Digital Commons Network^™

Public Relations Planning & Strategy, Gary Carlin

Lynn University Digital Press Books

Public Relations Planning and Strategy is a comprehensive compilation of open access resources for college students seeking to understand PR planning and strategy essentials. This book presents a practical approach to developing effective PR plans that align with an organization's goals and objectives. Through case studies and real-world examples, readers will learn the critical elements of successful PR campaigns, including conducting research, identifying target audiences, creating messages, selecting media channels, and measuring results. This book also addresses emerging trends and PR issues, like the role and impact of social media and the importance of ethical considerations. With its practical approach …

Locations Of Possibility: Reengaging Embodied Pedagogy As An Act Of Resistance, Molly Wiant Cummins

Communication Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reliability And Validation Of An Attitude Scale Regarding Responsible Conduct In Research, Samar Abd Elhafeez, Mohamed Salem, Henry J. Silverman

Faculty Journal Articles

Several studies reveal a problematic prevalence of research misbehaviors. There are several potential causes of research misconduct but ensuring that scientists hold attitudes that reflect norms of acceptable behaviors is fundamental.

Is It Because I'M International: Unpacking Experiences Of International Instructors? Via Critical Communication Pedagogy As Aligned With Cultural Wealth, Yea-Wen Chen, Molly Wiant Cummins

Communication Faculty Publications

Given the relatively invisible yet growing presence of international academics on U.S. campuses, this study investigates the lived negotiations of “international instructors” across disciplines via critical communication pedagogy (CCP) as aligned with a pedagogy of cultural wealth. We place “international instructors” within quotation marks to challenge a territorial linear logic of the world, and also to facilitate a new space for rethinking academic labors and capitals. Aligned with a pedagogy of cultural wealth, CCP with key commitments to identity, power, culture, and language in the context of pedagogy is an appropriate lens to examine the lived experiences of “international instructors” …

Mothering In A Pandemic: Navigating Care Work, Intensive Motherhood, And Covid-19, Molly Wiant Cummins, Grace Ellen Brannon

Communication Faculty Publications

Even before COVID-19, women around the world performed more unpaid domestic labor, specifically unpaid care labor, than men. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the gender gap in this domestic labor. For Western women, especially mothers in the United States of America, the normative discourse of intensive motherhood and the gendered pressure inherent in the unrealistic standards set by the discourse have only increased the amount of unpaid domestic and care labor required of mothers. Using qualitative, in-depth interviews with 18 mothers during May–June 2020, this study examines privileged mothers’ perceptions of what they did well in parenting both before and during …

Promoting Development Of Urban-Rural Integration By Urban Agriculture, Qichang Yang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

How to solve the widening gap between urban and rural areas caused by the rapid development of urbanization and its siphonic effect has become the focus of the whole society. The unique role of urban agriculture in expanding urban agricultural space, enhancing the elasticity of urban food supply, ensuring residents' physical and mental health, improving the ecological environment, and reducing carbon footprint was discussed, from the perspectives of urban agriculture's connotation and denotation, morphological characteristics and functions. Besides, the potential role of urban agriculture in solving the issues of rural and urban development and the method and strategies of integration …

Implicating Ourselves Through Our Research: A Duoethnography Of Researcher Reflexivity, Molly Wiant Cummins, Grace Ellen Brannon

Communication Faculty Publications

Researcher reflexivity is not a new concept in qualitative research. However, how/if researchers engage in that reflexivity varies. In this essay, the authors engage in reflexivity about a research project they conducted together. The previous project consisted of semi-structured interviews with U.S.-based mothers regarding their perceptions about motherhood. We then used intensive motherhood as a theoretical lens through which we analyzed the interviews. The project also encompassed mothers’ perceptions during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Through duoethnography, the researchers reflexively consider major dead angles of their project, challenges they faced, and what reflexivity brings to the forefront. They further reflect on …

'Never Time To Do Anything Well': Mothers' Reported Constraints During A Pandemic, Grace Ellen Brannon, Molly Wiant Cummins

Communication Faculty Publications

Mothers’ perceptions of mothering could potentially influence several aspects of their home and work commitments. This study explores how mothers perceive their mothering experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic via 18 in-depth interviews. The authors use constraint theory and negotiation frameworks to discuss how family communication processes and perceptions of mothering are related within the context of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Findings demonstrated how working from home increased perceptions of family tensions, especially with the lack of home/work separation. Throughout the narratives, participants describe specific constraints at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural levels, as …

Influence Of Pediatric Patients’ Developmental Or Chronic Health Condition Status As A Predictor Of Parents’ Perceptions Of Patient- And Family-Cen, Grace Ellen Brannon, Madison Ray

Communication Faculty Publications

Our study aimed to estimate how a pediatric patient’s health condition status influences parents’ perceptions of patient- and family-centered care (PFCC). We analyzed five years (2013–2017) of Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data in efforts to expand understanding of the family influence in pediatric health encounters, using family systems theory as our theoretical lens. The sample included 36,675 parents of children with developmental or chronic health conditions who reported visiting a health-care provider within the past 12 months. The independent variable was a combined measure of any developmental or chronic health conditions previously diagnosed in the child being assessed. Dependent variables …

