Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication focuses on the study of communication between individuals of different cultural backgrounds. Imagine a Japanese businessman engaged in a negotiation with an American business partner. Their greetings, the actual words they exchange, their use of gestures or eye contact, and the strategies they use throughout the negotiation could each be studied as an instance of intercultural communication. Intercultural communication is more and more important given the increased potential to encounter and communicate with individuals of different cultural backgrounds, be it in the workplace, education initiatives (i.e., studying abroad), or personal circumstances (i.e., traveling to an international destination). Cultural differences in such contexts may lead to misunderstandings and it is, therefore, important to understand and know how and when to avoid such mishaps. This ...