Challenges of Living in a Global Society -- Living in a global village -- Contributors to cultural diversity -- The necessity and benefits of intercultural communication -- Summary -- Case Study: The Cronulla riots -- Further Reading -- Understanding Communication -- The essence of communication -- The multifaceted nature of communication -- Models of communication -- Levels of communication -- Communication and culture -- Summary -- Case Study: Hanging out in the public square -- Further Reading -- Understanding Culture -- The pervasive nature of culture -- Definitions and components of culture -- Characteristics of culture -- Subcultures -- Summary -- Case Study: The Roma people in Eastern Europe -- Further Reading -- The Influence of Culture on Perception -- The nature of human perception -- Stages of the perception process -- The influence of culture on perception

Perception and intercultural communication -- Summary -- Case Study: How are Eastern Europeans perceived by the West? -- Further Reading -- Cultural Orientations and Behaviours -- Culture as a repertoire of human behaviours -- Dimensions of culture -- Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's value orientations -- Intercultural communication ethics -- Summary -- Case Study: Dinner at a Japanese home -- Further Reading -- Verbal Communication and Culture -- The power of language -- The components and characteristics of verbal codes -- Language and perception -- Cultural variations in verbal communication -- Language and identity -- Summary -- Case Study: How many languages still exist in the world today? -- Further Reading -- Nonverbal Communication and Culture -- Universality and variation of nonverbal communication -- Characteristics and functions of nonverbal codes -- Types of nonverbal communication -- Influence of culture on nonverbal communication -- Summary -- Case Study: Yum cha and Chinese culture -- Further Reading

Categorization, Subgroups, and Identities -- The multifaceted nature of identities -- Social categorization and identities -- Subgroup memberships and different types of identities -- Identities and intercultural communication -- Summary -- Case Study: History of South African identity and apartheid in South Africa -- Further Reading -- Developing Relations with Culturally Different Others -- The nature of human relationships -- Dimensions of human relationships -- Stages of human relationship development -- Culture and human relationship development -- Developing intercultural relationships -- Summary -- Case Study: Love by arrangement in India -- Further Reading -- Managing Intercultural Conflicts -- Pervasiveness of intercultural conflicts -- Potential sources of intercultural conflict -- Stages in the conflict process -- Conflict management styles and approaches -- Influence of culture on conflict management -- Summary -- Case Study: Violent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia -- Further Reading

The Mass Media, Technology, and Cultural Change -- The world of the mass media -- Globalization, technology, and the mass media -- The mass media and symbolic social reality -- The mass media and cultural change -- Summary -- Case Study: OhMyNews in South Korea -- Further Reading -- Immigration and Acculturation -- Immigration and cultural diversity -- Migration and globalization -- Diversity and multiculturalism -- Acculturation and culture shock -- Cross-cultural adaptation -- Summary -- Case Study: Migration and diversity in Australia -- Further Reading -- Becoming an Effective Intercultural Communicator -- Global and local dimensions of culture -- Homogenization and fragmentation -- From local to global -- From global to local -- Developing intercultural competence -- Summary -- Case Study: Doctors without Borders -- Further Reading.