Documenting Emotional Labor: An Exercise In Critical Communication Pedagogy, Molly Wiant Cummins, Audrey A. Huber

Communication Faculty Publications

This essay builds on Lawless’s call to name and chronicle emotional work. The authors draw attention to the emotional labor that has become an institutional expectation of the academic position, particularly among people with marginalized identities, to name this labor as such and to use this documentation as evidence for compensation. The authors’ emotional labor is grounded in critical communication pedagogy (CCP), which compels them to engage in a fundamentally different form of emotional labor, one that depends on relationship-building and the recognition of systemic and structural forms of oppression through reflexive care and performative listening. This form of emotional …

The Reckoning That Never Happened, Katherine Seltzer

Student Research Submissions

Five years after the UMW men’s rugby team was suspended for a violent and misogynistic chant, I am writing about whether the school has fully reckoned with the rugby team’s culture of sexual hostility. The school has mandated sexual harassment training for all athletes, hired a Title IX expert, and settled a lawsuit with Feminists United Club, which sued the school in 2015 for failing to protect members from more than 700 harassing messages over the anonymous app Yik Yak. The club was met with violent rape and death threats following their criticism of the rugby team’s chant. But, as …

Affection Exchange Theory, Alexandra Farber

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Affection Exchange Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Affection Exchange Theory In My Words
• Affection Exchange Theory Analysis & Critique
• Learning Your Workplace ‘Love Language’ Presentation

The Online Disinhibition Effect, Alexandra Eigen

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Online Disinhibition Effect by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• The Impact of the Online Disinhibition Effect
• Online Disinhibition Effect Theory Evaluation

Stigma Management Theory, Jade Larson

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Stigma Management Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Stigma Management Theory Evaluation
• Communication Theory Project Website

Communication Accommodation Theory, Mccade Ivarsen

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Communication Accommodation Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Communication Theory in My Words
• Imposter Phenomenon Interview Protocol
• Imposter Phenomenon Theory Evaluation

Post-Colonialism Theory, Larissa Durkin

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Post-Colonialism Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Ripple Effect Interview Transcription
• Post-Colonialism Theory Evaluation
• Final Analysis Grant Research Project-Decolonizing Research Methods

Spiral Of Silence Theory, Madison Vanwalleghen

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Spiral of Silence Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Women in the Sports Media and Broadcast Industry: A Qualitative Interview Study

Diffusion Of Innovation Theory, Kirsten Barott

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Diffusion of Innovation Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Diffusion of Innovation Theory Evaluation
• A Narrative Inquiry of the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce’ CEO Guided by a Critical Analysis, Strategic Planning Methods, and Comparison to the Zorro’s Circle Concept Through the Lens of a Hope Theorist.
• Diffusion of Innovation In My Words

Bona Fide Group Perspective, Nicholas French

Communication Theory: In Our Words

The following materials are a collection of student works that aid in demystifying Bona Fide Group Perspective Theory by portraying the theory through a variety of lenses.

Materials:

• Bona Fide Group Perspective Theory Evaluation
• Using The Collective Story Harvest to Decolonize Western Research Methodologies Presentation

Big Data And Journalism: How American Journalism Is Adopting The Use Of Big Data, Andrew M. Clark, Julián Rodríguez

Communication Faculty Publications

This research uses in-depth interviews with three data journalists from the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times in the United States to describe the role of data journalists, and to illustrate how and why they use big data in their stories. Data journalists possess a unique set of skills, including the ability to find and gather data and use that data to tell a compelling written story in a visually coherent way. Results from our interviews and research show as newspapers move to a digital format, the role of data journalists is becoming more essential, as are laws like …

The Balancing Act Is Magnified: U.S. Mothers’ Struggles Amidst A Pandemic, Grace Ellen Brannon, Molly Wiant Cummins

Communication Faculty Publications

Successes are often noticed in reflection after an event; struggles are felt in the moment. When COVID-19 was recognized as a public health emergency in the United States (US), many mothers felt their struggles more acutely. Much of 2020 feels like a pressure cooker for mothers, where the steam valve does not fully relieve the mounting pressure they felt because of COVID-19. Most families are experiencing additional stress due to COVID-19, but in heterosexual couples, that work disproportionately falls to women, as they are spending, on average, fifteen hours more per week on education and household tasks (Cohen and Hsu). …

Family Communicative Environment’S Effects On Young Adults’ Social Norms About Limiting Alcohol: Examining The Mediating Effects Of Implicit Pri, Grace Ellen Brannon

Communication Faculty Publications

Alcohol usage among young adults remains a prominent public health concern. Communicating with family members about alcohol can positively influence young adults’ perceptions of social norms, yet the stigmatized nature of alcohol-related conversations in the family create a barrier to occurrence of these conversations. This study examines how young adults’ familial communication patterns impact their descriptive and injunctive social norms about alcohol, using Communication Privacy Management Theory as the theoretical framework. Specifically, this study seeks to understand how conversation orientation, conformity orientation, warm conformity orientation, and cold conformity orientation predicts two sets of social norms (descriptive and injunctive), and to …

