Digital Commons Network^™

Wild Ixalan: A Creative Case Study On Mythology, Magic, And More, Lincoln Teichert

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Magic: The Gathering, a subsidiary of Hasbro, releases packs of cards periodically, unified by a cast of dozens of characters who can travel from plane to plane—the rough equivalent of interstellar travel—but games feature battles between these powerful mages (represented by players) across the multiverse of fictional locations. Before quarterly set releases, short stories are published on Magic’s website, a form of content marketing that has spurred sales for over a quarter-century. Magic draws on myths from across the world, along with diverse geographies and technological development. This paper offers an overview of trading card games, sketches what a Magic …

Pixels & The Polls: The Impact Of Female Role Models In Television Media On The Perceived Electability Of Women, Amy Griffin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

It’s no secret that women are extraordinarily underrepresented in government and misrepresented in media. To better understand the impact of fictional television media featuring a positive female leader on the public’s perception of the electability of women and on their willingness to support women's campaigns, this study aimed to measure participants’ voting choices after viewing a positive fictional female leader. 104 college-age participants viewed fifteen-minute segments taken from episodes of CBS’s political drama Madam Secretary featuring either a male president or a female Secretary of State as each navigated political challenges. The participants completed vignette election experiences between nonpartisan municipal …

Brigham Young University Police And The Campus Community, Martha J. Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Police Departments have become increasingly common on college campuses. In this creative thesis project, I explore Brigham Young University’s Police Department through a journalistic lens and examine what has happened since the department was almost decertified by the Utah Department of Public Safety. I do so by interviewing experts and community members, analyzing public records and data, and synthesizing my findings in a long-form audio story. I begin this paper with brief literature reviews of both crime on college campuses and the podcast medium. I then include the transcript of my podcast. Finally, I discuss my experience during this project …

An Analysis Of Intercultural Research From 2000-2019., Isabelle Kramer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the last twenty years, advancements in information and communications technologies have fundamentally altered the face of intercultural communication (Shuter, 2011). While there is significant research regarding the impact of new media on intercultural communication, there is no published research that discusses the ways in which intercultural scholarship in the academic context has adapted to the evolving social media landscape. I will be conducting a content analysis on all intercultural articles published on the EBSCO database “Communication and Mass Media Complete” between January 2000 and January 2019. This research will illuminate trends in intercultural communications studies over the past twenty …

The Whole Truth: The Denominational Press Versus The Secular Press, Jennifer Goldsberry

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis compares the reporting from The Boston Globe versus The Boston Pilot regarding the evolving story of sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy in 2002. Across all the articles, quotes from clergymen and victims, respectively, are counted, word choice and article placement are evaluated, and a ratio between staff articles versus articles from outside news organizations is created. Opinion editorials written by staff are also included in the analysis. All of these topics combine to determine the fairness, accuracy, and balance represented in the reporting of both publications.

The Full Forecast: A Gender And Racial Analysis Of Broadcast Tv Weathercasters, Danielle Wardinsky Hallows

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the representation of women and minorities working as broadcast television weathercasters by examining eight randomly selected television markets. Individual biography web pages from each of the four local syndicate station websites (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) were used for data collection. Information was collected about gender, race, number of twitter followers, chief meteorologist position, certificate type (AMS Seal of Approval or Certificate of Broadcast Meteorology) and the show shift for each individual meteorologist. Results indicate that while white males still dominate the majority of positions in smaller markets, women are more equally represented in larger markets. Minorities are …

Media And The Formation Of Scottish Parliament, Emily Ashcraft

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The thesis explored how media interacts with politics, specifically the Scottish Parliament, by considering the representation of the Scottish Parliament in newspapers from the time the Scots voted for a parliament (1997) through the years following the beginning of the Scottish Parliament (1999-2003). It compared various newspapers from Scotland and the United Kingdom during this time and examined their reporting on the parliament. It also evaluated specific differences between the UK and Scottish Parliaments, where they originated and how newspapers and other media were involved in the conversation. This research found that press representation and media framing is important in …

Лол—Comparing Expressions Of Humor Used In Memes By Russian And English Speakers, Teya Jensen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores trends in the types of humor used by Russian and English speakers in the creation and perpetuation of internet memes. The purpose of this project is to better understand the impact of the globalizing effects of the internet on social identity. Most current scholarship addressing the effects of memes on social communication and research into the specific trends of humor on the internet, focuses on the meme culture of English-speakers. Some researchers have focused on analyzing meme use in other countries, but they have not compared American and Russian humor.

This project demonstrates how patterns of pastiche, …

Broadcasting The Search For Understanding: The Essay's Relationship With The Podcast, Miriam Bay Sweeney

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this creative thesis project, I explore the relationship between the modern essay and the podcast. I do so by producing the first three episodes of my own essayistic podcast, called Peer-Refined Health. In this foundational exploration, I consider the value of the podcast as a new medium of communication for the essay. I begin this project report with a background on both the podcast and the essay as well as a discussion of my project development. The transcripts of three episodes of Peer-Refined Health follow. Finally, I analyze the relationship between the essay and the podcast and suggest additional …