Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • intercultural communication
  • language and social interaction
  • ethnography of communication
  • social construction theory
  • semiotic theory
Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz is Director of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where she worked from 1982 to 2010. She has been the Harron Family Endowed Chair of Communication at Villanova University, Chercheur invité at the Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon (France), Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Portugal), Senior Fellow at the Collegium de Lyon Institut d’études avancées (France), and Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University (Canada). She has served UNESCO as an expert on intercultural dialogue, presented at the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue (Azerbaijan), taught a graduate seminar for Beijing International Studies University (China), organized a conference on intercultural dialogue held at Maltepe University (Turkey), and another at the University of Macau (China).

Teaching Interests

Leeds-Hurwitz is particularly interested in the intersection of culture and interaction. Specific courses taught have included: Intercultural Communication, Cultural Identity, Communication in Everyday Life, Communication Codes, Communication Theory, Communication Research Methods, Communication and Socialization, Communication and the Human Condition, Narrative Analysis, Senior Seminar in Communication, Freshman Seminar in Communication, Socialization to Cultural Identity, Social Construction Theory, Theories of Interpersonal Communication

Research Interests

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. Interdisciplinarity History of the Discipline

Consulting Interests

The Center for Intercultural Dialogue helps scholars with interests in international / intercultural issues to locate one another across national and disciplinary boundaries. The CID serves as a clearinghouse for information, and also distributes micro-grants to encourage international travel for research purposes.

Selected Publications

2015: Facilitating intercultural dialogue through innovative conference design., Kendall-Hunt (3-22 pp.)

2015: Foreword: Creating spaces for intercultural dialogue, Kendall-Hunt (vi-viii pp.)

2015: Intercultural dialogue, John Wiley & Sons (860-868 pp.)

2015: Le français en (premiere) ligne: Creating contexts for intercultural dialogue in the classroom, Kendall-Hunt (225-244 pp.)

2015: The roots of intercultural communication in cultural anthropology: Excavating the past to understand the present., China Intercultural Communication Annual (67-84 pp.)

2015: Thick description, John Wiley & Sons (1515-1520 pp.)

2014: Alexander, B. K., Arasaratnam, L. A., Avant-Mier, R., Durham, A., Flores, L., Leeds-Hurwitz, W., Mendoza, S. L., Oetzel, J., Osland, J., Tsuda, Y., Yin, J., & Halualani, R. Featured online discussion: Identifying key intercultural urgencies, issues, and challenges in today’s world: Connecting our scholarship to dynamic contexts and historical moments. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 7(1), 4-99.,

2014: Dialogue about dialogue: Taking a (meta)communication perspective on intercultural dialogue. In L. Uladykouskaja (Ed.), Intercultural dialogue: Modern paradigm and experience of the neighborhood (pp. 6-13). Minsk: Belarusian State University.,

2014: Erving Goffman, Oxford University Press

2014: Notes in the history of intercultural communication: The Foreign Service Institute and the mandate for intercultural training. In M. K. Asante, Y. Miike, & J. Yin (Eds.), The global intercultural communication reader (2nd ed., pp. 17-34). New York: Routledge.,

2013: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. ViSA: Construction d’un objet-frontière et d’une forme de métacommunication. In L. Veillard et A. Tiberghien (Eds.), Instrumentation de la recherche en education. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. ,

2013: Winkin, Y., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Erving Goffman: A critical introduction to media and communication theory. New York: Peter Lang.,

2012: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Balancing depth with breadth: A metacomunicative perspective on the ViSA group analysis of common data. Education et Didactique, 6(3), 103-106.,

2012: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. These fictions we call disciplines. Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, 22(3-4). ,

2012: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Hoff, P.S. Arquitectura pedagógica para a mudança no ensino superior [Pedagogical architecture changes for higher education]. Coimbra: Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra. ,

2012: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Hoff, P.S. Learning matters: The transformation of U.S. higher education. Paris: Editions des Archives Contemporaines.,

2011: Hahn, C., Jorgenson, J., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. “A curious mixture of passion and reserve”: Understanding the etic/emic distinction. Education et Didactique, 5(3), 145-154.,

