Michael·H·Prosser

FW: CRTNET: Announcements, Queries and Discussions #10658‏
From:   Wenshan Jia (wjia66@hotmail.com)

Sent:  Tue 12/02/08 10:47 AM
To:   petersisu@yahoo.com.cn; michaelhprosser@hotmail.com

Dear Mr. Heisey
I am writing my MA thesis in intercultural communication at the Shanghai International Studies University about the contributions of
Michael H. Prosser and others to the development of the study of intercultural communication (1960s and 1970's especially and late
1990-2008 especially). Other contributions will also be considered. I would appreciate it if you can respond to any of the following
questions for which you have knowledge or interest.

1. Are there contributions to the development of the intercultural communication field by Michael Prosser that you consider noteworthy?
His contributions were in two areas. First, personally he was a leader among his peers in taking the initiative in calling attention to the need for moving out in this area of the field of speech communication. He led in establishing the need for a division of intercultural and
international communication within the field and in holding workshops and conferences at SCA and at RIT, his institution. Second,
intellectually he was a leader in focusing on international and intercultural communcation with an emphasis on the rhetorical implications
and applications for this area of research. He came out of the classical rhetoric dimension of communication where many others came from
the interpersonal and quantitative research areas. Thus his emphasis was unique. He focused on the important dimension of dialogue as
the essence of intercultural communication.

2. If you are familiar with his early books such as his edited Intercommunication among Nations and Peoples (1973) and his authored book The Cultural Dialogue: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication (1978, and reprinted in 1985 and 1989), were there any
specifici
contributions which these books or your own books made to the development of the intercultural communication field?
His Intercommunication book was a landmark in the field as it covered all the important areas of international communication. He covered
all of the areas that now have developed into their own fields of speciality and he did this by assembling some of the best scholars in the
field. I have used this book repeatedly in my teaching and research. And his Cultural Dialogue book was an outstanding early textbook for
those teachers and scholars in the intercultural area. His focus on the dialogue dimension of the field has continued and expanded for a
proper understanding of intercultural communication whether at the interpersonal level or the rhetorical level or the political level.


3. If you are familiar with his later books, his coauthored book with Ray T. Donahue Diplomatic Discourse: International Conflict at the
United Nations (1997), and his coedited books with K.S. Sitaram, Civic Discourse: Multiculturalism, Cultural Diversity and Global
Communication (1998), and Civic Discourse: Intercultural, International, and Global Media (1999), and with his coedited book with Steve J. Kulich, Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication (2007), are there any contributions by Michael or your books which you
consider relevant to the study of intercultural communication?
I am familiar with all of these books and find them to be most valuable for the area of teaching and research that I have been involved in
for about fifty years. My area of political and rhetorical communication in the intercultural field has benefitted most significantly from his
published works in the diplomatic and civic discourse field. His work on combining rhetorical, media, diplomatic, and now Chinese
communication has been at the forefront of research. His civic discourse model for intercultural communication grew naturally out of his
emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy in international communication.

4. Michael was the chair of the first three conferences in North America to establish the field of intercultural communication: 1971 Indiana
University: Brown County, Indiana consultation, 1973 University of Virginia Syllabus Building Conference, 1974 Chicago Speech
Communication Association, International Communnication Association, and SIETAR SCA Summer Conference, using the "Outline of
Intercultural Communication" by Edward C. Stewart as a basis for discussion. Can you comment on any of these conferences and their
contribution or yours in these conferences to the study of intercultural communication?
I was involved personally in some of these early conferences which helped immensely in my own growth and maturation in the field of
intercultural communication. I still have those outlines that were developed then and can attest to their relevance in giving guidance and
direction to the young field of intercultural communication. I can remember how excited I was as a young scholar moving into the
intercultural field to be invited to these conferences and workshops to help build this new field. They helped me in establishing at my own university here at Kent State a new course in intercultural communication. My university, of course, still has an emphasis in intercultural
communication.

