Students and community members pose for a picture with traditional pottery

Cross-Cultural Studies helps international and U.S. students compare regional and global dynamics. Courses are designed for students who are studying a specific area of the world or a field with an international focus. The program gives students a broad, cross-cultural perspective on their area of interest.

Students and community members pose for a picture with traditional pottery

About Cross-Cultural Studies

In our courses, Cross-Cultural Studies means comparing and contrasting two or more cultures in order to identify phenomena that are more universal or more culturally specific, as well as examining outcomes when two or more culturally different groups interact. In the minor, we engage in both trans-cultural and intercultural work through a blend of personal experience, reflection, theory, and analysis.

Requirements for the Cross-Cultural Studies Minor

Minor Requirements – 36 Total Credits

The minor consists of a minimum of 36 credits, at least 12 of which are at the 200 level, distributed across the following categories (with no courses applied to more than one category):

Seeing and Being Cross-Cultural – Required Min 6 credits

  • AMST 115: Introduction to American Studies
  • CCST 100.01: Growing Up Cross-Culturally (25/FA)
  • CCST 100.02: Cross Cultural Perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian Identity (25/FA)
  • RELG 110: Understanding Religion
  • SOAN 110: Introduction to Anthropology
  • SOAN 111: Introduction to Sociology

Reflecting on Cross-Cultural Experience – Required Min 4 credits

  • CCST 208: International Coffee and News
  • CCST 259: Creative Travel Writing Workshop
  • CCST 270: Creative Travel Writing Workshop (not offered 2025-26)
  • ENGL 259: Creative Travel Writing Workshop
  • IDSC 203: Dialogue Across Differences (not offered 2025-26)

(Certain OCS program courses may also apply to this category. CCST 208: International Coffee and News can be retaken once, for a total of four credits).

Principles of Cross-Cultural Analysis – Required Min 12 credits

No more than 6 credits from any one program.

  • CCST 211: Narrating Jewish Spain (not offered 2025-26)
  • CCST 220: East/West in Israeli, Palestinian Fiction & Film (not offered 2025-26)
  • CCST 230: Worlds of Jewish Memory
  • CCST 233: The Art of Translation in the Age of the Machine
  • CCST 245: Meaning and Power: Introduction to Analytical Approaches in the Humanities
  • CCST 275: I’m A Stranger Here Myself (not offered 2025-26)
  • MEST 230: Worlds of Jewish Memory
  • POSC 120: Democracy and Dictatorship
  • POSC 215: Comparative Political Communication: News Coverage of Elections (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 247: Comparative Nationalism (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 358: Comparative Social Movements
  • PSYC 248: Cross-Cultural Psychology (not offered 2025-26)
  • PSYC 358: Cross-Cultural Psychology Seminar in Prague: Psychopathology (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 300: Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
  • SOAN 330: Sociological Thought and Theory

Cross-Cultural Encounters – Required Min 12 credits

Can include, with approval of director, any course dealing substantively with the intersection of two or more cultures including but not limited to:

  • ASLN 111: Writing Systems (not offered 2025-26)
  • CAMS 218: Contemporary Global Cinemas (not offered 2025-26)
  • CCST 215: Approaches to Language Teaching and Learning
  • CCST 220: East/West in Israeli, Palestinian Fiction & Film (not offered 2025-26)
  • ENGL 238: African Literature in English (not offered 2025-26)
  • ENGL 251: Contemporary Indian Fiction (not offered 2025-26)
  • ENGL 350: The Postcolonial Novel: Forms and Contexts (not offered 2025-26)
  • FREN 206: Francophone Emotions: Science and Culture
  • FREN 231: Paris: The Eras Tour
  • FREN 236: Francophone Cinema and the African Experience
  • FREN 245: Francophone Literature of Africa and the Caribbean (not offered 2025-26)
  • FREN 253: The French Revolution, Then and Now (not offered 2025-26)
  • FREN 255: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Islam in France: Historical Approaches and Current Debates (not offered 2025-26)
  • FREN 259: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Hybrid Paris
  • FREN 303: That’s Entertainment!
  • FREN 336: Francophone Cinema and the African Experience
  • FREN 350: Middle East and French Connection (not offered 2025-26)
  • FREN 359: French and Francophone Studies in Paris Program: Hybrid Paris
  • FREN 360: The Algerian War of Liberation and Its Representations (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 141: Europe in the Twentieth Century
  • HIST 165: A Cultural History of the Modern Middle East
  • HIST 254: Migration in Asia-Pacific History (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 260: The Making of the Modern Middle East
  • HIST 264: A History of India Through Food (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 266: History of Islam and Hinduism in South Asia
  • HIST 270: Nuclear Nations: India and Pakistan as Rival Siblings (not offered 2025-26)
  • HIST 360: Muslims and Modernity (not offered 2025-26)
  • LING 276: Between Languages: Heritage Speakers (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 215: Comparative Political Communication: News Coverage of Elections (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 238: Sport and Globalization in London and Seville Program: Globalization and Development: Lessons from Int’l Football
  • POSC 247: Comparative Nationalism (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 265: Public Policy and Global Capitalism
  • POSC 268: Global Environmental Politics and Policy (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 277: Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Perceptions of Otherness in Modern Eastern and Central Europe
  • POSC 295: Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Nation-Building in Central and Eastern Europe between Politics and Art
  • POSC 296: Central and Eastern European Politics Program: Challenges to the Nation-State in Eastern and Central Europe: Immigrants and Minorities
  • POSC 348: Strangers, Foreigners, and Exiles (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 358: Comparative Social Movements
  • POSC 378: Political Economy & Ecology of Southeast Asia: Social Changes in Southeast Asia (not offered 2025-26)
  • POSC 379: Political Economy and Ecology of S.E. Asia: Diversity of Social Ecological Systems in Southeast Asia (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 110: Understanding Religion
  • RELG 155: Hinduism: An Introduction (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 213: Religion, Medicine, and Healing
  • RELG 227: Liberation Theologies (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 234: Angels, Demons, and Evil (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 237: Yoga: Religion, History, Practice (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 287: Many Marys (not offered 2025-26)
  • RELG 289: Global Religions in Minnesota (not offered 2025-26)
  • RUSS 205: Russian in Cultural Contexts
  • RUSS 228: Russophone Studies in Central Asia: Contemporary Kazakhstani Culture and Post-Colonial Identity (not offered 2025-26)
  • SOAN 256: Africa: Representation and Conflict
  • SPAN 242: Introduction to Latin American Literature
  • SPAN 320: Death and Dying Under Capitalism: An Ecological and Humanistic Perspective
  • SPAN 345: Culture, Capitalism and the Commons (not offered 2025-26)

