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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Older, Wiser, Novice: An Autoethnographic Study Of Nontraditional Students' Participation In Collegiate Forensics, Laura Kathleen Pelletier Jan 2012

Older, Wiser, Novice: An Autoethnographic Study Of Nontraditional Students' Participation In Collegiate Forensics, Laura Kathleen Pelletier

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a growing trend in nontraditional college student enrollments in the United States. Older, nontraditional students are currently the majority on many college campuses. Due to the constraints on nontraditional students' time, they are often unable to spend as much time on campus as traditional students and are unable to fully partake in campus life and socialization. Cocurricular activities, such as collegiate forensics, can be time consuming activities which for nontraditional students, especially those who have children, may seem like an impossible fit for their already busy schedules. Because college demographics continue to change and there are a growing …


To Share Or Not To Share: The Impact Of Disclosing Sexuality On Instructor Communication Apprehension, Instructional Effectiveness, And Student Relationships, Justin Rudnick Jan 2012

To Share Or Not To Share: The Impact Of Disclosing Sexuality On Instructor Communication Apprehension, Instructional Effectiveness, And Student Relationships, Justin Rudnick

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Previous research has explored the role LGBTQ instructor sexuality plays in the classroom. However, little research explores the effects of disclosing LGBTQ sexuality on the individual instructor. This study examines how LGBTQ instructors report disclosures of their sexuality to influence their Communication Apprehension, Instructional Effectiveness, and their Relationships with Students. Qualitative interviewing methods were used to survey nine self-identified LGBTQ college instructors from mid-size Midwest universities, and a grounded theory approach was used to identify emergent themes pertaining to LGBTQ instructors' experiences with their sexuality in the classroom. Interviewees reported varying degrees of communication apprehension, instructional effectiveness, and heightened personal …


"I Now Pronounce You...Uhh": A Qualitative Autoethnographic Exploration Of Women's And Men's Marital Surname-Choice Experiences, Julie Louceil Germain Walker Jan 2012

"I Now Pronounce You...Uhh": A Qualitative Autoethnographic Exploration Of Women's And Men's Marital Surname-Choice Experiences, Julie Louceil Germain Walker

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Marital name change has been a topic of fierce debate in social settings and has received some attention from academia, but largely scholarship on marital name change focuses on female choices and their rationale. Using a combined in-depth qualitative and autoethnographic approach, I sought to understand the connections between name and identity. I interviewed 11 heterosexual, married women and men about their marital name choices to explore the possible name-identity connections. Choosing a surname requires some type of pre-choice negotiation, either individually or with a partner, and several post-choice negotiations, such as with family members and the process of changing …


Tying It All Together: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Lgbtq Forensic Competitors, Alyssa Barrie Reid Jan 2012

Tying It All Together: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Lgbtq Forensic Competitors, Alyssa Barrie Reid

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

It is a common held belief amongst the intercollegiate forensic community that it breeds a culture of affirmation towards marginalized identities. However, as a competitor I never felt confident portraying my LGBTQ identity while at a forensic tournament. This prompted me to employ interviews of former LGBTQ competitors to explore how they managed their identity. Using grounded theory and autoethnography I uncovered themes related to gender, sex, sexuality, and gender identity performance as they confronted and interacted with forensic competition.


Are There Roles For Technical Communicators In Small Community Food Systems?, Brent William Chisholm Jan 2012

Are There Roles For Technical Communicators In Small Community Food Systems?, Brent William Chisholm

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The author explores the viability of incorporating technical communication genres, practices, and theory, into various components of small community food systems. He argues that certain types of food systems and users in those food systems allow technical communicators to participate in ways aligning with genres of conservation writing described by Johnson-Sheehan and Morgan (2009). He also incorporates ideas about authorship, describing that technical communicators can improve food systems by reconciling disparate agricultural technical material, advocacy for action, and the articulation of previously non-existent food systems.


Communication Effectiveness And The Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation Campaign, Jonathon Heide Jan 2012

Communication Effectiveness And The Emerald Ash Borer Mitigation Campaign, Jonathon Heide

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Environmental risk communication is scrutinized by several research fields including, as Herndl and Brown (1996) show, technical communications. This technical communications thesis rhetorically analyses how large and small government agencies in the State of Minnesota communicate a specific environmental risk: emerald ash borer (EAB). EAB is an insect native to Asia and arrived in Detroit on a cargo ship sometime in the 1990s (Cappaert 2005, 153; Poland 2011, 46). By 2012, it spread to the 15 states and two Canadian provinces (USDA--APHIS 2012). EAB's life cycle will causes tree decline in Minnesota, the state with the most ash (MNDNR 2012). …