5. Michael chaired the International and Intercultural Communication Commission (later Division) of the Speech Communication Association
from 1971-1973; was the third Chair of the Intercultural Divsion of the International Communication Association, 1974 or 1975-1977, and a founding Governing Council member, 1973-1977, and later President of SIETAR International, 1984-86. Can you comment on any
contributions that Michael or you made to these organizations during these periods or later?
As I mentioned before, Michael was the leader in the professional organizations for establishing international and intercultural
communication in SCA and in SIETAR. I was very active in both of these organizations, attending their conferences and doing research and presenting papers at their meetings. His leadership in these professional organizations helped to ground me in my own development.
Following his leadership, I eventually was elected myself to become vice-chair first and then chair of the Division of International and
Intercultural Communication of NCA in 2001-2002. I also became active for a while, before my retirement, in the World Communication
Association and presented papers and published in their journal.

6. Michael and K.S.Sitaram co-chaired six Rochester Intercultural Conferences from 1995-2001: 1995-the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
founding of the Intercultural Division of ICA by K.S. Sitaram: 1996- Intercultural, International, and Global Media; 1997- Communication,
Technology, and Cultural Values; (no conference in 1998); 1999-Social Justice and Human Rights; 2000-War and Peace; and 2001-
Computer Mediated Communication. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael or you made to these conferences?
These were very important conferences in my professional life as a scholar in intercultural communication. I attended I believe every one of them and was awarded an outstanding scholar award at one of the last conferences and was one of the keynote speakers at one of them. Michael gave me the opportunity to reflect on and present some of my views and experiences in intercultural communication. Michael
was personally aware of my many overseas teaching and research opportunities over the years and I was very appreciative of his support.
One of the things I was proud of at these conferences was the way I involved some of my Chinese students from China. I submitted
some of the best papers they had researched for me while I was teaching in Beijing and added introductions or conclusions to them so
that I could be a co-author and present their papers for them since they could not be in attendance. These conferences gave me an
opportunity to share my students' research with the American community. Michael was very supportive of my efforts to involve my
Chinese students in his conferences.

7. From 1998-2004, Michael's (Ablex, Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group) "Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium" series published
about 17 or 18 books. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael made in this context as the series editor or your own
contributions to the study of intercultural and international communication?
I think these publications by Michael and his associates during this period were very important in the develoment and extension of the
research in international and intercultural communication because of the focus he gave to the field. It was phenomenal in the way that he continued to publish extensively in year after year thus giving great opportunity to other authors and editors to be involved in the
publishing of intercultural research. I can speak from my own experience because Michael personally was responsible for my becoming
editor of the Ablex Series, "Advances in Communication and Culture." I can still remember the NCA conference where he introduced me
to the Ablex editor where we discussed the launching of my new series, which eventually produced five volumes, the first one by me,
Chinese Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communcation, and then four others by outstanding Chinese scholars. These volumes were entitled, Chinese Conflict Management and Resolution, edited by Guo-Ming Chen and Ringo Ma, Chinese Communication Studies, edited by Xing Lu, Wenshan Jia, and D. Ray Heisey, Chinese Communication Theory and Research, edited by Wenshan Jia, Xing Lu, and D. Ray Heisey, and
In Search of Boundaries: Communication, Nation-States, and Cultural Identities, edited by Robert McIntyre and Joseph Chan. All of these
excellent volumes by important Chinese scholars have to be credited to the efforts of Michael Prosser who gave me the opportunity to
produce and edit them which helped to extend the research and publication of Chinese scholarship.

8. During Michael's years of teaching in China, 2001-2008, he often posted "China Continuing" comments to CRTNET. Many of them have
been posted also on his website, www.michaelprosser.com . Can you comment on any contributions which Michael made to the study of
intercultural communication through these comments or essays?
These excellent contributions from Michael in the field where he was teaching and guiding Chinese scholars were outstanding glimpses into what was happening in communcation studies in China. As a newly emerging field in that country, he was instrumental in helping to
develop the departments at several universities by his presence and his teaching. We in this country would not have known what was
happening over there were it not for his extensive and specific sharing of information of the communication field in China. Having taught at Peking University for two different semesters in 1996 and again in 2000, I was especially pleased that he wrote to the scholars in the U.S.
through these columns to let them know about these developments. I knew from my own experience that the Americans did not know
about China and Michael's stories and citing of important information about communication departments and their students on China's
campuses were most valuable to a better international understanding. I can remember reading his entries and then saying to myself,
"Right on, Michael. That is great that you are taking the time to write so much interesting detail about our Chinese colleagues." He also
shared with CRTNET such informative items as the abstracts of his and Steve Kulich's M.A. students so we could know what their students were researching. This was a very valuable service that he performed.

