with a focus on French, German or Hispanic studies. Non-native speakers of English also may participate in the program and may focus on U.S. culture, including the teaching of English as a second language. An expanding field, intercultural communication is the study of the ways in which social structuring, social assumptions and language use bear on interactions between members of different cultures. The aim of the program is to allow students to develop advanced foreign language proficiency, to train them to function comfortably and effectively in intercultural situations, and to prepare them for specific career goals through individual courses of study and internships. Students and faculty come from various parts of the world, and participation in the program is itself a significant intercultural experience. Further information about this program is available from the graduate program director, Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, UMBC.

Program Specialties

Francophone, Germanic, Hispanic studies and U.S. culture (the U.S. culture program is open only to non-native speakers of English). Through intra- and interdepartmental cooperation, students may acquire skills in intercultural filmmaking, intercultural policy studies and advanced intercultural training. Teachers of Spanish in Maryland may obtain credits toward the M.A. degree through our cooperative summer program with the University of Salamanca, Spain. Teachers of French in Maryland may obtain credits toward the M.A. degree through our cooperative semester-exchange program with the University of Nancy, France.

Program Admission Requirements

General admission requirements consist of a bachelor’s degree with at least a “B” average and three letters of recommendation. GREs are strongly recommended. Although we do not require a particular score, we use it as one form of measurement to help us make a final decision in the application process. All original application documents must be sent directly to the Graduate School, not to the graduate program, and the deadline for fall application is January 31. International students also must submit satisfactory scores on the TOEFL or the IELTS examinations. In addition, applicants for the M.A. in Intercultural Communication should have a working knowledge of the language of their specialty (English, French, German or Spanish), such that they can carry out graduate studies and write extensive papers in it. At least one letter of recommendation should attest to that knowledge. Applicants also should have a grounding in a complementary field (e.g., African-American studies, American studies, anthropology, cultural studies, education, ethnomusicology, health sciences, history, linguistics, literary studies, psychology, political science, social work, sociology).

Students with minor inadequacies in their preparation may fulfill necessary prerequisites concurrently with participation in the program. Students may transfer up to six credits of appropriate graduate work from other universities.

Facilities and Special Resources

The UMBC International Media Center houses important cultural materials in foreign languages and receives satellite transmissions from abroad. An extensive film and video library, along with individual PCs, affords students the opportunity of watching foreign films and other materials. Computer-assisted learning materials are also available. Students also have access to a PC laboratory for use in doing research and writing academic papers and for connection to Internet resources.

Outplacement Success

The program provides students with the intercultural sophistication and foreign language proficiency to fill positions in:

•    Foreign-language education and training programs
•    International education and foreign-student advisement
•    International relations
•    Intercultural training and conflict resolution management
•    Personnel services in industry, medicine, government and law
•    Social service and community organizations
•    Human-rights organizations
•    International trade
•    Marketing foreign goods and services in the United States and abroad
•    Travel and tourism

Many of the graduates from the program have found positions in the above fields, and others have been accepted into Ph.D. programs at research institutions such as The Johns Hopkins University; the University of California, Berkeley; New York University; the University of California, Santa Cruz; and the University of Maryland, College Park. Graduates also may apply to the Ph.D. program in Language, Literacy and Culture (LLC) at UMBC (see description in this catalog).

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis. Application for assistantships should be made directly to the department. Other types of financial assistance (e.g. work study and student loans) are available through the Office of Financial Aid. Students currently employed are urged to consult with their employers to determine what kind of financial support is available from that source.

Programs

    Master of Arts

    Courses

      FrenchLinguisticsModern Languages & LinguisticsSpanish

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