Intercultural Communication Skills Workshop Series - Session 3: Classroom Interactions

How do our cultures inform how we communicate, how we learn, and how we teach? New international PhD students navigate communication at Harvard on multiple levels: as students, as scholars, and as future teachers. In this interactive workshop series, we will explore how our cultural values influence our communication in a range of academic and classroom situations. You will have the opportunity to learn, practice, and get feedback on cross-cultural communication skills for Harvard classrooms and beyond, with sessions devoted to academic culture; small talk; participating in classes; listening skills; email etiquette; and giving and receiving feedback. This series is designed for new PhD students who did their undergraduate education outside of the US, but is open to any new PhD students interested in developing intercultural competence and practicing communication skills. Students are welcome to register and attend any or all sessions.

Session 3: Classroom Interactions 

Participation is often an essential, and graded, component of classes at Harvard, but what is participation and what are some of the subtle ways that participation may be influenced by culture? This session will focus on ways to help you consider your own participation as well as to help you encourage others to participate in classes and discussions.