Book Series: Communication, Comparative Cultures, and Civilizations

Series Editor: Eric M. Kramer, Ph.D.
Publisher: Hampton Press

Dalton, P. D. (Ed.). (2008). Communication, comparative cultures, and civilizations (Vol. 1). New York: Hampton.

Callahan, C. (Ed.). (2012). Communication, comparative cultures, and civilizations (Vol. 2). New York: Hampton. 

Grace, J. & Kramer, E. M. (Eds.). (2013). Communication, comparative cultures, and civilizations (Vol. 3). New York: Hampton. 

The International Jean Gebser Society's Book Series, Communication, Comparative Cultures and Civilizations, is a peer-reviewed edited publication at the crossroads between civilizational theory and communication.

Publication Description

The aim of Communication, Comparative Cultures and Civilizations is to publish scholarly and rigorous explanations of cross-cultural and civilizational encounters in the current era and historically. The content of our volumes will be research articles that describe and explain factual conditions and cases by application of theoretical analysis. We seek articles that will enlighten our understanding of intercultural and inter-civilizational dynamics. The goal is to go beyond simple description of contingent cases of cultural exchange to developing theory that can help promote understanding civilizational and cultural dynamics at a more general and essential level of analysis.

The global nature of the world is manifested by increasing cross-boarder interactions, exchanges, and conflicts. These exchanges are between cultures, nation states and interest groups. This publication is dedicated to an understanding of the motivational characteristics that differing worldviews present. Communication, Comparative Cultures and Civilizations is devoted to explicating both the complexity of the development of cultural awareness, and the way in which civilizational modalities cross traditional lines of race, nationality and ideology.

Communication, Comparative Cultures and Civilizations is designed to provide a publication outlet for research that addresses culture and civilization through a comparative lens. Rather than seeking research that is purely descriptive in nature, the publication aims to solicit research that is directed at the discussion, development and evaluation of grand cultural theory. This publication will present research that is theoretically grounded, and research case studies that have implications for furthering theoretical claims and implications about cultures as interacting worldviews. The journal will solicit data informed tests of theory, not merely opinionated essays. The presentation of informed (factual) cases of cross-cultural and civilizational relationships will include historical, textual, economic, and sociological data. We presume that theory is best developed through analyses of actual cross-cultural and civilizational relationships. Further, our publication aims to present criticism of cultural theory including scientific descriptions of cultural impacts, conflicts, and accommodations resulting from globalization, and civilizational encounters and exchanges.

The scope of Communication, Comparative Cultures and Civilizations is what makes it unique and necessary. Specifically, there are four distinguishing characteristics of this publication. First, works published in it will be dedicated to macro-analysis of cultures. What often constitutes "cultural studies" consists of case studies focusing on thick description of cultural minutia stopping short of attempts to build theory. In contrast to this trend, this publication will be a venue for a different variety of cultural research that explains the greater "dynamics" which constitute cultural encounters and confrontations in general. Second, the contents of this publication will be distinguished from strictly anthropological research because of its dedication to the advancement of human dignity and concerns for the human community. As such, submissions will not be limited just to descriptions of culture. Instead, a facet of all submissions will be criticism focused on the implications of the phenomena under scrutiny for human rights and meaningful co-existence. This publication will accept articles without methodological bias. This constitutes the third major distinguishing characteristic of our publication. The primary criteria of papers accepted is that they are comparative in nature, center on a particular cultural phenomenon, are data driven, theoretically grounded, and demonstrate the implications of the research to our broader understanding of culture and civilizations. Thus the publication seeks to actively attract submissions on varied topics that include, but are not limited to: race, class and gender, international relations, human communication, economics, health related issues, architecture and urban planning, cultural philosophy, psychology, politics and government, technological development, family studies, education, environmental studies and studies of artistic expression. The emphasis will be on comparative understanding of various cross-culturally existing phenomena including work, family, art, politics, and economics.

All methodological approaches will be acceptable. External referees will be utilized based on their content expertise. Only texts that meet the stringent criteria of expert contents and rigorous methodology will be accepted. Appropriate methodological approaches include phenomenology, hermeneutics and semiotics, as well as methods that employ inferential and descriptive statistics. This publication is premised on the understanding that the truth or accuracy of the writer's claims is ultimately determined by the merits of the scholar's arguments, including the marshaled data, as determined by the editorial board.

Editorial Board

Archana Bhatt University of Richmond	Philip Dalton Stetson University	Soobum Lee Incheon University	Eungjun Min Rhode Island University	Kevin Williams Shepherd University
Karen Callaghan Barry University	Peter Gottwald Universitat Oldenburg	Alphonso Lingis Pennsylvania State University	Algis Mickunas Ohio University and Vilnius University	David Worth Rice University
Clark Callahan University of South Dakota	Richiko Ikeda International Christian University	Maruyama Masazumi Nagasaki University	Michael Purdy Governor's State University	S. David Zuckerman California State University, Sacramento
Ling Chen Hong Kong Baptist University	Masako Isa Okinawa Christian University	Charlton McIlwain New York University	Rosanna Vitale University of Windsor	Elaine Hsieh University of Oklhaoma