9. Are there other contributions which Michael or you have made to the study of intercultural communication which are worthy of note?
I would like to comment on a quality that I feel Michael and I share. I was encouraged by his example which helped me to model my
behavior in similar ways. I refer to the interest in and commitment to the invitation to our students and colleagues to submit their scholarly work for publication consideration. He has always done this throughout his career as I have also. My first major publication in the i
ntercultural field was my article in the Quarterly Journal of Speech on "The Rhetoric of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" in 1970. I can still
remember how excited I was as a young scholar to receive his invitation to submit my journal article to his forthcoming book as a chapter
in Intercommunication. He has invited many authors and editors to submit their work. I have always tried to encourage my students to
submit their papers for conference presentation and publication consideration. When I taught those two times in China, I always tried to
invite my students to submit their work at NCA, Michael's RIT conferences, the conferences of the International Academy for Intercultural Research in which I am a Fellow and other places. One of my superior Beijing students I encouraged by inviting him to submit a chapter in my book, Chinese Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communication, on the rhetoric of Deng Xiaoping. I also presented a jointly-authored paper by him at the NCA 1997 conference on "Serendipity Dialogue in Intercultural Communication" by this same student. He went on to get his Ph.D. in communication at USC and is now a professor of communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and he is one of the
editors of the newly established Chinese Journal of Communication which was published for the first time in 2008. He invited me to
engage in a dialogue with him about my international experiences and intercultural views that he published in the October issue of the
journal. His name is Jack Linchuan Qiu. This is an example of what can be the consequence of the commitment to encouraging one's
students to submit and publish. I followed Michael's example in inviting Chinese colleagues, some of them very early in their careers, to
submit chapters in my "Advances in Communication and Culture" Series with Ablex. Even after the series was ended, I continued to
receive requests from Chinese colleagues, wondering whether I could help them publish their work.

10. Since my thesis wil be also a comparative study of contemporaries of Michael's contributions to the study of intercultural
communication,
please comment, including book titles, on your own major contributions to the study of intercultural communication.
I have already mentioned the five books I edited in the Ablex series, but I could comment on the involvement I have had in the
International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies. I served as president of the organization from 2001-2003 and gave the
presidential address at its conference in Hong Kong in 2001 and then was presented with a Festschrift in my honor consisting of a journal
of the Intercultural Communication Studies by my former students and colleagues. This was presented to me in the conference in Tapei in 2005. I have published widely in that journal and now serve on the Board of Directors. One of our former Kent State University Ph.D.
students and one of the leaders in intercultural communication is now the executive director of the IAICS. He is Guo-Ming Chen of the
University of Rhode Island. He was one of my editors of my Ablex book series.
I might add one further piece of information that relates to impact. After I retired from Kent State University in 1996 where I had taught
for 30 years with some leaves of absence to teach overseas in Belgium, Iran, Sweden, Estonia, and then China, I was awarded the
President's Medal by the Board of Trustees of the University for my accomplishments in teaching and research and administration. One of
the specifics mentioned was the establishment of exchange programs between Kent State and other institutions, such as in China, which
encouraged intercultural communication. These included exchange programs with the Guangming Daily newspaper, with Peking University, with Renmin University in Beijing, and with Lund University in Lund, Sweden.
A final point to be mentioned here is the fact that I was offered the position of Distinguished Visiting Professor of Global Rhetoric at Hiram College in Ohio for the fall semester 2008. I am teaching a course in the Rhetoric of World Cultures and World Leaders, and a course in
Chinese Perspectives in Rhetoric and Communication. The department chair said she invited me to this position "because of [Heisey's]
international reputation as a leading scholar in the area of intercultural and international communication."

11. Are there others who know Michael's contributions well? If so, could you provide their names and email addresses if possible?
I'm sure Michael has given you the names of the ones I would mention.

