First Russian national communication research colloquium held in Moscow, July 1-4.

This article focuses on the first national communication research colloquium jointly sponsored by the Speech Communication Association and the International Center for Human Values in Moscow, Russia from July 1 to 4, 1996. Delegates visited sites of importance to Russian history, including a walking tour of the Kremlin and Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, and the GUM department store. Topics covered in papers presented the event include The Reciprocal Impact of Communication and Culture, Argumentation and Public Policy, Family Communication, the Speech Communication Curriculum, Interpersonal Communication of Russians and Americans, and the Role of Communication in a Democratic Society. The program on family communication featured four researchers namely Mary Ann Fitzpatrick, Judy Pearson, Mikhail Matskovsky and Tatiana Gurko. Delegates noted that voting procedures during the presidential runoff election looked very similar to those used in the U.S. Valentina Karcheva, assistant dean of the Department of Sociology at Moscow State University, gave an analysis on the use of public opinion polling in the campaign of Russian President Boris Yeltsin as a way of assessing the effectiveness of advertising and personal appearance by the politician.