ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the course 'Intercultural Competence in Practice' as part of author's doctoral research on intercultural competence development of university students. The course has been designed using Deardorff's Pyramid Model of Intercultural Competence. Essential attitudes such as openness and curiosity were taken as given to the extent that students selected this course out of interest. Concerning the knowledge dimension, lectures covered content to promote a deep understanding of culture by introducing students to basics of cross-cultural psychology, including the origins of culture, cultural influences on cognition and perception, as well as cultural differences in verbal and non-verbal behaviour. The course combined theoretical and experiential sessions to engage students with two major topics: understanding culture and its influence on human cognition and behaviour and cultural self-awareness; and the personal leadership methodology as a tool for developing an intercultural practice that transfers knowledge into practice.