12. Please indicate if I can quote you by name in my thesis, or any later publications that might result from the thesis.
You have my permission to quote me by name from anything I have written above.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I would appreciate your reply as soon as possible as my thesis must be finished by March.
Peter, I wish you much success in your project and I thank you for inviting my contribution. I might mention that I refer to Michael's and
Steve's work at your university in the dialogue I mentioned above that occurs in the current issue of Chinese Journal of Communication. In case you might not have ready access to it, I am taking the liberty of attaching it to this email for your examination. I encourage you to
read it as it further documents the impact of Michael's work and gives further insight into my own history and experience in the field of
intercultural communication. Please let me know if you have trouble downloading the attachment.

D. Ray Heisey, Ph.D., Professor and Director Emeritus, School of Communication Studies, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA, and
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Global Rhetoric, Communication Department, Hiram College, Hiram, OH, Fall Semester, 2008.

Sincerely,


Peter Zhang
MA student in intercultural communication
Shanghai International Studies University
________________________________________
雅虎邮箱，您的终

Hi, Peter Zhang. To respond to your survey, here are my personal observations and thoughts regarding Michael's contributions to
intercultural communication:

1. Michael has continued and expanded Robert Oliver's tradition by writing, lecturing, editing and mentorship.
2. Michael is a visionary with a broad and inclusive and forward-looking intellectual vision on humanity and human communication across
cultures. He lives his life, lecturing, researching and taeching by this vision. While a majority of communication scholars in the US are
fearful of going to China due to the media's influence, Michael has already taught in China for 10 years.
3. Michael has mentored a new generation of leading intercultural scholars. Some of them are big names such as Bill Starosta, Guoming
Chen, Laura Lengel, Tom Steinfatt and so on. My academic life has been significantly influenced by Michael's mentorship. The three
English books which I wrote and co-edited on China are possible because of Michael's vision and boldness of action. All of these books
have been on the "Outstanding Academic Book" list on Choice of American Library Association and are sold to hundreds of libraries in the
world.
4. Michael has also played a central role in the development of IC in China in the past ten years by giving keynote speeches and
mentorship of graduate students and other professors including Steve Kulich.

Yes, you can quote me.

I look forward to reading your paper.

Regards,

Wenshan Jia
Dear Long Zhang,

I confess that I have not kept up with the literature on intercultural communication and, hence, cannot comment on some of your
questions about Michael Prosser's work, relative to others in the field. Nor am I at all expert on the topic, having merely dabbled in it as a
traveler, teacher, and as a political communication scholar with interests in other cultures, including Chinese cultures. I've co-authored one major article on Chinese transitional rhetoric (see attached), shared some observations about changes in Chinese society with an American
association of Chinese students and scholars (see attached), and written about the protests at Tiananmen Square for my textbook on
persuasion and elsewhere.

My travels have taken me to many places, not least Beijing, where I lectured at Peking U and at BLCU at Dr. Prosser's invitation in 2004.
Please note (both of you) that my wife Gayle and I will be in Shanghai for the first time in the period from 9 January to 14 January, with
a possible sojourn to Hongzhou. We would be delighted to meet you and to see Michael again. I'll be returning from Shanghai to HK
(where I did a Senior Specialist Fulbright in 2004) on 14 January to begin a series of lectures, workshops, and a radio interview. I'd be
open to lecturing at SISU or preferably doing something more informal while in Shanghai, this in exchange for a place to stay for 1-2 nights and some help from Chinese students as we tour Shanghai.

Back to Michael Prosser. My main impressions of Mike's contributions to intercultural communication have come from his long and quite
detailed e-mails to CRTNET and from my visits to his classes as BLCU.

The e-mails were wonderful and I'm glad that they've been collected on his website. I also much enjoyed my visits to BLCU and was
especially impressed by Mike's warm relationship with students on campus, nearly all of whom seemed to know Mike. What's even more
impressive is how many of them he knew personally and could greet by name and with reference to their studies. On these occasions
Mike ENACTED his knowledge of intercultural communication, serving as a model of sorts for me.

