Cultural Detective has grown beyond my wildest dreams. I always say a product is like a child—once it launches into the world, it takes on a life of its own. People use products in ways beyond their creators’ vision. Gratefully, CD has been used by governments, NGOs, spiritual communities, businesses and universities, among many others, to build bridges across divides of opinion, behavior and world view.
You may also remember that we have partnered with our colleagues at Personal Leadership to create a hybrid method that gives EPIC results: EPIC: Essential Practice for Intercultural Competence. EPIC is a go-to method in much of my consulting, coaching and training work.
One of our clients—Debbie Bayes from CultureCrux—a very talented professional who lived for years in the Middle East and is currently in the USA, has put together a wonderful and reasonably priced online course that teaches users the EPIC method. This is 100% Debbie’s course, and she has done a terrific job putting it together.
I urge you to enroll or to pass on her announcement, below, to those you think might be interested. Your enrollment includes license for your use of Cultural Detective Online as well as EPIC. Together we can transform this world of ours, building bridges instead of walls.
Below is her course announcement.
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Registration is Open!
I’m putting the final touches on the Increasing Intercultural Competence online course. It is now open for registration at culturecrux.net.
You can also find a link on my website (culturecrux.org) under Services/online courses.
The course outline is at the bottom of this page.
A Few Important Things for You to Know
- I will be sending out a number of emails between September 16th and 26th to give you more details about the course. In the future you will only receive these kinds of emails if you sign up specifically to get information on intercultural competence development and courses offered.This first time though, I would like you to receive these emails so you have a sense of what’s going on. Many of you are part of what has made this class possible!
- This course isn’t for everyone but if it’s not something for you at this time I expect you know someone who would benefit from it. Feel free to share this info with others you know who might be interested.
- Who is it for? The course is for those who interact with people from different cultural backgrounds every day in workplaces, communities, schools, universities, and faith-based organizations and who want to develop their ability to do so more capably, confidently, and effectively. It is also a great course for people who are preparing for short or long term international work.
- Campus pastors will be able to sign up for a discounted course called Special Course: Increasing Intercultural Competence for Campus Pastors which will have exactly the same content as the Increasing Intercultural Competence course. To confirm they are qualified to receive the discount, I will need campus pastors to email me when they register with their name, university where they work, group they work with (Chi Alpha, Cru, or Intervarsity) and their role (director, staff, admin, intern, other).
Stay tuned! More info coming soon. For now, please look over the course outline below and let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Debbie
Increasing Intercultural Competence
Course Tuition: $300 (US)
Increasing Intercultural Competence will center on training you in EPIC (Essential Practice for Intercultural Competence). EPIC is a fun, eye-opening, and practical method of learning to engage with and work through cultural confusion and conflict in ways which lead to right action and creative cultural bridge-building.
It is a process that you can begin using immediately in your every day life and you can continue to use throughout your life as you work to increase your ability to understand and interact positively with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Extremely valuable training for anyone involved in community service, government, education, healthcare, business, church leadership, or other faith-based organizations.
Class One – Introduction to EPIC and Cultural Detective Website
- A 30-day subscription to the Cultural Detective website (culturaldetective.com) is included in the course! The first class will introduce you to the website and give you time to explore and learn to navigate this fantastic resource which we will be using throughout the course.
Class Two – Something’s Up: Attending to Judgment, Emotion, and Physical Sensation
- Learn how to stay engaged and open when faced with cultural confusion or conflict.
- Recognize how our judgments, emotions, and physical sensations can be either barriers or cluesto finding creative and productive ways forward.
Class Three – Careful Observation, Values, and Beliefs
- Practice your skills of careful observation as we continue to engage with a real life intercultural incident.
- Develop your ability to look behind the words and actions of cultural others to understanding the values and beliefs behind them.
Class Four – Stillness, Ambiguity, Vision, and Cultural Bridges
- Learn the role of cultivating stillness, engaging ambiguity, and aligning with vision in interactions with cultural others as we continue to press into a real life intercultural incident.
- Complete the first time through the EPIC process by pulling together all you have learned to this point and building some creative cultural bridges as you seek to resolve the conflict we have explored in the intercultural incident.
Class Five – Applying the EPIC Process to Your Own Context Part I
- We will practice the EPIC process again but but this time with the opportunity to deepen your understanding and apply these principals to your own context.
Class Six – Applying the EPIC Process to Your Own Context Part II
- Pulling together all you have done so far, you will explore potential right action and creative cultural bridges in your own situation.
Class Seven – BONUS CLASS on a special topic which I will announce next week!
- The bonus class will provide you with an additional opportunity to move through the EPIC process with a focus on a current hot issue in North America today which involves cultural differences.
- Learn to work through this sensitive issue and gain the knowledge and skills to lead others through it as well.
Class Eight – Continuing your Journey: You’re Not Done Yet!
- During this final class I will introduce several valuable resources and fun ideas which will equip you to continue your journey of developing your intercultural abilities long after you complete this course.
- When does the course start? What’s the schedule? It is an entirely self-paced course so it will start when you start and end when you end. The only thing that has a time limit is the 30-day subscription to Cultural Detective but that won’t begin until you decide to begin it. You will need access to Cultural Detectives during the first four classes. It would be nice to have it during the last four classes but it’s not essential.
- How much time does it take? Each of the eight classes in the course will take about an hour to complete. That includes watching short videos (just a few minutes each) and doing the exercises included. But, again, it is self-paced so you can do as much or as little as you want at any given time. The course is designed to fit anyone’s schedule, no matter how busy.
- Are there tests? No! As with the free mini-course that I launched over the summer, this course leans more toward the practical than the academic. You will learn real skills that you can begin using right away in everyday life and you can continue to use throughout your life. It can be a great course to take with a spouse or to discuss with a friend who is also taking it. Learning together is more fun!
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