Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Black Girls Youth Participatory Action Research & Pedagogies, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Venus E. Evans-Winters

Faculty Scholarship

More than a decade ago, as a group of anti-racist and feminist researchers, including one of the authors, set out to survey the landscape of the schooling experiences of Black girls, we encountered a pronounced knowledge desert that threatened research-informed policy interventions that served to protect Black girls. Most research at the time focused on the educational experiences of male, female, or Black students. There was hardly any readily available data on the school-based outcomes of Black girls as a specific group of students with a unique set of experiences. In Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, & Underprotected (Crenshaw, …

Replacing Notorious: Barret, Ginsburg, And Postfeminist Positioning, Calvin R. Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This essay offers a rhetorical reading of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings to make sense of how widespread outrage over replacing the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative idealogue was resolved through the invocation of postfeminist motherhood. I argue that GOP Senators and Barrett herself positioned her nomination as the achievement of feminist goals, justified through rhetorics of choice and the idealization of (white) motherhood. These strategies cement Barrett as the logical and defensible successor to both Ginsburg’s seat and her legacy of feminist work. I conclude with the implications of this circulation of postfeminist motherhood, with focus on …

Norms Of Public Argumentation And The Ideals Of Correctness And Participation, Frank Zenker, Jan Albert Van Laar, Bianca Cepollaro, Anca Gâță, Martin Hinton, Colin Guthrie King, Brian N. Larson, Marcin Lewinski, Christoph Lumer, Steve Oswald, Maciej Pichlak, Blake D. Scott, Mariusz Urbanski, Jean H.M. Wagemans

Faculty Scholarship

Argumentation as the public exchange of reasons is widely thought to enhance deliberative interactions that generate and justify reasonable public policies. Adopting an argumentation-theoretic perspective, we survey the norms that should govern public argumentation and address some of the complexities that scholarly treatments have identified. Our focus is on norms associated with the ideals of correctness and participation as sources of a politically legitimate deliberative outcome. In principle, both ideals are mutually coherent. If the information needed for a correct deliberative outcome is distributed among agents, then maximising participation increases information diversity. But both ideals can also be in tension. …

Reconceiving Argument Schemes As Descriptive And Practically Normative, Brian N. Larson, David Seth Morrison

Faculty Scholarship

We propose a revised definition of “argument scheme” that focuses on describing argumentative performances and normative assessments that occur within an argumentative context, the social context in which the scheme arises. Our premise-and-conclusion structure identifies the typical instantiation of an argument in the argumentative context, and our critical framework describes a set of normative assessments available to participants in the context, what we call practically normative assessments. We distinguish this practical normativity from the rationally or universally normative assessment that might be imposed from outside the argumentative context. Thus, the practical norms represented in an argument scheme may still be …

The “End” Of Neutrality: Tumultuous Times Require A Deeper Value, Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

This essay has observed that, when times are tumultuous, third parties who intend to be neutral may need some mooring beyond the norms that are shifting. It argues that neutrality is an unsatisfying value in such times and suggests that neutrals look to the deeper values of their field. It proposes human dignity as a good place to begin, and it invites others to explore whether an initial commitment to the inherent worth of every person would make a helpful difference in practice.

On (Not) Seeing The Chicken: Perdue, Animal Welfare, And The Failure Of Transparency, Calvin Coker, Rachel A. Coker

Faculty Scholarship

In this essay, we analyze Perdue’s animal welfare campaign from 2016 to 2020 to isolate how demands for transparency are mediated and subverted by Perdue’s public facing rhetoric. Though Perdue’s annual releases and commitments to change nominally constitute a victory for animal welfare advocates, the company’s campaign enacts transparency as a sort of publicity for the company that belies marginal gains for the lives of chickens and may ultimately result in increased meat consumption. In providing trackable metrics, offering paternalistic justifications for their treatments of chickens, and through strategic omissions of language and visuals, Perdue satisfies demands for transparency without …

This Is A Patriotism Check: Political Economy, Corruption, And Duty To America In The 2020 Primary Debates, Calvin Coker, Joel L. Reed

Faculty Scholarship

The 2020 Democratic presidential primaries involved the largest and most diverse slate of candidates in the modern era of party nominee selection, a diversity that allowed some candidates to reject neoliberal discourses endemic to American politics. In this essay, we analyze the 2020 Democratic primary debates to demonstrate the emergence of an alternative political economy that stands in opposition to standard economic orthodoxy. Candidates organized their critiques of the extant political economy around corruption, presenting it as rot at the heart of the present capitalist order, with Donald Trump more symptom than cause of America’s unjust and deeply flawed economic …

