Digital Commons Network^™

Platform Affordances, Produsage, And The Attention Economy: From Red (Taylor’S Version) To The Life Of A Showgirl, Angela Rose Asuncion

The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies

Social media platforms increasingly operate as infrastructures of visibility, shaping the conditions under which cultural content is produced, circulated, and recognised (van Dijck et al.; Nieborg and Poell). This article examines Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) and The Life of a Showgirl as two distinct visibility configurations emerging from the affordances and algorithmic logics of TikTok and Instagram. Drawing on platform studies (Abidin), celebrity theory (Dyer; Marshall; Marwick), and participatory culture and produsage (Jenkins; Bruns), the study employs a QCA-inspired configurational approach (Ragin) to analyse how clusters of affective cues, aesthetic strategies, parasocial signals, and circulation patterns generate contrasting visibility …

Taylor Swift, Gender, And Feminism: What Do The Data Say?, Maxine Lewis

The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies

In the world of Swiftian scholarship, several scholars have credited Taylor Swift with feminist impact, while others have criticized both her type of feminism and claims to be a feminist. Many arguments rest on a narrow group of protest songs (“The Man”, “You Need To Calm Down”, and “Only The Young”) and a short period of Swift’s career in which she made many paratextual political gestures (2019-2020). However, claims about a songwriter’s feminism (or lack thereof) will be more accurate, robust, and nuanced if they draw on data from her whole career.

This article provides the first systematic survey of …

Letter To The Editor—Long Story Short: The Breadth Of Taylor Swift Studies, Jessica Smartt Gullion, Keith Nainby

The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies

Letter to the Editor on current events in the field by Jessica Smartt Gullion, Phd Professor of Sociology, Texas Woman’s University and Keith Nainby, PhD Professor of Communication Studies, Stanislaus State University. For the Inaugural Edition of The Manuscript: Journal of Taylor Swift Studies published on April 29th, 2026.

Latine Financial Wellness Content Creators: Rhetorical Strategies And Approaches, Ariana Bribiesca

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

The following paper explores Latine popular culture through the lens of Latine Instagram content creators who focus on financial literacy and wellness. First, “Viv” from Overcoming Generational Poverty provides a free budget template and money resources. She is the first in her family to build generational wealth while simultaneously supporting her family financially. Second, Giovanna González, a financial educator and award-winning author of Cultura & Cash: Lessons from the First Gen Mentor for Managing Finances & Cultural Expectations, explores the intersection of culture and finances. Finally, Hip Latina’s “Finances Section” explores content with financial resources as part of their larger …

Act And Agent: A Burkeian Analysis Of Marlon Brando’S Refusal Of The Academy Awards, Jack Ammerman

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

With the increasing prevalence of celebrity activism in modern society, Marlon Brando’s refusal of the Oscars—an act that trailblazed how celebrity activism was conducted in the film industry—is an exemplary case study for exploring the mechanics of celebrity activism and the implications of such rhetorical acts. A Burkeian analysis of Brando’s rhetorical act will help discern which elements contributed to the act’s profound impact on celebrity culture and media activism. Drawing on Burke’s communication theories and available scholarship on celebrity activism, I will demonstrate how Brando’s celebrity status supercharged the efficacy of his rhetorical act and gave him an extensive …

Sean Combs (Diddy) And The Mann Act: A Historical Perspective On Race And Gender In Contemporary Issues, Leslie Duran Hinojosa

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Manufactured Urgency: A History Of Humanitarian Photography And The Politics Of Seeing, Dylan Ryu

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

A Centurion’S Cause: The Origins Of Innocence Advocacy, Ben Chu

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

Stigma, Community, And Blue Tickets: The Forgotten Stories Of Gay People Discharged From The Military In World War Ii, Kaila Castanon

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

The Rise And Fall Of The South Pacific Railroad: An Analysis Of The Evolving Newspaper Coverage Surrounding Their Acquisition By The Southern Pacific, Thomas Mathew

Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II

No abstract provided.

University Theatre Guild Guide, Maria Perez

Honors Theses

The WMU Theatre Guild Assistant position is one of the primary assistantships in the Arts Administration department. The Theatre Guild Assistant works alongside Emily Duguay, the Director of Arts Administration, Joan Herrington, the Director of the School of Theatre and Dance, and the WMU Theatre Guild Board to manage their daily operations and help develop donor events. The University Theatre Guild Guide explains the details and processes this position follows. This guide is broken down into four sections. The first section is the Introduction. The Introduction includes congratulations from the past Theatre Guild Assistant and a short breakdown of the …

Musical Affinities Between Ann Southam's Glass Houses And Canadian Fiddle Tunes With Performance Considerations For Glass Houses No. 5, Evangelia Nikolaidou

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ann Southam stands as one of Canada’s foremost minimalist composers. Her fifteen-piece piano set Glass Houses, composed in 1981 and revised in 2009, reflects the joyful, dance-like energy of Canadian fiddle music that inspired it. While Glass Houses has frequently been discussed within the context of minimalist composition, less attention has been given to the ways in which the work resonates with Canadian fiddle traditions. This document draws on existing scholarship on Métis, French-Canadian, Newfoundland, Anglo-Canadian, and Scottish fiddle traditions to trace and clarify structural, rhythmic, and textural affinities between Canadian fiddle tunes and Glass Houses. Focusing on …

