Studying Intercultural Communication at the University of Maryland offers special advantages:
Our emphasis on research and theory building. Rather than just reading about current knowledge of intercultural communication, you will be contributing to it. Our program's dedication to developing theory through research is an exciting approach to intercultural communication. Our intercultural area provides strong preparation in the quantitative methods needed to conduct social scientific research on intercultural processes.
Our emphasis on the effect of culture on cognitive processes in intercultural communication. The expertise of our faculty in cognitive and emotional processes provides the basis for studying the cultural roots of logic and investigating how people in different cultures make decisions, resist or support persuasive messages, evaluate arguments, and manage conflicts.
Our emphasis on negotiation and conflict management as an intercultural context. Our faculty has particular strengths in international negotiation and conflict situations as contexts for communication. Research in this significant area is open to our graduate students working on research teams with international researchers.
Related coursework in our department and university. In addition to your theoretical study of face-to-face interaction in intercultural contexts, you will be encouraged to take courses on persuasion and social influence so that you can study persuasion theories in intercultural contexts. Courses in persuasion and social influence focus both on the emotional and on the cognitive aspects of persuasion and thus support your work in culture and cognition. Courses in our Departments of Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, and Government & Politics, and in the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, supplement your work in our department.
An intercultural laboratory in our department, our university, and our geographic region. We are a subway ride away from Washington, DC, one of the world's most vibrant international cities. And our university has students and programs that stress intercultural cooperation. An example is the University's Institute for Global Chinese Affairs. Our department is home to graduate students from many countries on five continents.
