Russian Communication Association holds historic first conference.

This article reports on the first conference done by the Russian Communication Association (RCA), newly affiliated with the National Communication Association (NCA), at Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University in Pyatigorsk, Russia from June 3 to 6, 2002. Nine NCA members plus over 50 scholars from throughout Russia met for a series of plenary and paper presentations as well as dialogue sessions and round table discussions focused on the conference theme, Communicating Across Differences. Olga Matyash, President of RCA, presided over conference business sessions in which attendees approved the RCA constitution and governance structure of the association. A field research day to Dombai in the spectacular Caucus Mountains provided an opportunity for further discussion and collaboration. Russian scholars presented research on topics such as: Teaching Elements of Speech Communication in the Russian Conflict Management Course, Cultural Concepts of Political Discourse, Communication Competence as a Focus of Communication Education, The Principles of System-Dynamic Analysis in Cross-Cultural Communication, and Logical Theory of Communication. The conference also included discussion sections devoted to intercultural communication, computer-mediated communication, international terminology in communication, emotive/emotional issues in communication, communication and language, business and professional communication, organizational communication, persuasion and argumentation with applications to culture, and techniques in communication processes.