“With Facebook, You Have A Voice:” Neoliberalism And Activism In Mark Zuckerberg’S Georgetown Address, Calvin Coker, Ryan Corso-Gonzales

Faculty Scholarship

In October of 2019, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg streamed a speech from Georgetown University defending the company’s practice of not regulating or rejecting blatantly false political advertisements placed on their site. The speech, part of his “transparency tour” to allay concerns about the growing social power and stunning irresponsibility of Facebook, presents a troubling articulation of “voice” along neoliberal lines that atomizes the individual, separates activism from communities, and conflates activity on Facebook with free expression. In this essay, we use rhetorical scholarship on voice to illuminate how Zuckerberg’s speech both relies on and retrenches neoliberal rationality to flatten difference …

Absurdity In The Statehouse: Burlesque Legislation And The Politics Of Rejection, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This manuscript analyzes the public debate over legislation designed to mock and reject regulations of abortion in the United States. The bills, such as one in Texas requiring men to remain abstinent and avoid seminal discharge outside of narrow circumstances, are intentionally unworkable to critique Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) laws, and laws regulating access to abortion in the US. I argue the bills are a form of Burkean burlesque, a novel strategy of humor and biting critique in the context of the US abortion debate. As that debate is characterized primarily by Burke’s (1984) tragic frame, with a …

The Intermedial Politics Of Handwritten Newspapers In The 19th-Century U.S., Mark A. Mattes

Faculty Scholarship

Handwritten newspapers appeared in a variety of social contexts in the 19th-century U.S.1 The largest extant portion of 19th-century handwritten newspapers emerged from home and school settings. More far-flung examples include those written aboard ships during exploratory and military voyages. Others were produced within institutions such as hospitals and asylums. Such works were written during times of privation, including life in an army regiment or a prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War. At other times, handwritten newspapers accompanied efforts at westward settlement and transcontinental railway journeys. Impromptu papers could follow in the wake of natural disasters that knocked out print-based …

Bridging Rhetoric And Pragmatics With Relevance Theory, Brian N. Larson

Faculty Scholarship

In this chapter, I bridge rhetoric and pragmatics, both of which concern themselves with language-in-use and meaning-making beyond formal syntax and semantics. Previous efforts to link these fields have failed, but Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory (RT), an approach to experimental pragmatics grounded in cognitive science, offers the bridge. I begin by reviewing Gricean pragmatics and its incompatibility with rhetoric and cognitive science. I then sketch RT, but importantly, I identify revisions to RT that make it a powerful tool for rhetorical analysis, a cognitive pragmatic rhetorical (CPR) theory. CPR theory strengthens RT by clarifying what it means to be …

'Smarks': Kynical Engagement And Coalitional Fandom Of Professional Wrestling, Andrew Zolides

Faculty Scholarship

Conflict in professional wrestling is not limited to the performers in the ring, as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and other promotions have toxic fan practices borne out of their varied engagements with the wrestling texts. Conflicting reactions to performers and storylines speak to a larger divide within the professional wrestling community exemplified by ‘smarks’: industry-savvy fans whose knowledge of backstage dealings impacts their perceptions of the product. In analyzing smarks, I employ Peter Sloterdijk’s conception of kynicism, distinguished from cynicism by an attitude of cheekiness that enables the user to subvert hegemonic idealism through a particular performance. In his words …

From Exemptions To Censorship: Religious Liberty And Victimhood In Obergefell V. Hodges, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, showing that a subset of the dissent constructed devout religious groups as victims to re-articulate power relations between the state, LGBT groups, and religious entities. This re-articulation is possible as a consequence of ambiguity in the legal concept religious liberty, which is explored in depth. That ambiguity is employed to mount an argument against the decision, moving LGBT individuals from oppressed to oppressor of religious groups. The study contextualizes this inversion against the material and symbolic conditions of both the LGBT, and devout Christian, communities in the United …

Reaching Out: Expanding Your Library’S Online Presence Using Online Tools, Erin Gow

Faculty Scholarship

The article offers information on expanding the online presence of a library, with examples from the law library at the University of Louisville. Topics discussed include using social media to reach the target audience, generating content, and developing a brand.

