Page Center funds online modules focused on ethics and integrity in communications

April 28, 2016 • Jonathan McVerry

The Arthur W. Page Center is organizing and funding an initiative that will strengthen the role of ethics education in communications classrooms. With Center support, 11 experts will build online modules on specific ethics topics that teachers and professors all over the world can use in their courses.

Based on research, the Center identified 14 areas that are most frequently included in public relations curricula. The teaching modules will provide an in-depth view of each area and give communications instructors relevant and research-based lesson plans.

“Communications is a discipline with many unique areas, and ethics education can sometimes be relegated to a class or two in introductory communications courses,” said Denise Bortree, Page Center director and associate professor in the department of advertising and public relations. “It’s the Center’s mission to present the role of ethics in a way that its definition and importance are ingrained into the way students think. These modules will make it easier for professors to give this important subject the time and resources it requires.”

Content will be standardized so students can seamlessly move from one module to another to gain insight into the different topics. The final lessons will be available on the Page Center website in 2017. They will also be shared broadly with communications classrooms across the globe.

The awarded faculty members and their module topics are:

Ethical decision-making
Michael Kent, professor at the University of Tennessee

Ethics in global context
Lisa Tam, lecturer at La Trobe University

Digital ethics
Alison Novak, assistant professor at Rowan University

Professional codes of ethics
Jessalynn Strauss, assistant professor at Elon University

Transparency
Corey Hickerson, associate professor at James Madison University and Brigitta Brunner, professor at Auburn University

Public relations writing
Lucinda Austin, assistant professor at Elon University

Introduction to public relations ethics
Carolyn Mae Kim, assistant professor at Biola University

Media framing and ethics
Dean Mundy, assistant professor at the University Oregon

Core ethical principles
Christie Kleinmann, associate professor at Belmont University

Corporate social responsibility
Nur Uysal, assistant professor at Marquette University

Crisis management
Janice Xu, assistant professor at Holy Family University

In addition to the new curriculum modules, the Page Center also announced its annual Legacy Scholar Grants, six research projects on a variety of communications ethics topics that will provide relevant and valuable insight for the field. Read more about this year’s awarded grants on the Page Center website. 

Since its 2004 founding, the Page Center has become an international leader in research on ethics and integrity in public communication. Over the past 12 years, the Center has funded more than 200 scholars and awarded more than $700,000 in research funding. Visit the Page Center website for more information about the Center and its many initiatives.