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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Response To Jennifer Cunningham: Code Switching Has Nothing To Do With Racism, Zaniah Shobe Apr 2021

Response To Jennifer Cunningham: Code Switching Has Nothing To Do With Racism, Zaniah Shobe

Cardinal Compositions

No abstract provided.


Black Language, Social Identity, And The “Gap”, Ariel Perkins Apr 2021

Black Language, Social Identity, And The “Gap”, Ariel Perkins

Cardinal Compositions

No abstract provided.


Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis Of Black Characters And Racial Discourses In Obama-Era Films., Eric A. Jordan Aug 2020

Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis Of Black Characters And Racial Discourses In Obama-Era Films., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes how black characters across twenty movies released in the years 2006-2018 inspire, coach, “save,” or “rescue” other characters. Studies on “savior” characters in film tend to focus on white savior characters who seek to “save” people of color from harm. When comparing black characters and white saviors, I find that black characters use three specific strategies—revolution, vigilantism, and altruism —to help other characters. The characters who use the revolution and vigilantism strategies seem to be what I call “black saviors” who work to fight against institutional and systemic racism to save the black diaspora. Altruistic characters seem …


White Moves First: Unearthing White Privilege In The Modern Board Game., Darrell A. Johnson May 2020

White Moves First: Unearthing White Privilege In The Modern Board Game., Darrell A. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the design choices in the modern board game and argues that game designs emerge from and constitute dominant ideologies that endorse and secure white male superiority. This dissertation utilizes Michel Foucault’s archaeological method to “unearth” ideologies that cultural artifacts both emerge from and constitute. The project considers three central questions: 1) How does the locus of production and consumption impact the dominant ideology underlying game design? 2) How do design choices secure and constitute an ideology of white male dominance? 3) What impact does the normalization of white dominance have upon the broader community? This dissertation …


A New Paradigm For Improving Race Relations, Teresa Reed Jan 2020

A New Paradigm For Improving Race Relations, Teresa Reed

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Uncertain Certainties: An Analysis Of The American Response To The 2014-2016 West African Ebola Epidemic., Kelly Carty Aug 2018

Uncertain Certainties: An Analysis Of The American Response To The 2014-2016 West African Ebola Epidemic., Kelly Carty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the construction of scientific facts surrounding the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak as well as the subsequent uptake and transformation of those facts by the United States government. While the Ebolavirus ravaged the communities of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, the incidence of the virus in other countries was very low. Nonetheless, the United States spent $576 million on domestic preparedness and response. This study addresses this mismatch in the context of the reinvigorated interest among rhetoricians into writing and science. Applying and expanding the methodology of Jeanne Fahnestock, this study analyzes Ebola-related statements in scientific articles, …


Reel Racism, Real Consequences : A Multiple Case Analysis Of Savior Films As Racial Projects., Eric A. Jordan May 2016

Reel Racism, Real Consequences : A Multiple Case Analysis Of Savior Films As Racial Projects., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes how four blockbuster movies released in the years 2000-2014 represent racial projects. Racial projects encompass anything that helps people understand race. Films are racial projects because of their racist portrayal of characters. Films can be used to train audiences to view race in various ways that may contribute to problematic colorblindness. Specifically, the “White Savior” and “Magical Negro” tropes are ways through which films tell the viewers what to expect from White characters and characters of color. Viewers walk away from these films having constructed a racialized schema about White and Black characters, which further supports the …


Othering Obama : How Whiteness Is Used To Undermine Authority, David S. Owen Jan 2010

Othering Obama : How Whiteness Is Used To Undermine Authority, David S. Owen

Faculty Scholarship

In this paper, I argue that the sociocultural structuring property of whiteness has been utilized to marginalize President Obama and effectively undermine his presidential authority. Whiteness functions in a largely invisible and ostensibly deracialized way to normalize the interests, needs, and values of whites, while at the same time marginalizing and devaluing the voice of people of color. Analyzing the health care debate through this theoretical lens generates insights into how the debate reproduced the system of racial oppression, and how whiteness functions in political discourse.