| Full-time
faculty
 |
Dr.
Keith Hearit
Associate Dean of Lee Honors College |
Office:
314 Sprau Tower
Office Phone: 269
387-3142
Office Hours:
|
 |
| Education:
Ph.D., Purdue University. |
| Areas
of expertise: non-traditional forms of external
organizational communication, specifically crisis management,
apologiae, and issue advertising. Research/Creative Activity
interests. |
| For
more information, visit Dr.
Hearit's Homepage |
My
teaching philosophy:
My
teaching philosophy is probably best summarized in the following
statement:
"In
the end, an . . . education is not so much a pile of notebooks
moldering in the bottom drawer, but learning to talk in front
of a group, to read and to summarize, to reason on demand,
to push yourself late at night. To live and work with people
you might never speak to in ordinary life. To think against
the grain. To manage time. To not be afraid or rejecting.
To not say, every other sentence, "In my high school, we .
. ." - Anne Matthews, Bright College Years
Courses
I teach in the School:
COM
200 Introduction to Communication Theory
A
study of communication models and theories which are common
to the fields of interpersonal, group, organizational,
public
and mass communication.
COM
350 Public Relations and Organizations
The
course will examine the role of public relations and public
information in a variety of organizations with a communication
theory perspective. The course is designed to prepare individuals
for positions in public relations and public information,
or for other positions in organizations concerned with
the
flow of information across organization boundaries. This
course is approved as a writing-intensive course which
may fulfill
the baccalaureate-level writing requirement of the student's
curriculum. Prerequisite: COM 200 or consent of instructor.
COM
440 Public Relations Cases
This
course uses a case study approach to apply principles of communication
and persuasion theory to public relations problems. The course
examines a variety of types of organizations in relation to
issue advocacy and public policy, risk communication, legitimization,
defense, and crisis management. Prerequisite: COM 350
(syllabus).
COM
680 Seminar in Organizational
Communication.
- Corporate
Advocacy
- Risk
and Crisis Communication
COM
685
Research
Interests
My
primary research interests are in the apologies and apologiae
delivered by individuals and institutions as they face public
criticism for their actions. This intersects with the areas
of crisis management and organizational ethics.
Recent
Publications and Papers
Hearit,
Keith Michael. "When the Organization¹s Image Becomes
the Issue: The Corporate Apologia of the Intel Corporation
in Defense of its Pentium Chip." Public Relations Review 25
(1999): 291-308.
Corporate
Apologia: The State of the Art. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the National Communication Association, Chicago,
November 1999.
Pointing
the Finger and Passing the Buck: The Use of Minimization and
Scapegoating in Crisis Management. Paper presented at the
Joint Meeting of the Central States Communication Association/Southern
States Communication Association, St. Louis, MO, April 1999.
Professional
experience:
Worked
in public relations for two hospitals and in agricultural
communications.
Awards
received:
Received
the 1996 Pride Award for the best article authored in public
relations in 1996.
My
life outside the university:
I
enjoy spending time with my family, especially traveling in
Michigan. My personal interests are sailing and Michigan history.
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