COMM311 Real-World Connections: Episode 7, Facts Aren't People

Narrator: Real-World Connections. Episode 7: Facts Aren't People

Narrator: Amara's flying to Durban to meet Dr. Dlamini and visit the clinic for the first time. She wants to get it right, so she's been memorizing a list of cultural tips. Priya, who'll present the data there, is on the call.

Priya: Amara, a list helped me too, once. But a list told me what people like me were supposed to be. You know how that felt.

Amara: Fair. So what should I do instead?

Narrator: Your reading frames intercultural communication competence as three parts. Motivation, including a sense of wonder and tolerance for uncertainty. Knowledge, including self- and other-awareness, mindfulness, and cognitive flexibility. And skills, like empathy, listening, resolving conflict, and managing anxiety.

Narrator: The reading also introduces Brenda Allen's idea of "thinking under the influence": noticing what triggers your assumptions and asking where those influences came from. And the course's video on cultural humility warns that treating competence as a checklist of facts can lead right back to stereotyping.

Amara: My trigger's being unprepared. When I feel that, I grab a list.

Priya: Then go curious instead of prepared.

Narrator: How should Amara prepare for Durban? Build her plan using motivation, knowledge, and skills, and decide what she'll do the first time she feels unsure in the room.