The CRTNET posts also provide abundant evidence of Prosser's scholarly and pedagogical contributions to intercultural communication in
China. I know of no one if my field who has done more in that general area.

Note: You can quote what I've said above by name

DearProfessor Pederson

> > I am writing my MA thesis in intercultural communication at the Shanghai International Studies University about the contributions of
> > Michael H. Prosser and others to the development of the study of intercultural communication (1960s and 1970's especially and late 1990-2008 especially). Other contributions will also be considered. I would appreciate it if you can respond to any ofthe following questions
for which you have knowledge or interest.

> > 1. Are there contributions to the development of the intercultural communication field by Michael Prosser that you consider
noteworthy?

> Michael's contribution has been especially strong in networking and developing a professional identity for intercultural communication in
the field of communication.

> > 2. If you are familiar with his earlybooks such as his edited Intercommunication among Nations and Peoples (1973) and his authored
book The Cultural Dialogue: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication (1978, and reprinted in 1985 and 1989), were there any
specifici contributions which these books or your own booksmade to the development of the intercultural communication field?

> I am not familiar with these publications.

> > 3. If you are familiar with his later books, his coauthored book with Ray T. DonahueDiplomatic Discourse: International Conflict at the
United Nations (1997), and his coedited books with K.S. Sitaram, Civic Discourse: Multiculturalism, Cultural Diversity and Global
Communication (1998), and Civic Discourse: Intercultural, International, and Global Media (1999), and with his coedited book with Steve J. Kulich, Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication (2007), are there any contributions by Michael or your bookswhich you
consider relevant to the study of intercultural communication?

> I am not familiar with these books.

> > 4. Michael was the chair of the first three conferences in North America to establish the field of intercultural communication: 1971
Indiana University: Brown County, Indiana consultation, 1973 University of Virginia Syllabus Building Conference, 1974 ChicagoSpeech
Communication Association, International Communnication Association, and SIETAR SCA Summer Conference, using the "Outline of
Intercultural Communication" by Edward C. Stewart as a basis for discussion. Can you comment on any of these conferences and their
contribution or yours in these conferencesto the study of intercultural communication?

> I did not attend these conferences.

> > 5. Michael chaired the International and Intercultural Communication Commission (later Division) of the Speech Communication
Association from 1971-1973; was the third Chair of the Intercultural Divsion of the International Communication Association, 1974 or
1975-1977, and a founding Governing Council member, 1973-1977, and later President of SIETAR International, 1984-86. Can you
comment on any contributions that Michael or youmade to these organizations during these periods or later?

> Michael made a great contribution through SIETAR in taking intercultural communication across disciplines.

> > 6. Michael and K.S.Sitaram co-chairedsix Rochester Intercultural Conferences from 1995-2001: 1995-the twenty-fifth anniversary of
the founding of the Intercultural Division of ICA by K.S. Sitaram: 1996- Intercultural, International, and Global Media; 1997- Communication, Technology, and Cultural Values; (no conference in 1998); 1999-Social Justice and Human Rights; 2000-War and Peace; and 2001-
Computer Mediated Communication. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael or youmade to these conferences?

> I did not attend any of these conferences.

> > 7. From 1998-2004, Michael's (Ablex, Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group) "Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium" series published about 17 or 18 books. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael made in this context as the series editoror your own
contributionsto the study of intercultural and international communication?

> I have not seen any of these books.

> > 8. During Michael's years of teaching in China, 2001-2008,he often posted "China Continuing" comments to CRTNET. Many of them
have been posted also on his website, www.michaelprosser.com .Can you comment on any contributions which Michael made to the
study of intercultural communication through these comments or essays?

> I am not familiar with the website.

> > 9. Are there other contributions which Michael or you have made to the study of intercultural communication which are worthy of
note?

> I am sorry to make such a poor contribution to your study. My work has been largely limited to psychology and counseling.

> > 10. Since my thesis wil be also a comparative study of contemporaries of Michael's contributions to the study of intercultural
communication,
> > please comment, including book titles, on your own majorcontributions to the study of intercultural communication

> See my website.
.

> > 11. Are there others who know Michael's contributions well? If so, could you provide their names and email addresses if possible?

