Intercultural Communication: A Peacebuilding Perspective

We live in an increasingly more globalized world, where living and working with people of various cultures is a nearly everyday occurrence. These interactions, combined with ever-growing opportunities for students to explore and study in foreign settings, make it important to master effective ways to engage and learn from these experiences. Intercultural Communication will engage readers interested in developing intercultural competence with an eye towards fostering diverse and vibrant communities that coexist peacefully.

The authors begin by defining competent communication and describing how it contributes to peaceful communities before considering how cultural differences relate to the effects of cultural frames, emotions, and nonverbal and verbal communication. The second half of the book surveys how culture influences friendships, families, classrooms, workplaces, the media, and our visits to cultures different from our own. Recognizing the effects of these influences allows readers to take advantage of opportunities and overcome obstacles to more fully immerse themselves in a different way of life. Each chapter offers various boxed inserts with important and entertaining insights to supplement topics and provide opportunities for discussion.

Not-for-sale instructor resource material available to college and university faculty only; contact publisher directly.

Title of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Rogers-Steinfatt, Intercultural Communication (ISBN 9781577660323).

"While covering similar topics as other texts on the subject, Remland et al. cover these concepts in a more meaningful way with a learner-centric format and relevant examples. I was especially drawn to the peacebuilding perspective, which is cleverly worked into themes by illustrating our common humanity yet cultural uniqueness." --Erin Saxon, Endicott College

"The central premise of peacebuilding is a reflective way to make intercultural concepts real—having a goal like this in mind while reading helps to solidify not only the 'what' of culture but also the 'why.'" --Bruce Kuiper, Dordt College

"We adopted it because of the peacebuilding focus and because it so intelligently applies the curriculum to contexts of diversity rather than largely ignoring that context as so many intercultural communication texts do." --Martha Bienert, GateWay Community College