Rhetoric Commons^™

Dialogic Communication Ethics As A Hopeful Response To Artificial Intelligence, Kristen Haldeman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within the past five years, a new technology has dominated modern culture: artificial intelligence. With a multiplicity of ways to respond to this new environment, this dissertation situates a response to artificial intelligence by combining the media ecology and communication ethics perspectives. Media ecology explores historical roots and biases of technology to learn about their influence of humanity. A dialogic communication ethics seeks to find an opening for hope to emerge. Hope, grounded in the works of Jacques Ellul and the Christian tradition, offers a new rhetorical perspective by shifting focus away from technology and to our neighbor.

The Implications Of Generative-Ai User Prompt Engineering Shaping The Absent Presence Of Latino Women Textual Rhetoric In Llms, Angely C. Suarez Dejesus

ELO (un)supervised 2026

This article examines how large language models (LLMs) generate text that affects underrepresented groups, particularly Latino women, due to limited cultural, contextual, and abstraction training rooted in biases. The research draws on Brock’s (2018) CTDA theory, White et al.’s (2023) prompt engineering framework, Klein’s (2015) computational spatiality, and Anzaldua’s (1987) concepts of cultural, emotional, and gendered borderlands to analyze the outputs. Using narrative prompt experiments, Chat GPT 3.5, 5, Claude AI, Gemini, and Microsoft Co-Pilot produced changes in their textual outputs as evidence of further algorithmic designs. Nevertheless, continual biases embedded in the algorithms’ linguistic representation and misrepresentation through the …

Connected/Disconnected, Emery Beckman

ELO (un)supervised 2026

With the rise of AI, scholars are grappling with how it fits into their field and determining how authorship plays a role in the assistance of these tools. I argue that AI can be deemed a digital companion to creative and interactive design. Anthropic has recently launched Claude Code, a coding assistant for various projects. This talk explores how agentic AI can offer digital assistance while advocating for human thought to remain at the forefront. This talk will analyze and demo an interactive site and explore a collection of AI-assisted poems built alongside Claude Code titled "Connected/Disconnected." It will explore …

Subscribe, Follow, Save: Podcast Preservation In The Platform Era, Ben Pettis, Jeremy Morris

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Podcasting has produced a glut of cultural content. Collecting and saving these sounds for future study, however, remains challenging. This article asks: “How are recent developments in the platformization of podcasting threatening the ability of users and researchers to save, study, and sustain podcasts and the cultural insights they offer?” To answer, we focus on a podcast preservation project, PodcastRE.org, and discuss strategies for creating an (un)stable repository for future studies of podcasting. While new developments challenge preservation efforts, they also offer archivists opportunities to prioritize the cultural significance of podcasts, rather than the economic motives of the podcast industry …

Phenomenological Analysis Of Trust In Science For The Design Of Ai-Based Health And Social Policies, Kochav Koren

All Duquesne Faculty Scholarship

The promises of artificial intelligence (AI) as a solution to challenges facing health systems increasingly link technological innovation with improvements in efficiency and access. However, the legitimacy of AI-supported health policies depends not only on scientific competence but also on public trust in scientific institutions. Using data from the international Trust in Science Project (71,922 respondents across 68 countries), this study analyses multidimensional trust and communication ecologies to reconstruct relational configurations of trust, termed ‘Figures of Relevance’. Findings reveal that whilst scientific competence is widely recognised, perceptions of institutional openness vary markedly, shaping heterogeneity in trust. The study identifies four …

The Curtains Aren’T Just Blue: The Decline Of Media Literacy Within Pop-Culture, Kaia Divisconti

Honors Theses

This paper explores the relationship between the growing belief that media like film, television and advertisements “aren’t that deep” and the decline of English departments within education. This study explores how pillars of English departments, like analysis and rhetorical awareness, are pivotal for students to learn to understand the vast number of digital media that they are faced with every day. Through pop-culture moments of American Eagle “good genes” advertisement campaign, media trends like “red pill” content and stereotypical representation in film, this paper examines how this content is pushed onto students and how departments like English and humanities can …

Rhettech Journal Volume 8

RhetTech

No abstract provided.

