Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Researching Emotional Experiences As Discursive Elements – A Suggested Qualitative Method, Magnus Danielson

The Qualitative Report

As scholars in the fields of political science, media research, and social psychology endeavor to understand crucial aspects of emotionality in the media, there is a growing need to methodologically address the communicative and discursive aspects of affective constructions in media texts. This article argues that by breaking down mediated emotional experiences represented through language in a set of identifiable elements, such as subject, emotion type, valence, intensity, proposed action, and object, those experiences could be used as workable and potent units of analysis when studying discursive and ideological media constructs of emotionality. By connecting insights from emotion science, the …

Justifying Injustice: How Caricatured Depictions Of African Americans Impacted Worldwide Perception, Jaida Noble

Global Honors Theses

Despite racist depictions of African Americans in art seeming to be behind us, the consequences of such representation, including the baggage of stereotypes alongside them, live on. This paper will argue that the racist caricaturing of Black people throughout history has been used as a form of propaganda, affecting the overall perception of African Americans and influencing policies that have determined them as belonging to the lower levels of the American caste system.

Visual Storytelling In The Context Of Marshall Mcluhan’S Media Theory: Rita Leistner And Her Socially Engaged Photography, Kalina Kukielko-Rogozinska, Krzysztof Tomanek

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

The main character of our story is Rita Leistner, one of the most famous Canadian war photographers in the world. She studied at the International Center of Photography (New York) and has a Master of Arts degree in French and English (University of Toronto). For six years Rita taught the history of photojournalism and documentary photography (UoT). She is the co-author of several books, such as Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on Iraq, and The Edward Curtis Project: A Modern Picture Story. Her first monograph, Looking for Marshall McLuhan in Afghanistan, a work on photography, technology and war, was …

Twitch.Tv And Its Lgbtqia+ Tag: A Digital Ethnography Investigating How Lgbtqia+-Affirming Video Game Streamers And Viewers Interact And Build Lgbtqia+ Spaces Online, Cadyn Alexander Williamson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

LGBT people use online communities to find information and people with shared experiences. Many also find communities within video game culture. However, there is some tension between LGBT people and “true gamers” who are typically white cisgender heterosexual men. For those who do not fit the “true gamer” label, studies have found high levels of online harassment. This study investigates how LGBT people use Twitch.tv, a livestreaming video game website. Built on previous research of LGBT people, online communities, and video game culture, I answer the question: How, and to what extent, do interactions between streamers and viewers using the …

A New Twist On The “Un-African” Script: Representing Gay And Lesbian African Weddings In Democratic South Africa, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

This essay examines the media coverage surrounding two African weddings of lesbian and gay couples in South Africa, as a lens onto the evolving cultural politics of black queerness in that country. Two decades after South Africa launched a world-leading legal framework for LGBTI protections, I argue that these media representations depict the growing inclusion of black LGBTIQ people as a process of bridging the supposed “gap” between homosexuality and African culture. This new “bridging the gap” script seemingly rejects the older, dominant script portraying homosexuality as intrinsically “un-African.” But I argue that it instead reproduces the “un-African” script in …

Jet Magazine: Celebrating Black Female Beauty, Jazmyn Shepherd

XULAneXUS

Once referred to as, “the Negro bible” by famed actor and comedian Redd Foxx^[1], Jet has continued to be a pioneer in representing Black Americans as beyond the stereotypes to which they are so often relegated. The magazine has not only provided accurate coverage throughout momentous Black historical movements such as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, the Black is Beautiful movement of the late 1960s, and the Natural Hair Movement of the 2000s, but it has also catered to the daily interests of Black Americans, such as fashion and beauty, lifestyle advice, dating advice, politics, health …

The Park Is Open: An Ecofeminist Critique Of Universal's Jurassic World, Nichole R. Mchugh

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

This paper explores an interpretation of Universal Pictures,’ Jurassic World (2015), to identify naturalized representations of human relationships and human relationships to the environment. Using the concepts of scholar, Noel Sturgeon, the ideological significance of these representations comes down to what she defines as “Politics of The Natural”. Through this avenue, this analysis examines Jurassic World as a text and reflection of normalized environmental worldviews, attitudes and values; as well as how these determine where humans place in this “naturalized” hierarchy. This essay will discuss environmental themes in the film, first, through Jurassic World as a symbol for the western …