> Michael would be a better source.

> > 12. Please indicate if I can quote you by namein my thesis, or any later publications that might result from the thesis.

> Yes.

> > Thank you for your time and consideration. I would appreciate your reply as soon as possible as my thesis must be finished by March.

> > Sincerely,

> > Peter Zhang
> > MA student in intercultural communication
> > Shanghai International Studies University

long zhang <petersisu@yahoo.com.cn> wrote:
Dear Professor Satrosta

I am writing my MA thesis in intercultural communication at the Shanghai International Studies University about the contributions of
Michael H. Prosser and others to the development of the study of intercultural communication (1960s and 1970's especially and late
1990-2008 especially). Other contributions will also be considered. I would appreciate it if you can respond to any of the following
questions for which you have knowledge or interest.

1. Are there contributions to the development of the intercultural communication field by Michael Prosser that you consider noteworthy?

Dr. Prosser produced the first PhD in Intercultural Communication while at Indiana University. He held several conferences to exchange
syllabi in intercultural communication. He was among the founders of the Intercultural divisions of SCA (now NCA), ICA, & SIETAR. He
produced books on intercultural communication as early as 1973. He sent his graduate students to present at panels at SCA, ECA, and
CSCA. (This is a brief introduction.)

2. If you are familiar with his early books such as his edited Intercommunication among Nations and Peoples (1973) and his authored book The Cultural Dialogue: An Introduction to Intercultural Communication (1978, and reprinted in 1985 and 1989), were there any specifici
contributions which these books or your own books made to the development of the intercultural communication field?

My name appears in small print on the Intercommunication book, as assistant to the editor. I also worked on Prosser's books on Sow the Wind and Reap the Whirlwind (heads of state addressing the UN general assembly). The Intercommunication book was more
interdisciplinary than almost any book of its day. It was early, it forced us to look closely at definitions, and it gave us a platform to see i
ntercultural communication more rhetorically than is done today.

My & Chen's Foundations of Intercultural Communication is still the best book available for basing intercultural communication in a context
broad enough to include Chinese philosophy, communication theory, intercultural listening, and theorybuilding in intercultural
communication. The Foundations book has been reprinted once, and will be printed next year in China as well. Our three editions for
NCA were very significant works, and were ahead of their time.

3. If you are familiar with his later books, his coauthored book with Ray T. Donahue Diplomatic Discourse: International Conflict at the
United Nations (1997), and his coedited books with K.S. Sitaram, Civic Discourse: Multiculturalism, Cultural Diversity and Global
Communication (1998), and Civic Discourse: Intercultural, International, and Global Media (1999), and with his coedited book with Steve J. Kulich, Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication (2007), are there any contributions by Michael or your books which you
consider relevant to the study of intercultural communication?

I haven't made use of these books to date.

4. Michael was the chair of the first three conferences in North America to establish the field of intercultural communication: 1971 Indiana
University: Brown County, Indiana consultation, 1973 University of Virginia Syllabus Building Conference, 1974 Chicago Speech
Communication Association, International Communnication Association, and SIETAR SCA Summer Conference, using the "Outline of
Intercultural Communication" by Edward C. Stewart as a basis for discussion. Can you comment on any of these conferences and their
contribution or yours in these conferences to the study of intercultural communication?

These were the early days of the field. The conferences put me into contact with Ed Stewart, David Hoopes, KS Sitaram, Ed Glenn, WS
Howell, Nobleza Asuncion-Lande, and many other persons, who shaped my definitions of the field and influenced my perceptions of where the field might go in future years. Prosser had the insight to see that networking at this early daye would be foundational foe subsequent developments in the field.

5. Michael chaired the International and Intercultural Communication Commission (later Division) of the Speech Communication Association
from 1971-1973; was the third Chair of the Intercultural Divsion of the International Communication Association, 1974 or 1975-1977, and a founding Governing Council member, 1973-1977, and later President of SIETAR International, 1984-86. Can you comment on any
contributions that Michael or you made to these organizations during these periods or later?

