【Article by GCIT】
At the beginning of a new semester, Yushan Scholar Professor Chin-Chuan Lee gave a talk titled “Internationalizing International Communication,” which was invited by the Distinguished Professor Trisha Lin, the Director of the Master’s Program in Global Communication and Innovation Technology (GCIT) at National Chengchi University. The participants were stimulated by his critical argument that the development of Western international communication discipline is not international enough, but was primarily concerned with topics politically important to the West.
Professor Lee is globally well-known Communication Scholar and the Fellow of the International Communication Association (ICA). He discussed how Western models were projected into international communication studies' topics, methods, questions, and vocabularies. He emphasised that no culture or theory can be considered a "one size fits all" solution. He critiqued the dominance of Western hegemony, particularly U.S. hegemony, which forces scholars worldwide to learn from Western perspectives. At the same time, he rejected the idea of essentializing theories of Asian media or promoting notions of Chinese exceptionalism.
Among his notable publications are Media Imperialism Reconsidered, Global Media Spectacle, and Internationalizing “International Communication”. An English version of Crisscrossing Communication Research 《傳播縱橫》is forthcoming from Routledge later this year. Using Chinese media as an example, he opposed the creation of separate, specialized theories for Asian or Chinese media. Instead, he believed that the studies of Chinese media should not be isolated but integrated with broader theoretical and methodological advances in international communication. More importantly, they should align with larger trends in the humanities and social sciences.
Toward the end, Professor Lee highlighted the importance of asking original localized questions vital to students interested in pursuing International Communication careers. “The whole point is a cosmopolitan, open-minded approach. Always look for a new way to observe the world,” he concluded. GCIT students asked questions about improving their international communication practices through learning, unlearning, and relearning process.