Connections and Inclusions

This book presents different aspects of intercultural communication research as they connect to and intersect with sub-disciples such as media studies, communication education, international communication, rhetorical studies, gender and sexuality studies, popular culture, and organizational communication. Intercultural communication (IC) scholars in the CSCA region have often been questioned, and sometimes challenged, by scholars who have claimed that the Midwest is not an ideal locale for studying communication across cultures and among people from varying cultural backgrounds. However, over the years, scholars have established that intercultural communication is an important area of scholarship in the Midwest (and beyond), and that the region offers plenty of opportunities for studying the intersections of cultural perspectives in communication, ranging from racial and ethnic discrimination to the adaptation process of international students and from immigrant experiences to issues in queer cultures. Because IC research does not exist in isolation, and it is always connected to larger frameworks or theoretical approaches within communication studies, the contributors in this book address how IC scholarship informs other areas of research and how IC scholars use the concepts and theoretical lenses of IC research to examine issues outside of IC. Although the focus is mainly on IC scholarship within the CSCA region, the scope of the book extends beyond this regional boundary as well. This book was originally published as a special issue of Communication Studies.