Professor Atay publishes book incorporating transnational voices into conversations on critical intercultural communication

Ahmet Atay, professor of communication studies and chair of global media & digital studies at The College of Wooster, has co-edited a new book. Titled Transnationalizing Critical Intercultural Communication: Legacy, Relevance, and Future, the book offers a transnational lens to critical intercultural communication studies. Critical intercultural communication (CIC) is a framework for understanding how structures like the media, government, global markets, and popular culture are shaped by intercultural relationships; CIC explores how dominant groups and individuals gain power and leverage their interests over others.

Atay edited the book alongside Shinsuke Eguchi, professor of communication and journalism at the University of New Mexico, and Gloria Nziba Pindi, associate professor of communication studies at California State University San Marcos. While CIC is global in nature, Atay notes that the discipline has often prioritized western research methods, and as a result, international scholars and perspectives have been excluded from the field. Transnationalizing Critical Intercultural Communication seeks to address this gap in scholarship. “We decided to take a transnational approach to gaining decent ways of knowing, understanding, and studying culture in the United States,” said Atay. Since much of his previous research has focused on transnationalism, extending this lens to critical intercultural communication felt like a natural step.

The book’s introduction details the ways in which the editors own experiences as international students and scholars influenced their pull towards intercultural communication. As the editors share, “we were inquiring about in-between and hybrid experiences, transnational identity constructions and performance, transnational power structures, and political and cultural forces that were consistently influencing our experiences in the U.S., our home cultures, and other locations we were occupying. The questions we were asking were larger than our own individualized experiences. We were trying to make sense of transnational life-making.”

Atay said “We hope this book generates new conversations and opens new pathways, Atay said. “I hope that our collective voices manage to shift the conversation to achieve transnational inclusion.” In addition to impacting the field of CIC on a global scale, Atay is looking forward to introducing the book to his students at Wooster. “I am excited to introduce the book to our students and engage with them about the conversations and research we curated in it.”

Posted in Faculty, News on May 21, 2024.