American Studies Commons^™

Inside Nfl Marriages: A Seven Year Ethnographic Study Of Love And Marriage In Professional Football, Rachel Anne Binns Terrill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When women marry NFL players and subsequently become NFL wives, they are thrust out of the lives they have known and into a form of secondary socialization among other NFL wives. In this dissertation, I use ethnography and narrative inquiry, the first- person narratives of four NFL wives, interactive interviews with dozens of NFL wives, friendship as method, and my personal autoethnographic experiences to describe the social interactions between NFL wives, the themes of their marriages, and the trajectories of their identity formation and transformation of NFL wives during their time in the league.

I also use autoethnography and writing …

Feminizing Presidents: Joseph Keppler And Gender In Gilded Age Political Cartoons, Jerome Gonzalez

American Studies Senior Theses

Amid the crowded newsstands of American cities in the late nineteenth century, the average reader flipping through a copy of Puck, a weekly humor magazine devoted to political and social issues, may have been surprised to see an unusual print: that of the President of the United States depicted in women’s clothing, with feminine features, performing a womanly task! These few drawings, alluding to both literary and social ideas, done by the Austrian immigrant artist Joseph Keppler, appeared in his Puck magazine in the years 1877, 1880, and 1884, coinciding around an election year. While Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, James …

Wiki Leaks Revelations In Global Context—The War Between ‘Right To Publish’ And ‘Ethical Code Of Conduct, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation claimed a database of more than 1.2 million documents within a year of its launch. WikiLeaks describes its founders as a mix of Chinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the United States, Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its director. The site was originally launched as a user-editable wiki, but has progressively moved towards …

I Didn’T Mourn Steve Jobs, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Apple is good at separating consumers from their money, but the price its workers pay is much greater, writes Michael I. Niman

A Critical Study Of Organizational Communication And Organizational Communication Theories- A Historical Perspective, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Organizational Communication is the study that looks at human communication within and outside the organization. Conrad and Poole (1998) break the definition of organizational communication in parts, by first defining communication and then analyses the organization. These researchers define communication as “a process through which people, acting together, create, sustain, and manage meanings through the use of verbal and nonverbal signs and symbols within a particular context” (Conrad and Poole, 1998, p. 5). In the context of this book, Kenyans and their leaders are communicating their views and final decision through the ballot box to elect their third president, during …

Public Accountability And Media : Its Success And Failure In Performing The Role As A Force For Public Accountability, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Media accountability is a phrase that refers to the general (especially western) belief that mass media has to be accountable in the public’s interest - that is, they are expected to behave in certain ways that contribute to the public good. The concept is not clearly defined, and often collides with commercial interests of media owners; legal issues, such as the constitutional right to the freedom of the press in the U.S.; and governmental concerns about public security and order. Several international organizations, like International Freedom of Expression Exchange, Freedom House, International Press Institute, World Press Freedom Committee and the …

Narratives Of A Fall: Star Wars Fan Fiction Writers Interpret Anakin Skywalker's Story, Sarah Gerina Carpenter

3 Digital Curation

If You Label It This Then It Cant Be That: Revisiting New Journalism In Mailer, Didion, And Wolfe, Jill E. Radwin

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the works of Norman Mailer, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, a group of writers most often defined as the “New Journalists” for their untraditional blending of fictional techniques with reportage. I refer primarily to three texts: Mailer’s The Armies of the Night, Didion’s The White Album, and Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, and then go on to analyze the authors’ later careers through a study of their more recent essays and essay collections. I examine the ways in which these three authors break conventions of traditional journalism, most notably through their rejection of ethical boundaries, the …

The Penetration Of Social Media In Governance,Political Reforms And Building Public Perception, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue. While we know that social media can play an important role in publicizing political activities such as protests, do we have evidence that such actions have led to substantive political change? Is it possible to develop a set of indicators to more effectively gauge the impact of new technologies and media on questions of political change? That social media can help coordinate large and discrete activities, such as protests and …

After The Fall: The Post-Apocalyptic Frontier In The Road And 28 Days Later, Jeffrey J. Lavigne

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Previous scholars have identified three scenes of the American frontier myth: the sea, the west, and space. This evolution of frontiers reflected key changes in the expression of America’s cultural identity. While Janice Hocker Rushing called space “the final frontier,” the prominent place in contemporary society held by zombies and other minions of the occult hint at the emergence of yet another scene of the American mythos: the post apocalypse. In contrast to previous frontiers, which are defined geographically, the post-apocalypse is much broader, for in the wake of a global cataclysm, everywhere is a potential frontier. This decentralization of …

Two Faces Of Media While Covering Human Right Activities In India, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The situation of human rights in India is a complex one, as a result of the country's large size and tremendous diversity, its status as a developing country and a sovereign, secular, democratic republic, and its history as a former colonial territory. The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for Freedom of Speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country and abroad. In its report on human rights in India during 2010, Human Rights Watch stated India had "significant human rights problems". They …

