Professor speaks about the media
Published Sept. 19, 2006
MU's 21st Century Corps of Discovery Lecture series honors individuals who, through their achievements at the university and in the world of academia, embody the spirit of discovery that characterized famous voyagers Lewis and Clark as they led a band of explorers across the wilderness of America.
Monday, in the third installment of the series, the spotlight fell on professor of advertising Glen Cameron.
"I was very proud," Cameron said. "I was looking forward to being selected because I had something to say."
In his lecture, "Civilizing the New Century: Managing Communication and Conflict Across Cultures," Cameron discussed at length the role of conflict as a driving force in media.
"Conflict is the crux of what matters to people," Cameron said.
MU Chancellor Brady Deaton said the "scholarship" of Cameron is worthy of praise in an educational institution "wherein discovery is one of its stated values."
Deaton provided an introduction to the lecture.
Cameron said he felt his message could transcend the world of journalism and apply to other areas of education.
"The quintessential benefit of a liberal education in the new century, especially here at MU, must include a greater grasp of what it takes to get along on our little planet," Cameron said. "That includes an understanding of the parade of conflicts on television and in print."
Cameron cited examples from current events in his presentation to illustrate conflicts in media. He also showed a clip from the Academy Award-winning 2004 film "Crash" to display conflict in the specific field of strategic communications.
MU graduate student Sammy Miles said she found his presentation stimulating as well as diverse. She found it interesting that media "can use conflict in order to make people keep reading."
Mugur Valentin Geana, an assistant professor of strategic communication in the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas, said he made the 160-mile drive from Lawrence, Kan., strictly to see Cameron's lecture.
"He's my mentor," said Geana, who once studied under Cameron at MU. "Glen Cameron will never deliver a boring lecture. He's an exceptional scholar. It's a real value for MU to have him here."
In addition to his position within the School of Journalism, Cameron is also co-director of the MU Health Communication Resource Center. He joined the MU faculty in 1998. From 1996 to 2004, Cameron was the most cited and the most published scholar in the field of public relations.
Cameron co-authored the books "Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics" and "Essentials of Public Relations." He is working on the book "Public Relations: Managing Competition and Conflict," due out fall 2007.