On Thought vs Action: At University

There's increasingly a lot of talk about thought vs action in the marketing industry. Whether it's at an agency level about putting a creative idea into practice and making it reality, or at the receiving end where the consumer/recipient of the message is compelled to act and "do" something. NAKED's Ask Richard Campaign is one example of consumer action. It happens in other ways too, when social media leverages the power of consumers to cuss out a brand, for example.

It got me thinking though about the education of Media & Communications at tertiary level. At Melbourne Uni the focus is very much on academic thought, not action, with the course taught under the School of Culture and Communication. The majority of the action is figuring out the Dewey Decimal system to write the best academic essay. Even in subjects such as Asian Public Relations, Marketing Communications, Lifestyle & Consumer Culture or Popular Culture, students are expected to engage foremost with theory and critically analyse this, and a raft of ethical concerns impede efforts to complete tangible case studies. I say it like it's a bad thing, and in some sense - I think it is.

However, after talking to a friend about it, he said it was great that we do get exposure to different kinds of theory and academic thought across different fields. I do think the academic grounding is good at helping to encourage ideas that can later be put into action. However overall, I think it's important students have a range of practical real-life knowledge, over and above simply critiquing what others have said.

For an idea of the Media & Communications program at Melbourne Uni, but mainly for you all to have an idea of my research interests over the past few years, I'm placing some of my academic essays on here. Have a read and share your thoughts on the education of communication at University.