About IAIR

Our Philosophy

Our Philosophy

The Primary Purpose of the Academy is to promote intercultural understanding. Accordingly, it promotes and encourages research, theory, and practice in the field of intercultural relations. The Academy also strives to disseminate to the public information regarding intercultural relations and it encourages interchanges between people with an interest in intercultural relations. The ultimate goal of the Academy is to promote world peace and prosperity through applications of academic principles and research findings to the betterment of human realities.

In furtherance of the goals, the Academy is an explicitly interdisciplinary forum which promotes and facilitates intercultural research in the areas of Psychology, Sociology, Communication, Education, Anthropology, Management, Political Science, and other areas of specialization in the social sciences and practice. It is our mission to encourage the highest quality empirical research and practice aimed at understanding the ways in which cultures interact and the results, for good or ill, of the sequae of those interactions. It is also our belief that the research done by our members can help to reduce the worst consequences of certain types of intercultural interactions that have bedeviled humankind from the beginning of recorded time.

We invite all serious scholars of intercultural relations to join with us in this important enterprise--for we can have no greater purpose as scientists than reducing and, hopefully, eliminating intercultural conflict at all levels from the individual and groups to whole societies and nations.

Our History

Our History

The Beginning of the Academy
A group of about a dozen distinguished researchers from a number of fields realized that while there was intercultural research going on in a number of disciplines, those studies rarely, if ever, crossed academic lines. Hence, they felt that while their research could benefit from other points-of-view, there was no venue where such views and approaches could be appreciated and, then, incorporated in their own work. Through the joint efforts and support of the Intercultural Communication Institute and the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, the founding group met in Portland, Oregon in the Summer of 1997.

The group (called the “Organizing Committee,” see the listing below) set about creating a viable organization that would provide a venue for senior scholars to meet and exchange ideas as well provide a mechanism to encourage students and young scholars to enter the field. From the initial 10 members, the Academy has grown to close to well over 200 Fellows, Members, and Students scattered in every continent around the world. Communication between members occurs through email, the pages of the Academy’s official journal, The International Journal of Intercultural Relations, biennial conferences, books, and other virtual modes of communications.

The Organizing Committee consisted of researchers (Stella Ting-Toomey, Rosita Albert, Dharm Bhawuk, Dan Landis, Ken Cushner, Ed Dunbar, Gary Fontaine) as well as practitioners (Michael Paige, George Renwick, Fred Casmir, Janet Bennett, Milton Bennett, Bruce LaBrack, Peggy Pusch). They came from the disciplines of Psychology (Landis, Dunbar), Education (Cushner, Paige, Pusch), Communication (Ting-Toomey, Albert, J. Bennett, M. Bennett, Casmir, Fontaine), Anthropology (LaBrack) and Management (Bhawuk). Most had reached across disciplinary lines to inform their thinking and research.

Members of the Academy, as mentioned above, are located on all the continents but, more important, the original aim of the Academy to be interdisciplinary has been realized by the observation that they come from every conceivably relevant discipline. The pages of IJIR and the presentations at the biennial conferences range far and wide across the disciplinary landscape. In truth, we are creating a new discipline that has tremendous potential to make a better world.

Officers

Officers of the Academy (2019-2021)

President (2019-2021)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Shanghai International Studies University, PRC

Immediate Past-President (2017-2019)
David Sam, University of Bergen, Norway

Incoming President (2021-2023)
Adam Komisarof, Keio University, Japan

Secretary
Ripley Smith, Bethel University, USA

Treasurer and Executive Director
Kenneth Cushner, Kent State University, USA

Editor in Chief, IJIR
Dina Birman, University of Miami, USA

Board Members of the Academy

2017-2021
Nan Sussman, College of Staten Island and Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
Janet Bennett, The Intecultural Communication Institute
Justine Dandy, Edith Cowan University, Australia
Kelly McKay-Semmler, University of South Dakota

2019-2023
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., National University of Singapore, Singapore
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., University of Applied Sciences East Switzerland, Switzerland
Joep Hofhuis,
Jonas Kunst

Permanent Member of the Board
Dan Landis, University of Hawaii, USA

Standing Committee Chairs
Fellows Day
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Keio University, Japan
Dharm Bhawuk, University of Hawaii, USA
Lily Arasarathnam-Smith,

Lifetime Achievement Award
Dharm Bhawuk, University of Hawaii, USA
John W Berry
Harry Triandis
Dan Landis, University of Hawaii, USA

Early Career Award Committee
Ron Fischer, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Janet Bennett, The Intecultural Communication Institute
Shuang Liu

William B. Gudykunst Outstanding Book Award
Rosita Albert, University of Minnesota, USA
Jane Jackson
Cookie Stephan

The Rae and Dr. Dan Landis Outstanding Dissertation Award
Katja Hanke, GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., National University of Singapore, Singapore (co-chair)
Jonas R Kunst
Justine Dandy, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Conference Selection Committee
Ken Cushner, Kent State University, USA
Dharm Bhawuk, University of Hawaii, USA
Jennifer Mahon, University of Nevada, Reno, USA

Scientific Committee
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (chair), Shanghai International Studies University, PRC
Jennifer Mahon (co-chair), University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Ken Cushner, Kent State University, USA
David Sam, University of Bergen, Norway
Katja Hanke, GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany

Committee on Conference Programs
Ken Cushner, Kent State University, USA

Publications and Media Committee
Dina Birman, University of Miami, USA

Membership Committee
Adam Komisarof, Keio University, Japan
Saba Safdar, University of Guelph in Guelph, Canada
Justine Dandy, Edith Cowan University, Australia
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., University of Applied Sciences East Switzerland, Switzerland (co-chair)
Mike Tucker

PhD Workshop Ad-hoc Committee
Katja Hanke (chair), GESIS-Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
Kelly McKay-Semmler (co-chair), University of South Dakota
Jonas R Kunst,
Alexander English

Webmasters
N. Anand Chandrasekar, Center for Creative Leadership (Singapore) and University of Hawaii at Manoa (USA)
Ripley Smith, Bethel University, USA

Where available, links to personal websites or emails of an Officer, Member of the Board, or a Committee Chair are provided.