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Yvonne and Joseph dive deep into talk about culture from the brain-mind-science perspective. They share their excitement about new areas of research, such as cultural neuroscience, which is revolutionizing our understanding of culture and the mind. They discuss the importance of cultural “A-ha” moments of insight—these remind us the intercultural experiences touch us at deep levels of the self, and help us grow.

Yvonne and Joseph reflect on the life and legacy of the intercultural visionary thinker Edward Hall. Trained as an anthropologist, he broke with orthodoxy and pioneered the study of intercultural communication with the publication of his 1959 book, The Silent Language. He believed that intercultural understanding is harder than we might think, because we are deeply influenced by the cultural “programming” or our unconscious mind. This episode is in three parts: Part 1 – The shape of your head Part 2 – Shaking hands with Hall Part 3 – The brain-scan revolution Yvonne and Joseph discuss how thinking about cultural difference has evolved over time, introduce some key ideas of Hall, and reflect on how Hall’s work anticipated the work of cultural neuroscience and cultural psychology today.

What’s it like to work as an intercultural specialist? Joseph and Yvonne share their experience doing intercultural work in NGOs, business, government, and education. They talk about how they got started, the origins of this this field, and where it’s headed. They discuss the promise of brain and mind sciences to bring fresh ideas and deeper insights.

When we cross borders or live between different cultural worlds, we discover new parts of the self and learn to see the world in new ways ways. In Episode 1, host Joseph Shaules introduces the themes of this podcast. It will explore the psychological impact of intercultural experiences, informed by the sciences of brain, culture and mind. This podcast is inspired by the work of Edward T. Hall, who believed that deep forms of intercultural understand are harder than they might seem, that intercultural experiences can be transformational, and who wouldn’t be surprised by the level of conflict and misunderstanding in our 21st century “global village”.