Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“It Is Non-Summit” And “It Is Abnormal” Unpacking Whiteness: Critiquing Racialized And Gendered Representations In Non-Summit (Bijeongsanghoedam)., Seonah Kim

Communication ETDs

In this thesis, I focus on a Korean entertainment show Non-Summit as a media text through which to investigate racialized and gendered representations of transnational identities in Korean media. Specifically, I examine discursive strategies through which foreign male characters are racialized and gendered in order to interrogate the hegemonic masculinity of White, Western, and heterosexual identities. On the basis of a critical textual analysis of Non-Summit, I discuss Non-Summit reproduces and distributes representations of White, Western, and heterosexual masculinity as dominant foreign identities. Furthermore, I examine the ideological implications of such discourse on the hegemonic foreign identities given the …

Reproducing The Ghanaian/African Subject: Ideological Tensions And Queer Subjectivities In Postcolonial Ghana, Godfried A. Asante

Communication ETDs

Same-Sex sexual relationship continues to be a criminal offence in Ghana under the carnal knowledge clause instituted by the British during colonization. Although the law does not specifically mention same-sex sexual relations, carnal knowledge criminalizes all forms of non- heterosexual sexual activities. The criminalization of same-sex sexual relations has sparked an intense debate about African subjectivity. On the one hand, many African nationalists and most Christian organizations argue that same-sex sexual relations is unAfrican; this enables them to both subjugate queers while not having to defend their views more explicitly. Others (typically academics) have explored the existence of diverse sexual …

"Juntas": A Narrative Analysis On Social Support Among Hispanic/Latina Breast Cancer Survivors, Gabriela I. Morales

Communication ETDs

Inspired by my own mother’s breast cancer diagnosis, in this study, narratives from Hispanic/Latina breast cancer survivors were collected and analyzed using narrative theory, and social cognitive theory.

Even though Hispanic/Latina women are less physiologically prone to develop breast cancer, a significant percentage are still being diagnosed at later stages, with larger tumors, and are dying because of this late diagnosis. As a result, I needed to learn more about women’s journeys through their diagnosis, especially what kind of social support they experienced through those difficult times. For this study, I interviewed fifteen Hispanic/Latina women from different parts of the …

Elements Affecting Adoption And Implementation Of Health Literacy Initiatives In Healthcare Organizations: A Qualitative Study, Audrey C. Riffenburgh

Communication ETDs

Nearly nine in ten U.S. adults struggle to use increasingly complex healthcare organizations and to understand the information these organizations provide. However, healthcare organizations are not yet widely addressing the need to make their services and health information easier to navigate, understand, and use.

The purpose of this study was to expand knowledge about the facilitators and barriers to adoption and implementation of health literacy initiatives in healthcare organizations. Sixteen qualitative interviews with individuals who lead health literacy initiatives in 16 organizations across the U.S. were conducted.

The study identified multiple facilitators and barriers to health literacy adoption and implementation …

Negotiating Identity, Home, And Belonging: Understanding The Experiences Of African Women Refugees Resettled In The United States, Consolata Nthemba Mutua

Communication ETDs

The purpose of this study is to examine how former African women refugees negotiate their identity, sense of belonging, and home in the context of transnational displacement. To explore this topic, I conducted in-depth interviews, participant observation, and focus group interviews with African women who came to the United States as refugees and who now live in two cities in the Southwestern and Midwestern United States. The resulting data was analyzed using both thematic and narrative analysis.

For this study, I recruited through a snowball/network sampling strategy a total of 20 former African women refugees and conducted 15 in-depth interviews, …

Humanature Relations In Oman: Connections, Disconnections And Globalization, Maryam A. Alhinai

Communication ETDs

In this dissertation, I explore agricultural practices as a window into ecocultural communication. Using agricultural practices of villagers in Village G, Oman, as a case study, I explore the ways in which villagers and government officials conceptualize humanature relations and the forces that enhance and/or impede these relations. My specific goals for this study were: (1) to build an interpretive understanding of ecocultural orientations of villagers and officials in Oman and how they conceptualize their humanature relations; (2) to critically examine ideologies and uncover structural forces that enable/constrain humanature relations; and (3) to co-create community engagement work that honors the …

Common Among Wizards, Popstars, And Cowboys: Performance And Participation In Media Fandom, Sebastiaan Gorissen

Communication ETDs

By explicating the most prominent forms of participatory fan-art produced and consumed by members of the fan communities regarding Harry Potter, One Direction, and The Dallas Cowboys, this study has contributed to the field of fandom studies by presenting findings that are generalizable beyond a singular fannish context, and by explicating the unfounded categorizations that have divided the discipline.

The fan communities studied perform their fandom through the creation of participatory fan-art, and the fan-art created across all three fan communities can be divided into three distinct categories: the recontextualization of characters, the recontextualization of images, and the recontextualization …