Rethinking the three origin stories for communication studies in North America

Abstract

There are three origin stories for communication studies in North America: the Public Speaking tradition in the United States, the Mass Communication tradition in the United States, and the Media Ecology tradition rooted in Canadian scholarship. In this Probe, I want to talk about the three traditions, as I understand them. Then, I want to talk about some experiences surveying residents of rural Lake and Cook counties in Northeastern Minnesota about internet access. Those experiences pushed me to rethink the importance of the third, Canadian tradition of communication studies. This third tradition emphasizes the importance of the materiality of communication, and it is the tradition embraced by media ecology, and I think it asks questions that every communication scholar should think about.