Gender Differences In Virologic Response After Antiretroviral Therapy In Treatment-Naïve Hiv-Infected Individuals: Results From The 550 Clinic Hiv Cohort Study., Andrea Reyes-Vega, Alejandra Loban, Kavitha Srinivasan, Stephen P. Furmanek, Conner English, Mary Bishop, Cathy Spencer, Daniel Truelove, Julio A. Ramirez, Anupama Raghuram, Paula Peyrani

Faculty Scholarship

Background

Controversy still exists regarding gender differences in virologic response between treatment-na•ve HIV-infected individuals. The objective of this study was to evaluate gender difference in virologic and immunologic response to antiretroviral therapy in treatment-na•ve HIV-infected individuals. Methods

This was a retrospective, observational study of treatment-na•ve HIV-infected individuals managed at the 550 clinic who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) between January 1st, 2010 and December 31, 2015. Patients with available viral load and CD4 counts before and one year after initiating ART were included in this study. Virologic suppression was defined as < 48 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL, and mmunologic recovery was defined as a CD4 count increase of at least 150 cells/mm3. Dichotomous variables were reported in number and percentages and analyzed using Chi-squared tests and Fisher’s exact (whichever was appropriate). Continuous variables were reported as median and interquartile range (IQR) and analyzed using Wilcox rank-sum tests. Multivariate analyses performed were logistic regressions with adjustment for other covariates. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. R version 3.3.2 was used for the statistical analysis. Results

A total of 70 women and 90 men were included …

Having A Feel For What Works: Polymedia, Emotion, And Literacy Practices With Mobile Technologies, Bronwyn T. Williams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Romney, Obama, And The 47%: Gaffes And Representative Anecdotes In The 2012 Presidential Campaign, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This article uses the vocabulary provided by scholarship on gaffes, narrative paradigm, and representative anecdote to suggest that both the Obama and Romney campaigns employed Mitt Romney’s leaked “47%” comment as a Burkean representative anecdote in the 2012 election. The elevation of the leaked comment was possible because the gaffe held narrative fidelity for the stories proposed by both campaigns, but narrative coherence and transcendent values became contentious aspects of the respective narratives. Critically analyzing divergent meanings assigned to the leaked comment opens space to discuss the role gaffes play in campaign narratives, complicates contemporary understanding of gaffes and their …

Harriet Tubman, Women On 20s, And Intersectionality: Public Memory And The Redesign Of Us Currency, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes representative texts from the public debate surrounding the Treasury Department’s decision to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, showing that public memories of Tubman were complicated by an intersectional understanding of her role as a black woman abolitionist. Tubman’s femininity is emphasized to the detriment of her historical significance in a way that complicates Tubman’s relationship to currency as a victim of the slave trade. Using money as a technology of memorialization invites a deeper understanding of Tubman as a black anticapitalist woman, as her placement on money is read by some as ironic. The article …

Recasting The Founding Fathers: The Tea Party, Neoliberalism, And American Myth, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes representative texts from the Tea Party Movement (TPM), a conservative American political movement, to demonstrate the TPM uses the myth of the Founding Fathers as an argumentative strategy to craft and justify a sanitary neoliberal political project. The necessity of such of a project lies in the underlying democratic crisis of neoliberalism, a crisis navigated by the TPM through strategic use of political myth. Neoliberal policies require, in many instances, democratic consent, though those policies often serve to disenfranchise many of the groups supporting them. This essay argues the TPM uses myth for the purpose of creating …

Murder, Miscarriage, And Women’S Choice: Prudence In The Colorado Personhood Debate, Calvin Coker

Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes texts circulated in the 2014 debate over Colorado’s Amendment 67, the so-called Personhood Amendment, to demonstrate that value claims within the abortion debate are subordinated in favor of discussing the potential legal and philosophical implications of granting fetuses personhood. Using prudence, Robert Hariman’s (1991) framework for understanding political action, as a theoretical lens, I argue the personhood debate offers scholars an opportunity to identify and evaluate competing value claims of and in relation to potential impacts of the amendment. Prudence offers a compelling area for political communication and rhetorical scholars to expand and develop in light of …

Use What You Choose: Applying Computational Methods To Genre Studies In Technical Communication, Brian N. Larson, William Hart-Davidon, Kenneth C. Walker, Douglas M. Walls, Ryan Omizo

Faculty Scholarship

This paper reports on the results of an intensive application development workshop held in the summer of 2015 during which a group of thirteen researchers came together to explore the use of machine-learning algorithms in technical communication. To do this we analyzed Amazon.com consumer electronic product customer reviews to reevaluate a central concept in North American Genre Theory: stable genre structures arise from recurring social actions. We discovered evidence of genre hybridity in the signals of instructional genres embedded into customer reviews. Our paper discusses the creation of a prototype web application, "Use What You Choose" (UWYC), which sorts the …

Ethical Frameworks And Ethical Modalities: Theorizing Communication And Citizenship In A Fluid World, Ashley Hinck

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines fan-based citizenship performances and theorizes two terms necessary to understanding these emerging civic practices. In the article, I argue that fan-based citizenship performances question the assumed relationship between citizenship performances, civic groups, and ethics. Communication scholars have traditionally understood civic actions as deeply connected to social institutions, such as family and church, and civic groups, like the Democratic Party, Green Peace, or the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I argue that economic, social, and political shifts since the late 1970s have made the membership in those social institutions and civic groups more fluid than ever before. In a …

