Includes biography of author, course scope, and bibliographical references.

"This course teaches you the basics of what you need to know to interact effectively with people from different cultures. Whether traveling internationally, working across borders, or interacting with culturally diverse people in your neighborhood, you will learn how to more effectively adapt to the customs you encounter near and far.
The course begins with a study of how culture influences an individual's thinking and behavior. For example, why is personal space so important to many North Americans? And why do many Arab parents insist on their children being right-handed, regardless of their national dexterity? You will see several practical reasons why culture matters, and you will have the chance to reflect on your own cultural background.
Next, you will learn about cultural intelligence, or CQ. Cultural intelligence is defined as the capability to function effectively across various culture contexts, including national, ethnic, organizational, and even generational cultures. CQ stems from academic research across more than 60 countries, and it's a globally recognized way of measuring and developing cross-world -- much less all of its customs -- but with improved CQ, you can learn how to effectively adapt your views and behaviors where you are.
The question that drives the research on cultural intelligence is as follows: Why do some individuals and organizations easily and effectively adapt their view and behaviors cross-culturally and others don't? What factors explain the difference? In this section of the course, you will find out how to assess and improve you own CQ.
The next several lecture of the course examine 10 cultural value dimensions. These provide you with a sophisticated way of understanding and describing the most important cultural differences that exist across the world. The cultural value dimensions include some of the familiar topics addressed in cross-cultural courses, such as different time orientations and varying views on hierarchy and status, but they also look at less well-known differences, such as the level of facial expressiveness that is typical in one culture versus another. You will also learn about a cultural value dimension that refers to how much tolerance a culture had for people who deviate from the norms.
The lectures on the cultural value dimensions include a clear explanation of the cultural dimension, examples of where you are most likely to see these differences across the world, and stories that illuminate their significance. In addition, for each cultural value dimension, you will learn a few practical tips for how to adjust to the respective differences.
The second half of the course introduces you to 10 global clusters. These are large cultural groupings that share some core patterns of thinking and behavior. For example, you will learn about the Nordic cluster, primarily consisting of the Scandinavian countries. You will also encounter Confucian Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as several others. The countries and cultures with each cluster typically share a common history, and they often share a similar geography, language, or religion. As you encounter each lecture, you will learn about some of the specific customs that are often found in that global cluster, and you will learn which of the cultural value dimensions studied previously are most relevant. Each lecture on the global clusters will provide you with some "Dos and Taboos" to keep in mind when encountering people from the cluster.
Throughout the course, you will be continually cautioned against applying the information learned too broadly. In today's increasingly complex world, it is way too simplistic to say that all Chinese people are a certain way, much less that all people from Confucian Asian cultures are the same. Instead, theses values and clusters will help you loosely predict how people in certain cultures are likely to speak, act, and make decisions. But hold these generalization and predictions loosely.
In each lecture, you will learn how to take a specific cultural custom of artifact and uncover the deeper cultural issues that lie beneath it. For example, why is it against the law in certain places in Germany to play loud music at two o'clock in the afternoon? You will see how this customs points to some more significant values and patterns of behavior in Germanic Europe. Even though there's no way to cover every culture and its customs in any one course, as a result of this course, you will learn how to take any customs and see what lies behind it.
The course concludes bu giving several practical suggestions for how to continue to develop cultural intelligence and how to apply it at home and abroad. You CQ predicts how you will adjust to cultural differences -- whatever the context, including generational, ethnic, organizational, and ideological cultures, along with many others. As you learn to adjust better to different cultures, you will improve the quality and enjoyment of your cross-cultural travels, work, and relationships" (Course scope).

DVD CONTENTS: Disc 1

01. Culture matters
02. Developing cultural intelligence (CQ)
03. Identity: individualist versus collectivist
04. Authority: low versus high power distance
05. Risk: low versus high uncertainty avoidance
06. Achievement: cooperative versus competitive
Disc 2
07. Time: punctuality versus relationships
08. Communication: direct versus indirect
09. Lifestyle: being versus doing
10. Rules: particularist versus universalist
11. Expressiveness: neutral versus affective
12. Social norms: tight versus loose
Disc 3

13. Roots of cultural differences
14. Anglo cultures
15. Nordic European cultures
16. Germanic cultures
17. Eastern European/Central Asian cultures
18. Latin European cultures
Disc 4
19. Latin American cultures
20. Confucian Asian cultures
21. South Asian cultures
22. Sub-Saharan African cultures
23. Arab cultures
24. Cultural intelligence for life

