Have Questions? We have answers.
Contact Us
Brenden Kendall
Professor of Communication Studies
Communication Studies
[email protected]I'm Teaching
Comm 4100: Communication Ethics
Comm 3330: Leadership Communication
Comm 3030: Teamwork and Collaboration
Office Hours
Visit https://tinyurl.com/BEKadvising to see Brenden's office hours and book advising sessions.
Biography
Dr. Brenden E. Kendall joined the Communication Studies faculty at Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2015, following earlier teaching at Clemson University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Utah.His teaching focuses on communication ethics, leadership communication, teamwork and collaboration. He helps students learn to analyze ethical dilemmas, lead and collaborate effectively, understand organizational culture and power, and communicate clearly through change.
Dr. Kendall has held significant faculty leadership and shared governance roles at MSU Denver, including election as Faculty Senate President in 2026. His university leadership has also included work on institutional strategy, academic innovation, policy and curriculum, organizational change, and the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in higher education. He approaches institutional challenges as questions of design: how policies, processes, and structures can be rethought to solve recurring problems, reduce friction, enable people to do their best work, and expand the university’s capacity to adapt. Across these efforts, he has helped advance faculty participation, collaborative decision-making, and practical responses to complex institutional challenges.
His scholarship includes “Teaching Communication Ethics,” published in Teaching Communication, Volume 2: Teaching Communication Studies (Cognella, 2024), and his work as guest editor of Communication Theory’s 2022 virtual issue, “Reconsidering Disconnection,” a curated collection of previously published scholarship accompanied by new commentary.
Research Interests
-
Communication ethics; Communication pedagogy; Organizational and leadership communication; Institutional change and academic innovation; Higher education governance; AI and the future of teaching, and academic work, and career readiness /personal development.
Teaching Interests
-
Applied communication; Mindful and ethical communication; Leadership and collaborative practice; Organizational culture and change; Experiential and AI-aware learning
Education
PhD in Communication
The University of Utah
MS in Communication
The University of Utah
BA in Communication Studies
The University of Montana
Published Works
-
James, P. E., Kendall, E. B. (2025). The Communication of Productive Fitness: How CrossFit Shapes a Branded Self Through the Embodiment of Exceptionalism . (). SpringerNature. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031910456
Kendall, B. (2025). Teaching Communication Ethics. (2). Cognella. https://titles.cognella.com/teaching-communication-volume-ii-9781793523310
Kendall, B. (2022). Communication Theory Virtual Issue: Reconsidering Disconnection. Communication Theoryhttps://academic.oup.com/ct/pages/virtual-issue-reconsidering-disconnection.
Kendall, E. B. (2022). Organizational Communication. Open Educational Resource: Canvas Commons,
Weathers, R. M., Kendall, B. (2016). Developments in the Framing of Climate Change as a Public Health Issue in US Newspapers. Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture, 10(5), 593-611. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2015.1050436.
Cheney, G., Kendall, B., Munshi, D. (2015). Ethical Universalism. , http://www.sagepub.in/books/Book238738?subject=A00&bookType=%22Reference%20Books%22&sortBy=defaultPubDate%20desc&fs=1
Linvill, L. D., Kendall, B. (2015). Teaching Metatheory through Venn Daigramming. Communication Teacher, 29(3), 135-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2015.1028560.
Kendall, B. (2014). Book review: ‘Harris, H., Wijesinghe, G., & McKenzie, S. (Eds.). The heart of the good institution: Virtue ethics as a framework for responsible management. Dordrecht, The Netherlands’. Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, https://doi.org/978-1-78441-246-3
Cheney, G., Lair, J. D., Kendall, E. B. (2013). Making Organization Matter: Looking Back and Looking Ahead. Organization, 20(1), 66-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508412461001.
Cheney, G., Lair, J. D., Kendall, B. (2013). Making 'Organization' Matter: Looking Back and Looking Ahead. Organization, 20(1), 67-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508412461001.
Cheney, G., Lair, J. D., Ritz, D., Kendall, E. B. (2010). Just a Job?: Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life. (pp 298 pages). Oxford University Press.
Cheney, G., Lair, D., Ritz, D., Kendall, B. (2009). Just a Job? Communication, Ethics, and Professional Life. (). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182774.001.0001