Intercultural Communications

This area of study focuses on the communication processes that occur when individuals of differing cultural backgrounds (including ethnic and racial) come into direct contact with one another. Research in this area addresses communication-related issues pertaining to a variety of social contexts, from interpersonal and small group contexts to those of multicultural organizations and local communities. Also integral to this area are "cultural communication" studies examining unique communication practices within a specific culture, as well as "cross-cultural communication" studies comparing communication patterns in two or more cultures.

This area focuses on the critical examination of media and culture in international contexts. Using different methodological approaches that include ethnography, phenomenology and hermeneutics, textual/discourse/critical analysis, and quantitative methods, it explores how cultural understandings intersect with media processes, products, and audiences. This research sheds light on how media and cultures shape social fabrics, from local specificities to globalized networks. It explores culture and media processes as contested zones traversed by ethnic, class, and gender struggles for social change.

• Comm 5243 Cross-Cultural Communication
• Comm 6323 International Communication
• Comm 6413 Interethnic Communication
• Comm 6433 Seminar in Intercultural Communication
• Comm 6023 Communication Research Task Groups
• Comm 6960 Directed Readings

• Elena Bessarabova
  
• Ioana Cionea
• James Olufowote
• Gretchen Montgomery-Vestecka

• Acheme, D. E. (2022). Hearing race: The effects of race and accent on language attitudes and intergroup communication outcomes. [Honored with the Outstanding Dissertation Award, Intercultural Communication Division, International Communication Association, May 2022]. 
• Biwa, V. (2022). Sojourners’ identity transformation as a function of cross-cultural adaptation: A communication model of multicultural identity development.  
• Wyant, M. H. (2022). Perceptions of trust, trust building, and maintenance between Japanese expatriates and U.S. host nationals in a multinational corporation. 

• Johnson, A. J., Lee, S. K., Cionea, I. A., & Massey, Z. B. (2018). The benefits and challenges of new media for intercultural conflict. In N. Bilge & M. I. Marino (Eds.), Reconceptualizing new media and intercultural communication in a networked society (pp. 171-197). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
• Olufowote, J. O., Adebayo, C. T., Livingston, D. J., & Wilson, K. K. (in press). An alternative entry point into health communication research: Introspections on learning, applying, and future uses of PEN-3. In C. O. Airhihenbuwa & J. Iwelunmor (Eds.), Health, culture, and place: From the tree to the forest.
• Olufowote, J. O. & *Aranda, J. (2018). The PEN-3 cultural model: A critical review of health communication for Africans and African immigrants. In R. Ahmed & Y. Mao (Eds.), Culture, migration, and health communication in a global context (pp. 176-190). Routledge.

• Acheme, D., & Cionea, I. A. (2022). “Oh, I like your accent!”: Perceptions and evaluations of standard and non-standard accented English speakers. Communication Reports, 35(2), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2022.2037679
• Acheme, D. E., & Cionea, I. A. (2022). Protest structures: Responses from Nigerians in the United States to police brutality and #BlackLivesMatter protests. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 41(1), 29-48. 
• Liu, M., Zhu, L., & Cionea, I. A. (2019). What makes some intercultural negotiations more difficult than others? Power distance and culture-role combinations. Communication Research, 46, 555-574. doi: 
• Machette, A. T., & Cionea, I. A. (2023). In-laws, communication, and other frustrations: The challenges of intercultural marriages. Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 17(1), 1-18. 
• Machette, A. T., & Cionea, I. A. (2022). What predicts relational satisfaction in intercultural relationships? A culture and relational models perspective. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 51(4), 400-416. 
• Massey, Z. B., & Cionea, I. A. (2023). A new scale for measuring identity insecurity. Communication Methods and Measures, 17(1), 40-58.   
• Montgomery, G., & Zhang, Y. B. (2018). Intergroup anxiety and willingness to accommodate: Exploring the effects of accent stereotyping and social attraction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 37, 330-349.
  
• Olufowote, J. O. (2021). Taking culture and context seriously: Advancing health communication research on HIV/AIDS prevention in Tanzania with the PEN-3 cultural model. Howard Journal of Communications, 32(4), 394-412.
  
• Olufowote, J. O., & Livingston, D. J. (2021). The excluded voices from Africa’s Sahel: Alternative meanings of health in narratives of resistance to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in northern Nigeria. Health Communication. Advance online publication. 
• Olufowote, J. O. (in press). Barriers and enablers of health in the socio-cultural context: A PEN-3 assessment of HIV/AIDS prevention in Tanzania. Global Health Communication.
  
• Olufowote, J. O. (2017). An institutional field of people living with HIV/AIDS organizations in Tanzania: Agency, culture, dialogue, and structure. Frontiers in Communication [Health Communication section], 2, 
• Velasquez, A., & Montgomery, G. (2020). Social media expression as a collective strategy: How perceptions of discrimination and groups status shape US Latinos’ online discussions of immigration. Social Media + Society.
• Velasquez, A., Montgomery, G., & Hall, J. A. (2019). Ethnic minorities’ social media political use: How ingroup identification, selective exposure, and collective efficacy shape social media political expression. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 24, 147-164. doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmz007
• Wang, Y., & Cionea, I. A. (forthcoming). Am I incompetent or just afraid? Competence and apprehension as predictors of intercultural willingness to communicate. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research.

Elena Bessarabova: Research Collaboration Partner, Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics, research consortium at Jyväskylä University; interdisciplinary project “#Agents-Young People’s Agency in Social Media” funded by Academy of Finland (Vilma Luoma-aho, JSBE PI, 2019-2022) – €1,000,000 -- cross-cultural comparison of young people's media use.