Digital Commons Network^™

The Opposite Of Subaltern Agency Is Not Agency, It’S Listening: Self-Guided Anti-Racism Investigation For Aspiring White Anti-Racists, Lauren Elaine Specht

Doctoral Dissertations

This research project examines the rhetorical relationship between oppressed and privileged communities, first to look at how oppressed communities can have more success in their outreach to change privileged points of view, then to examine that “success” of social advocacy is as bound up in the listener’s ability to hear as it is in the speaker’s ability to persuade and that the oppressed community is already using the most successful rhetorical tools available—privileged audiences are just not participating. To complete the first process, I used textual analysis to understand how an oppressed rhetor—represented by Toni Morrison—thinks of privileged perspectives in …

"I March To The Beat Of My Own Drum": A Critical Discourse Analysis On Mediated Construction Of Aaron Rodgers' Covid-19 Vaccination Disclosure, Patrick Crowe

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought suffering throughout society and disruption throughout the sports world. In the U.S., there have been politically polarized debates about the best course of action for handling the pandemic, including vaccinations and the appropriateness of other restrictive measures. Amidst the 2021 National Football League (NFL) season, in which the league imposed differing levels of restrictions based on a player’s vaccination status, former MVP and Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. After his positive test, Rodgers, who had previously claimed he was “immunized” from COVID-19, revealed that his immunization protocol consisted of “alternate” drugs …

Stakeholders And Stakeseekers’ Perceptions Of Cultural Violations And International Crisis Communication, Najwa Nishaa Albaqami

Masters Theses

Applying the expectancy violation theory (EVT) to the crisis communication context, this research explores to what extent stakeholders and stakeseekers’ perceive violations in an international crisis context. Specifically, this study investigated to what extent organizations stakeholders and stakeseekers’ perceive cultural and expectancy violations in an international crisis. Through a case study that analyzed tweets, web blogs, and The New York Times articles, this study identified that the cultural violation theme has two components, including (1) perceived responsibility and harshness of the violation and (2) damage done by the company’s transgression. Whereas expectancy violation theme included (1) frequent use of verbal …

Exploring Memorable Message About Law Enforcement, Max Ray A. Davenport Jr

Masters Theses

Research demonstrates that Black Americans are placed at a higher risk for having negative interactions with law enforcement. As a result, Black American families may engage in racial ethnic socialization (RES) practices aimed at preparing Black youth for racialized experiences, reducing the psychological effects of racism, and perserving the lives of Black American citizens. Guided by the memorable messages framework, the present study examines memorable messages about law enforcement as recalled by Black American young adults. More specifically, this study examines the specific type(s) of memorable messages Black American young adults recall receiving about law enforcement from sources such as …

Public Accounting Firm Statement Analysis: A Predictive Model To Identify Semantic Criteria To Enhance Firm Discussion Addressing Racial Injustice, Courtney Rochelle Lam

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Postfeminist Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Red Bull Sponsored Female Action Sports Athletes’ Digital Media Representation, Charli Celine Kerns

Doctoral Dissertations

This study applies a multimodal discourse analysis to social media content produced by Red Bull Media House. The aim of the research is to determine what postfeminist sensibilities discourses are used and how in the framing of the female action sports athletes the energy drink company sponsors. Specifically, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, and the biographical web pages about the 23 athletes were analyzed using multimodal discourse analysis. The findings revealed that while action sports have the potential to disrupt dominant discourses around femininity in sports contexts, ultimately Red Bull repackaged the discourses into different narratives.

Emerging Adults’ Experiences As Receivers Of Sexually Transmitted Infection Disclosures From Sexual Partners: A Three-Part Examination, Kayley D. Mcmahan

Doctoral Dissertations

Each year in the United States, over 20 million cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diagnosed, mostly among those in the developmental period of emerging adulthood (ages 18-29). Research on STI disclosure to romantic and sexual partners has increased over the last two decades, but this research has (a) generally lacked a developmental and theoretical focus, (b) not examined disclosure recipients, and (c) not been systematically and critically synthesized. To address these limitations, I conducted a three-part examination. First, I systematically reviewed the STI disclosure literature and summarized findings, critical limitations, and future research and intervention directions. Next, I …

Contemporary Black Civil Rights Activism Strategies In East Tennessee: Gaining Economic And Political Power In The Black Community, Lily Joy Crosby

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the contemporary Black civil rights movement in East Tennessee to gain a better understanding of the strategies being employed to mobilize publics. Though an important aspect of the public relations field, in public relations academia there is a lack of research centering on activism. Little has been explored outside of organizational settings, especially since the rise of technology and increased interconnectedness of the world. To learn more about the movement in East Tennessee, the researcher interviewed eight leaders of the contemporary Black civil rights movement across the East Tennessee region. The researcher …

Becoming A Mom: Intersectionality And Fashion Consumption For Millennial Latinas And The Role Of Social Media Influencers, Leslie M. Cuevas

Doctoral Dissertations

When it comes to motherhood for women of color, the topic of women empowerment is scarce, and the media mostly portrays Latinas through traditional ethnic stereotypes. The advent of social media has presented women the opportunity to engage in identity formation as they exercise empowerment in choices and self-monitoring online. A good example of this transition in power involves fashion influencers who use their personal influence to change the meaning of motherhood, making it more accessible and realistic to women in general. However, a lack of diversity remains within the influencer industry as white women are the majority. Drawing upon …

