An intergenerational conversation on international communication

Social historical knowledge about the development of a field of study, such as international communication (IC), is hard to preserve. Development of research in IC’s base field of communication was cross-fertilised by visitors from several disciplinary domains. Newcomers to IC find it hard to uncover the field’s opening-up, from its first tilling to present harvests. There is need for intergenerational dialogue between senior and younger scholars; one such attempt, this conversation, coincides with the celebration of a key moment in IC development history; 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Intercultural and International Communication Program (ICP) at the School of International Service (SIS), AU, Washington D.C.–arguably the oldest graduate program in the field. It also anticipates the 25th Anniversary of The Journal of International Communication in 2019. The conversation encompasses earlier IC scholars’ past contributions to theory and institution building; and to prospects for IC inquiry. The discussants are ICP’s founder (a US-based American of Iranian descent) and a graduate researcher (an Australia-based Chinese) who completed a Master’s degree that has a direct line of descent from ICP.