"This course teaches you the basics of what you need to know to interact effectively with people from different cultures. Whether traveling internationally, working across borders, or interacting with culturally diverse people in your neighborhood, you will learn how to more effectively adapt to the customs you encounter near and far.
The course begins with a study of how culture influences an individual's thinking and behavior. For example, why is personal space so important to many North Americans? And why do many Arab parents insist on their children being right-handed, regardless of their national dexterity? You will see several practical reasons why culture matters, and you will have the chance to reflect on your own cultural background.
Next, you will learn about cultural intelligence, or CQ. Cultural intelligence is defined as the capability to function effectively across various culture contexts, including national, ethnic, organizational, and even generational cultures. CQ stems from academic research across more than 60 countries, and it's a globally recognized way of measuring and developing cross-world -- much less all of its customs -- but with improved CQ, you can learn how to effectively adapt your views and behaviors where you are.
The question that drives the research on cultural intelligence is as follows: Why do some individuals and organizations easily and effectively adapt their view and behaviors cross-culturally and others don't? What factors explain the difference? In this section of the course, you will find out how to assess and improve you own CQ.
The next several lecture of the course examine 10 cultural value dimensions. These provide you with a sophisticated way of understanding and describing the most important cultural differences that exist across the world. The cultural value dimensions include some of the familiar topics addressed in cross-cultural courses, such as different time orientations and varying views on hierarchy and status, but they also look at less well-known differences, such as the level of facial expressiveness that is typical in one culture versus another. You will also learn about a cultural value dimension that refers to how much tolerance a culture had for people who deviate from the norms.
The lectures on the cultural value dimensions include a clear explanation of the cultural dimension, examples of where you are most likely to see these differences across the world, and stories that illuminate their significance. In addition, for each cultural value dimension, you will learn a few practical tips for how to adjust to the respective differences.
The second half of the course introduces you to 10 global clusters. These are large cultural groupings that share some core patterns of thinking and behavior. For example, you will learn about the Nordic cluster, primarily consisting of the Scandinavian countries. You will also encounter Confucian Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as several others. The countries and cultures with each cluster typically share a common history, and they often share a similar geography, language, or religion. As you encounter each lecture, you will learn about some of the specific customs that are often found in that global cluster, and you will learn which of the cultural value dimensions studied previously are most relevant. Each lecture on the global clusters will provide you with some "Dos and Taboos" to keep in mind when encountering people from the cluster.
Throughout the course, you will be continually cautioned against applying the information learned too broadly. In today's increasingly complex world, it is way too simplistic to say that all Chinese people are a certain way, much less that all people from Confucian Asian cultures are the same. Instead, theses values and clusters will help you loosely predict how people in certain cultures are likely to speak, act, and make decisions. But hold these generalization and predictions loosely.
In each lecture, you will learn how to take a specific cultural custom of artifact and uncover the deeper cultural issues that lie beneath it. For example, why is it against the law in certain places in Germany to play loud music at two o'clock in the afternoon? You will see how this customs points to some more significant values and patterns of behavior in Germanic Europe. Even though there's no way to cover every culture and its customs in any one course, as a result of this course, you will learn how to take any customs and see what lies behind it.
The course concludes bu giving several practical suggestions for how to continue to develop cultural intelligence and how to apply it at home and abroad. You CQ predicts how you will adjust to cultural differences -- whatever the context, including generational, ethnic, organizational, and ideological cultures, along with many others. As you learn to adjust better to different cultures, you will improve the quality and enjoyment of your cross-cultural travels, work, and relationships" (Course scope).

DVD CONTENTS:

Disc 1
01. Culture matters
02. Developing cultural intelligence (CQ)
03. Identity: individualist versus collectivist
04. Authority: low versus high power distance
05. Risk: low versus high uncertainty avoidance
06. Achievement: cooperative versus competitive

Disc 2
07. Time: punctuality versus relationships
08. Communication: direct versus indirect
09. Lifestyle: being versus doing
10. Rules: particularist versus universalist
11. Expressiveness: neutral versus affective
12. Social norms: tight versus loose

Disc 3
13. Roots of cultural differences
14. Anglo cultures
15. Nordic European cultures
16. Germanic cultures
17. Eastern European/Central Asian cultures
18. Latin European cultures

Disc 4
19. Latin American cultures
20. Confucian Asian cultures
21. South Asian cultures
22. Sub-Saharan African cultures
23. Arab cultures
24. Cultural intelligence for life