Propasafe-Hybrid: A Text-Based Hybrid Propaganda Detection Tool (Ila 2026 Presentation), Thomas Kimmeth, Avijit Roy, Vivek Sharma

Publications and Research

This presentation introduces Propasafe-Hybrid, a hybrid system for sentence-level propaganda detection that combines offline transformer-based classification with selective large language model (LLM) explainability. The system employs a two-stage pipeline in which a local BERT-based classifier evaluates all input text and filters non-propagandistic content, while only high-confidence candidates are forwarded to an LLM for rhetorical technique labeling and explanation. This design enables cost-aware, privacy-conscious, and scalable analysis by reducing unnecessary reliance on external models.

Propasafe-Hybrid identifies propagandistic techniques such as loaded language, obfuscation, and appeal to fear, and generates concise natural language rationales that make these techniques interpretable to users. By …

"Deadly Imports": Populism, Demagoguery, And The Contemporary Rhetoric Of U.S. Immigration, Summer N. Wolfe

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project examines former CNN and Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs’s meteoric success to understand his rhetorical choices and appeals surrounding immigration discourse in the United States. As the first rhetorical assessment of Dobbs’s immigration rhetoric, this project centers him as a key figure who defined how U.S. culture operates within immigration discourses. The project relies on Michael Calvin McGee's work on ideographs to perform a close textual analysis of news programs featuring Dobbs to understand how ideologies about immigrants and immigration are built, circulated, and maintained in the Right’s media ecology. The project advances three arguments about Dobbs’s anti-immigration …

Enhancing Corporate Prayer Of The Clearwater Church Of Christ, Lyle Hinsdale

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was designed to enhance corporate prayer in the Clearwater Church of Christ. The dissertation explores the formative role of corporate prayer in congregational life and how intentional engagement with the Psalms can deepen the theological and spiritual practice of prayer within a local church. Corporate prayer can slip into habitual practice with limited theological range or emotional depth. This project investigates whether structured use of the Psalms as a model for prayer can expand the language, theological imagination, and engagement in the prayers of a worshiping community. The study used participatory action research methodology and was conducted within …

The Journey Of Accompaniment: Pastoral Care Education For The Laity At The University Church Of Christ In Abilene, Tx, Alejandro Ezquerra

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This Doctor of Ministry project addresses the need for intentional pastoral care formation among lay members at the University Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, with particular attention to its bilingual ministry context. Grounded in the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers as articulated in 1 Pet 2:9, the project argues that pastoral care is not the exclusive responsibility of ordained clergy but a shared calling within the body of Christ. In response to congregational interest in chaplaincy and caregiving, a five-session curriculum titled The Journey of Accompaniment: Forming Hearts for the Ministry of Care was developed to equip …

When An Untraditional Linguist Speaks - A Cultural Self-Analysis Of Untraditional Language, Justin Lambert

RhetTech

This essay presents a cultural and linguistic self-analysis that challenges dominant ideologies surrounding “proper” English in academic spaces. Through a blend of personal narrative and scholarly engagement, the author examines the legitimacy and rhetorical power of Black Language as a dynamic, historically rooted, and intellectually rigorous mode of communication. Drawing on the work of Geneva Smitherman, April Baker-Bell, and Vershawn Ashanti Young, the essay situates Black Language within traditions of contrastive rhetoric while actively applying code-meshing as both method and practice. Tracing the author’s linguistic development across familial, cultural, and academic contexts, the piece reveals how code switching and linguistic …

The Body As Architecture: Reframing Spacesuit Mobility Through Mechanical Counterpressure And Human-Centered Design, Kenza Iddir

RhetTech

For more than 60 years, the spacesuit has served as the single most critical, yet structurally constrained, element of human spaceflight. Its dual identity as both a protective exoskeleton and a life-sustaining pressure shell has shaped the design and performance of every extravehicular activity (EVA) system ever flown. As exploration shifts toward long-duration lunar and Martian missions, the limitations of these traditional “mobile pressure chambers” have become increasingly apparent, particularly in relation to mobility, metabolic cost, and environmental durability. This paper presents the historical evolution of gas-pressurized suits and the constraining biomechanical and material factors since the earliest EVA missions. …

A Curriculum To Empower And Equip Women For Leadership In The Monash City Church Of Christ In Melbourne, Australia, Devni Yasindra Attygalle

