Intercultural Communication for the Community College (Second Edition)

Abstract

Communication theorists, anthropologists, and others have given us tools to develop an awareness of our own thinking so we can to understand others whose culture may be different from our own. This text starts with some basic reasons for studying intercultural communication and then reviews some fundamental principles of the communication process. After that, we look at foundational principles of cultures and how those ideas directly overlay onto the fundamental principles of communication. The second half of the book covers some common contexts in which intercultural communication often occurs. More than thirty years after my first international adventure, I still think about those first Chinese students that changed the course of my life. So have all these years of studying, teaching, and intellectual curiosity made me more a more competent communicator? Every individual’s life experience is rich, diverse, and complicated, so communication competency—though important—can only take us so far. I prefer to embrace the idea of cultural humility.