Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Gen Zers And Millennials Are Still Big Fans Of Books – Even If They Don’T Call Themselves ‘Readers’, Kathi Inman Berens, Rachel Noorda

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Identifying with an activity is different from actually doing it. For example, 49% of Americans play video games, but only 10% identify as gamers. According to a recent survey we conducted, there’s also a small gap between reading activity and identity for younger readers: 61% of Generation Z and millennials have read a print book, e-book or audiobook in the past 12 months, but only 57% identify as readers.

And yet there was a puzzling aspect of our results: The 43% of Gen Z and millennials who didn’t identify as readers actually said they read more print books per month …

Gen Z And Millennials Have An Unlikely Love Affair With Their Local Libraries, Kathi Inman Berens, Rachel Noorda

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

A phone fixation may seem at odds with an attraction to books. But the latter may offer a much-needed reprieve from the former. In our recent study of American Gen Z and millennials, we discovered that 92% of them check social media daily; 25% of them check multiple times per hour. Yet in that same nationally representative study, we also found that Gen Z and millennials are still visiting libraries at a healthy clip, with 54% of Gen Zers and millennials trekking to their local library in 2022. Our findings reinforce 2017 data from the Pew Research Center, which showed …

Digital Public Library Ecosystem 2023, Rachel Noorda, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Digital Public Library Ecosystem is the network of digital book collection and circulation specifically through public libraries. Digital book collection and circulation have never been more important than they are today. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans has read an ebook in the last 12 months. Audiobook listening is also high; nearly 1 in 4 Americans has listened to an audiobook in that same time period. Libraries are one way in which readers gain access to ebooks and audiobooks. Despite this, a holistic view of the digital library ecosystem is largely opaque. Three factors contribute to current confusion about the …

Gen Z And Millennials How They Use Public Libraries And Identify Through Media Use, Kathi Inman Berens, Rachel Noorda

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Gen Z and millennials have some surprising attitudes and behaviors regarding media consumption and library use. 54% of Gen Z and millennials visited a physical library within a twelve-month period. Libraries attract even Gen Z and millennials who don’t identify as readers. This report examines Gen Z and millennials' book-related behaviors (such as borrowing, buying, downloading and socializing) and and how media use shapes Gen Z and millennials' identity claims as Readers, Gamers, Fans and Writers. The report is intended for specialists such as librarians and book publishers, and broad public audiences.

Adults’ Reading Engagement And Wellbeing In Aotearoa New Zealand, Stephen Reder

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Education and literacy have long been associated with a range of economic and social outcomes in industrialized societies. Recent research based on large-scale national and international surveys has examined effects of education and literacy on individuals’ social and economic outcomes. This paper takes a further step in understanding the importance of literacy for individuals’ economic and social outcomes by disentangling the effects of two different aspects of literacy, literacy proficiency as measured by standardized tests and reading engagement as measured by self-reports of everyday reading activities. Using recent nationally representative survey data from New Zealand, multivariate regression models estimate the …

More Than Fiction: Representations Of Youth In Young Adult Dystopian Fantasy Fiction And Its Importance, Daman Mcconnell

University Honors Theses

This article takes on a comparative analysis between Young Adult Dystopian literature like Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, focusing on how adolescents are represented in the discussion of Dystopian Fiction. Though mainly focusing on Six of Crows, these novels can be considered places where society and the world these characters live in are unforgiving and restrictive, forcing the growth of these adolescents to accelerate toward adulthood. Within Six of Crows lies the representations of antagonists going against the youth as adults with twisted senses of morality. In addition, this article also discusses …

An Industry-Standard Profit And Loss Statement For Book Publishing Professionals In The United States, Jackie Krantz

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

Title profit and loss statements (P&Ls) in book publishing are valuable predictive tools for newly acquired titles. They inform the press on how money will be moving through the press in relation to the book’s production, revealing the book’s estimated value and level of profit. However, there is no industry-standard template. This lack of a template makes it difficult for new industry professionals to learn about P&Ls; prevents knowledge of one press’s P&L from being transferrable throughout the industry; and causes smaller presses to potentially neglect this useful tool due to the steep learning curve. The solution is to create …

Duets And Deadness, Josh Epstein

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Short-form essay on teaching The Waste Land in relation to sound and media.

