Seventh National Communication Ethics Conference

Richard Johannesen to be First James A. Jaksa
Scholar-in-Residence

Western Michigan University's School of Communication and Center for the Study of Ethics in Society are pleased to announce the naming of the James A. Jaksa Scholar-in-Residence at the National Communication Ethics Conference. The first Jaksa Scholar will be Richard Johannesen of Northern Illinois University.

This named visiting professorship honors James A. Jaksa, emeritus professor of communication at WMU. Jaksa was a founder of the conference and of the Communication Ethics Commission of the National Communication Association. Jaksa also co-directed the first four conferences, beginning with the inaugural conference in 1990. Throughout his professional career, Jaksa researched and taught communication ethics, primarily in interpersonal and organizational contexts. His particular interests were in the study of honesty and deception and in understanding the perspective of the deceived as a means of giving voice to those who were the objects of dishonest communication. He is the co-author, with WMU philosophy professor Michael Pritchard, of two books on communication ethics, plus numerous other publications and presentations on the subject.

The National Communication Ethics Conference is jointly sponsored by WMU, the National Communication Association Communication Ethics Commission, and Duquesne University's School of Communication. The next conference will be held on the WMU campus, May 30-June 2, 2002. More information about the conference can be obtained at http://www.wmich.edu/communication/ethics.html.

The first Jaksa Scholar will be Professor Richard Johanessen of Northern Illinois University. His book Ethics in Human Communication, will soon be available in a 5th edition. He is editor or co-editor of Ethics and Persuasion(1967), Language is Sermonic: Richard M. Weaver on the Nature of Rhetoric (1975, 1985), Contemporary theories of Rhetoric (1971), and Contemporary American Speeches (9th Ed, 2000). His is also the author of 12 book chapters, 24 journal articles, 9 book reviews, and 32 conference papers. Recently, his "Communication Ethics: Issues, Trends, and Controversies" was published in Communication Yearbook 25 (Ed., Wm. Gudykunst, 2001) and his "Nel Noddings's Uses of Martin Buber's Philosophy of Dialog" was published in Southern Communication Journal, 65(Spring-Winter 2000). In April 2001, he received the Duquesne University School of Communication and Rhetorical Studies "Scholar Award for Communication Excellence in Ethics Education for the Mind, Heart, and Soul." He has twice been a recipient of the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from Northern Illinois' College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He was a founding member of the NCA Commission on Freedom of Speech, a founding member of the NCA Communication Ethics Commission, and founding member of the National Communication Ethics Conference.

The National Communication Ethics conference has had a scholar in residence since its founding. Previous scholars-in-residence were Charles Redding, Purdue University; Stephen Toulmin, Northwestern University; Franklin Haiman, Northwestern University; Julia Wood, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Josina Makau, California State University-Monterrey Bay; and Vernon Jenson, University of Minnesota.

Program of the Seventh National Communication Ethics Conference

Conference Registration Form (in PDF). The registration form is in PDF format. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the document. The reader is free and is available for download at the Adobe site.