Michael was a Founding Father, and I was a Founding Bastard Son, to these fields. I later came to hold some of these same posts, and
was in on the discussions these early years. We insinuated intercultural communication into the offerings of existing societies. Today,
most divisions do something (inter)cultural, but in those days, it was a distinct area of study, and we wrestled with whether domestic and
international cultural communication worked by the same premises.

6. Michael and K.S.Sitaram co-chaired six Rochester Intercultural Conferences from 1995-2001: 1995-the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
founding of the Intercultural Division of ICA by K.S. Sitaram: 1996- Intercultural, International, and Global Media; 1997- Communication,
Technology, and Cultural Values; (no conference in 1998); 1999-Social Justice and Human Rights; 2000-War and Peace; and 2001-
Computer Mediated Communication. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael or you made to these conferences?

I never found the money to attend these gatherings. I would be wiser if I had!

7. From 1998-2004, Michael's (Ablex, Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group) "Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium" series published
about 17 or 18 books. Can you comment on any contributions that Michael made in this context as the series editor or your own
contributions to the study of intercultural and international communication?

Again, I made little use of these books. I had launched my own research, and started my own journal (The Howard Journal of
Communications), so that my time was consumed in tasks that were closer to home.

8. During Michael's years of teaching in China, 2001-2008, he often posted "China Continuing" comments to CRTNET. Many of them have
been posted also on his website, www.michaelprosser.com . Can you comment on any contributions which Michael made to the study of
intercultural communication through these comments or essays?

I didn't read many of these postings, though people mentioned them to me. I was just too busy to do much Internet surfing.
9. Are there other contributions which Michael or you have made to the study of intercultural communication which are worthy of note?

Everything we did was worthy of note. Or not. Maybe Dr. Prosser will tell you about his cigar store figurine in Chicago.

We were at the dawn of a discipline. I was the first PhD, Prosser was the first PhD mentor, in intercultural. We were definitional. I
started a journal that was one of the few publication outlets for many years in intercultural. We networked everywhere. All roads to
intercultural started from Indiana or Minnesota. I have spent 37 years at the graduate level between UVa and Howard University. Prosser has been active longer than that.

We should learn how to finally quit, and to leave the field in the hands of MA students writing a thesis in Shanghai.

10. Since my thesis wil be also a comparative study of contemporaries of Michael's contributions to the study of intercultural
communication,
please comment, including book titles, on your own major contributions to the study of intercultural communication.

The Howard Journal of Communications was my primary contribution to the field. It stands on its own as a unique achievement.

Besides that, there were books:
2007
Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (1998, 2005, 2007). Foundations of Intercultural Communication. Reprinted in the People’s Republic of
China. Forthcoming.
2005
Starosta, W. J. & Chen, G-m. Taking Stock in Intercultural Communication: Where to Now?, Vol. 28. NCA Intercultural and international
communication Annual

Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (2005). Foundations of Intercultural
Communication. Lanham, MD: University Press of America (reissued).
2004
Chen, G-m & Starosta, W.J. (Eds.). Dialogue on diversity. Vol. 27, NCA Intercultural and international communication Annual.
2003
Starosta, W. J. & Chen, G-m. Ferment in the Intercultural Field: Axiology/ Value/ Praxis (Eds.) (two chapters authored). Vol. 26, NCA
Intercultural and international communication Annual. Five Oaks: Sage.
2000
Communication and Global Society, (ed.) (two chapters authored) with G-m Chen. Peter Lang Press, Berlin, Boston
1998
Foundations of Intercultural Communication, second author with Guo-ming Chen. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
1973
Assistant to Editor, M. Prosser (ed.), Intercommunication Among Nations and Peoples (N.Y.: Harper and Row, 1973)

And I have served on or read for some 20 international communication journals.

11. Are there others who know Michael's contributions well? If so, could you provide their names and email addresses if possible?

I presume you have the name of Barbara Monfils, Associate Provost at Wisconsin Whitewater?

12. Please indicate if I can quote you by name in my thesis, or any later publications that might result from the thesis.

Please use my humble name in any way you see fit.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I would appreciate your reply as soon as possible as my thesis must be finished by March.

Sincerely,


Peter Zhang
MA student in intercultural communication
Shanghai International Studies University

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