Communication as a practical discipline: engaging theory with practice

Abstract

This article is an official translation into Russian of a keynote talk by Robert Craig during the conference “Communication as a discipline and as a field: sharing experiences to construct a dialogue” (9–11th July 2015, HSE, Moscow).
Among various intellectual disciplines that populate the academy, practical disciplines have it as their distinct mission to cultivate particular fields of social practice. Engaging theory with practice becomes essential for communication studies in both its theoretical and practical dimensions. Theoretically, the problem is to deepen our knowledge and understanding of communication in ways that have the potential to inform, or even transform, practices of communication in society. Practically, the problem is to cultivate reflexive forms of practice that apply our knowledge and our understanding of communication to practical problems.
This keynote distinguishes some basic philosophical views on the problem of engaging theory with practice that have emerged in Western thought from ancient to modern times, and in that light reflects critically on more specific theoretical–methodological approaches in engaging theory with practice that currently seem to hold promise for advancing communication research.
These will include approaches such as “activity theory” influenced by Russian thought traditions, as well as “practical theory” approaches influenced by American pragmatism.