Communication in Everyday Life: A Social Interpretation

by Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz

(This book) is a clearly written and well-documented review of social communication theory, and an alternative to texts which focus primarily on the psychology of interpersonal communication and tend to exclude the social perspective on understanding interpersonal communication. Leeds-Hurwitz provides a welcome addition to introductory texts on the study of human communication. (This) is for teachers who have searched for an introductory textbook which presents a comprehensive argument for a social interactionist perspective on communication in a way understandable to students. Most refreshing is that Leeds-Hurwitz does not talk down to the reader, integrates (not just cites) original sources, and illustrates the concepts with ethnographic research…. Mark Kuhn, University of Maine, Orono in Communication Education

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz is Director of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, operating under the auspices of the Council for Communication Associations, and Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She has been Harron Family Endowed Chair of Communication at Villanova University, Chercheur invité at the Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon, France, Senior Fellow at the Collegium de Lyon Institut d’études avancées, and Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Portugal. She has served UNESCO as an expert on intercultural communication, presented at the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Azerbaijan, and organized conferences on intercultural dialogue held in Istanbul, Turkey and Macau, China.

Leeds-Hurwitz is interested in how people construct meanings for themselves and others through interaction; how cultural identity is constructed and maintained; and how conflicting identities or meanings can be conveyed simultaneously. She studies disciplinary history to learn why scholars examine particular topics in specific ways, often stops to consider particular research methods or theories, and always takes an interdisciplinary approach to problems.