Bridging the Gap: African and African American Communication in Historically Black Colleges and Universities

In: Journal of black studies, Band 37, Heft 6, S. 805-826

Abstract

This study stands as a progressive attempt to investigate the intercultural communicative dynamic between African and African American college students enrolled in historically Black colleges and universities. As these two distinct cultures share more of the same space, it becomes increasingly pertinent to evaluate and understand the ways in which perception and stereotype affect intercultural interactions. Utilizing focus group sessions, various cultural nuances and stereotypical perceptions of each culture are candidly discussed. A combination of Hans-Georg Gadamer's phenomenology and Martin Buber's dialogue act as the theoretical lenses that organize the invaluable data collected from a focus group discussion. The underlying significance of this study is that the African diaspora created two distinct cultures that currently experience dissonance that may have otherwise not existed.