Intercultural Communication professor grateful to help shape China’s burgeoning IC discipline

Steve’s teaching career at SISU also gives him plenty of research inspiration, which he is always grateful for. When he was teaching in SISU’s Overseas Training Centre from 1993-2002, he was exposed to different kinds of Chinese, allowing him to make systematic and localized research on Chinese values. “We’ve filled out a lot of small questionnaires and surveys. I’ve gathered a lot of data, and just talking with my students every day in class was a learning experience. Every day I learn something new.”

Being imbedded in the system and in relationships all these years, when he started presenting papers at international conferences, people were intrigued by new perspectives on China. Much international scholarship still focuses on linking Chinese ideas or behavior to Confucianism as a basis for face practices, guanxi, or collective stereotypes. But by linking his student’s feedback with international values survey and the cultural psychology of bi-lingual identities, Steve could use research to tell updated Chinese stories on people’s motivations, daily lives, social relationships, modernization and culture change trends in China today. As Steve said, “For my research on values change, identity development and social interaction, this job has been perfect for me.”

Last year, Steve was elected as incoming president of the IAIR (International Academy for Intercultural Research), an executive role for six years. In addition, SISU was approved as the host for the next biennial conference of the IAIR in 2019 (to be held jointly with CAFIC), coinciding with SISU’s 70th anniversary! While he grows into his presidential role, he and his team are busily preparing for this significant opportunity to showcase SISU, domestic IC scholars, and today’s China. “Our goal is to recruit many more top Chinese scholars into the Academy, either as academic fellows or members to learn from people from countries such as Germany, France, South Africa, Ghana, and Norway. We have so many countries that are doing intercultural research now, so we can connect to the world. That’s the idea of China’s vision of globalization, and of how we can really build this shared future for mankind.”