Electronic Portfolios As Job Search Tools: Perspectives From Students, Career Counselors, And Human Resource Professionals, Emily Werschay Jan 2012

Electronic Portfolios As Job Search Tools: Perspectives From Students, Career Counselors, And Human Resource Professionals, Emily Werschay

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Electronic portfolios have traditionally been used by artists as a means of showcasing and organizing projects and accomplishments. Within academia, colleges and universities have implemented electronic portfolios as a way for students to showcase and share their papers, projects, and course work. Universities and colleges typically license e-portfolio software and distribute the platform to students. The eFolioMinnesota software is free for all students and residents in the state through the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MnSCU). Unfortunately, little has been researched about the use of e-portfolios in career development or employee recruiting. Never before have e-portfolios integrated with workforce …


Becoming "Black" In America: Exploring Racial Identity Development Of African Immigrants, Godfried Agyeman Asante Jan 2012

Becoming "Black" In America: Exploring Racial Identity Development Of African Immigrants, Godfried Agyeman Asante

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study critically examined how African immigrants experience racialization and the process of developing Black racial consciousness. Focus group interviews were conducted to sample the collective racial experience among African immigrants. Thematic analysis was used as the basic methodology for analyzing the data. It was discovered that the participants "become African" and also "become Black" during the process of racial identification. "Becoming African" and "Becoming Black" constituted two sets of processes that simultaneously shaped the identity of African immigrants as they assimilated into the United States. From the study it became evident that there was tension between ethnic identification …


Zen Communication - A Cross Cultural Approach To Mindfulness, Appropriate Response, And Flow In Dyadic Interactions, Gregory Husak Jan 2012

Zen Communication - A Cross Cultural Approach To Mindfulness, Appropriate Response, And Flow In Dyadic Interactions, Gregory Husak

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examined the question of how the qualities that arise from the practice of traditionally East Asian disciplines such as Zen and related martial arts might be effectively applied to dyadic interactions. Long-form interviews of about 40 minutes each were conducted with academics who have studied these topics and with expert practitioners who have extensive direct experience. Most subjects had significant cross-cultural experience, having studied and/or practiced in both the U.S. and in Japan. Detailed analysis of transcripts of these recorded interviews indicated that, in particular, the seated Zen meditation practice known as zazen generates personally transformational qualities that …


Negotiating The Ideological Boundaries Of "The Four Freedoms": An Analysis Of African American Rhetoric From World War Ii, Jansen Blake Werner Jan 2012

Negotiating The Ideological Boundaries Of "The Four Freedoms": An Analysis Of African American Rhetoric From World War Ii, Jansen Blake Werner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This project explores how African Americans continued the quest for civil rights during WWII. In order to do so, however, one must acknowledge that black spokespersons responded to competing discourses--particularly, the discourses of U.S. officials such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In an era where propaganda pervaded the public sphere, the sheer force of the white majority in the U.S. was politically and socially overwhelming. Thus, non-dominant groups, such as African Americans, were forced to react from a restricted discursive space. In this regard, my analysis cuts two-fold. First, I examine how President Roosevelt galvanized support for his "Four Freedoms" …


Forensics And The Basic Communication Course: A New Path To Satisfying Learning Outcomes, Benjamin Walker Jan 2012

Forensics And The Basic Communication Course: A New Path To Satisfying Learning Outcomes, Benjamin Walker

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Forensic scholars have long written about the educational benefits of forensics, but very few have attempted to tie the activity to learning objectives from the curriculum. This thesis seeks to determine if collegiate forensics can offer the same learning opportunities as one of the most common and fundamental communication classes in the discipline: the basic communication course. This research uses experiential learning as a pedagogical framework for forensics in attempting to answer if forensics can offer the same learning opportunities of the basic communication course, and if so, how the activity does this and what the students actually learn. Likert …


Refugee And Immigrant Services: An Investigation Of Social Service Organization's Mission And Intercultural Interactions, Bethany J. Wenell Jan 2012

Refugee And Immigrant Services: An Investigation Of Social Service Organization's Mission And Intercultural Interactions, Bethany J. Wenell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

While previous research has looked at the impact of acculturation processes from immigrants and refugee's point of view, little research has focused on the functionality of the organizations devoted to assisting them. The purpose of this study was to provide insight into the mission of social service organizations and how organizational members interact with immigrants and refugees experiencing the acculturation process. Eleven members of a social service organization from a Midwest City were interviewed and a grounded theory approach was applied to identify themes pertaining to member's perceived mission of the organization and the way organizational members interact and relate …