History and development of public relations education in North America

Donald K. Wright

37 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Communication Management

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Public Relations and Crisis Communication Management and Marketing Education Communication Studies and Media

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the history and development of public relations education in the USA and Canada. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology used for this paper is the historical/critical analysis approach. Findings This paper finds more differences than similarities between public relations educational development in the two countries. The first PR course at a US university was taught at the University of Illinois in 1920 and the first US degree program was offered by Boston University in 1947. The first Canadian university PR course was taught at McGill University n 1948 and the first university degree was offered by Mount Saint Vincent University in 1977. Although PR courses and degrees are offered at a small number of élite US universities, the greatest recent PR curriculum development has been at smaller, second‐ or third‐tier institutions. While a few Canadian universities offer courses and degree programs in the field, most of Canada's recent PR program growth has been at colleges rather than at universities. Practical implications Rightly or wrongly, academic institutions often look to North America for direction when it comes to establishing and developing public relations education programs. A number of factual inaccuracies about public relations education history have frequently surfaced in books and journal articles. This paper corrects a number of those inaccuracies and in doing so improves public relations scholarship. Originality/value A thorough review of the literature suggests that this paper represents the only journal‐length piece about the history and development of public relations education in Canada and the USA.

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References

1967Effective Public Relations 1996The Unseen Power: Public Relations; A History.1999The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations 2002The dire need for multiculturalism in public relations education: An Asian perspective 1999Perceptions of public relations education 1996Public relations history from the 17th to the 20th century 1999Public relations education: Where is pedagogy?1998The future of PR education: Some recommendations

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