Mummy Cave; North Fork Shoshone River; Park County, Wyoming, Timothy Andrews

Conspectus Borealis

Mummy Cave represents the silence of the Sheepeater Shoshone. Little evidence of human occupation can survive this close to the river. The bank is low and rocky, with a thin deposit of alluvial soil, from the present shoreline to the angle of the ridge, where the ruddy breccia and tuff rise acutely, providing a rockface where the erosive action of the frigid mountain water could lap over eons at the igneous wall to form a shallow overhang. Camp placement in this proximity to a river was likely common, making use of a broad level riverbank to live close to water …

“Moderated”; How Facebook And Youtube Recreate The Meaning Of The Societal Public Square, Dylan John Kreisman

Journalism

This study investigates the prevalence of content moderation systems on digital intermediaries and the influence those systems have on the spread of information. It primarily analyzes the content moderation systems of Facebook and YouTube. Since Facebook and YouTube are two of the most used online platforms in the world, the way content is shared and viewed can have implications towards a person’s perspective on a subject. Social media and online intermediaries are growing as people’s source of news, so the primary way people view news in the near future will most likely be from intermediaries such as Facebook or YouTube. …

Two Drug Epidemics In A Racist World: Comparing The Crack Crisis With The Opioid Epidemic, Téa Franco

Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

America has faced two nationwide drug addictions: the crack crisis and the opioid epidemic. Despite several similarities in the spread of the addictions, the two garnered vastly different reactions from the media, society, and the government. It has become apparent that the reason for these different reactions is the race of those typically afflicted by each addiction. The crack crisis predominantly affected impoverished communities of color, whereas the opioid epidemic has affected more white Americans. Through journalistic methods including FOIA requests, government documents, interviews, and the gathering of primary and secondary sources, I have examined the way that race plays …

Miracles And Home Births: The Importance Of Media Representations Of Birth, Molly Wiant Cummins

Communication Faculty Publications

Since most women do not experience birth firsthand before giving birth themselves, many U.S. American birthing women draw knowledge from media representations for understanding what to expect during delivery. Most media representations of birth uphold a medical model, presenting many women with limited options for birth and reducing the agency available to women in their healthcare choices. Lack of choice and agency play into some of the issues surrounding the high rate of maternal mortality in the U.S., compared to other developed nations. This paper analyzes “The Miracle of Birth” scene from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Darci’s home birth on Jane …

The Promise Of Happy Cows: How American Milk Brands Persuade Consumers Regarding Farm Animal Welfare Conditions And How Consumers Respond To Incidents Of Being Misled, Chelsea Newson

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to examine how American dairy companies employ language and imagery in brand communications (marketing, advertising, and public relations) to persuade consumers regarding farm animal welfare (FAW) conditions on supplier farms, and to examine how consumers respond in instances in which conditions on supplier farms are shown to be counter to what is depicted in brand communications. In other words, it examines how the dairy industry communicates its FAW-related values and promises to consumers and investigates consumer tolerance for being misled regarding FAW conditions. This project is thus intended as an exploration of the intersection …

Getting Them In The Door: A Study Of Programming Within Boys & Girls Clubs Of Vermont, Hannah Macon

Capstone Collection

While it is clear that strong, evidence-based youth-centered programming has a significant impact within an organization, there are often challenges and barriers which can significantly impact these programs. To understand these barriers more fully, it is important to understand the context through which these programs are being operated in, and by analyzing the perceptions surrounding what makes a program successful or sustainable over time. The Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro is a local non profit which strives to grow and increase its impact on the youth members of the community. The purpose of this research was to collect and …

The Never-Ending Lap, Ennica D. Jacob, Alexis Reese

Capstones

This personal film documents the journey of a Haitian-American woman dealing with sexual trauma in a culture that doesn’t speak candidly on the topic. How can women of the African- American diaspora break the cycle of sexual trauma and what are coping mechanisms to navigate their life choices with awareness?

The Never-Ending Lap will follow Ennica’s own healing process, delving delve into the cycles of sexual trauma. The film will explore past experiences through journal entries, therapy sessions and her love for track and field as she is on the road to search for coping mechanisms and healing.

Link: https://ennicajacob.myportfolio.com/videos

Rhetsec_ | Rhetorical Security, Jennifer Mead

Culminating Projects in English

Rhetsec_ examines the rhetorical situation, the rhetorical appeals, and how phishing emails simulate "real" emails in five categories of phishing emails. While the first focus of cybersecurity is security, you must also understand the language of computers to know how to secure them. Phishing is one way to compromise security using computers, and so the computer becomes a tool for malicious language (phishing emails and malware) to be transmitted. Therefore to be concerned with securing computers, then you must also be concerned with language. Language is rhetoric's domain, and the various rhetorical elements which create an identity of the phisher …