Pedagogy and Professional Development

Increasing Intercultural Sensitivity through Cosplay for College Students

---

Abstract

Intercultural encounters have become an increasingly "common experience" in work place settings in an increasing number of countries (Morley & Cerdin, 2010, p.805). Many scholars started acknowledging the importance of intercultural competence - "a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts" (Bennette, 2011, p.3) - in college education related the current context of the global economy (Deardorff, 2011). However, scholars still believe that college education falls short to fulfill the need of the global economy to provide workforce with strong intercultural competence especially for those with less or little initial interests in exploring various cultures (Deardorff, 2011). Based on the previous literature, the purpose of this study is to introduce a curriculum to increase intercultural competence through a cosplay showcase and its effect on the growth of intercultural sensitivity – an affective dimension of intercultural competence – for college students.

How to Cite:

Lee, J. & Jagger, C., (2017) “Increasing Intercultural Sensitivity through Cosplay for College Students”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 74(1).