The linked classroom as studio: connectivity and the etymology of networks

Abstract

Using a developing multimedia network to connect three campuses, undergraduate public relations students linked with national spokespersons, editors, journalists and scholars to discuss the role of mediated religion, its impact on public opinion, and on popular culture. Historically, the tactics of public relations are closely intertwined with the history of religion in America: The Religious Public Relations Society of America is older than the Public Relations Society of America. So the innovation in the Media, Religion and Cultural Identity course was not in our subject matter, but in our uses of electronic communication and technology to construct a learning community, to turn the laboratory into a studio, where both teacher and student learned through performance. The article argues for integrating spiritual intelligence in the PR curriculum.