Cultures, communication, and contexts of intercultural communication

As the volume overview, this chapter delineates the scope of this handbook with an eye on the up-to-date development of intercultural communication as a field of study and identifies major topics and main issues with related sub-/ fields. With the understanding that human communication is a process with varied degree of mediation, a key conceptualization matter is to clarify the affinity of and distinction between the key terms of culture and cultures, so the two are not confounded or taken as interchangeable. Organization of the handbook is explained to include four largely domain-based parts, unfolding into twenty-eight topic-based chapters and showcasing the current state of art in intercultural communication research. A brief, chapter by chapter, overview of the content is presented, followed by a concluding note on topics awaiting study for future reference.