Communicating Across Cultures in U.S. Higher Education is a professional development workshop for instructors on our campus who teach international and multilingual students. As our classrooms become increasingly global, even well-intentioned interactions can be shaped by differing cultural expectations around communication. This session focuses on how those differences show up in everyday teaching practices such as feedback, classroom participation, interpersonal interactions, office-hour conversations, etc., and how small shifts in communication can make expectations clearer and interactions more productive. Through discussion and practical examples, participants will explore common cross-cultural communication patterns and consider strategies that support understanding, inclusion, and student engagement while maintaining high academic standards. The session highlights how expectations around communication shape our teaching experiences and what can help make them easier to understand across cultures.
