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.