Crossroads on the Silk Road: accounts of a U.S.-American faculty member’s culture shock and adaptation in Uzbekistan

ABSTRACT

The knowledge of and experience with culture shock and intercultural communication come under analysis in this autoethnography of a U.S.-American faculty member’s Fulbright teaching experience in Uzbekistan. As a relatively new country couched under the blanket of Russian and Chinese influence, Uzbekistan strives to shift its economy, language, and geopolitical connections toward the West. Cultural knowledge about Uzbekistan is likewise still hidden behind the Uzbek and Russian languages, leaving English speakers from the West with few resources to engage in predeparture uncertainty reduction. This manuscript chronicles the early days of a sojourn of a faculty member who had cognitive knowledge of intercultural communication concepts but had no immersion experiences in which to test her abilities to adapt. Anxiety uncertainty management theory offers some insight into the culture shock and adaptation experienced by this faculty member. The study benefits teachers who may enter this or similar cultures, teachers who instruct with an interpreter, and anyone seeking cultural information about Uzbekistan.

KEYWORDS:

• culture shock
• cultural adaptation
• Uzbekistan
• autoethnography

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the Uzbek colleagues who answered questions, took her to lunch, welcomed her into the work environment, and showed her the amazing hospitality and warmth of the people in Uzbekistan. Additionally, the author thanks the students who showed curiosity, tolerance, authenticity, and acceptance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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5 Olga I. Matyash, “Teaching Communication in Russia and Kazakhstan: An International Scholar’s Perspective,” in Communication Theory and Application in Post-Colonial Contexts, eds., Maureen C. Minielli, Marta N. Kukacovic, Sergei A. Samoilenko, and Micheal R. Finch with Deborrah Uecker (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022), 237–51.

6 Bahtiyar Kurambayev and Eric Freedman, “Ethics and Journalism in Central Asia: A Comparative Study of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan,” Journal of Media Ethics 35, no. 1 (2020): 31–44.

7 Elira Turdubaeva, “Communicating with Voters in Social Networks: The Case of 2011 Presidential Elections in Kyrgyzstan,” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 4, no. 9 (2013): 482–93.

8 Il’ia Bykov, Aleksandr Hradziushka, Galiya Ibrayeava, and Elira Turdubaeva, “Instant Messaging for Journalists and PR-Practitioners: A Study of Four Countries” (paper presented at the annual Internet Science Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia, October 24–26, 2018).

9 Sanobar Djumanova, “Historical Formation of the Concepts of Media Literacy Education, Fact-Checking among the Peoples of the Ancient East (on the Example of Uzbekistan),” Media Education 18, no. 4 (2022): 562–73.

10 See note 4 above.

11 William B. Gudykunst, Theorizing about Intercultural Communication (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005).

12 Charles R. Berger and Richard J. Calabrese, “Some Explorations in Initial Interactions and Beyond: Toward a Developmental Theory of Interpersonal Communication,” Human Communication Research 1, no. 2 (1975): 99–112.

13 See note 11 above.

14 Donald E. Love and William G. Powers, “Communicating Under Uncertainty: Interaction between Arab Students and Western Instructors,” Journal of Intercultural Communication 31, no. 4 (2002): 217–31.

15 Pragash Muthu Rajan, Sultana Alam, Khor Kheng Kia, and Charles Ramenn Subramaniam, “Predicting Intercultural Communication in Malaysian Public Universities from the Perspective of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) Theory,” Journal of Intercultural Communication 21, no. 1 (2021): 62–79.

16 See note 11 above.

17 Ann Neville Miller & Jennifer A. Samp, “Planning Intercultural Interaction: Extending Anxiety/Uncertain Management Theory,” Communication Research Reports 24, no. 2 (2007): 87–95.

18 Hiroko Nishida, “Cultural Schema Theory,” in Theorizing about Intercultural Communication, ed. William B. Gudykunst (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005), 401–18.

19 John Van Maanen, Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1988).

20 Carolyn Ellis, Tony E. Adams, and Arthur P. Bochner, “Autoethnography: An Overview,” Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung 36, no. 4 (2011): 273–90.

21 See note 19 above.

22 Craig L. Engstrom, “Autoethnography as an Approach to Intercultural Training,” Rocky Mountain Communication Review 4, no 2 (2008): 17–31.

23 Lyall Crawford, “Personal Ethnography,” Communication Monographs 63, no. 2 (1996): 158–70.

24 See note 19 above.

25 Ibid.

26 Sarah J. Tracy, Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons, 2020).

27 Ibid.

28 Ibid.

29 Tony E. Adams and Stacy Holman Jones, “Telling Stories: Reflexivity, Queer Theory, and Autoethnography,” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 11, no. 2 (2011): 108–16.

30 Priscilla L. Young, “When the Honeymoon is Over: A US American’s Adaptation to Life in China,” China Media Research 12, no. 3 (2016): 17–26.

31 Chonglong Gu, “Interpreters Caught up in an Ideological Tug-of-war?: A CDA and Bakhtinian Analysis of Interpreters’ Ideological Positioning and Alignment at Government Press Conferences,” Translation & Interpreting Studies: The Journal of the American Translation & Interpreting Studies Association 14, no. 1 (2019): 1–20.

32 Alexandra Rosiers and June Eyckmans, “Investigating Tolerance of Ambiguity in Novice and Expert Translators and Interpreters: An Exploratory Study,” Translation & Interpreting 9, no. 2 (2017): 52–66.

33 See note 5 above.

34 Ibid.

35 See note 14 above.

36 See note 5 above.

37 Ibid.

38 See note 7 above.

39 Judee K. Burgoon and Amy S. Ebesu Hubbard, “Cross-cultural and Intercultural Applications of Expectancy Violations Theory and Interaction Adaptation Theory,” in Theorizing about Intercultural Communication, ed. William B. Gudykunst (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005), 149–71.

40 Ann Linguiti Pron and others, “Educating the Educators at Hue Medical College, Hue, Viet Nam,” International Nursing Review 55, no. 2 (2008): 212–18.

41 Alain De Beuckelaer, Filip Lievens, and Joost Bücker, “The Role of Faculty Members’ Cross-cultural Competencies in their Perceived Teaching Quality: Evidence from Culturally-diverse Classes in Four European Countries,” Journal of Higher Education 83, no. 2 (2012): 217–48.

42 Edward Cohen, “Personal Reflection and Experience of a Fulbright Scholar: Teaching a Mental Health Course in Vietnam’s Changing Culture,” Social Work Education 36, no. 6 (2017): 636–47.

43 See note 6 above.

44 See note 5 above.

45 See note 11 above.

46 ibid.

47 See note 5 above.

48 See note 6 above.

49 See note 4 above.

50 Elira Turdubaeva, “Political Parties and Interest Groups Members’ Patterns of Social Network Site Usage in Kyrgyzstan,” Styles of Communication 6, no. 1 (2014): 170–90.

51 See note 9 above.

52 See note 6 above.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Fulbright Scholar Program.