Master of Arts in Intercultural Communication

The MA in Intercultural Communication (MAICC) offered by Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) is the first degree of its kind in Qatar.

Students in this program will engage in research, education, and outreach with a view to understanding the challenges of today’s changing intercultural settings in Qatar and worldwide.

The program aims to respond to these changed societal demands, including the need for court interpreting, community interpreting, and medical interpreting – the three mediational forms of interpreting in intercultural settings and work environments that are specific to Qatar. The program will also offer courses on intercultural communication and the use of digital technologies to achieve effective intercultural communication in an inclusive and accessible society.

Additionally, research in the intercultural communication field will generate new policies and e-applications geared towards implementing the outcomes of the distinct features of the program. These program outcomes will lead to the creation of innovative applications fit for heading transformative changes in Qatar and globally.

Graduates of the program are equipped to:

Demonstrate a broad and critical understanding of the main theoretical approaches of intercultural communication and of relevant fields in the Humanities and the Social Sciences for the creation of original research.
Judge the relevance of research methods and tools based on their appropriateness to a given context of intercultural communication.
Apply appropriate strategies in the solving of intercultural problems in communication settings.
Integrate the tools and techniques for managing intercultural communication in organizations within the private, public and non-governmental sectors.
Possess and apply the communication skills required in interlinguistic and intercultural communication settings in view of adequacy, norms, and appropriate quality and ethical standards.
Acquire the technological literacy and tools required for postgraduate research and professional intercultural communication.

Structure:

The MAICC consists of 39 credit hours (18 credit hours of core courses, three credit hours for an internship, nine credit hours for supervised research through thesis, and nine credit hours for elective courses).
The degree program can be undertaken as two years full-time and three years part-time study. However, students must complete the MA degree requirements within four years of program commencement.

Curriculum:

The program offers market oriented cross-fertilization core and elective courses, including Introduction to Intercultural Communication, B2B Communication in an Intercultural Environment, Research Methods in Intercultural Communication, Interpreting as Intercultural Mediation, Medical Interpreting in Intercultural Settings, Intercultural Perspectives on Equity and Diversity in Education, Critical Approaches and Future Challenges of Intercultural Communication.

Additionally, the MAICC program will liaise with the CHSS Department of Middle Eastern Studies for cross-departmental courses and with Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar to offer a multidisciplinary curriculum in Intercultural Communication, integrating the use of digital technologies, and the knowledge of societal change management.

View Admission & Application Requirements