In light of the current discussion on campus regarding our multi-cultural student body, I wanted to take a moment to inform our faculty and student body at Penn Stae about ways in which the Department of Speech Communication is addressing issues of diversity and communicating across ethnic and international boundaries.

First of all, while I'm sure that all diversity-focused courses in departments around campus are beneficial, courses currently offered by and in development in the Department of Speech Communication specifically address the centrality of communication practices in shaping cross-cultural understanding.

Moreover, we offer two first-year seminars titled "Race Talk" and "Communicating Race and Identity."

These courses are dedicated to engaging students in the critical examination of

their personal communicative practices with others from similar and different backgrounds.

Further, the faculty teaching these courses are committed to encouraging students to enact this knowledge in their own personal interactions.

Increased knowledge and skill in the area of cross -cultural communication may not be a panacea for the deficits of our university community regarding diversity issues.

Nevertheless, courses in this area can begin to educate our students about ways in which language and communicative practices serve to reflect and create our world and those with whom we interact.