Tradition and Innovation: Business communication conference to explore how the pandemic changed teaching

The Fanning Center for Business Communication at the University of Notre Dame will host the 41st annual Management Communication Association (MCA) Conference on May 22-24. Titled “Communicating Tradition and Innovation,” the conference will bring together academics from business schools nationwide to discuss innovative teaching methods, new teaching and learning software, and research-based strategies for in-person, hybrid, and remote student engagement. “The University of Notre Dame is the ideal location to explore tradition and innovation, and we are honored to host the annual conference,” said Amanda McKendree, the Arthur F. and Mary J. O'Neil Director of the Fanning Center. “Because this is our first in-person gathering in over two years, we’ve created unique opportunities for our attendees to share how they’ve transformed their teaching in response to the global pandemic.” McKendree added that the classroom innovations included new course designs, learning activities and assessments. “Preparing our students for the changing nature of communication across the enterprise requires that we access the best ideas and resources from around the world,” she said. “Our conference will create a platform for amplifying this expertise that ultimately strengthens the discipline of management communication.” Keynote speakers include Bethany Hartley, Chief Strategy Officer, South Bend | Elkhart Regional Partnership and Barie Carmichael, a Batten Fellow at the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business and a senior counselor at the global communications consultancy APCO Worldwide. Carmichael’s most recent book is Reset: Business and Society in the New Social Landscape. Attendees also will have the opportunity to tour various sites of Notre Dame's iconic campus as well as the state-of-the-art Rex and Alice A. Martin Media Center. MCA was founded in 1978 by several professors from elite MBA programs who shared an interest in advancing business communication as a discipline. Over its history, MCA has met at campuses nationwide and focused on a range of topics from creativity and storytelling, to trends in digital communications. The Eugene D. Fanning Center for Business Communication was established in 1990 to assist members of the Notre Dame community in achieving their academic, intellectual and professional goals by providing instruction and guidance on writing, speaking and other dimensions of human communication. At the heart of this mission is a concern for the individual, a focus on ethics and integrity in business, and a commitment to advancing the College and the University.