Female Genital Cutting In American Foreign Policy – Proposal For Harm Reduction, Charlotte Racine

Bates College Journal of Political Studies

Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation (FGC/M) has gained international attention as an issue of human rights and violence against women and girls. The United States, as a leading world power, has openly opposed its practice and actively condemns it in communities and countries of the Global South, yet it fails to oppose or condemn as staunchly identical procedures within its borders. The simultaneous condemnation of FGC when it occurs in “undeveloped” countries and acceptance of American procedures like cosmetic genital modification surgeries, male circumcision, and “corrective” surgeries on intersex infants produces a narrative of cultural superiority and imperialism that harms the international …

Solarvale: Exploring Australian Ecology And Culture Through Serious Game Design, Ping-I (Adam) Ho, Elliot Birch

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This research examines how a serious game (Gee, 2007): Solarvale: Tale of the Sun Root (Birch et al., 2024), developed by students from SAE University College addresses the importance of ecological conservation and cultural awareness specifically in relation to the Australian landscape. While some Australian serious games, such as Catchment Detox (2008), Paperbark (2018), and Bleached Az (2019) engage with similar themes, few titles integrate storytelling with interactive ecological environments and cultural awareness in a way that encourages players to reflect on their own role and actions—which is the central focus of Solarvale. Drawing on the concepts from serious …

The Colour Of Becoming, Monique Mazza

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

The Colour of Becoming explores the relationship between identity and creative practice through two experimental watercolour portraits. Positioned between the freedom of artistic expression and the conformity of professional life, the work visualises an internal tension between authenticity and expectation. Drawing from theories of identity (Hall, 1990), écriture féminine (Cixous, 1976), and semiotics (Barthes, 1972), the research examines how symbolic visual language can represent fractured or evolving selves. Through contrasting palettes, gestures, and acts of erasure, the paintings reveal how selfhood is not fixed but continually negotiated within social frameworks. This exegesis places painting as both method and mirror, a …

Solarvale: Exploring Australian Ecology And Culture Through Serious Game Design, Ping-I (Adam) Ho, Elliot Birch

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This research examines how a serious game: Solarvale: Tale of the Sun Root (Birch et al., 2024), developed by students from SAE University College addresses the importance of ecological conservation and cultural awareness specifically in relation to the Australian landscape. While some Australian serious games, such as Catchment Detox (2008), Paperbark (2018), and Bleached Az (2019) engage with similar themes, few titles integrate storytelling with interactive ecological environments and cultural awareness in a way that encourages players to reflect on their own role and actions—which is the central focus of Solarvale. Drawing on the concepts from serious game (Gee, 2007), …

An Alignment Of Absences: The Medicalization Of Death And Its Implications On Archaeological Methodology, Makayla J. Bowman

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Absence describes something that is "expected, wanted, or looked for [but] is not present or does not exist," (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2026). The archaeological discipline interacts with absence in many profound ways, largely in its study of the past dead. This paper focuses on the ways in which the medicalization of death has influenced, limited, and misaligned archaeological methodology, and how the result of those methodologies produces archaeological analysis that is absent of or misrepresents our understanding of life, personhood, and our position within a greater, interconnected biosphere. Thus, I present an anthropological critique of the ways in which death and …

Local Angst To National Fear: New Media And The Spread Of Xenophobia, Bryce Weber

Honors Projects

This paper examines the evolution of xenophobia in the United States, arguing that its core themes of fear of outsiders, economic anxiety, and threats to national identity have remained consistent. However, the mechanisms of its spread have transformed alongside developments in media. The paper uses a qualitative historical methodology supported by quantitative data to trace anti-immigrant sentiment. It examines anti-immigrant attitudes toward Irish immigrants in the 19^th century, and reactions to undocumented immigrants in the late 20^th and early 21^st century. The paper focuses on key case studies, including California’s Proposition 187 and Arizona’s SB 1070, to …

Foundations Of Art: Materials, Methods, And Meaning, Elizabeth Mellott

Art OERs

This course provides an introduction to the tools, materials, and processes used across a wide range of artistic media. The focus is on understanding how different materials shape the way art is created and experienced. Attention is given not only to what artists make, but also to why particular media are chosen to communicate specific ideas, emotions, or perspectives. The physical qualities of materials, the methods used, and the cultural meanings attached to them all influence artistic decision-making.

