Welcome to the Home Page of the
Intercultural/Development Communication
Division of the International Communication Association (ICA).
The Intercultural/ Development Communication Division of the International
Communication Association addresses critical issues concerning communication
across boundaries, whether cultural, political, economic or social in nature.
This division includes three areas of focus: intercultural communication, international
communication, and development communication. Intercultural communication research
explores interpersonal dynamics across persons from different cultural contexts.
Moving toward broader levels of analysis, such as states and societies, international
communication research investigates mediated communication across communities
with different political, economic, geographical contexts or different cultural
histories, as well as communication issues within a global context. Just as
intercultural and international communication can be seen as manifest in heterophilous
relations, development communication typically involves the strategic application
of communication processes and technologies by one group through an intervention
intended to benefit another social group. These projects designed to use communication
for development may be produced by bilateral, multilateral or nongovernmental
development institutions, or by less formally based social movement organizations,
advocacy groups or local communities. In addition to addressing communication
for development, the field of development communication engages scholarship
concerning communication about development, or the implications of development
discourse.
This web site contains resources for division members and other parties interested
in the fields of intercultural, international, or development communication.
