Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Tap Dance As A Nonverbal Language For Autism Spectrum Disorder, J Sydney Rhane Burtis

Honors College Theses

Through elements of sound and movement, tap dance employs rhythm as a universal language for nonverbal communication through the medium of music. Through three distinct but related elements, (a literature review, an artist’s statement, and a performance piece), this thesis will explore tap dance as a form of nonverbal language. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder, tap dance may help to achieve further attunement with themselves and the outside world. Due to autistic people’s impaired communicative, interactional, and skilled abilities, experiencing the relationships formed through tap dance may facilitate improvement. The literature review begins with a brief definition of nonverbal …

Critical Thinking In The Age Of Misinformation: Information Literacy For Citizenship, Tamra Ortgies-Young, Jennfer Lobo Meeks, Barbara Robertson

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As recent political events across the globe have shed a light on the fragility of democratic values, the role of the University in creating a framework for civic education becomes more urgent. Informed, caring and engaged citizenry must be a goal of higher education. Students currently face the emergence of faulty types of information - such as misinformation and disinformation, which undermines the notion of collective or public inquiry, not only within universities, but also within society as a whole. This challenge must be acknowledged and addressed by academic institutions.

Session presenters will provide an overview of their work, “Critical …

The Effects Of Analog And Digital Cognitive Offloading On Memory, Olivia Sagely

Digital Studies

This study uses responses from a focus group to examine how college students participate in cognitive offloading, and looks at whether doing so with analog or digital methods effects their memory differently. The results from these focus groups are used to conduct an n-gram analysis.

Disparities In Sports Media Representation, Madison Handwerger

Media and Communication Studies Presentations

My research focuses on the differences of representation of genders in sports media. Being a collegiate female athlete myself, this topic really hits home for me, and is a big passion of mine. The primary text of my project is the ESPN television talk show, First Take. The show in itself reinforces a gender ideology with the way it is formatted, having two male analysts and a female host, however the host is not allowed to speak and share her opinions on the topic or issue at hand. That job is left for the male co-analysts. Before beginning my research, …

Undoing The Unhinged Woman: An Examination Of Contemporary Media Representation Of Women And Ideology, Alyssa Scanlon

Media and Communication Studies Presentations

The unhinged woman is a character trope that has popped up frequently in mainstream media for the past few years. This trope is utilized as a way to present an alternative representation of women; one that functions as being empowering, complex, and overall a new and positive representation of a constant misrepresented minority in media. Proceeding with a textual analysis of the 2014 film Gone Girl and the 2020 miniseries The Undoing, I was able to examine the salient attributes through a feminist lens. Further discovering that the unhinged woman trope is actually detrimental to the overall representation of women …

The Portrayals Of Grief And How It Affects Childhood Development On Netflix’S Haunting Of Hill House, Gabriella Demelfi

Media and Communication Studies Presentations

Netflix’s “The Haunting of Hill House” depicts the journey of five main characters who experienced the loss of their mother and how that unresolved trauma and grief manifests itself into the grief they experience as adults. Through normalizing depictions of healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms for grief, those who watch can learn through a social context how to deal with grief, validating the feelings of grief, and potentially recognize the signs of grief in others. In addition, this show, along with an increasing number of shows centered around grief, can help change societal and cultural views on discussions of death …

Black Asl (American Sign Language), Katrina Thulin

Sociology Student Work Collection

Presentation about Black ASL (American Sign Language) including it's origin, evolution, current study, and differences between mainstream ASL and Black ASL.

Exploring Online Art: Youtube, Libby Akin

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

Social media has become a predominant feature in contemporary culture and it is increasingly important that scholars assess the impact and implications of its many facets. As online sharing tools like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and others, continue to evolve, so does the way we interact with, and manipulate, these platforms – as complex tools, allowing us to freely share, create, and connect with one another. Current scholarly analysis of social media platforms, internet communities, and online content creation fails to include the perspective of the younger generation who grew up heavily influenced by social media content. While there is ample …

“You Are Sexist!” “No, I’M A Sports Reporter.” An Analysis Of Females’ And Males’ Portrayal In Print Media, Lauryn Beam

Student Scholar Showcase

Media itself has always been an outlet for the public. It has been used for entertainment, information, and a societal tool from the time when it was first advancing. Sport media is a genre all its own. There has always been a gender divide in sport and sport media. For this critical study, print media sources from different outlets were analyzed to compare two female athletes against two male athletes. The athletes being compared were Serena Williams and John McEnroe, as well as Brandi Chastain and Nicolas Anelka. Each article was analyzed for how the journalist portrayed the athlete, in …

