Negotiating Cultural Encounters: Narrating Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communication

by Han Yu (Editor), Gerald Savage

Discusses the challenges of intercultural communication inengineering, technical, and related professional fields

Given today's globalized technical and engineering environment, intercultural communication is an essential topic for engineers, other technical professionals, and technical communicators tolearn. Engineering programs, in particular, need to think about howto address the ABET requirement for students to develop globalcompetence and communication skills. This book will help readerslearn what intercultural communication is like in theworkplace--which is an important first step in gainingintercultural competence.

Through narratives based on the real experiences of workingprofessionals, Negotiating Cultural Encounters: NarratingIntercultural Engineering and Technical Communication covers arange of design, development, research, and documentationprojects--offering an authentic picture of today'sinternational workplace. Narrative contributors present firsthandexperience and perspectives on the complexities and challenges ofworking with multicultural team members, international vendors, anddiverse customers; additional suggested readings and discussionquestions provide students with information on relevant culturalfactors and invite them to think deeply and critically about thenarratives.

This collection of narratives:


Responds to the need for updated firsthand information inintercultural communication and will help us prepare workplaceprofessionals
Covers various topics such as designing e-commerce websites, localizing technical documentation, and translating workplacesafety materials
Provides hands-on studies of intercultural professionalcommunication in the workplace
Is targeted toward institutions that train engineers fortechnical communication tasks in diverse socioculturalenvironments
Presents contributions from a diverse group ofprofessionals
Recommends additional material for further pursuit
A book unlike any other in its field, Negotiating CulturalEncounters is ideal for all engineering and technicalcommunication professionals seeking to better communicate theirideas and thoughts in the multicultural workplaces of theworld.

280 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2012

About the author

Han Yu is professor of scientific and technical communication at Kansas State University. Her research focuses on communicating science and technology to general readers.

Han's latest popular science book Mind Thief: The Story of Alzheimer's is a comprehensive and engaging history of Alzheimer’s that demystifies efforts to understand the disease.

Han's earlier works include The Other Kind of Funnies: Comics in Technical Communication ; Communicating Genetics: Visualizations and Representations ; Negotiating Cultural Encounters: Narrating Intercultural Engineering and Technical Communication ; and Scientific Communication: Practices, Theories, and Pedagogies .