Historical Intersections of Intercultural Studies (I)

Like culture itself, the field of intercultural studies is a product of historical events and encounters. The values, norms, beliefs, and experiences of previous generations shape our current perspectives and procedures in this field. Inversely, our intercultural positionality also leads to different interpretations of history. We know that the same events will belong to different stories and assume a variable significance in more than one narrative (Louis Mink). Thus, we should place greater importance on the intersection between our intercultural trajectories and their histories both in research and in practical activities, as histories provide the contexts necessary to understand the dimensions of our intercultural activities. Modifying the approaches of recent inquiries into histories of the field, this volume addresses and expands on earlier lines of research, while it also acknowledges and qualifies the common overemphasis on Western philosophical roots.

Michael Steppat (Ph.D. from University of Münster, Germany) is Professor of Literature in English at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and an international faculty member at Shanghai International Studies University. He has been a Fulbright scholar at the University of Texas (Austin) and professor at Arizona State University. He has received Fellowships from Amherst College and the John Kluge Center. Book publications include Honor, Face and Violence: Cross-Cultural Representations of Honor Cultures and Face Cultures and Literature and Interculturality (3 volumes).

Steve J. Kulich (Ph.D. from Humboldt University of Berlin) is Distinguished Professor at Shanghai International Studies University, Founder/Co-Director of its Intercultural Institute, and has served as President of the International Academy of Intercultural Research (IAIR). Widely published, he co-edited the Vol. 36(6) Special Issue on Intercultural Pioneers for the International Journal of Intercultural Relations (2012) and is Founding Co-Editor of both the Intercultural Research topical volume series and the Journal for Intercultural Communication & Interactions Research (JICIR).