2010: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Ed.). The social history of language and social interaction research: People, places, ideas. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2010: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The emergence of language and social interaction research as a specialty. In W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), The social history of language and social interaction research: People, places, ideas (pp. 3-60). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2010: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Writing the intellectual history of intercultural communication. In R. T. Halualani & T. K. Nakayama (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of critical intercultural communication (pp. 21-33). Oxford: Blackwell.,

2010: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Sigman, S. J. The Penn tradition. In W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), The social history of language and social interaction research: People, places, ideas (pp. 235-270). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2009: Castor, T., Kim, S. H., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Why wiki? Using wiki software as a resource for language and social interaction. Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, 19(1-2).,

2009: Galanes, G., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Eds.) Socially constructing communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2009: Galanes, G., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Communication as social construction: Catching ourselves in the act. In G. Galanes & W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Eds.), Socially constructing communication (pp. 1-9). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Ambiguity as a solution to the “problem” of intercultural weddings. In T. Karis & K. Killian (Eds.), Intercultural couples: Exploring diversity in intimate relationships (pp. 21-30). New York: Routledge. ,

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Editor’s introduction: New technologies and interaction: Contradiction or symbiosis? Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, 19(1-2). ,

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Semiotics and semiology. In S. Littlejohn & K. Foss (Eds.), Encyclopedia of communication theory (pp. 874-876). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.,

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Social construction of reality. In S. Littlejohn & K. Foss (Eds.), Encyclopedia of communication theory (pp. 891-894). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.,

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Social interaction theories. In S. Littlejohn & K. Foss (Eds.), Encyclopedia of communication theory (pp. 899-905). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.,

2009: Why Wiki?: Using Wiki Software as a Resource for Language and Social Interaction (Available online: http://www.cios.org/getfile/V19123_EJC), Electronic Journal of Communication (35 pp.)

2009: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Social construction: Moving from theory to research (and back again) In G. Galanes & W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Eds.), Socially constructing communication (pp. 99-134). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.,

2008: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Goffman, Erving. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of communication (vol. 5, pp. 2001-2003). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.,

2006: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Social theories: Social constructionism and symbolic interactionism. In D. O. Braithwaite & L. A. Baxter (Eds.), Engaging theories in family communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 229-242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Ed.).From generation to generation: Maintaining cultural identity over time. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. ,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Introduction. Text, 25(5), 559-63.,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Introduction: Maintaining cultural identity over time. In W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), From generation to generation: Maintaining cultural identity over time (pp. 1-28). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. ,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Making marriage visible: Wedding anniversaries as the public component of private relationships. Text, 25(5), 595-631.,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The natural history approach: Bateson’s legacy. Cybernetics and Human Knowing, 12(1-2), 137-146.,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The natural history approach: Bateson’s legacy. In F. Steier (Ed.), Greogry Bateson: Essays for an ecology of ideas (pp. 137-146). Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic.,

2005: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. “Be a mensch”: Judaism as ethnic and religious identity. In W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), From generation to generation: Maintaining cultural identity over time (pp. 136-169). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. ,

2004: Castor, T., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Capstone as stepping stone. Communication Teacher, 18(2), 61-64. ,

2004: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Ethnography. In K. Fitch & R. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of language and social interaction (pp. 327-353). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ,

2004: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Intercultural weddings and the simultaneous display of multiple identities. In R. Chuang & M. Fong (Eds.), Communicating ethnic and cultural identity. (pp. 135-148). Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield.,

2004: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Rolling in ditches with shamans: Jaime de Angulo and the professionalization of American anthropology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ,

2002: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Wedding as text: Communicating cultural identities through ritual. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.,

2001: Winkin, Y., & Leeds-Hurwitz, W. La maîtrise visuelle de l’ordinaire. In Y. Winkin, Anthropologie de la communication: De la théorie au terrain (pp. 166-185). Liège, Belgium/Paris, France: De Boeck & Larcier S. A./ Éditions du Seuil.,