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses women in Christian leadership in the Monash City Church of Christ Melbourne, Australia. The problem identified within this ministry context was a lack of appropriate theological teaching around women in leadership, especially in the areas of preaching, teaching, and leading, which has led to misconceptions and prejudices in the minds of church members, negatively impacting the congregation’s mission. The purpose of the project was to develop a curriculum specific to MCCOC that provides a theological foundation for advocating for future senior leadership roles for women. The curriculum provides biblical teaching on women in leadership that will equip …

Digital Orientalism: Examining Eastern Practices In The Wellness Industry, Celia Golden

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As popularity rises for global and domestic wellness retreats as tourist destinations, their predominantly Western audience invites an American offshoot of Orientalism that commodifies Asian names and practices into “mindfulness.” This paper examines the guest guide of the Miraval Berkshires wellness facility and its treatment of Eastern practices. Findings revealed 55.6% of the specialists at the Miraval Berkshires employ Eastern techniques, and 74.14% of those offerings are restricted to paid and private sessions to create exclusivity. The word “ancient” is disproportionately leveled against Eastern practices in the guest guide to further cement them as relics of the past. Alongside minimalist …

Geographic Bias In Ai: How Llm Outputs Vary By Location, Alekya Bongu

RhetTech

This paper explores the inherent biases present in Large Language Model (LLM) outputs. As AI use becomes more widespread, it is extremely important to examine the implicit biases in these models, as AI will only perpetuate inaccuracies. By understanding the implications of using AI, we can use it in a way that causes the least harm. Using Hofstede’s cultural onion to structure research questions, I tested four LLMs—ChatGPT, Pi.ai, Qwen, and DeepSeek—across three different geographic locations: the United States, India, and Ireland. The findings demonstrate that while LLMs can adjust some content based on a user’s location, they frequently default …

How Astroworld’S “Blame Game” Prevented The Formation Of Institutional Public Memory, Vedant Patil

RhetTech

This paper looks at why the 2021 Astroworld tragedy in Houston did not become institutional public memory despite its scale and impact. Institutional public memory refers to the formal recognition of collective trauma through memorials. Drawing on media analysis and Vilanova’s (2025) study, this paper argues that the absence of an official memorial stems largely from racialized media narratives that placed disproportionate blame on the predominantly Black audience and hip-hop culture. This framing took attention away from structural failures such as poor crowd control and event planning, which reduced institutional pressure to memorialize the victims. While spontaneous community memorials demonstrated …

Eugenics Rhetoric In C.S. Lewis’S That Hideous Strength And Essays, Michelle Griffin

RhetTech

In the book That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis depicts the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) as an exclusive organization dominated by scientists, academics, and state authorities, mirroring the professional middle class that shaped British eugenics in the 20th century. Throughout the book there is evidence of eugenics discourse relating to human experimentation, feeblemindedness, sterilization of the “unfit,” as well as the role of power dynamics, all of which points to That Hideous Strength being an intentional representation of the eugenics discourse happening in Britian around the same time in which Lewis wrote the book. There is substantial evidence …

Rosemary’S Baby Is Immaculate, Alana L. Lee

RhetTech

This essay examines the legacy of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and its influence on modern horror media, specifically Michael Mohan’s Immaculate (2024). Cinematography, plot devices, and thematic parallels in both films depict the ritualization of women’s bodily autonomy within religious and patriarchal power structures. While Immaculate effectively draws on its predecessor's inspiration, its reliance on poor-quality horror tropes negates its critical perception and originality. This essay examines the films’ various portrayals of reproductive abuse, such as marital rape in Rosemary’s Baby, and forced in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Immaculate. These abuses are explored as different methods …

“Women Vs. Perfection:” A Pentadic Analysis Of Toxicity In Online Gaming, Niyayesh Arshadnia

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis utilizes a mixed-methods approach to examine an online video game player community as a case study to diagnose the underlying reason for widespread hostile behavior, especially towards women, among players in the online gaming sphere. The application of dramatism, a rhetorical theory that breaks down human behavior into elements of drama, reveals that the gaming industry and gaming culture are the likely perpetuators of this issue due to the environments they create and the behaviors they reward. This project is a diagnostic step towards rhetorically alleviating the exclusionary attitude of users in online gaming spaces through further research.