Dinesen’S Diana: The Transformative Power Of Symbols In Ehrengard, Aishwarya A. Marathe

Anthós

This analysis of Dinesen's Ehrengard aims to illuminate the subversive transformation of the titular character of the novel, using the literal and symbolic application of artistic power.

Romanticism’S Fellow Creatures, Alastair Hunt, Ron Broglio, Katey Castellanos, Mario-Ortiz Robles

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This panel opens up innovative ways of thinking about Romanticism and “the problem of sharing our earth with other creatures.” Over the last couple of decades, the crisis in human relations with animals has deteriorated to the point that it has become increasingly recognized as a constitutive part of the global environmental crisis. Like the climate crisis, the “animal crisis” originates with the emergence of the industrial form of capitalism in Britain around the turn of the nineteenth century. Appreciation of this historical constellation can and should become the basis of a renewed Romantic animal studies. However, reading Romanticism as …

The Benefits Of Using Comics In The Classroom, Caedin Brown

University Honors Theses

With more research being done on the use and effects of comics in classes, teachers and the general public are becoming more accepting of them as a teaching tool. A study in the use of comics in classrooms has found positive correlations between comics and learning in academic environments and very few possibilities of negative connotations. Comics are being proven to show an increase of motivation in students along with better retention of knowledge, especially in the field of language learning. Comic activities in language learning environments that have been developed by Stephen Cary have shown an increase of engagement, …

Cultic Studies Cultivate Libertory Language, Todd Heckathorn

University Honors Theses

Coercive abuse at its most extreme manifests in cultic groups. These groups abuse their members using the same tactics that a domestic abuser or totalitarian government would to make their victims completely dependent on and subservient to them. Cultic studies investigate these tactics to define cults, coercive control, thought reform, indoctrination, and group psychological abuse behaviors. This fairly recent area of study has significant overlap with abolition feminist studies, which compare interpersonal and systemic abuse to liberate oppressed Americans, such as Black and Indigenous people, queer and disabled people, and women. This thesis combines cultic studies and abolition feminist studies …

Author Demographics Of Outdoor Books: Exploring Diversity On The Shelves At Oregon Outdoor Retailers, Nell Stamper

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

In 2023, the book publishing industry faced a documented lack of social diversity (racial, ethnic and gender expressive). The outdoor recreation industry is also predominantly White and male, and there is a rising presence of Instagram influencers working to increase diverse representation in the outdoors. This paper used a literature review, digital ethnography, and field research to examine the gaps in the hypothetical experience of a White heterosexual cisgender male vs. that of any other demographic when browsing and buying books at outdoor retailers in Oregon. Field research showed that out of 300 authors represented on the shelves of outdoor …

The Satisfaction Clause In Publishing Agreements: A Case Study Of Its Purpose, Controversy, And Future, Maliea Ruby

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

This research paper examines the satisfaction clause included in publishing contracts, the reason for controversy surrounding it, and what the future may look like for it. This is accomplished by looking at the history of the clause, how it functions in publishing contracts, and three major court cases centered around it. The satisfaction clause allows a client seeking a job done to determine whether the work is satisfactory to them. Much of the time these contracts are written to favor the client, part of the reason for its controversial status. In the context of publishing, the satisfaction clause is important …

Trends In Young Adult Literature: A Quantitative Approach To Characterizing The New York Times Young Adult Bestsellers Of 2020, 2021, And 2022, Anna Wehmeier Giol

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

Understanding how a book becomes a bestseller is one of the biggest mysteries in the publishing industry. This research paper focuses on YA bestsellers and uses a quantitative methodology to try to solve the mystery. Its main objectives are to (1) review the current trends in YA literature and (2) find patterns and similarities in the text of YA bestsellers. By building a dataset and analyzing the 175 books featured in the “Young Adult Hardcover” bestseller list of the New York Times for 2020, 2021, and 2022, the study shows that YA bestsellers share characteristics and patterns, such as the …

Reactions To Latinx Children’S Picture Books From Indie Presses: An Analysis Of Online Consumer Reviews, Karina L. Agbisit

