Newhouse School of Communications

SHANNON A. BOWEN PH.D.

Shannon A. Bowen

Shannon A. Bowen Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Public_Relations

Ph.D. University of Maryland

Office: Newhouse 2 Rm. 363
Telephone: (315) 443-5331
Email: sbowen@syr.edu

Shannon A. Bowen (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is Associate Professor, S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications,  Public Relations Department. Her research interests include communication and media ethics, public relations ethics and theory, organizational communication, the strategic management of issues in the pharmaceutical industry, and the ethical decisions by media members surrounding representations of acts of terrorism.

Dr. Bowen teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in public relations theory, public relations ethics, and strategic issues management. These are usually PRL 497 Management; PRL 215 Specialized Writing; PRL 345 and 645 The Ethics of Advocacy. 

Dr. Bowen is primarily a Kantian scholar, applying deontological (duty-based) moral philosophy to the communication process in various contexts of media, public, and corporate communication. Her work won the 2000-2002 ICA Public Relations Division Outstanding Dissertation Award. She is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and textbook chapters in Effective Public Relations and other books. She was editorial advisor to the Sage Encyclopedia of Public Relations, and was the principal investigator on a grant sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation to study communication ethics, resulting in the 2006 publication “The Business of Truth: A Guide to Ethical Communication.” 

Dr. Bowen’s educational background is:


  1. Ph.D. (2000) University of Maryland, Communication & Mass Communication.

    Dissertation: A theory of ethical issues management: Contributions of Kantian deontology to public relations’ ethics and decision making
  2. M.A. University of South Carolina, Journalism and Mass Communications.

    Thesis: Media coverage of a product crisis: A case-analytic study in corporate crisis management

  3. B.A. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Journalism (Advertising) & Sociology (double)

Her professional experience includes working as a research analyst for political and corporate clients in a Washington, DC, polling firm. Before that she worked for a Congressman on Capitol Hill as a constituent relations specialist. Dr. Bowen was a faculty member at the University of Houston and the University of Maryland before coming to Syracuse. You can find her research in premier journals such as: Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Journal of Public Affairs, and Public Relations Review.

 

Representative Publications Include:


  1. Bowen, S. A. (2008). A state of neglect: Public relations as corporate conscience or ethics counsel. Journal of Public Relations Research, 20(3), 271-296.
  2. Bowen, S. A. (2008). Frames of terrorism provided by the news media and potential communication responses. In H. D. O’Hair, R. L. Heath, G. Ledlow, & K. Ayotte (Eds.), Terrorism: Communication and rhetorical perspective (pp. 337-358). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
  3. Bowen, S. A. (2008). Foundations in moral philosophy for public relations ethics. In T. Hansen-Horn & B. D. Neff, Public relations: From theory to practice (pp. 160-180). Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.
  4. Bowen, S. A. (2005). Communication ethics in the wake of terrorism. In H. D. O’Hair, R. L. Heath, & G. Ledlow (Eds.), Community preparedness and response to terrorism: Vol. No. III: Communication and the Media (pp. 65-95). Westport, CT: Praeger. 
  5. Bowen, S. A. (2006). Autonomy in communication: Inclusion in strategic management and ethical decision-making, a comparative case analysis. Journal of Communication Management, 10(4), 330-352.
  6. Bowen, S. A., & Heath, R. L. (2007). Narratives of the SARS epidemic and ethical implications for public health crises. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1(2), 73-91.

Expertise:

  • Activism
  • Communications Management
  • Ethics, Communications Industry
  • Ethics, Public Relations
  • Internal Communications/PR
  • Issues Management
  • Media Effects
  • Public Relations Management