Language Discourse- A Critical Analysis Of Michel Focault's Work On Language Discourse With Special Reference To His Masterpiece "The Archeology Of Knowledge", Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication or debate". The following are three more specific definitions: (1) In semantics and discourse analysis: A generalization of the concept of conversation to all modalities and contexts. (2) "The totality of codified linguistic usages attached to a given type of social practice. (E.g.: legal discourse, medical discourse, religious discourse.)" (3) In the work of Michel Foucault, and social theorists inspired by him: "an entity of sequences of signs in that they are enouncements (enoncés)" (Foucault 1969: 141). An enouncement (often translated as "statement") is not a unity of signs, but an abstract …

In Amerika They Call Us Dykes: Lesbian Lives In The 1970s, Sarah Chinn

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

This past October, CLAGS hosted a historic conference to commemorate, celebrate, and evaluate the diverse contributions of lesbians over the course of the 1970s. The conference culminated a semester-long series of events that unfurled over the Spring 2010 term. In planning for the conference, the organizing committee (made up of Melissa Gasparotto, Andrea Freud Loewenstein, Roberta Sklar, Urvashi Vaid, and myself) imagined this conference as embracing as broad a field of lesbian lives as it could.

Challenges Before Traditional Media In The Age Of Digital Media-How To Integrate It With Digital Media-The Way Ahead, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

You may have heard of digital media, but you may have no idea what it is and how it can help you out when it comes to marketing. It's definitely important that you get up to speed so you can use this to benefit your business. Basically digital media refers to any type of electronic media out there. Today media can be accessed in many ways, including with hand held devices like mobile phones, laptops, desktops, mp3 players, and more.Digital media must be stored in an electronic way, so there is a lot of digital content on the internet today, …

The Shanti Sena “Peace Center” And The Non-Policing Of An Anarchist Temporary Autonomous Zone: Rainbow Family Peacekeeping Strategies, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

This article utilizes ethnographic methods and government documents to examine the self-policing and peacekeeping strategies of the Rainbow Family, a nonviolent acephalous intentional community that holds massive weeklong gatherings around the globe. It is a case study that examines the efficacy of these methods, comparing them to those traditional police agencies employ under similar conditions. It contextualizes these strategies by examining other utopian and anarchist communities and movements such as Critical Mass bike rides. This study demonstrates how smiling, chanting, listening, social pressure, and social capital all play into forming a more effective and less violent approach toward peacekeeping.

I Am The Enemy: A Unionized Public Employee Speaks Out, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

According to right wing commentators, university professor Michael I. Niman is one of those public employees responsible for the coming downfall of Western civilisation

I'M Okay, You're Criminally Insane: Life In A Neurotic Fear State, Michael I. Niman Ph.D.

Michael I Niman Ph.D.

Michael I. Niman finds a direct line between the shooting of an Arizona congresswoman and the creation of a neurotic fear state. Mixed in with all the logical, rational condemnation of violent rhetoric, however, is a bit of kneejerk lunacy

Strategic Victimization: News Photographs, The Birmingham Children's Crusade, And The Revisualization Of America, Margaret Keeton Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A New England State Of Mind: Identity And Commodification In "Yankee" Magazine, 1935-1942, Andrew Robert Sargent

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Postwar Media Manifestations And Don Delillo, Joshua Adam Boldt

Online Theses and Dissertations

Media's influence on postwar American culture is undeniable. Don DeLillo's fiction is often a commentary on that influence. Hyperreality, Simulacra, Consumerism, and News Addiction are all regular themes in DeLillo's novels; this paper explores all of these concepts through the lens of media theory. Special attention is given to the novels White Noise, Americana, and Mao II, as well as to the media theorists Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, and Antonio Gramsci. The paper is both a history and a critique of postwar consumer culture and the role that media plays in the construction of that culture.

Giving Meaning To Grief: The Role Of Rituals And Stories In Coping With Sudden Family Loss, Julia Janelle Barnhill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I seek to better understand the sensemaking process among surviving family members after a tragic loss of a teenage or young adult child. Using social constructionism (Gergen, 1991) as a theoretical framework, I focused on how meanings of loss are constructed through the use of language and other symbols. I specifically looked at the role of family stories and rituals in making sense of the sudden loss as well as how a survivor's role as a sibling or parent may impact the grieving process. The participants in my research were all members of families in which a …

The Relationship Between American Media Exposure And Trinidadian Female Adolescents' Body Image Satisfaction, Clarabelle Ferguson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have examined the development of body image among people, especially girls and young women. Many factors have been associated with the development of body image dissatisfaction. Especially important are exposure to mass media and its relationship with three theoretical constructs: Awareness of a thin ideal, internalization of a thin ideal, and perceived pressures to be thin. Extending existing research, this study examined through experimentation the relationships among exposure to American media content and the awareness and internalization of the American norms and expectations for thinness, pressures to adopt these norms, and Trinidadian female adolescents' body image satisfaction. Based …