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

This study analyzed online consumer reviews of children's picture books published by three small, independent presses focused on providing representation of Latinx people and culture. Reviews showed an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the use of bilingual text. Reactions to the use of illustrations support research indicating a preference for bright, colorful images. Additional themes that emerged in reviews include the timeliness of a bilingual book about expressing feelings in the first year of the Covid pandemic; the importance of personal connections to expressions of culture and traditions in the text; the pros and cons of using photographs instead of illustrations; …

Examining The Discovery Behaviors Of Comics Consumers, Tara Mccarron

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

The comics consumer base is big and it’s only getting bigger. And yet, very little research has been done on the consumer behavior of comics reads. In order to broaden the accessibility to comics consumer research, this paper examined the discovery behavior of 56 survey participants. The survey included questions pertaining to demographics, frequency of comics consumed, genres of comics consumed, formats used to consume comics, and methods used to discover comics. Due to limited scope, this paper focused solely on format preferences, discovery preferences, and the most-popular genre preferences. Based on this research, graphic novels remained the preferred format …

Struggling To Thrive: Nyc Publishing Salaries In The Age Of Inflation & Implications For Diversifying The Publishing Workforce, Em Villaverde

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

This research delves into the conundrum of New York City’s publishing sector, where passion drives more than profit. This paper reviews the impact of inflation and rising living costs on entry-level book publishing roles within NYC, unraveling the implications for diversity within the industry.

The central question investigates how the combination of inflation and living expenses influences the feasibility of jump-starting a publishing career in one of the most expensive cities—and the largest publishing hub—in the US. The study spotlights not only barriers to entering the industry but also the exacerbated challenges faced by BIPOC professionals.
The research zooms in …

Metadata Decentralized: An Examination Of Folksonomy In Book Publishing, Dani Tellvik

Book Publishing Final Research Paper

Classification of materials as multifaceted and complex as books is fraught with competing needs and idiosyncratic forms of expression and organization. A publisher’s primary goal is to position their books in a way that will attract readers who find value in the books. Book Industry Standards and Communication (BISAC) codes, the list of industry-approved subject headings, are essential to a book’s metadata for North American publishers. They are used to strike the balance so that a book blends in to an established category while also standing out as a particularly compelling of unique expression or the chosen classification.

Data Visualization: Analyzing An Evidentiary Archive, John Kohlepp

Anthós

This paper summarizes my approach to analyzing the evidentiary archive of Lisa Mendelman’s article “Character Defects: The Racialized Addict and Nella Larsen’s Passing” as part of Dr. Brenda Glascott’s HON 399 class in the Portland State Honors College. My teammates for this project were Joshua Allen, Elizabeth Estrada Torres, and Daman McConnell—I thank each of them for the hard work and insightful analysis they contributed to our collective work.

The 1929 novel Passing by Nella Larsen is a Harlem Renaissance masterpiece touching upon New Negro aspirations and the societal and psychological minefield of managing (and transgressing) racial boundaries as they …

Hit By Cupid's Arrow: Hidden Violence In Love Metaphors, Isis Dornbrook

Anthós

Love is an emotion that typically brings joy. However, the ways in which society talks about love suggest otherwise. The process of metaphor analysis makes the violence in societal expressions of love salient. Additionally, metaphor analysis shows that violent metaphors can inform the way people interact with one another throughout the stages of relationship formation, such as using metaphors to justify sexual and other types of physical abuse. Thus, this paper argues that metaphors, by shaping our attitudes and expectations about love, sex, and relationships, have observable social and cultural implications.

Passing Down: Nella Larsen's Questioning Of Eugenic Ideology, Sky R. Mcleod

Anthós

This article looks at Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing and examines how eugenic ideology of the time period are explored and critiqued through the story and characters. The novel follows two light skinned black women who grew up together and are reunited as adults. This reconciliation takes place under the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance where the expectations of New Negro womanhood mix with a growing wave of eugenic thought and practices. In the 1920’s many influential thinkers, including black leaders such as W. E.B. Du Bois, were convinced that the only way to move the human race forward was …

Gender, Fantasy, And Misogyny In The Age Of Innocence: A Character Study Of Newland Archer, Sonia Comstock