2000: Bourdieu, P. The biographical illusion. (Trans. Y. Winkin, & W. Leeds-Hurwitz.) In P. du Gay, J. Evans & P. Redman (Eds.), Identity: A reader (pp. 297-303). London: Sage.,

1998: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Notes in the history of intercultural communication: The Foreign Service Institute and the mandate for intercultural training. In J.N. Martin, T.K. Nakayama & L.A. Flores (Eds.), Readings in cultural contexts (pp. 15-29). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.,

1998: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Social theories, social interpretations. In J. Trent (Ed.), Communication: Views from the helm for the twenty-first century (pp. 332-336). Boston, MA: Allyn-Bacon.,

1997: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. A social account of symbols. In J. Stewart (Ed.), Beyond the symbol model: Reflections on the representational nature of language (pp. 257-273). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.,

1997: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Introducing power, context, and theory to intercultural training: A response to Chang and Holt. In A. Gonzalez & D.V. Tanno (Eds.), International and intercultural communication annual, volume 20: Politics, communication and culture (pp. 231-236). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.,

1997: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Objects as sign and code. In L.M. Oosthuizen (Ed.), Communication semiotics (pp. 51-75). Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa.,

1997: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The concept of context in social communication theory. In J. Owen, (Ed.), Context and communication behavior (pp. 319-335). Reno, NV: Context Press.,

1995: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Ed.).Social approaches to communication. New York: Guilford Press.,

1995: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Introducing social approaches. In W. Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), Social approaches to communication (pp. 3-20). New York: Guilford Press.,

1995: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Sigman, S.J., with Sullivan, S.J. Social communication theory: Communication structures and performed invocations, A revision of Scheflen’s notion of programs. In S.J. Sigman (Ed.), The consequentiality of communication (pp. 163-204). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.,

1995: Sigman, S.J., Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Re)situating social communication in consequentiality. In S.J. Sigman (Ed.), The consequentiality of communication (pp. 227-230). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.,

1994: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Crossing disciplinary boundaries: The Macy Foundation Conferences on Cybernetics as a case study in multidisciplinary communication. Cybernetica: Journal of the International Association for Cybernetics, 3/4, 349-369.,

1993: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Semiotics and communication: Signs, codes, cultures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.,

1992: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Winkin, Y. La maîtrise visuelle de l’ordinaire: l’usage des silhouettes dans l’enseignement de la communication interpersonnelle [Visual mastery of the ordinary: The use of silhouettes in teaching interpersonal communication], Les Cahiers Internationaux de Psychologie Sociale, 12, 61-76.,

1990: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Communication and the evolution of civilization: Workbook. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press.,

1990: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Notes in the history of intercultural communication: The Foreign Service Institute and the mandate for intercultural training. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 76, 262-281.,

1989: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Communication in everyday life: A social interpretation. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.,

1989: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann and the Natural History of an Interview. In A.-L. S. Silver (Ed.), Psychoanalysis and psychosis (pp. 95-127). New York: International Universities Press.,

1988: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. (Ed.). Communication and the evolution of civilization: A book of readings. Needham Heights, MA: Ginn Press ,

1988: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. La quête des structures: Gregory Bateson et l’Histoire naturelle d’un entretien [Seeking the pattern: Gregory Bateson and the Natural History of an Interview]. In Y. Winkin (Ed.), Gregory Bateson: Premier état d’un héritage (pp. 67-77). Paris: Éditions du Seuil.,

1987: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The social history of The Natural History of an Interview: A multidisciplinary investigation of social communication. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 20, 1-51. ,

1986: Leeds-Hurwitz, W., & Nyce, J.M. Linguistic text collection and the development of life history in the work of Edward Sapir. In W. Cowan, M.K. Foster & K. Koerner (Eds.), New perspectives on language, culture and personality: Proceedings of the Edward Sapir centenary conference (Ottawa, 1-3 Oct. 1984) (pp. 495-531). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.,

1985: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. The Committee on Research in Native American Languages. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 129(2), 129-60.,

1984: Leeds-Hurwitz, W. On the relationship of the ‘ethnography of speaking’ to the ‘ethnography of communication,’ Papers in Linguistics: International Journal of Human Communication, 17(1), 7-32.,

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