Public Perceptions Of Organizational Culture And Organization-Public Relationships, Cherisse Fonseca Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Almost 30 years ago, public relations scholars began to process the idea that the concept of culture was important to public relations practices. In particular, scholars questioned what influence culture might have on the communication process and relationship building between organizations and their stakeholders. Yet, today culture is still an understudied concept in the public relations literature. The purpose of this study is to analyze how of organizational culture, as defined by Sriramesh, J. E. Grunig, and Dozier (1996), is significant to the relationship outcomes in public relations. The theoretical framework for this study consists of organizational culture theory and …

Mentoring Experiences Among Female Public Relations Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Investigation, Sabina Gaggioli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study expands from current mentoring literature within the mass communication field in understanding how mentoring can contribute to the successful careers of public relations entrepreneurial women. While many scholars indicate that mentoring is effective for women, the present study describes how mentoring has affected the women participants' public relations careers and personal lives. In-depth interviews focused on following five research questions: What have been the key contributing factors in the success of public relations women entrepreneurs? How has mentoring helped the women participants achieve their goals in a public relations career and in starting their own company? Which …

Internships In Public Relations And Advertising: The Nature Of The Experience From The Student's Perspective, Catherine Ann Gugerty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative content analysis examines the nature of experience of public relations and advertising interns. Three decades of scholarly inquiry into the internship experience has provided little insight into the actual experience of the interns themselves. Yet what is learned directly from their individual experience can provide both educators and professionals valuable insight for enhancing the learning process. The following study is a qualitative content analysis of journals and focus groups of undergraduates enrolled in public relations and advertising internships/practicums. The interns' experience follows four themes: (1) the perception of importance; (2) perceived learning benefits; (3) influence of supervisors; and …

Framing And The End Of Operation Iraqi Freedom, James Robert Hickman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative framing study is to analyze the dominant frames that were reflected in the news coverage of two separate Presidential speeches marking the proposed cessation of combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In order to determine which frames emerged in the coverage of each speech, a content analysis of 105 articles from 4 national newspapers was conducted. Analysis included the week preceding and the week following each speech in an effort to capture the immediate coverage surrounding each address. The findings suggest that the dominate frames utilized were the economic consequences frame, the responsibility frame and …

Constructing Alternative Christian Identity: An Ethnography Of Jesus People Usa's Cornerstone Festival, Brian Johnston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines processes through which alternative Christian identities are constructed, maintained, and performed at the annual Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. Organized and managed by Jesus People USA (JPUSA), an urban commune in Chicago, Illinois, the festival includes non-traditional methods of religious expression including rock music, making camp, play, and community-building. Cornerstone Festival attracts and includes members of the Christian faith who would not otherwise be included in traditionally organized Christian groups and fosters interaction between these less enfranchised members and more traditionally minded and socialized Christian practitioners. JPUSA appropriates the festival format as a method of religious expression …

Goal Compatibility And Emotional Intensity: An Experimental Study Of Graphic Images In Strategic Communication, Lauren Marie Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine receiver variables involved in strategic communications and to look specifically at the use of graphic images in strategic communication materials. It argues that any complete, general model of persuasion effects will include both goal compatibility and emotional determinants. It argues that some influential theories used in strategic communications scholarship, including the situational theory of publics and the elaboration likelihood model, are incomplete because they have omitted these variables. This study also tests variables related to willingness to communicate, behavioral intention, and attitude towards the organization. These variables are drawn from prominent, …

Talking With Als Patients: An Exploratory Study Of Patient Attitudes Toward Mass Messages About Als, Kamden Kuhn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the attitudes and opinions of ALS patients toward mass messages about their condition. Six focus groups of ALS patient support groups viewed and responded to public relations messages, charity advertisements, and a news story. Results suggest that mass messages remind participants of the need for public ALS awareness. Participants also said they shared in the narratives and identify closely with the characters in the messages they viewed, and participants expressed concern with disease depictions. These concerns included a tension between positive and realistic portrayals, identification of message inaccuracies, and a desire for more specific disease information. The …

Usf's Coverage Of Women's Athletics: A Census Of The Usf Athletics Home Web Page, Laura Ann Lebeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the coverage of women’s athletics at USF provided through photographic representations on the university’s Athletics Internet home web page during the 2009–2010 academic year. Findings from this census of five areas that comprise the USF Athletics Internet home web page revealed that, consistent with recent research on coverage of female athletes and women’s athletics on university web pages, women, compared to men, were underrepresented in the majority of the five areas of the home page analyzed. The difference in the number of overall total photographs of women and men was not that large—48% and 52%, respectively, not …