Information Literacy & Mental Health Advocate

Erik P. Bean, Ed.D., is an award-winning author, researcher, educator, and international speaker whose work focuses on media literacy, information bias, leadership communication, artificial intelligence, and critical thinking. He is the author of Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories, recipient of a 2022 American Writing Awards Gold Medal in Education as well as Nautilus and Readers' Favorite Silver Awards. His work helps students, educators, professionals, and community members evaluate information more critically and make informed decisions in an increasingly complex digital environment.

Dr. Bean currently serves as Professor of Practice in the Doctor of Philosophy in Global Leadership program at Indiana Tech, where he teaches doctoral and practitioner research, leadership, and communications studies while mentoring emerging scholars. His research interests include media and information literacy, artificial intelligence, leadership communication, content analysis, cultural competence, and the role of information ecosystems in shaping public discourse.

His peer-reviewed scholarship includes Seven Initial Prominent Sources of All Information Bias Impartiality Types Parsed, published in Media Literacy and Academic Research, and Eavesdropping on UNESCO AI Policy, published in the Journal of Leadership Studies (Wiley). He continues to explore how individuals and organizations evaluate information credibility, navigate competing narratives, and respond to emerging technologies.

Beyond the classroom, Dr. Bean has presented research, keynotes, workshops, and invited lectures across the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Recent international activities include serving as keynote speaker, moderator, and doctoral workshop facilitator for the First International Spring Academy on Media and Information Literacy Diplomacy (ISA-MILID) in Meknes, Morocco, organized in cooperation with UNESCO-MILID and international academic partners (See PDF Conference Program via Link Below). His ongoing collaborations connect leadership, media literacy, intercultural dialogue, and responsible uses of artificial intelligence.

Dr. Bean is Michigan Chapter Leader for Media Literacy Now and founder of Healthy Mind Express, a Michigan nonprofit supporting mental health, inclusion, digital citizenship, and media literacy education. His broader mission is to help people of all ages become more thoughtful consumers, creators, and evaluators of information while promoting civil discourse, intellectual curiosity, and lifelong learning.