Concepts of “culture”: Implications for intercultural communication research

The notion of “culture” currently used by intercultural communication scholars emerges out of a specific set of historical circumstances, in particular, the 1940s and Edward T. Hall's work at the Foreign Service Institute. This article reviews intercultural communication research as it is published by communication journals, and examines how culture is conceptualized in intercultural communication research. Alternate ways in which “culture” might be conceptualized are then discussed and the consequences that this might have for intercultural communication scholarship are explored.