Celtic Letter P
See
Personal
This is my wife, Jeanne and our grandchildren, Genna, Nate
and Ella.
Jeanne and
I have been married for more than 35 years and are active in
St. Virgil's parish, Morris Plains. My undergraduate degree is in
Communication from Seton Hall, and my masters and doctorate in
Communication from Temple University. I have been teaching at Seton Hall
since 1970, and bleed Pirate Blue. I have worked as a weekly and daily
newspaper editor, layout editor of The Record in Hackensack, as a photo
editor and photographer for dailies and weeklies, in civic agency public
relations and as a free lance designer, art director, printing broker
and communication consultant. My
specialties include publication
typography and design, c
omputer graphics, media and professional ethics,
print production and media history.
As a designer I'm primarily a functionalist: I believe that the purpose of publication design is to communicate, and that effective design is achieving communication goals. Thus design elements must contribute to communicating the message: form follows function, except that it's not quite that simple.
As an ethicist, I strongly believe in personal responsibility and accountability. Communication is the essential component of human relationship, and that relationship imposes specific responsibilities. As a media ethicist, I believe that the unique rights and powers of the American media, especially the news media, demand significant social responsibilities. Personally, I believe in the dignity and worth of each individual, including intellectual freedom and freedom of expression: I am a First Amendment absolutist. My belief in the individual imposes a responsibility to respect and affirm each person's essential dignity. This is both philosophical -- the Enlightenment values of the individual -- and spiritual -- “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, so you do unto me.”
But mostly, Jeanne and I like to play with our grandchildren.
Department of Communication, Seton Hall University
E: Mail: mckenndo@shu.edu or dandjmckenna@yahoo.com