GREGORY BROOKS & JOSÉ COREAS
HuMaNiZiNG SoCiaL IMPaCT CoMMuNiCaTioN
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uthor of Nonviolent Communication: a Language of Life, Marshall B. Rosenburg, wrote that “We only feel dehumanized when we get trapped in the derogatory images of other people or thoughts of wrongness about ourselves.” In the text, he connects violent or dehumanizing communication with societal hurt, and in a world where communication happens everyday and increasingly far beyond our geographic localities via virtual platforms, it is important that our communication becomes a means to humanize one another versus a tool for hurt or pain. To better understand the role of communication and how to humanize people we interact with, assistant professor of Communication Studies at UVU, Dr. Leandra Hernandez, provided valuable
information through an interview. She states that communicating humanely does not require us to have a similar identity to those we interact with, but it does help. Communication between cultures can be hard to bridge and according to Dr. Hernandez, situational awareness helps individuals anticipate highly charged stories. Empathy is also a key component in communication, especially between people of different cultures. The role of empathy in communication is to understand the feelings that are being portrayed and the perspectives that shape another’s views. Cross-cultural communications and those across ideological differences therefore require compassionate relationality, an empathetic engagement in the complexity of identity and perspective, as well as a willingness to maintain humanity for others and self.