Senior Capstone – Required 2 credits

  • CCST 398: The Global Panorama: A Capstone Workshop for European Studies and Cross-Cultural Studies
    OR EUST 398: The Global Panorama: A Capstone Workshop for European Studies and Cross-Cultural Studies

After participating in selected co-curricular activities, students will curate work from their CCST courses and experiences in an instructor-guided e-portfolio, including a reflective essay. (Other capstone options may be approved by director.)

Additional Departmental Notes

Participation in at least one OCS program, while not required, is strongly encouraged. Courses from OCS programs may be applied to the core categories above with the exception of the senior capstone, with approval of the director (and subject to rules of the Registrar).

Cross-Cultural Studies Courses

  • CCST 100.01 Growing Up Cross-Culturally

    From cradle to grave, a cultural lens shapes our sense of who we are. Yet, as we grow older, we also become creators of culture. This course proposes “seeing cross-culturally” to explore the ways societies view birth, infancy, adolescence, marriage, adulthood, and old age. Using fairy tales, movies, and articles, we investigate how humans talk about identity and belonging. We then discuss the myriad ways of “being cross-cultural.” First-year students interested in the Cross-Cultural Studies program are strongly encouraged to enroll in this seminar.  While not required for the minor, the course will count as one of the electives.

  • CCST 100.02 Cross Cultural Perspectives on Israeli and Palestinian Identity

    How have Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel shaped their senses of personal and collective identity since the early twentieth century? We will explore mental pictures of the land, one's self, and others in a selection of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian short stories, novels, and films. We will also explore some of the humanistic roots of U.S. involvement in Israeli-Palestinian relations today, particularly in the realm of American initiated bi-cultural youth camps such as Seeds of Peace. Students will enrich our class focus by introducing us to perspectives on Israel/Palestine in their home countries or elsewhere. In translation.

  • CCST 208 International Coffee and News

    Have you recently returned from studying or living abroad? This course is designed to help you keep in touch with the culture you left behind, while deepening your understanding of current issues across the globe. Relying on magazines and newspapers in the local language or in English-language media, students will discuss common topics and themes as they play out in the countries or regions where they have lived or studied. Conducted in English. 

    Recommended preparation: Participation in an off-campus study program (Carleton or non-Carleton), substantial experience living abroad, or instructor permission. Not recommended for first-year students.

    Repeatable: This course can be retaken once, for a total of four credits.

  • CCST 211 Narrating Jewish Spain

    Did Jews totally disappear from Spain in 1492? What types of Inquisition dramas played out in Spanish cities for those who remained as new Catholics? 500 years later, since 1992 Spain has seen a boom in historical fiction on local Jews and Christian converts, for Spaniards curious about Jewish pasts in their hometowns. We'll follow the medieval rise of Jewish civilization and then its demise through Spanish novels, stories, and TV staging, where research, imagination, and cross-cultural mis/understanding reveal as much about contemporary Spanish memory as about Iberian Jewish traces.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CCST 215 Approaches to Language Teaching and Learning

    Language learning is shaped by complex cognitive, social, and cultural factors. This course explores how people learn new languages and how that knowledge informs teaching. We will examine key theories, strategies for supporting diverse learners, and ways to integrate culture and real-world communication. Through readings, observations, and hands-on practice, you will reflect on language learning experiences. The course culminates in a ready-to-use lesson plan, demonstrating your growth as a language educator.