Boys That Blend: How Men In Makeup Can Affect Social Media Marketing Efforts, Matthew Meyers

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Is Big Press Tougher On "She"-Eos?, Kenan G. Smith

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Content Analysis Of Gender Stereotypes In Contemporary Teenage Magazines, Umana Anjalin

Masters Theses

The portrayal of women has long been a matter of concern as well as discontent. The patterns reflected in the media mostly deal with stereotyping females in very limited roles, and frequently as sex objects. Magazine content could be a crucial source in the issue of adolescent socialization. Magazines directed to adolescent female consumers orient the audience with the explicit and implicit messages of socio-economic lifestyle. Teens' relying on the subjective as well as objective comprehension of these magazines is crucial to their growing up. Therefore, it was essential to understand the factors that are influential for much of adolescent …

The Effect Of Advertising On Male Body Image Disturbance: A Content Analysis Of Male Models In Esquire Magazine Ads From 1955-2005, Zienab Ahmed Mohamed Shoieb

Masters Theses

This study examines the transformation of the male body ideal in magazine ads over time. A content analysis of 218 male models in Esquire ads from 1955 to 2005 were coded for level of male models’ fat, muscularity, and nudity levels; whether the ad was photographed or illustrated; and product category. Findings reveal (1) a significant decrease in male models’ fat levels over time, (2) a significant increase in male models’ muscularity levels over time, and (3) a significant increase in nudity over time. Male models in photographed advertisements were found to have higher levels of muscularity and nudity than …

Womanhood: A Mini-Series, Maggie E. Solomon

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Framing Urban Change: Gentrification Discourses In The Media Coverage Of The Gülbol Eviction In Berlin, Eric Daniel Gedenk

Masters Theses

This thesis examines gentrification discourses in Berlin by highlighting an extraordinarily large protest sparked by the eviction of the Gülbol family—long-time residents of Berlin who immigrated to Germany from Turkey. Media outlets chose to frame the event in very different ways. I analyze articles from various media sources in an attempt to discover how these sources chose to frame this event, then analyze how these frames are applied to the general gentrification discourse in Berlin. Non-traditional, or “advocacy” media outlets used technology to break away from mass media frames on the subject and frame the event as governmental oppression and …

Online Social Networking Sites: Meaning Of Sns's To Gay Men From Non-Accepting Families, Richard Tazz Curry

Doctoral Dissertations

The role of technology can be argued as changing the social landscape for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals. A 2009 survey of LGBTQ adults revealed over 70% of individuals self-reported using the Internet as their primary means of information seeking (Bond, Hefner, & Drognos). While traditional venues still exist for LGBTQ individuals in exploration of personal and sexual identities, the Internet serves as one distinguishing difference: anonymity. This study utilizes in-depth interviews, (N=15), to explore the experiences of gay men, from non-accepting families, who use online social networking sites (SNS) to reshape their perception of the world …

Drawing The Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Interracial Marriages In Television Sitcoms, Jodi Lynn Rightler-Mcdaniels

Doctoral Dissertations

Changes throughout history, particularly those surrounding race relations in the U.S., frequently have a direct effect on personal social experience and the current structure of society. Although public discourse often emphasizes the rhetoric of racial progression, subtle racism abounds – both in society and in media – masked under the façade of equality. This is especially true when examining race relations between Blacks and Whites, particularly those involved in intimate heterosexual interracial relationships, as they have traditionally been viewed as negative, dangerous, and threatening to the status quo.

Television representations are often socially and culturally rooted with real issues, hence …

A Not-So-Beautiful Campaign: A Feminist Analysis Of The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty, Caitlin M. Mccleary

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Content Analysis Of Social Tags On Intersectionality For Works On Asian Women: An Exploratory Study Of Librarything, Sheetija Kathuria

Masters Theses

This study explores how the social tags are employed by users of LibraryThing, a popular web 2.0 social networking site for cataloging books, to describe works on Asian women in representing themes within the context of intersectionality. Background literature in the domain of subject description of works has focused on race and gender representation within traditional controlled vocabularies such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). This study explores themes related to intersectionality in order to analyze how users construct meaning in their social tags. The collection of works used to search for social tags came from the Association …

Counselor Preferences Of White University Students: Ethnicity And Other Important Characteristics, Yi-Ying Lin

Masters Theses

In the last several decades, multiculturalism has became the one of the most popular research topics in psychology and counseling, and the counselor preferences of ethnic minority clients has been well researched. However, in the history of research on counselor preferences, the needs and preferences of ethnic majority clients have been neglected. This study investigated the counselor preferences of White university students.

This study examined three primary research questions: whether counselor ethnicity influenced White university students’ initial counselor preferences, what were White university students’ preferences for various counselor characteristics, and whether White university students preferred specific counseling styles for different …

Peeking Out: A Textual Analysis Of Heteronormative Images In Prime-Time Television, D. Renee Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation traces lesbian portrayals on network television from the 1960s through the 1990s. A focus on episodic dramas and situation comedies reveals a concise representation of the mediated lesbian image. Building on existing research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender images on television, this work focuses exclusively on the lesbian image broadcast free of charge over the air during prime-time on commercial networks in the United States. Using a postmodern feminist framework, this textual analysis examines the images and texts portraying lesbian characters in episodic dramas and situation comedies. Furthermore, applying a semiotic lens to the analysis dissects the …