There's part of the problem right there.
I could almost see the class being useful for a “devote Mormon” if he thought “Intercultural Communcations” might help him on his future 2-year mission work.
I do suspect that the course catalog description did him (and everybody else enrolled) a major disservice.
There's part of the problem right there.
And he's probably taking on $40,000 in debt to study it too!