Communication as ...
Perspectives on Theory
- Gregory J. Shepherd - University of Miami, USA
- Jeffrey St. John - University of Maine, USA
- Ted Striphas - University of Colorado, USA
What does it mean to argue that communication is organizing? Or ritual? Or failure? What is at stake in choosing one metaphor or stance over another? What is gained and what is lost - for the field, for the theories themselves, and especially for humans communicating in everyday contexts? In Communication as...: Perspectives on Theory, editors Gregory J. Shepherd, Jeffrey St. John, and Ted Striphas bring together a collection of 27 essays that explores the wide range of theorizing about communication, cutting across all lines of traditional division in the field.
The essays in this text are written by leading scholars in the field of communication theory, with each scholar employing a particular stance or perspective on what communication theory is and how it functions. In essays that are brief, argumentative, and forceful, the scholars propose their perspective as a primary or essential way of viewing communication with decided benefits over other views.
Key Features:
- Compares and contrasts different metaphorical views on the theory and practice of communication, challenging students to develop their own argument about communication theory
- Promotes an alternative way of examining communication problems - through the engaged interplay of a diversity of positions - encouraging readers to think through contemporary problems and questions in the field
- Compels readers to confront competing theoretical positions and their consequences head-on rather than outlining theories in ways that might separate them from their real-world consequences
Communication as... is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on communication theory in the fields of Communication, Journalism, Sociology, and Psychology.
"Communication as… is an excellent way to introduce students to various perspectives in the discipline. It makes the point that there is no right or wrong way to study communication but that the different perspectives are all legitimate and useful."
--Sonja K. Foss, University of Colorado at Denver
"These shorter, more informal discussions of the implications of certain metaphors and analogies for communication theory will be very useful for stimulating critical thinking and generating interesting classroom discussions."
--Bradford "J" Hall, University of New Mexico
"This book provides incomparably unique and original perspectives explained by core scholars in their fields."
Too abstract
Very useful for graduate level theory course
Not a slog through one theory after another as is standard in most communication theory textbooks. Each author argues for the stakes involved in choosing to work through the framework of a given theoretical approach.
Sage College Publishing
