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Schedule a meeting now! Get advice from our admission expert Katharina. Request a spot in our meeting hub and we will call you back!
Refer a friend - Save 100€! Refer a friend, enroll together for this summer school, and save both 100 Euro! Refer a friend!
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Schedule a meeting now! Get advice from our admission expert Katharina. Request a spot in our meeting hub and we will call you back!
Refer a friend - Save 100€! Refer a friend, enroll together for this summer school, and save both 100 Euro! Refer a friend!
Study in Bali ! See our latest Sport Short Courses Programs
Study Abroad in Bali with Upskill
August 2025 Intercultural Communication Course Recap at Udayana University
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Intercultural Communication Summer Course in Bali: Four Weeks of Dialogue, Discovery, and Debate
From 4 to 29 August 2025, the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) at Udayana University and the Upskill Study Program welcomed a new cohort of international students from Cardiff University for the Intercultural Communication & Multifaceted Globalisations summer course. Designed as an intensive four-week program worth 6 ECTS, the course blended lectures, workshops, and field learning to immerse students in the social, cultural, and political dimensions of Bali.
At its heart, the course had a simple but powerful goal: to create a space where dialogue matters, where misunderstandings are embraced as opportunities for clarity, and where cultural difference becomes the starting point for deeper understanding.
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Inside the classroom: foundations for dialogue
The program opened at FISIP with introductions to lecturers, the Upskill team, and importantly the Upskill Buddies: 13 FISIP students from International Relations and Communication Studies assigned to accompany participants throughout the four weeks, from classes to field lectures to the final seminar.
Language formed the first bridge. Under Ni Luh Arpiwi, S.Si., M.Sc., Ph.D., students studied Bahasa Indonesia, gaining practical vocabulary and confidence to navigate markets, temples, and everyday interactions. The language sessions quickly became a springboard for deeper cultural encounters.
Lectures then unfolded across interconnected themes led by the academic team:
Communal space and Balinese social life with Dra. Nazrina Suryani, M.A., Ph.D., who introduced the banjar(community hall) as both a traditional institution and a living framework of decision-making, mutual aid, and cultural continuity.
Cultural communication and gender with Dr. Ni Nyoman Dewi Pascarini, S.S., M.Si. and Calvin Damas Emil, S.I.Kom., M.Si., examining symbolic interaction, the roles of Balinese women in family economies, and the everyday negotiations of identity and tradition.
Globalisation and tourism with Sukma Sushanti, S.S., M.Si. and Dr. Putu Titah Kawitri Resen, S.IP., M.A., who invited students to weigh the promises and pressures of tourism as a mono-economy and to question how communities adapt while preserving core values.
Digital literacy and misinformation with Richard Togaranta Ginting, S.Sos., M.Hum., comparing media trust and hoax dynamics in Bali and the UK, and mapping the civic responsibilities of digital citizens.
Throughout, theory was consistently tethered to practice, preparing students to test ideas in the field.
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Beyond the Campus: Field Lectures and Workshops
In total, 8 field lectures and a number of workshops enriched the course, each serving as a living classroom where cultural communication could be observed, questioned, and reflected upon.
Students entered the everyday rhythms of Bali:
At Banjar Tohpati, they learned about communal decision-making and the banjar’s multiple roles in civic life. At Warung Pak Tekor, they joined a traditional Go Gibung meal, sharing food in the style of old Bali.
Visits to Pasar Kumbasari revealed the language of bargaining and the role of women in the informal economy, while Museum Bali and the Lontar Library deepened understanding of history, philosophy, and the preservation of knowledge.
With Ibu Wendri, students crafted canang sari offerings and gebogan fruit towers, before visiting her family compound to learn about Balinese astrology and the interplay of ritual, philosophy, and daily life.
In Karangasem, students met Pak Nyoman Martha, founder of She-Demen VCO, whose work with coconuts models community-based green enterprise. At Tirta Gangga, Anak Agung Kosalya shared insights into heritage preservation and the challenges of cultural tourism.
These experiences revealed how intercultural communication is never abstract. It is lived in meals, ceremonies, markets, and the choices of individuals and communities.
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The Role of Upskill Buddies
Perhaps the most defining feature of the program was the role of the Upskill Buddies. Thirteen FISIP students were assigned as companions and cultural bridges, joining every lecture, workshop, and excursion.
They were discussion partners in the classroom, translators in the market, friends during long bus rides, for our international students. Led by Oka Arya from International Relations major, the Buddies offered an immediate window into Balinese student life. For the Buddies, the course became an international classroom of their own, where they exchanged perspectives with peers from the UK and beyond. This deliberate pairing turned the course into more than an academic exchange it became a social and personal one, where friendships grew alongside theories.
Weekly Reflections: From Observation to Dialogue
Every Friday, students returned to the classroom for weekly reflections. Guided by their lecturers, they discussed cross-cultural encounters, gender perspectives, and the authenticity of rituals in the face of commodification.
These sessions transformed field notes into dialogue. Students compared observations, challenged one another’s interpretations, and learned to see Bali not only through their own eyes but also through the perspectives of their peers and Buddies.
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Final Seminar: Debating the “Real Bali”
The program concluded with a final seminar that epitomized its intercultural spirit. Students were divided into pro and con groups for a debate titled: “Is Tourism Ruining the Real Bali?”
The audience included lecturers from Sociology, International Relations, and Communication Studies, as well as fellow students and Buddies. The debate was spirited, with arguments ranging from cultural preservation to economic necessity.
For some, tourism was seen as eroding authenticity, commodifying rituals, and creating dependency. For others, tourism was framed as an adaptive force, offering economic resilience and cultural visibility.
What mattered most was not who “won” but how the debate embodied the essence of intercultural communication: differences voiced, perspectives exchanged, and new understanding forged. Read more about the final seminar here.
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On 29 August, the course closed with presentations, discussions, and a simple ceremony at Udayana University. Students carried with them not only essays and notes, but friendships, stories, and moments of genuine cultural exchange. Many spoke of becoming more reflective, kinder, and more aware of the role communication plays in bridging worlds.
For the local Buddies, the course offered equal growth a chance to step into a global dialogue while standing firmly in their own culture.
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Looking Ahead
The Intercultural Communication Summer Course at Udayana University is more than an academic program. It is an invitation to live dialogue, to step into moments of misunderstanding and turn them into clarity, and to see how globalisation, gender, ritual, and digital culture intersect in one of the world’s most dynamic societies.
For anyone considering studying abroad in Bali, this program offers not just learning, but transformation. It shows that to understand another culture, one must not stand at a distance but enter the conversation in classrooms, in markets, in temples, and in friendships.
Study abroad in Bali with Upskill Study and Udayana University. Gain academic credit, join discussions that challenge your worldview, and experience the richness of intercultural communication first-hand.
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By LK
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