Kevin Healey (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is associate professor of communication at the University of New Hampshire. He writes and teaches religion, ethics, and digital culture. Kevin received the Communication Ethics Teaching Award from the National Communication Association in 2018 and the University Teaching Excellence Award from the University of New Hampshire in 2017. His essays appear in Salon, Huffington Post, and Religion Dispatches, as well as in numerous academic books and journals. This book is supported by his participation in a three-year Public Theologies of Technology and Presence grant program sponsored by the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Henry Luce Foundation. Kevin lives in Durham, New Hampshire, with his wife Cristina, their daughter Madeline, and their dog Charlie. Robert H. Woods Jr. (Ph.D., Regent University) is professor of communication and media at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Michigan. He teaches and writes about communication theory, media and culture, and ethics. Robert served as the President of the Religious Communication Association (RCA) and was named Scholar of the Year by the RCA in 2013. He is the network administrator for the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (www.theccsn.com). His articles appear in numerous scholarly journals, and he has authored, co-authored, and edited a dozen academic books. He lives in Washington State with his wife, Rebekah, their three dogs, and two cats.
Named the 2020 Book of the Year by the Religious Communication Association The Digital Revolution has spawned a seemingly infinite number of books addressing the Internet, social media and their meaning for our society and the future, with considerable repetition between them. In Ethics and Religion in the Age of Social Media, Kevin Healey and Robert H. Woods, Jr. provide a critical and original take on our digital dilemmas, and use their 'prophetic rage' to shine a bright new light on the important issues at hand. I strongly recommend this absorbing book. -Robert W. McChesney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign This insightful book offers proverbial wisdom to make ethical communication possible in a digital world where finding common ground is a challenge, tribalism is increasing, and civil discourse is decreasing. With clarity and insight, this engaging and thought-provoking book provides a masterful blueprint for restoring virtue and values to a media and information saturated society. Supported with research and wisdom, Healey and Woods's eye-opening observations are valuable to students beginning their study communication or leaders who will determine whether we are a society adrift in a digital sea of disconnected data, or dreamers and poets inspired by the good, the beautiful, and the true. -Steven A. Beebe, PhD, Regents' and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Past President, National Communication Association An amazing and thought-provoking book. An unbelievable effort. Genuinely a refreshing and different examination of the industry. -Jason Alan Snyder, Global Chief Technology Officer, McCann Worldgroup By highlighting the religious undertones of Silicon Valley, writers Healey and Woods dismantle the blind faith some harbor for technology as a savior to society. They also provide a critique of the tech industry that manages to make room for hope in technology's future. The relationship between religion and technology is one that is eloquently explored in a way that draws parallels and parables any follower can learn from. -Shamika Goddard, Founder, Tech Chaplaincy Institute at Union Theological Seminary