Department ofCommunication Arts and Sciences
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A message from Interim Department Head, Kirt Wilson

Students Teaching Students

In coordination with an undergraduate-run organization called Students Teaching Students, CAS department faculty members mentor exemplary students who develop and teach 1-credit courses on a variety of subjects that advance expertise in communication and its role in public life. This semester, Associate Teaching Professor Lori Bedell is supporting undergraduates Kara Miller (who was in Lori’s RCL course a few years back) and Jess Strait as they teach a course titled “Period Talk: The Impact of Stigma on the Menstrual Equity Movement.”
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A message from Interim Department Head, Kirt Wilson

Dear CAS Community,
As communication scholars, we have the privilege of explaining to students and broader publics how communication is both symbolic and material in its practice and its consequences. That is, communication is more than just the transmission of an idea from one person to another. It constitutes, affirms, or rejects the most important elements of life–our relationships, our behavior, and our identities. The past statements of the speakers invited to campus for an October 24, 2022 event communicate in a way designed to threaten and harm people with whom they disagree, both in the ideas espoused and in the acts those words encourage and legitimize. In addition, this speech presses Penn State (or any community) to mock and reject the values of diversity, equity, and justice that many on our campus embrace.
Questions about free speech and hate speech can be complicated, but these are the sorts of complex questions we grapple with in CAS. We can and should have those discussions, but we should do so recognizing that the material consequences of a debate about permissible speech are not experienced in the same way or with equal impact by our students or the communities targeted by harmful speech.
I want to encourage the students, faculty, and staff of Communication Arts & Sciences to attend the “Together We Are” event and the multiple educational opportunities about this subject that will take place today and next week. Consider also how the events scheduled for October 24 impact your own sense of communication ethics and civic responsibility.  This moment is an opportunity to discuss First Amendment rights on campus, but it is also a chance to affirm a future where everyone–regardless of their levels of ability, racial or ethnic heritage, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, and gender expression–will be valued for who they are, as they are, without qualification or apology.
Kirt Wilson