The Patterns And Prosecutions Of Media Leakers, Julia M. Lipkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper examines the cases of government employees who are responsible for the disclosure of confidential information to the press, known as media leakers. I claim that the government and media leaker engage in a series of patterned responses, which leads to both the disclosure of information, and prosecution of the leaker. More specifically, I demonstrate how the government’s executive branch manages a game of leaks, in which ‘illegitimate’ leakers are separated from elite officials who also leak, but are often spared from prosecution because they are considered ‘legitimate’ players of the game. Although the boundaries surrounding ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ …

Insecure Hegemony: The Cultural Construction Of 'Righteous Retaliation' In The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden, Marisa Tramontano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the American “authorized discourse” about the hunt for and killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to better understand it as an episode in American cultural hegemony maintenance. Through a structural hermeneutic analysis of presidential speeches and widely-circulated national strategy documents, high distribution news coverage, and entertainment media, alongside one-on-one interviews and focus groups, I illuminate the symbolic mechanics by which the death of Osama bin Laden was constructed as righteous and legitimate retaliatory violence in response to the unprompted, offensive violence of the 9/11 attacks.

Drawing on an array of theoretical approaches including classical sociologists Karl …

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

Criminal Heroes In Television: Exploring Moral Ambiguity In Law And Justice, Amy Henry

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Criminal justice is a popular theme in both news and entertainment media. How crime and justice issues are framed can actually legitimize corruption in a society. As research reveals the public’s dissatisfaction with the current failing retributive justice system, popular television series’ are confronting its flaws (Jerre, 2013). Utilizing a cultural criminological and social constructionist orientation, the following research examines anti-hero narratives in two highly rated crime-drama series, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy. The main research questions examine: How the criminal protagonist or anti-hero is constructed in television crime procedurals? What claims about crime, criminality, law and justice …

Desire And Fantasy Between Commercialism And Personal Room, Yukimi Otagiri

Theses and Dissertations

I apply two aspects of my life history to my art; my childhood experiences and my advanced studies in sociology. My work therefore combines a highly personal reading of my experiences of social interactions and my ongoing analysis of the nature of capitalism and socialism, commodification and media, especially in regard to the experiences of women in particular and consumers in general.

Film Tourism And Expectation: Using The Hallyu Wave To Model How Governments And Media Exports Influence National Image, Aishat O. Bello

Undergraduate Research Posters

Film tourism encompasses the interest, investment and influence that exported media products can contribute to cultural globalization, and subsequent visitation of a nation. The Korean Wave or Hallyu wave has been studied and commended for its rapid spread and growing popularity within Asia and more recently, on a more global scale. By comparing and contrasting the methods used by the Korean government to enhance Hallyu, with several trade deals made by the US government to support Hollywood, we can see how the effects of film tourism were directed towards modifying perspectives on Korean culture. A few consequences of making trade …

A Digital Dud? New Media, Participation, And Voting In The 2004 And 2008 United States Presidential Elections, Jeremy D. Hickman

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation analyzes the linkages between new media and the possible emergence of the youngest members of the voting population (the “digital native” generation, who have grown up concurrently with the rise of the internet as a means of communication). The main question is whether this digital native generation will have more civic and political participation due to their use of online news sources and social media communication on news media websites and elsewhere on the internet. Regression analyses are used to explain civic and political participation, using American National Election Studies (ANES) from the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. …

Theatre For Development: “The Wanna Be”, Joshua Dominguez

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The college experience in American culture is a popular topic that is being questioned throughout the media. It is being questioned on a weekly basis in today’s media and brings to light issues that have not been questioned for decades. Some of the main issues such as diversity within institutions, the "Greek System", and sexual assault are all being spotlighted and widely advertised as problems that need focusing on putting an end to. This new era of college students are being challenged to recognize these heavy, yet important issues that are effecting campuses across the nation. Through Theatre for Development …

