Media and popular culture permeate nearly all our waking time on Earth. Current estimates suggest that every person directly interacts with media during 39% of our waking hours.
The unrelenting exposure dominates our perceptions of reality, the formation
of our personal values, our attitudes and behaviors, and our definitions of self and society.
Already the most powerful educating agent in society today, mass media is extending its influence at a speed that might blind us. It will be important for professional practitioners and consumers alike not only to “know their stuff” in this new world, but also to be “good people,” ethically aware of their personal responsibilities for each other and the world.
Some colleges and universities have continued to operate as if media and popular culture were no different today than 50 years ago – as if mass media have not become more influential than family, school, church, and community in forming our culture. The point isn’t that media and popular culture are bad or good. They offer plenty of both. The point is that we don’t begin to understand their influence and impact.
At the heart of Bellarmine’s campus life is a commitment to ethics. A Bellarmine education not only gives students a top-rated education in the liberal arts and in their chosen fields – but it also instills in students a deep sense of ethical awareness in everything they do.
This is why Bellarmine University wants to develop an excellent School of Communication: Media, Culture and Ethics. This venture will exemplify the Bellarmine University Mission and Vision 2020.
