Professor’s 10-part series on the loss and possible recapture of dignity

October 16th, 2009

Stanley Baran, professor of communication, is the author of a 10-part series called "Dignity, "which examines the loss and possible recapture of dignity in our public lives and political discourse." The series appears in the e-zine Bread and Circus.

In Part 6, "Protecting Ourselves from Decency's Demands," Baran writes that "what has happened to dignity is analogous to what former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan called 'defining deviancy down.' Just as we have allowed the erosion of our commonly accepted civic standards for what constitutes criminal behavior, we have permitted the erosion of standards for what constitutes dignified behavior."

Baran is the author of Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture and Mass Communication Theories: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. He writes frequently on the media, popular culture, and our understanding of ourselves and our world.

Keywords: civility, College of Arts and Sciences, communications, dignity, political discourse, Stanley Baran