Professor Thomas Herdin
Thomas Herdin, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Science at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Within the department, he has held the significant leadership position of Head of the Department of Transcultural Communication since 2017.
His core academic work centers on Communication Science, with a pronounced intercultural and transcultural communication expertise. His research explores the complexities of communication across cultural boundaries, engaging with related areas such as cultural studies, cross-cultural comparison, and cultural diversity. Geographically, his work frequently involves comparative analyses between European settings and Asian nations, notably China and Thailand.
He heads the Division of Transcultural Communication at the University of Salzburg, focusing on topics including intercultural competence, cultural intelligence, cultural transformation processes, socio-cultural resilience, culture, and the brain and communication issues from a cultural theory perspective.
Tom is known for his contributions to several key thematic areas. A significant portion of his research investigates value changes, particularly within rapidly transforming societies like China. He has also contributed to the critical discussion surrounding visual communication and culture, advocating for the de-Westernization of the field and highlighting perspectives from the Global South. Read De-Westernizing Visual Communication and Culture: Perspectives from the Global South.
A defining characteristic of Toms’s research is its consistent engagement with international contexts. His research explores the influence of location-based media technologies like GeoMedia on intercultural competence. He has extensive expertise in tourism studies, covering areas like sustainable tourism, cultural exchange, and retirement migration. He also examines the complex interplay between culture and technology (ICTs) and has participated in applied security research projects. Read World Heritage Thailand: Between Temples and T-Shirts.
His academic journey began with him earning his Master’s Degree in Philosophy in 1995. His master’s thesis, titled Public Relations and Corporate Communications in Central America, was based on extensive field research conducted in Nicaragua and Costa Rica between 1993 and 1994. This early work was supported by a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry of Science and Education.
He earned his Ph.D. in 2001 with his dissertation, “Intercultural Competence in Management in Thailand,” which involved significant field research in Thailand from 1998 to 1999 and was funded by a scholarship from the Austrian Ministry. This early emphasis on grounded, experiential research in diverse global settings set the trajectory for his subsequent career.
His career at the University of Salzburg started in 2004 when he was appointed Associate Professor for Communication Science. Before this, he gained teaching experience as a lecturer at various international academic institutions in the USA, China, Great Britain, Canada, Thailand, Turkey, Sweden, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, and Nicaragua, between 2002 and 2003.
His significant academic milestone was completing his Habilitation (Venia Docendi) in Communication Science at the University of Salzburg in 2017. This qualification was based on his publication Werte, Kommunikation und Kultur: Fokus China. His career at the University of Salzburg has been marked by steady advancement, culminating in his appointment as Head of the Department of Transcultural Communication in 2017.
Tom’s research portfolio includes numerous major projects spanning over two decades. Key projects include a decade-long study (2007–2017) on Value changes in transforming China in collaboration with Fudan University, research on Geo-Media (2016–2017), and studies on retirement migration (2021–2022) and planned research on spiritual tourism (2025–2026) in Thailand.
He also participated in security research projects like TecTREND (2018–2020) and ForStrat-Cockpit (2016–2017) with Austrian Federal Ministries. Earlier projects involved Tsunami research in Thailand (2005), CRM in the Alps (2005–2006), regional development in Austria (“Live in 2014”, 2002–2005), eco-tourism in Nepal (“Gaurishankar Trek,” 2001), and tourism and cultural exchange inquiry in Denmark (2003).
Tom’s research is highly collaborative, involving partnerships with institutions such as Fudan University in Shanghai, Mahidol University in Thailand, Austrian Federal Ministries, BOKU Vienna, and ETH Zurich. He serves as an Adjunct Researcher at the Fudan Development Institute.
Tom emphasizes culturally sensitive approaches and extensive field research. Theoretically, he takes a critical stance, questioning rigid typologies like individualism vs. collectivism and critiquing binary opposition frameworks.
He advocates for more nuanced perspectives and explores concepts like the atmospheric dimension of communication, arguing it should be considered a third axiom alongside Watzlawick’s content and relational aspects to understand communication holistically. His article Deconstructing Typologies: Overcoming the Limitations of the Binary Opposition Paradigm exemplifies this critical stance. He has also discussed the potential and limitations of automated classification of Big Data in social science.
Tom’s book publications also represent significant contributions to his fields of study. He coedited Kurt Luger: MedienKulturTourismus. Transkulturelle Befunde über Weltbild und Lebenswelt, Tourismus im Spannungsfeld von Polaritäten, Tourismus: Herausforderung: Zukunft, and Innovationen in der Tourismusforschung.
Beyond authoring and coediting books, Tom was the editor for a special double issue of the Medien Journal titled Media, Culture and Modernization in China.
Beyond his research and teaching, Tom is involved in various professional roles and service activities. He is Cofounder and Coordinator of the China-Austria Master Exchange Program (MCM Program), facilitating international academic exchange. He is a member of prominent academic organizations, including the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).
His service includes board memberships at Südwind Salzburg, INIT (Institute of Interdisciplinary Tourism Research), and the FMK&T research group (Media, Communication and Tourism). He also holds positions with the Scientific Advisory Board of the Neuro Performance Group and the Verein zur Verzögerung der Zeit (Society for the Deceleration of Time).
Tom’s work also includes coaching for personality development and offering breathing workshops. While distinct from his university role, these engagements reflect a holistic interest in communication, personal well-being, resilience, and human understanding. Professionally framed, these activities complement his scholarly focus on effective human interaction and adaptation.
Tom is also a rafting guide and kayak instructor and owns a flight license for hang gliding and paragliding.
Visit his Home page, Academic page, Academic Research page, ResearchGate page, and LinkedIn profile. Follow him on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X.