University Honors Theses

In this thesis, I’ll be analyzing Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence through a feminist lens, with a focus on the character of Newland Archer. Specifically, I'll examine who Archer is beyond a surface level, looking at his thoughts and fantasies and exposing his twisted, misogynistic outlook. I'll explore how his delusions affect the lives of the women around him, and how his behavior is reflective of the larger dynamic between men and women in society. Because the novel is written in close omniscient third person, the reader can both assess and align with Archer's mentality; the gap between the …

Among The Bedouins, A Knife Is Never Just A Knife: On Nourishment, Betrayal, And Finding Family Histories, Diana Abu-Jaber

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is an essay about family relationships from the perspective of a fiction writer, written in the context of the author's book, Fencing with the King.

Publishing In The Pacific Northwest, Kathi Inman Berens, Rachel Noorda, Nathalie Op De Beeck

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Overview of how 11 Pacific Northwest booksellers survived Covid, and continue to thrive after pandemic lockdowns have lifted. After many consumers shifted to online book buying, what techniques are these book stores using to attract and keep customers?

Space And Identity In J.M. Coetzee's Life & Times Of Michael K, Joshua Baker

University Honors Theses

Occupying colonial governments establish and maintain power through the demarcation and control of space, a process Sara Upstone terms "overwriting". In Life & Times of Michael K, Coetzee imagines the complication of establishing and maintaining a self-identity amid the strict control of space in post-apartheid, wartime South Africa, and it is this conflict of identity which comprises the novel’s subplot. The reader follows Michael K's odyssey over hundreds of miles in his quest to find the farm on which his mother was born and raised. His journey is repeatedly thwarted by state actors who enforce a strict control of movement …

Music: Modernist Remediation And Technologies Of Listening, Josh Epstein

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excerpt:
Ludwig van Beethoven, if not exactly a modernist, offers ample fodder for modern artists looking to defend – or expand – their turf. While producing City Lights (1928), Charlie Chaplin responded to the newly popular ‘talkies’ by proclaiming that ‘Moving pictures need sound as much as Beethoven symphonies need lyrics’ (qtd. in Crafton 1999: 296).

Ebux Of Oers For Ptc: Student And Faculty Ebook User Experiences (Ebux) Of Open Educational Resources (Oers) For Professional And Technical Communication (Ptc), Henry Covey

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report analyzes the digital/electronic textbook user experience (eBUX) of web-based open educational resources (OERs) for professional and technical communication (PTC). Data and information were gathered from students enrolled in introductory PTC courses (with IRB oversight and input from faculty and writing program directors) via online surveys (Google Forms), collaborative documents (Google Docs), remote interviews (Zoom), learning management system analytics (Desire2Learn), workshop documentation (pre-pandemic), and email correspondence. User research revealed issues of use and usability with web-based open-access PTC textbooks related to functional specifications, content requirements, interface and interaction design, information architecture, navigation, and aesthetics. The conclusion discusses the evolution …

Disaster Documentation Revisited The Evolving Damage Assessments Of Emergency Management In Oregon, Henry Covey

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report revisits a previous case study focused on the computing machinery and design of communication that are employed at the local, county, regional, state, and federal levels in Oregon to collect, review, and publish damage assessments of disasters and other emergency events. Since the last report, emergency managers throughout Oregon have faced numerous disaster incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic, ice storms, flooding, and some of the worst heat waves, drought conditions, and megafires on record, with the threat of more to come in the years ahead. After years of research and development, fueled by lessons learned from a catastrophic …

Oer Guide For Wr 227 Instructors: Using Open Educational Resources (Oers) In Wr 227 Courses, Sarah Read, Jordana Bowen, Henry Covey

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

The "OER Guide for WR 227 Instructors: Using Open Educational Resources (OERs) in WR 227 Courses" aims to help instructors make sense of and sort the massively decentralized and varying content of existing OERs available to support technical and professional writing courses. This guide is intended as a resource for introductory technical writing course instructors to adapt an existing course to integrate OER resources, or, to build a new course with all-OER student resources. This guide was developed for the specific use of WR 227 instructors at Portland State University and across Oregon; however, the material in the guide or …