S: Interkulturelle Kompetenz II / Critical Intercultural Competence II

Critical Intercultural Competence II explores intercultural competence through everyday life, media and postdigital communication practices. The seminar asks how people make sense of culture, belonging, communication and social relations while living, studying, working or travelling across different places, languages and media environments.

Rather than treating interculturality primarily as an encounter between fixed national cultures, we approach it as a relational and situated process that unfolds in everyday practices: communicating with friends and family across borders, navigating university and city life, using several languages, participating in online communities, and encountering cultural narratives through different media.

The seminar combines critical intercultural, postdigital and media-cultural perspectives. We will work with selected media materials, everyday media practices and digital communication environments in order to explore how cultural imaginaries, mobility, belonging and social relations are shaped, represented and negotiated. We will also reflect on the role of platforms, algorithmic visibility and artificial intelligence in contemporary communication and media use.

Through readings, collaborative discussions, media analyses and small research-oriented exercises, students will connect theoretical concepts with concrete materials and everyday observations. Students are welcome to bring examples from their own media practices, experiences of living abroad, studies, work, mobility trajectories or interests; personal disclosure is always voluntary.

The seminar is taught in English and designed as an interactive, collaborative learning space.

Notice on the Start of the Course

Course starts in the second week of the lecture period on 22 October 2026.

The first sessions of the course will take place online. Further information will be provided by email and via the course forum after enrolment.

Special Invitation to (International) Students from all Disciplines

International students from all disciplines at Chemnitz University of Technology are especially welcome to join this seminar. The course offers an opportunity to reflect on everyday experiences of studying, living and communicating across different places, languages and media environments, while engaging with critical perspectives on interculturality, belonging and postdigital communication.

Students are invited to contribute their own interests, observations and examples to the discussions. Personal experiences may be shared, but this is entirely voluntary.