Mission

The Conference on Ethics and Public Argumentation, housed in the Butler University College of Communication, serves as CCOM’s academic hub for promoting the ethical use of reasoning and rationality in public deliberation. It functions throughout the year.

CEPA’s purpose and objectives will be highlighted annually in a forum held at Butler University, which supports and encourages teaching, research, and practical application of principles in public argumentation in a variety of academic and professional fields, including business, education, environmental advocacy, history, journalism, legal communication, political campaigns, public health, public policy, scientific inquiry, and other areas.

CEPA seeks to promote dialogue and connections between scholars who teach and study argumentation and citizens in public and professional contexts in which debate and deliberation solve significant social, economic, and political challenges. As an academic conference for inquiry into the theory and practice of ethical message-design, rhetorical deliberation, and communicative reasoning, CEPA includes an executive committee, composed of CCOM Board of Visitors and faculty members, charged with planning and scheduling featured speakers and workshops. CEPA will sponsor an awards ceremony for outstanding examples of effective ethical argumentation in the various fields listed above.