The public and private Dean Barnlund

In the 1960s and 1970s, well before intercultural communication existed in any well-defined way, Dean Barnlund was synthesizing his interests in art, architecture, travel, psychology, and interpersonal communication into a perspective that offered a fresh way to look at human interaction, especially across cultures. As a consummate educator, he influenced generations of communication students and professionals to put the creation of meaning at the center of communication. Dean emphasized that this required us to integrate multiple disciplines and to make a commitment to both the humanistic and scientific paradigms.

► Dean Barnlund synthesized humanities and the scientific paradigm to examine culture. ► Meaning-centered communication is transactional, reflexive, and context-bound. ► The focus of intercultural communication is on process, not content.