Eric Kwame Adae, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations at Drake University, where he teaches in both undergraduate and graduate public relations programs.
Prior to coming to academia, he was a media and communication consultant in Ghana. He has more than 15 years of professional experience under his belt, with practical experience in the promotional practices, including public relations, advertising, brand development and management, event management, and strategic change communication. His professional experience straddles diverse contexts, such as in-house strategic communication departments, PR consultancies, advertising and branding agencies, Ghana’s private and public sectors, and the USAID and World Bank systems in the West African subregion.
Eric holds a B.A. (with honors) in Sociology with English (1994) and a Master of Philosophy degree (in Communication Studies), both from the University of Ghana (2009); and a Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Oregon (2020). He is an accredited member of the Institute of Public Relations (Ghana). He is associated with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (Ghana) and the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG).
Teaching
He has taught internationally at various institutions of higher learning. His teaching interests include:
Public Relations Principles
Public Relations Writing
Public Relations Cases and Campaigns Strategies
Corporate Social Advocacy/Activism
Corporate Social Responsibility/Sustainability
Brand Responsibility
Strategic Communication Research Methods
Principles of Advertising
Advertising and Culture
Global Brand Strategy
International and Multicultural Advertising
Media and Communication Theory
Media Ethics
Eric aims to be recognized as an influential media/communication scholar and consultant of African origin, with specializations in corporate activism, critical public relations, strategy-as-practice, Africapitalism and Africonsciousness, and development communication. He seeks to help unlock the challenges to global development by undertaking relevant research and publication, teaching, community service, consulting, and active scholarship that speaks to some of the deepest-cutting present-day social developmental issues.
Research
The mission of his research is to empower people to achieve their fullest potential in a sustainable manner, while embracing and celebrating their social identities. His research is positioned at the intersection of corporate social advocacy, critical public relations, corporate social responsibility/sustainability, and culture. His current research focuses on situations where brand and corporate activism, environmental conservation, and socioeconomic development collide with intersectional social justice issues such as gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, ability, citizenship and other axes of inequality and oppression.
Eric’s doctoral dissertation is a postmodern analysis of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) activism within the non-Western socioeconomic context of Ghana. He has authored publications on communication, public relations, sales, and marketing communications. He has presented at major international communication conferences and published in reputable communication journals.
