Abstract
The aim of the article is to discuss the importance of intercultural competences in building a pluralistic society, open to cultural diversity. Based on the example and analysis of the new program of English language studies, i.e. Intercultural Communication in Education and the Workplace, which operates at the Faculty of Humanities of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, an attempt was made to identify the aspects and ways in which intercultural competences can be acquired and promoted. However, the author does not analyze intercultural education as such, as this has been the subject of research by many other investigators. In the first section, an attempt was be made to define the concept of intercultural competences taking into account cognitive, emotional and behavioral components. The answer to the question why it is important to acquire competences is discussed in the part where the author examines the factors (imperatives) indicating the indispensability of such competences in the contemporary globalized, spatially compressed and cross-linked world. In the final part of the article, the assumptions of the course and the program of intercultural studies are analyzed with a view of presenting a practical proposal of acquiring intercultural competences in Lublin’s international academic environment.