Emma McDaris // Photo by Macy Cox

A communications professor was appointed the new chair of the Department of Communication this week.

Dr. Charles Bane, professor of communication, will serve as the new chair of the department beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year. Bane has worked at Harding for ten years and oversaw the Harding Film Department, as well as taught in the English department during his time as a professor.

Bane said he is excited and honored to be named the next chair, for the current chair, Dr. Laurie Diles, led the department through “some rough times,” Bane said.

“My hope is that we can move forward into Harding’s second centennial knowing that we can weather any storm,” Bane said. “Our department is one of the most diverse on campus, housing multiple majors in areas that teach how to communicate effectively to persuade, inform, and entertain. But as diverse as we are, we are also a community that is tethered by shared, overlapping interests in our desire to tell stories. We help each other and realize that through combining our various talents, we become stronger, better storytellers.”

Bane’s students and fellow professors and expressed their admiration for him and their hopes for his future as chair. Diles said Bane’s creative roots will help him with this position.

“Dr. Bane is eminently qualified for this position in that he has a full understanding of the importance of the undergraduate academic experience combined with the creativity needed to provide vision, as well as the administrative skills to keep all the various programs on track,” Diles said. “Dr. Bane’s academic discipline is Film, which in itself combines creativity with the administrative skill set to complete a production.”

Diles said Bane is a person who takes academics seriously and also “wrestles with what it means to be a Christian learner and professor.”

“My hope for Dr. Bane as chair, is that the years ahead will allow some breathing room for him to lead the Department of Communication to even greater heights, whether that be in the finalization of a film production company, or the revamping of some academic majors,” Diles said.

Though change can disturb an ecosystem, the communication department has faith in this change and the benefits it will bring.

“Dr. Bane’s vision and administrative skills will benefit the Department of Communication, in that he will be in the position to clear spaces for the rest of the Department to pursue their academic and co-curricular passions,” Diles said.

Dr. Terry Engel, professor of English, said he expects the bond between the departments to grow as a result of his former colleague’s promotion.

“The Communication Department has a history of strong leadership, dating back to Dr. Diles and Dr. Miller, and Dr. Bane will continue to build on their strong foundation,” Engel said. “Communication brings special challenges for the chair, since the chair oversees a large budget for publications and productions and all the technology and equipment that goes in to that. They provide incredible services to the Harding community, but Dr. Bane brings experience from multiple disciplines, as well as having had the advantage of teaching at other schools besides Harding. I expect the Communication department is in good hands.”

Senior film student Brinson Davenport worked with Bane throughout his experience at Harding and said he has high expectations and hopes for his mentor.

“I hope the Comm. Department will recognize Dr. Bane’s unique personality as a challenger and innovator and will join him in partnering for a creative future,” Davenport said.

Bane created the Film major at Harding and has pioneered events such as the 5-Minute Film Festival and the 48-Hour Film Festival that both allow students to get hands-on experience in a field that can be difficult to break into.

“The Comm. Department will richly benefit from his pioneer creativity, as he harnesses the same energy it required to essentially single-handedly launch a new major in recent years,” Davenport said.