Is the study of Intercultural Communication Applied Anthropology?

A Case Study on Intercultural Training

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology, grade: 75 Prozent, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (School of Governmental and Social Sciences), course: Seminar: Applied Anthropology, 12 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: As anthropologists we want to make a difference in our world. Intercultural training provides us with that opportunity. (Ojile 1986: 48)To make a difference includes the issue of change which is essential to the discipline of applied anthropology. Training in cross-cultural interaction and behaviour forms part of communication. Constitutes intercultural communication therefore a part of the academic discipline of applied anthropology? This paper tries to further investigate the correlations between these two academic fields. Since one of the most obvious developments in contemporary society is that the world is continuously growing closer and closer, people get to meet and communicate that would have never met a few hundred years ago. Objects, customs and information get accessible that open up new worlds and horizons for any individual. As innovative opportunities arise with a closer interlinked worldwide society, also problems occur. People with different attitudes, perceptions, worldviews and ideas are confronted with each other and are being forced to communicate. This is where the discipline of intercultural communication comes in to inquire, clarify and explain the newly appeared circumstances. But is this concrete facilitation part of the larger context of applied anthropology? As the author wants to further investigate this issue, she draws first on the definitions of the most important two terms to afterwards clarify the specific role expected of an applied anthropologist. A case study is used to relate this theoretical matter to a concrete situation. The example of cross-cultural training is employed as a practical and functional aspect of intercultural communication. This is followed by an overall evaluation in which the case study as well as the theoretical discussion are combined to answer the presented question. The conclusion infers the whole topic and tries to give an outlook on future development.