Using From The Heartland In The First-Year Writing Classroom: Measuring Instructor Reception Of The Customized Textbook, Sarah Cohen

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The aim of the first-year writing program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is to equip students with critical reading and writing tools and strategies to advance effective written communication well into their future. This study examines and measures attitudes of UNO composition instructors – who come from a variety of pedagogical and theoretical backgrounds – toward the efficacy of UNO’s self-published Composition I textbook, From the Heartland: Critical Reading and Writing at UNO. In many ways, From the Heartland embraces what Richard Fulkerson refers to as “a critical cultural pedagogy” which encourages students to consider personal …

Teen Dating Violence, Janessa Rivera

Violence Against Women conference

Teen Dating Violence (TDV) is a topic rapidly increasing in the lives of our youth, however it is not discussed in the schools or in the community. Individuals who suffer from dating violence in their youth are more likely to experience domestic violence with an intimate partner as an adult. This presentation raises awareness of the term “dating violence” and highlights the impact of TDV in the Latino community in an interactive format that includes open discussion of cultural norms and appropriation in the Latino community, which can enable TDV. Healthy strategies to prevent/identify/escape TDV are also included, along with …

Leap Of Faith: Megachurches And The Struggle To Create A Brand Experience That Sells, Carly Middleton

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Leap of Faith: Megachurches and the struggle to create a brand experience that sells

Carly Middleton

Marcie Hinton, PhD

Department of Journalism and Mass Communications

Murray State University

As churches across the Commonwealth experience a decline in attendance, membership and giving, religious organizations are failing to connect with their audience and their organizational goals on social media. This exploratory content analysis evaluated the social media branding practices of Kentucky’s 20 megachurches and proposed areas of improvement.

A megachurch is defined as a Protestant Christian congregation with an average of 2,000 weekly attendees, including adults and children across all worship locations. …

Addressing Microaggressions: Transgressing The Line Between Professional And Social Activism, Karla Scott, Victoria Defrancisco, Maureen Ebben

Maureen Ebben

The focus of this workshop is the often overlooked day-to-day wearing down of people in oppressed groups as recipients of microaggressions. While most who are sympathetic to this problem know what a microaggression is, faculty, staff and students tend to fear addressing such aggressions. They simply may not know how to do so effectively. In this hands-on workshop participants will grapple with specific scenarios and be invited to try out different communicative responses and other tools to work toward creating a more inclusive climate for all. The workshop comes from an intersectional feminist perspective, shinning a light on oppressive behaviors …

Addressing Microaggressions: Transgressing The Line Between Professional And Social Activism, Karla Scott, Victoria Defrancisco, Maureen Ebben

Faculty Scholarship

The focus of this workshop is the often overlooked day-to-day wearing down of people in oppressed groups as recipients of microaggressions. While most who are sympathetic to this problem know what a microaggression is, faculty, staff and students tend to fear addressing such aggressions. They simply may not know how to do so effectively. In this hands-on workshop participants will grapple with specific scenarios and be invited to try out different communicative responses and other tools to work toward creating a more inclusive climate for all. The workshop comes from an intersectional feminist perspective, shinning a light on oppressive behaviors …

Social Justice And Social Media, Jo Coghlan Dr

Jo Coghlan

No abstract provided.

Putting Multimedia Exhibits In The Palm Of Your Hand, Damecia Donahue, Rachael Clark

Library Scholarly Publications

Presentation given by Rachael Clark and Damecia Donahue in November of 2012 at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference in Detroit, MI. The discussion revolved around topics related to libraries creating exhibits using their own collections and resources; this included the idea of incorporating multimedia tools and web applications to creatively and interactively provide access to library materials.

New Lines Of Inquiry: Arts-Based Research For Bridging Cultures, Sarah Brock Ma, Academic Director

Fostering Multicultural Competence and Global Justice: an SIT Symposium

This paper explores the implications for arts-based research (ABR) methods in fostering cross-cultural dialogue in international study. It reviews the academic arguments for and against the use of arts-based methodologies in qualitative research where more traditional, methodologies in the social sciences are combined with creative inquiry – narrative, poetic, dance, and visual forms of inquiry, for example – as well as the technical challenges and benefits associated with drawing on the humanities and arts as primary modes of inquiry; it explores the relevance and potential for ABR within the broader context of the study and use of the arts and …