For a Practical Discipline

Robert T. Craig, University of Colorado, Boulder

4.1.2017 ,12:15-13:45

Room 4026, Terrace Building

Abstract: 

In this talk I will defend the thesis that the organized academic field of communication can be best understood as a practical discipline: a distinct kind of intellectual discipline, the essential purpose of which is to cultivate a field of social practice. I propose this interpretation of the communication field as a counterfactual ideal that is relevant and normatively appropriate, even if never fully realized in our collective work. To cultivate a practice means to improve and disseminate it, and I will argue that the imperative to improve communication and disseminate better communication practices is fundamental to the historical existence of our discipline. Our core mission as a practical discipline is to cultivate the social practice of communication from diverse, often contending approaches and through various forms of critical and conceptual thought, scientific research, education and training, public engagement, and applied professional work. The essay will explicate the concept of practical discipline as it has evolved through several decades, and will defend it, against certain objections, as a relevant and appropriate normative ideal that illuminates the fundamental intellectual coherence of a communication discipline.