Communicating Entrepreneurial Passion: Personal Passion Vs. Perceived Passion In Venture Pitches, Kristen Lucas, Sharon Kerrick, Jenna Haugen, Cole J. Crider

Faculty Scholarship

Research problem: Entrepreneurial passion has been shown to play an important role in venture success and therefore in investors’ funding decisions. However, it is unknown whether the passion entrepreneurs personally feel or experience can be accurately assessed by investors during a venture pitch. Research questions: (1) To what extent does entrepreneurs’ personal passion align with investors’ perceived passion? (2) To what cues do investors attend when assessing entrepreneurs’ passion? Literature review: Integrating theory and research in entrepreneurship communication and entrepreneurial passion within the context of venture pitching, we explain that during venture pitches, investors make judgments about entrepreneurs’ passion that …

Generational Growing Pains As Resistance To Feminine Gendering Of Organization? An Archival Analysis Of Human Resource Management Discourses, Kristen Lucas, Suzy D'Enbeau, Erica P. Heiden

Faculty Scholarship

Guided by a feminist communicology of organization framework, we examine generational growing pains by analyzing discourses appearing in HR Magazine at three different points in time, which approximately mark the midpoint of Baby Boomers’, Gen Xers’, and Millennials’ initial entry into the workplace. We reconstruct historically situated gendered discourses that encapsulate key concerns expressed by human resource management professionals as they dealt with younger generations of workers: Personnel Man as Father Knows Best (1970), Human Resource Specialist as Loyalty Builder (1990), and Talent Manager as Nurturer (2010). We propose that frustrations expressed by older generations about Millennials may not be …

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, And Remediated Dignity, Kristen Lucas

Faculty Scholarship

Extant research on dignity at work has revealed conditions that contribute to indignity, employees’ responses to dignity threats, and ways in which employees’ inherent dignity is undermined. But while dignity – and specifically indignity – is theorized as a phenomenon subjectively experienced and judged by individuals, little research has privileged workers’ own perspectives. In this study, working adults reveal how they personally experience and understand meanings of dignity at work. I describe three core components of workplace dignity and the communicative exchanges through which dignity desires commonly are affirmed or denied: inherent dignity as recognized by respectful interaction, earned dignity …

Press Definition And The Religion Analogy, Ronnell Andersen Jones

Faculty Scholarship

n a Harvard Law Review Forum response to Professor Sonja West's symposium article, "Press Exceptionalism," Professor RonNell Andersen Jones critiques Professor West's effort to define "the press" for purposes of Press Clause exceptions and addresses the weaknesses of Professor West's analogy to Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC in drawing these definitional lines. The response highlights distinctions between Press Clause and Religion Clause jurisprudence and urges a more functional approach to press definition.

The Dangers Of Press Clause Dicta, Ronnell Andersen Jones

Faculty Scholarship

The United States Supreme Court has engaged in an unusual pattern of excessive dicta in cases involving the press. Indeed, a close examination of such cases reveals that it is one of the most consistent, defining characteristics of the U.S. Supreme Court’s media law jurisprudence in the last half century. The Court’s opinions in cases involving the media, while almost uniformly reaching conclusions based on other grounds, regularly include language about the constitutional or democratic character, duty, value, or role of the press — language that could be, but ultimately is not, significant to the constitutional conclusion reached. Although scholars …

What The Supreme Court Thinks Of The Press And Why It Matters, Ronnell Andersen Jones

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last fifty years, in cases involving the institutional press, the United States Supreme Court has offered characterizations of the purpose, duty, role, and value of the press in a democracy. An examination of the tone and quality of these characterizations over time suggests a downward trend, with largely favorable and praising characterizations of the press devolving into characterizations that are more distrusting and disparaging.

This Essay explores this trend, setting forth evidence of the Court’s changing view of the media—from the effusively complimentary depictions of the media during the Glory Days of the 1960s and 1970s to the …

Mena And The Internet : Technology And The Democratic Divide., Jason Gainous, Kevin M. Wagner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Moving Beyond Themes: Reimagining The Qualitative Analysis Curriculum, Kristen Lucas, Suzy D'Enbeau

Faculty Scholarship

Teaching novice qualitative researchers how to move beyond first-cycle themes is a challenging endeavor. In this essay, we articulate four harmful habits that tend to impede our success: moving too quickly, privileging product over process, providing cursory coverage of analytic technique and artistry, and overlooking the role of synthesis in qualitative research. As a step toward replacing harmful habits with more healthy ones, we offer a number of practical suggestions for reimagining the qualitative research methods curriculum.