Inter/Cultural Communication : Representation and Construction of Culture

Today, students are more familiar with other cultures than ever before because of the media, Internet, local diversity, and their own travels abroad. As such, traditional intercultural communication textbooks which focus solely on the ′differences′ approach aren′t truly effective for today′s students, nor for this field′s growth. Using a social constructionist framework—which explores how culture is constructed and produced in the moments in which it is experienced—Inter/Cultural Communication provides today′s students with a rich understanding of how culture and communication affect and effect each other.

Inter/Cultural Communication improves upon current textbooks in four significant ways: (1) It provides a differences approach and a social constructionist approach; (2) It explores the consequences of cultural moments on immediate communication and on larger scale social issues; (3) It is descriptive, not prescriptive, of how culture is communicated; and (4) It introduces intercultural topics, rather than interpersonal topics.

Weaving multiple approaches together in order to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of cultural and intercultural communication, this text allows them to become more aware of their own identities and how powerful those identities can be in facilitating change—both in their own lives and in the lives of others. In addition, the book will help students deal with unfamiliar cultures and understand those with whom they come in contact when they travel, in their communities, in the workplace, in their home, and online.