    Recommended preparation: Prior knowledge of a language other than English or current enrollment in a language course.

  • CCST 220 East/West in Israeli, Palestinian Fiction & Film

    As a crossroads of diverse perspectives in such a multicultural,  but fraught Middle Eastern environment, Israeli and Palestinian fiction and film offer significant opportunities for comparative, cross-cultural learning. We will focus on how mental pictures of home, self, and other have been created, perpetuated, and/or challenged in local fiction since the 1940s and in film since the 1950s. Including authors and film directors of Middle Eastern, North African, and Ethiopian Jewish heritage alongside Palestinian artists will allow us to explore  community, inter-generation, and gender-relevant responses to locally popular projections of post/colonial history and national life in Israel/ Palestine.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CCST 230 Worlds of Jewish Memory

    Transmitting Jewish memory from one generation to the next has always been a treasured practice across the Jewish world. How have pivotal environments for Jews lived on in Jewish collective memory? How do they continue to speak through film, art, photography, music, architecture, museum/ memorial/ summer camp design, prayer, cuisine, and more? We'll compare dynamics of remembering and memorializing several Jewish worlds: ancient Egypt, medieval Spain, early modern Germany, pre- through post-Holocaust Europe and Russia, colonial into contemporary New York City, 1950s Algeria, and pre-State into contemporary Israel. Research projects can include family history explored through scholarship on cross-cultural memory.

    CCST 230 is cross listed with MEST 230.

  • CCST 233 The Art of Translation in the Age of the Machine

    In an era when AI tools can produce a translation that is indistinguishable from the work of a professional translator, what role is left for humans? In this course students study the history and theory of translation, while gaining practical experience in literary translation. Topics include the visibility of the translator, questions of identity, authority, and power, and challenges to Eurocentric traditions of translation. Students will become familiar with available translation tools and practice using them ethically and effectively in a workshop setting. The final project will be an annotated translation into English of a literary text of the student’s choice.

    Recommended Preparation: Proficiency in a modern language taught at Carleton (204 or above in Spanish, French, Russian, German or Hebrew; 205 or above for Arabic, Chinese or Japanese). Native or near-native fluency in English.

  • CCST 245 Meaning and Power: Introduction to Analytical Approaches in the Humanities

    How can it be that a single text means different things to different people at different times, and who or what controls those meanings? What is allowed to count as a “text” in the first place, and why? How might one understand texts differently, and can different forms of reading serve as resistance or activism within the social world? Together we will respond to these questions by developing skills in close reading and discussing diverse essays and ideas. We will also focus on advanced academic writing skills designed to prepare students for comps in their own humanities department.

  • CCST 259 Creative Travel Writing Workshop

    Travelers write. Whether it be in the form of postcards, text messages, blogs, or articles, writing serves to anchor memory and process difference, making foreign experience understandable to us and accessible to others. While examining key examples of the genre, you will draw on your experiences off-campus for your own work. Student essays will be critiqued in a workshop setting, and all work will be revised before final submission. Some experimentation with blended media is also encouraged. This course was formerly listed as CCST 270.

    CCST 259 is cross listed with ENGL 259.

  • CCST 270 Creative Travel Writing Workshop

    Travelers write. Whether it be in the form of postcards, text messages, blogs, or articles, writing serves to anchor memory and process difference, making foreign experience understandable to us and accessible to others. While examining key examples of the genre, you will draw on your experiences off-campus for your own work. Student essays will be critiqued in a workshop setting, and all work will be revised before final submission. Some experimentation with blended media is also encouraged.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CCST 275 I’m A Stranger Here Myself

    What do enculturation, tourism, culture shock, “going native,” haptics, cross-cultural adjustment, and third culture kids have in common? How do intercultural transitions shape identity? What is intercultural competence? This course explores theories about intercultural contact and tests their usefulness by applying them to the analysis of world literature, case studies, and the visual arts, and by employing students’ intercultural experiences as evidence. From individualized, self-reflective exercises to community-oriented group endeavors, our activities will promote new intercultural paradigms in the classroom and the wider community. Course designed for off-campus returnees, students who have lived abroad, or who have experienced being outsiders.

    Not offered in 2025-26

  • CCST 398 The Global Panorama: A Capstone Workshop for European Studies and Cross-Cultural Studies

    The work of Cross-Cultural Studies and European Studies traverses many disciplines, often engaging with experiences that are difficult to capture in traditional formats. In this course students will create an ePortfolio that reflects, deepens, and narrates the various forms of experiences they have had at Carleton related to their minor, drawing on coursework and off-campus study, as well as such extracurricular activities as talks, service learning, internships and fellowships. Guided by readings and prompts, students will write a reflective essay articulating the coherence of the parts, describing both the process and the results of their pathway through the minor. Considered a capstone for CCST and EUST, but for anyone looking to thread together their experiences across culture. Course is taught as a workshop.