ABSTRACT
Initiating a conversation on globalization and its impact on scientific and tech - nical communication programs can be intimidating, if not overwhelming. Indeed, besides its popularity, its rampant usage in the academy, and the fast-growing research it has enacted, globalization is also in many ways a semantico-referential “riddle” that involves a plethora of different aspects (tech nological, historical, cultural, linguistic, political, social, ethical, just to name a few).1 As a corollary, globalization offers many research possibilities that can easily span across disci - plinary borders. Without negating the multifaceted dimen sion of the topic, the present chapter focuses on a very specific characteristic, that is, the program - matic weight of the global context and its significance for defining the mission of technical communication programs. More specifically, this chapter grapples with such questions as
• What exactly is the programmatic weight of globalization in technical com - munication? How is it manifested and what is the history of programmatic work in this domain?
