School of Communications Professor Ed Carter Shares More About the Intersection of the Spiritual and the Secular, Academic and Professional Work
Once a student reporter and editor working at The Daily Universe himself, communications professor Ed Carter’s undergraduate experience has come full circle as he now mentors the next generation of BYU journalism students doing the same. In addition to journalism, Carter’s career has spanned other disciplines such as law and academia and he has now taught at BYU for over 20 years.
Carter received the Excellence in Citizenship Award earlier this year and spoke about the influence of BYU, exciting opportunities for students in the School of Communications and more in the Q&A below.
Q: How has a faith-based education impacted you as a student and professor?
Carter: Integrating faith and reason has been a decades-long pursuit for me, and I am still working on it. I learn new things every semester about how spiritual and secular truths work together and reinforce one another. I believe that to be integral or authentic, we should resist compartmentalizing our academic learning and faith learning. God’s truths are not at all incompatible with academic research. After 20 years at BYU, my academic research is higher quality than ever before and yet still developing. At the same time, my faith in and testimony of Jesus Christ and His Church are stronger than they ever have been and are also still growing. I am grateful to work at a place that values the search for truth through secular methods and through revelation.
Q: What excites you most about your work with students in the School of Communications?
Carter: Even after 40 semesters (plus 20 Spring or Summer terms) of teaching at BYU, I still get excited to have a fresh start at the beginning of each semester. I always look forward to getting to know new students because they bring new ideas and energy to topics that I think are important. I am also grateful that each new group of students does not know the mistakes I made in my teaching the previous semester and I don’t really know about any mistakes they made in their past classes, either. We all have a new beginning. We can do better and be better without being held down to who we were or what we did before. It’s like the plan of salvation and the blessing of repentance. We can constantly improve ourselves and become who God has invited us to become.
Q: What was a moment during your undergraduate education that influenced your career?
Carter: As an undergraduate journalism student, I had a habit of writing down funny or impactful statements by BYU professors. I still have a box of 3-by-5 cards with those quotes on them and many of them continue to influence me decades later. I also recall listening to church leaders at devotionals, particularly President Gordon B. Hinckley’s encouragement to “get as much education as you can.” That inspired me to go to graduate school. I ended up enrolling in four different master’s degree programs at four different universities (I completed three of them) as well as law school. That has made a big difference in my life.
The single-most important secular skill I learned as an undergraduate student was how to write a “lead paragraph” in a news article. Being able to summarize a large amount of complex information in a single sentence of 35 words or less has been invaluable in not only my journalistic work but also law practice, academic administration, church callings, social media content creation and even family relationships.
Q: What unique opportunities does the BYU School of Communications offer students?
Carter: The School of Communications has always had an orientation toward both academic and professional work. As an undergraduate student, I worked as a reporter and editor on the Daily Universe newspaper. That model still exists today, though the technology and media forms have evolved. Mentored or experiential learning has always been a critical part of the School of Communications, even more so now.
News does not happen in the newsroom, so our journalism work largely consists of getting students out of our building to learn about and report on people and events on campus, in the community and around the world. I have been fortunate to mentor groups of students in a lot of interesting places, oftentimes reporting on the impact of BYU programs. We have reported on projects including BYU nursing students doing public health work in the Amazon regions of Ecuador, the Ballroom Dance team at the international Blackpool competition, the International Folk Dance Ensemble in Prague, the Tabernacle Choir performing with historically Black colleges in Atlanta and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ food insecurity relief work with the Black 14 Philanthropy.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share about yourself or BYU?
Carter: When I was offered a BYU faculty position in 2004, I decided to leave a lucrative job at a law firm. I was obviously drawn to the mission of BYU and the chance to work with bright and optimistic students. I was also unreasonably drawn to the idea of playing faculty basketball at noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have been doing that now for two decades and love it. I have sometimes been a pain for the other players and I frequently have to apologize for fouling people or losing my cool. But I love the camaraderie, the competition, the exercise and the opportunity to try to improve myself as a basketball player, teammate and colleague. Thanks to basketball, I have had ankle surgery, two broken fingers, a tooth knocked out and lots of bumps and bruises but I have also met some great people from all around campus and I am impressed at the quality of faculty and staff. Basketball is not for everyone, but I hope everyone on campus finds their passion outside of academic work.