Public Relations For Food And Health

Greetings, I teach public relations at Northern Kentucky University and I am writing about a new PR course that will be offered in London (UK) this summer. I am available to provide greater detail about the course at your convenience. A brief description follows: Public Relations for Food and Health: Perspectives from the United Kingdom and Europe will be offered in London 9 July—10 August 2009 by the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad at Northern Kentucky University. In London, the class will be able to visit or participate directly with specialized media outlets covering food and health issues, food industry trade shows, PR firms representing food suppliers, non-governmental organizations wary of existing policy, regulatory agencies, and more. In the kind of setting that London provides students will experience multiple voices contributing to food and health discourse. The class will examine technical and cultural issues related to food and the public communication that is intended to present and explain the consequences of food policy and products. Researchers across many disciplines recognize that food-related issues are not just limited to food safety; many hold longer-range outlooks that seek to gauge ongoing or potential damage to the health of large populations and to the environment. Class readings will include works by UK-based public relations and food policy scholars, and material from the Global Reporting Initiative. Learning activities are designed to help students make connections between food and health issues, and communication research related to PR campaign planning and evaluation. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to apply an integrated communication and ethical framework that can inform scholarship and professional practice. The course has been planned as a 300-level course with no pre-requisites other than a general understanding of how public relations and advertising operate to communicate commercial interests and social issues. Of the two selected texts, one provides a critical perspective to understanding PR concepts; the other examines the food industry and its promotional efforts as an ongoing social issue. I am prepared to work with graduate students should they wish to supplement the course with their own research agenda while in London. PR students from NKU will be able to count the course for credit in their program. If you would like additional information, please contact me. The application deadline is 27 February 2009. Take care, Greg Gregory G. De Blasio, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication Northern Kentucky University 387 ST Highland Heights, Kentucky 41099 Telephone: 859 572-6317 [email protected]