The course surveys several major categories of artistic media. Pigment-based practices include painting, drawing, and printmaking, where color and mark-making form the …

Radio As War: An Exploration Of Kalamazoo Black Radio In The Vietnam War Era, Amelia Koch

Honors Theses

Kalamazoo, Michigan’s black history runs deep. This thesis aims to trace that black history, and situate it within the realm of black radio as a cultural phenomenon. Rising to its provenance in the mid-1960s, black radio has been, and continues to be, a rallying point for African American communities across the U.S., particularly in Chicago and Detroit. Kalamazoo, a halfway point between these two major cities, has a lack of such stations. Exploring the lack of black radio in Kalamazoo during the 1950s through 70s, this work presents a connection between the existence of black programming and the experience of …

"Principle Before Party": Samuel "Golden Rule" Jones And The 1899 Ohio Gubernatorial Election, Connor Hand

Honors Projects

As partisan loyalty declined and resentment grew against American social, political, and economic conditions at the end of the nineteenth century, political reformers saw an opportunity to spread their ideals for a better society. Most reformers opted against running for office, and those who did often used standard or newly formed political parties. Mayor of Toledo and progressive businessman Samuel Jones differed from the standard reformer by seeking office while embracing a non-partisan ideology. By analyzing Jones’ writings, the partisan response to his movement, and contextualizing him amongst reformers, this essay explores how Jones stood out from the standard political …

Luja Volume 6: Issue 1 (Full Volume)

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Americana Marketing Campaign, Shaela O'Keefe

Undergraduate Theses

Americana World Community Center has served as a beacon of hope and justice within the Louisville, Kentucky community for over 30 years. The nonprofit organization provides “holistic services to Louisville's refugee, immigrant and underserved population to build strong and healthy families, create a safe and supportive community and help every individual realize their potential” (Americana, 2024). Americana creates opportunities for families to thrive through “education, family support, youth achievement, and career & financial development” (Americana, 2024). To further Americana’s mission and assist immigrant families, the organization is currently undergoing the process of gathering narratives of Americana’s impact on their staff, …

Distributed Authorship In Technologically Mediated Creativity, Patrick Carroll

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This paper examines the complex nature of authorship as it is reshaped within technologically mediated creativity. Drawing on theoretical perspectives on authorship, agency, and technological mediation, it argues against binary notions of artistic originality and instead frames the author as a “node” within a vast network of technological and cultural influences. Through two practice-based case studies—generative musical systems developed in Bitwig Studio’s The Grid, and the coding of an album-art generator in collaboration with OpenAI’s Codex—the paper explores how different forms of uncertainty emerge when creative decision-making is partially delegated to systems that behave unpredictably or autonomously. In these contexts, …

Using Multiple Means Of Representation To Enhance Higher Education Student Learning, Cathy Stephens

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

Today’s students enter higher education from diverse backgrounds with differing educational pathways. Universal design for learning recognises that learners are not homogenous and suggests ways of improving engagement, understanding and agency for heterogeneous learners by including varied resource formats and instructional approaches, or multiple means of representation. While institutional imperatives often call for consistency of approaches and pre-designed content formats, this small pilot study asks if the implementation of varied resources and activities can enhance student comprehension and understanding of project requirements in a creative course. This small-scale study surveyed students on the perceived value of a variety of resources, …

Echoes Of Memories Erased: A Reflection On Underscoring Between The Fractures, Nat Texler

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This paper covers a reflective account of creating the underscore for the 2025 production of Between the Fractures, performed at the Butterfly Club in Melbourne, Australia. While the process of creating a mise-en-scéne  for a two hander within a small theatre space involves multilayered praxis of aesthetic inferences (Pavis, 2003) this paper aims to provide an insider’s account into some of the creative processes that resulted in the original underscore. Drawing on an eclectic fusion of practice as research methodology, specifically Linda Candy’s reflection practice variants (Candy, 2021), the research provides insight into the decisions, references (musical and otherwise), …

No Ash Will Burn, Blake Kinnett

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

No Ash Will Burn follows twin narrators Avery and Krista Harmon. After a boy their aged, named Oliver O’Hara, moves in next door, Avie begins playing music with him at the docks in their town. When their mother unexpectedly passes away, Avery leaves their small town of Monticello, Kentucky for Lexington, Kentucky, taking Krista’s dulcimer along with her. The dulcimer was built by their late father, who intended to build two, but passed away before he could complete the second, dedicated to Avery. The completed dulcimer has Krista’s name carved into the side. In Lexington, Oliver develops an original song, …

The Ethical Ramifications Of Using Insects In Art, Madalynn Lundy

Honors Projects

Artists have been in collaboration with living and dead beings since the beginning of time. Whether it be in the supplies used to create a piece of art or as the subject itself, insects are and have been a key part of art-making for many artists throughout history. This begs the question regarding the ethics of using insects in art and whether this is morally acceptable. I take interest in this topic as an artist who takes inspiration from insects in my own art. This paper explores various qualitative research methods in an effort to bridge the topics of environmental …

Foreign Language Experience Effects On L2-Accented Speech Attitudes In College Students, Jordan L. Ellington

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to test whether knowledge of a second language in college students can affect perceptions and prejudices towards speakers with foreign accents. The testing was completed through both implicit and explicit attitudinal measures in regard to recorded audio stimuli. The explicit attitudinal testing was performed through participant self reporting of attitudes. Participants were presented with first (L1) or second (L2) language accented English samples and then rated that speaker in terms of various characteristics or traits that represented the speaker's solidarity and status. The implicit testing was performed in an Auditory Implicit Associations Test on …

Lindenwood Offensive Lineman Earns Nfl Minicamp Invite, Truman Griessel

Lindenlink (2012- )

No abstract provided.