Beyond the Ivory Tower
Communication and the Public Interest
Published on 14. November 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-4051-5641-7 (ISBN)
Description
The relationship between scholarly communication research and 'real world' politics and policy is as controversial as it is important. This has never been more true than it is today, as communication in its various forms has become an increasingly central element of local, national and international affairs, rivaling capital as the coin of the public realm. Much as the journalistic profession has been forced to reconsider its role within the changing technological, economic, political and cultural environments of post-modern life, so too must the community of communication scholars more explicitly confront the question, 'what are we for?'This book is an attempt to spark, inform and shape such a discussion. It does so from a point of view - namely that we neither can nor should avoid playing a role in public and policy debates over pressing issues of the uses and abuses of communication in politics today, and that we should use our expertise to enhance the democratic potential of communications. At the same time, it remains cognizant of the real and potential dangers of stepping outside the confines of the ivory tower.To this end I will critically explore the past, present and future of communication studies with a particular focus on its relationship to politics and policy. Drawing on archival records, interviews, specific case studies, and my own five-year sojourn into the foundation world, I will attempt to explicate the successes and failures, the promises and pitfalls, of our field's uneasy but crucial interplay with the world beyond the academy.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chichester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
This is the inaugural volume in the ICA communication in the public interest book series. I am pleased to have secured Michael Delli Carpini to lauch the series--besides being the Dean of the Annenberg School of communication, he is an excellent scholar a
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-4051-5641-7 (9781405156417)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Michael X. Delli Carpini, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1975) and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1980). Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in July of 2003, Professor Delli Carpini was Director of the Public Policy program of the Pew Charitable Trusts (1999-2003), and member of the Political Science Department at Barnard College and graduate faculty of Columbia University (1987-2002), serving as chair of the Barnard department from 1995 to 1999. Delli Carpini began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Rutgers University (1980-1987). His research explores the role of the citizen in American politics, with particular emphasis on the impact of the mass media on public opinion, political knowledge and political participation. He is author of Stability and Change in American Politics: The Coming of Age of the Generation of the 1960s (New York University Press, 1986) and What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters (Yale University Press, 1996), as well as numerous articles, essays and edited volumes on political communications, public opinion and political socialization.