Power Girls Before Girl Power: 1980s Toy-Based Girl Cartoons, Katia Perea

Publications and Research

The socio/cultural history and partnership of toy advertisement and children’s television is rich and well documented (Schneider 1989, Kunkel 1988, Seiter 1993). In this article I discuss the influence of policy in girl’s cartoon programming as well as the relationship between commercialization and financial motivation in creating a girl cartoon media product. I then discuss the formulaic, gender normative parameters this new genre set in place to identify girl cartoons as well as girl media consumption and how within those parameters girl cartoon characters were able to represent an empowered girl popular culture product a decade before the nomenclature Girl …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Social-Economic Status Of Successful Women In Business, Politics, And Media In The U.S., Jasmin Bramlett, Sara Whitworth

Social Sciences

This project is an attempt to analyze how women achieve success in spite of the historical disadvantages that they have faced. We will examine nine women of the most professionally accomplished women in the United States in business, politics and media. We will compare and contrast the lives of Meg Whitman, Sheryl Sandberg and Ursula Burns for our section on business; Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Nancy Pelosi for the political sector; and Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric and Gloria Steinem for the area of media.

A People's History Of Baseball, Mitchell J. Nathanson

Mitchell J Nathanson

Baseball is much more than the national pastime. It has become an emblem of America itself. From its initial popularity in the mid-nineteenth century, the game has reflected national values and beliefs and promoted what it means to be an American. Stories abound that illustrate baseball's significance in eradicating racial barriers, bringing neighborhoods together, building civic pride, and creating on the field of play an instructive civics lesson for immigrants on the national character. In A People's History of Baseball, Mitchell Nathanson probes the less well-known but no less meaningful other side of baseball: episodes not involving equality, patriotism, heroism, …

Desecrating Scriptures, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

Desecrations of books of scripture appear regularly in media coverage of religious and political conflicts. Twenty-first century news media have reported scripture desecrations in various Western, Middle Eastern, African, and South Asian countries. Though political tensions also arise from the desecration of sacred sites, objects, and persons, books of scripture have emerged as particularly potent objects of contestation. That is because, as a (very) old form of media themselves, scriptures encapsulate the religious experiences of many people who are used to handling the physical book with veneration. News of such a book’s desecration thus inverts a common religious experience and …

Hamas Controlled Televised News Media: Counter- Peace, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

The hegemonic force of Hamas censored televised news media in Gaza, can not be fully comprehended and appreciated without recognizing the role of propaganda, censorship, and the historical context of the middle east. These 3 interrelated dimensions will be analyzed using functionalism, the mass society theory, the dominant ideology framework, the critical criminology framework, and the symbolic interactionist framework. Through censorship, Hamas news media outlets were able to unilaterally inject culturally relevant propaganda, into the minds of children and citizens. The hypodermic syringe model can be applied to the state controlled news media situation in Gaza, as the people of …

China- Tibet Conflict, Allen Gnanam

Allen Gnanam

China- Tibet tensions are continually growing, as Tibetans are protesting for total independence from China, despite condemnation from their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is only seeking a sense of autonomy for Tibet (Sinder, 2008). As Tibetan protests are becoming violent and aggressive, the Dalai Lama has also threatened to resign as Tibet’s government in exile (Sinder, 2008), however, his rhetoric is not being exposed to the Tibetan people, due to government censorship in China. Therefore the Dalai Lama, an exiled institutional entrepreneur, has to find new methods that will enable his influential message, to be received by the …

Too Many Options Dilute Shared Experience, David E. Drew, Hedley Burrell

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Despite the red carpet glitter of the Oscars, it is no secret that Hollywood has had a far from perfect year at the box office.

And unfortunately for Tinsel Town, its problems go beyond the obvious need for more successful films.

The way we experience both movies and television has evolved. We don't do things together the way we once did. We rent movies and watch them at home rather than going to a local movie theater with family and friends. Box office returns suffer and the centrality of film in our lives is weakened.

The same fragmentation is true …

Le Français D’Origine Maghrébine Face Au Prisme Médiatique, Hassiba Lassoued

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Whether we admit it or not, the mass media manipulates the masses. This fact proves to be especially dangerous in the context of French people of Maghrebian origin. The media presents them as either incapable of being “assimilated” or as models of integration. At any rate, there seems to be no middle ground between these two extremes.