Description: Our Voices: Essays in Culture, Ethnicity, and Communication examines intercultural communication through an array of cultural and personal perspectives, with each of its contributors writing a first-person account of his or her experiences in the real world. While most readers are collections of scholarly essays that describe intercultural communication, Our Voices presents short, student-oriented readings chosen with an eye toward engaging the reader. Collectively, the readings tackle the key areas of communication-rhetoric, mass communication, and interpersonal communication-using a uniquely expansive and humanist perspective that provides a voice to otherwise marginalized members of society. Praised by students for its abundance of short, first-person narratives, Our Voices traverses topics as diverse as queer identity, racial discourse, and codes of communication in nontraditional families.
Review Quotes: "I especially appreciate the fact the fact that the articles are written by scholars with various cultural backgrounds. It provides credible accounts of individuals' cultural experiences...the major strength of the book as compared to others in the market is the unique angle and perspective provided by its first-hand, story-telling style." --Mei Zhong, San Diego State University
"I very much like the approach of this text. The attention to the voices of historically marginalized authors and the use of personal voice--rather than other approaches that have historically Othered and silenced us--are important in understanding the goals of this book."--Bernadette Calafell, University of Denver"The realness of this text is its most distinctive feature. In it we read about the struggles, the successes, the challenges, the learning experiences, the joys, and the spiritual uplift and rejuvenation of the authors. The articles are not too long, either, which is a joy to students, but they provide enough material to get students thinking critically about issues." --Patreece Boone, St. Louis University