ABSTRACT
Public relations faces challenges as an academic field and as a practice. The education of students influences how they see both society and the role of the profession in society; the practice of public relations influences society and how society sees itself and the profession. No discipline is an island. Public relations education cannot be independent of, or be indifferent toward, the society in which it operates. Without a sense of the different ways that society might be theorized, public relations students and practitioners are limited in their participation in broader dialogues about how public relations contributes to public communication. It is not enough to be technically proficient without being able to make informed contributions to debates about contemporary society and its future development.
