Crisis Communication Aisatsu: It is the rare chance I get invited to enter a room with so many intelligent and interesting people, so thank you for being here and being who you are. I have to admit that I’ve never been involved in an event of this kind and I find the idea of it to be both stimulating and rewarding. Thank you David for putting this unusual event together.

Crisis Communication This is a course in development, more like a thought experiment/an exercise that has gotten me interested in this topic and excited about it. It is far from fully developed. Think of it as in gestation (and please treat it as such) Your comments and suggestions are welcome

Crisis Communication Parenthetically, let me say, when you look at the submitted materials, you might say: “what kind of a place is that Tohoku University?” “Do they have paper growing on trees up there so that professors can dash off 15 page syllabi?” To set you at ease on that count: the way I do syllabi is by posting them on-line, so they tend to be quite detailed—not like what normally are handed out at the door in the States, for instance, on the first day of class.

Crisis Communication What I have done is taken that syllabus and developed a web site around this mythical course And today I want to walk you through it: Its logic, aims, possibilities and topography

Crisis Communication The major component is the problematization of crisis communication It is geared to students in the 2 programs we have that share a curriculum at Tohoku University: – Human Security Program – Graduate School of International Cultural Studies With that population in mind and with the focus on “Crisis Communication” the course unfolds.

Crisis Communication Background: To date, CC has generally thought of as a focus on organizational response to an event that has proven threatening (potentially damaging) to that entity. However, this is an extremely narrow view of CC. Especially when considering the disasters such as 9-11, Katrina, and 3-11

Crisis Communication But in thinking about this there is also a way that this extends to what we’d call “critical events”, such as a political assassination, a nuclear standoff between rival nations, a protracted war that divides a nation.

Crisis Communication This has a way of extending Crisis Communication into the mainstream of daily life, since critical events are then appreciated as being far more pervasive.

Crisis Communication Let me take an aside in developing this line of thought to say that I like a course that is connected to student lives. Meaning that when they leave the seminar room, the course is still with them. – It isn’t something that, when they get in the car and drive home and turn on the TV they forget about what we’ve been talking about; dismissing it as unconnected to their lives or irrelevant.

Crisis Communication In short, my hope is to talk about stuff that is all around them. One aim is to get them to recognize the large number of critical events that exist and the great extent to which we can see instances of crisis communication – Even if it is not well developed or not recognized

Crisis Communication This is true, in particular, because we are in a world in which media has made this a 24-7 world in which spectacle and “reality” are on constant display. – Here we draw on Boorstin, Baudrillard and Debord to inform the work and thinking of the course. The phenomenon that is pushing the “critical event/crisis communication” discourse is the emphasis on everyday life that has to be “new” fresh, different, amazing — this places us in a mode of “constant criticality”.

Crisis Communication Now, back to making it real for students My strategy is to keep them constantly engaged by working with the material and seeking to keep it connected to their lives.

Crisis Communication This is achieved in a couple ways: 1.by forcibly plugging them in via a blog that asks them to relate the readings to their lives. 2.By having them contribute to a course wiki in which they build annotated bibliographies for the weekly readings.

Crisis Communication This thread of connectivity between critical events and everyday lives reminds us that crisis communication has publics that extend beyond an affected organization seeking to modify or mediate the message. – There are the victims and/or witnesses to it – As well as those trying to report what is occurring – So, too, those, like us who try to study and interpret it, in its many dimensions

Crisis Communication So, summarizing: this topic is designed to see numerous populations/publics involved in critical communication: – citizens (or affected populations), – authorities (public or private), and – the (news) media

Crisis Communication One thing that I hope is clear from looking at this website is that my aim is to try to involve students in this material by making this an organic experience. We build a world for them to enter—which they can be absorbed into and contribute to—that they can help grow. For this reason, I try to embed them in this website, having them navigate it daily and also add to and help build it weekly.

Crisis Communication This embedding occurs through: – The resources such as pictures and videos that I have placed on the site concerning cases of critical events in world history – engaging with the readings on the site, – Reading and contributing to the blog, – Contributing to the Course Wiki – Preparing presentations that will then be uploaded onto the website for the use of other students in the course, as well as subsequent generations of student.

Crisis Communication Thank you for your attention. I look forward to your comments