The Ethics of Teaching Ethics in Professional Communication

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 1993

The Ethics of Teaching Ethics in Professional Communication

DAVID R. RUSSELL

Abstract

The teaching of ethics in professional communication courses for non-English majors is problematic because teachers of those courses are usually trained in literary studies, a profession that has traditionally viewed with suspicion the ethical orientation of science, technology, and business professions. This article examines the history of this problematic, focusing on the “Engineering Publicity” program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1920s. The article suggests that students may be empowered to enter and transform their professions more through examining ethical critiques of science, technology, and business carried on within and among the professions they will enter than by examining ethical critiques from the profession of literary studies.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 1993-01-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651993007001005
Open Access: Closed
Topics: professional writing

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

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Moore (1999)

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