Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

"Just Call Me Poe": An Autoethnographic Look At Codeswitching And Passing, Paola Andrea Joya

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis is an autoethnographic look at codeswitching and passing in the children of immigrants. Specifically, this thesis uses methods of poetry, frameworks of re-photography, and narrative to investigate my personal experiences with these cultural phenomena over a lifetime. Grounding my work in theories on identity, culture, and co-cultural understandings, I investigate the evolution of my name from Paola, Paula, to Poe, as a representation of the length at which I attempted to assimilate and accommodate to the dominant group (U.S). It is my hope that this thesis helps to create community amongst those who have shared similar experiences …

The Metroburb: American Values In Facebook Culture, Heather Marie Carlson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using critical discourse analysis, fantasy themes were extracted from user profiles and postings to examine American values found in Facebook culture.

Core values found on Facebook worked to create not only socially recognizable identities enacted and communicated through the participants, but also a particular culture to which participants both reflected and contributed in Facebook. Themes and values extracted from findings indicate that Facebook users should be casual, technologically-aware, social, respectful and fair to others, “good little copers,” financially savvy while at the same time valuing higher education, a healthy lifestyle, family and travel.

Because Facebook is an interestingly fluid cultural …

Still Flying: The Communicative Constitution Of Browncoat Fandom As Culture, Jonathon Nicholas Lundy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In contemporary western culture, fandom is common. Many academics and members of the general public alike conceive of fandom as outside the norms of spectatorship; to be a spectator is to enjoy an interest individually and passively. However, others contend that fandom is a more significant cultural achievement.

This study qualitatively investigated how Browncoats, or fans of the cancelled television series Firefly , communicatively construct their fandom culture. Methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, data analysis through Grounded Theory, and a comparative thematic analysis of the original Firefly source texts and Browncoat cultural data in order to discover meaningful themes …