Digital Commons Network^™

The Accuracy Of Videos Related To Breastfeeding On Tiktok: A Content Analysis, Brianna Jack

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Breastfeeding is widely recognized as the best nutrition for infants, yet its rates remain below recommended levels due to various factors. One such factor is the dissemination of misleading information, often from online sources like social media. This study investigates the accuracy of information in TikTok videos related to breastfeeding and whether differences exist between the accuracy of videos and narrator identification, skin color, and gender. This study also aims to investigate the relationship between the accuracy and popularity of videos based on the number of views, likes, comments, and shares. A content analysis was used to code the most …

The Post Pandemic Learner: How Spatial Dynamics & Accessibility Impact The Learning Experience, Erikka Misrahi

All Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic had unprecedented impacts on Generation Z (Gen Z) in regard to mental wellbeing and learning impacts. While the world shut down in March 2020, the majority of students who have since entered college were forced to attend some portion of high school using remote learning platforms. This transition, while necessary at the time, has had repercussions that are still being felt in higher education. These impacts, combined with the challenges that Gen Z were already experiencing due to the pressures of social media, and the impacts that technology has had on attention spans, have changed their learning …

Protocols For Enhancing The Role And Value Of Spiritual Care Resources In The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Garrett Harper

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the assessment of innovative practices in police chaplaincy. The purpose of the project intervention is to develop protocols that can guide police chaplains through an assessment process. The intervention relies on practical theology as exemplified through the ministry of chaplaincy. This ministry comprises police chaplains offering spiritual comfort to persons encountering critical incidents involving violence, accident, or other trauma-intensive events and situations. Adoption of innovations can allow police chaplains to be more effective in fulfilling many outward-focused tasks such as delivery of death notifications. I conclude that: (1) police chaplaincy is amenable to use of protocols to …

Sacrificial Lambs: The Perils Of Childhood In Shakespeare, Benjamin Sidney Reed

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

“Sacrificial Lambs: The Perils of Childhood in Shakespeare” utilizes childhood studies to read five Shakespearean plays and how they portray child characters in perilous situations such as kidnapping, banishment, and murder. It argues these dangers emulate real circumstances young people faced in the early modern period, including the boy actors playing these roles. The dissertation’s key research questions include how children in these plays exhibit agency in the face of danger, how they resist adult systems of power, and how audiences in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may have responded to these portrayals of imperiled and rebellious youths. The Introduction …

Make America(N Cinema) Great Again: The Rhetoric Of Nostalgia In Trump Era Cinematic Multiplicities, Courtney J. Dreyer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigates the rhetoric of nostalgia in politics and popular Hollywood cinema during the Trump era. I argue that MAGA Cinema, the contemporary trend of reboots, remakes, and sequels related to properties from the late 1970s to early 1990s, both respond to and strengthen attachments to an imagined version of the 1980s. However, this illusory golden age more closely reflects the world as depicted in the cinema of the 1980s rather than the reality of American in the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Through a close analysis of David Gordon Green’s Halloween Reboot series, Top Gun: Maverick, and …

Automated Cinematographer For Vr Viewing Experiences, Zihan Wu

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

As the virtual reality (VR) industry continues to evolve, the question of how to effectively capture VR experiences for an audience remains a challenge. The predominant method of showcasing VR applications through first-person recordings lacks cinematic interest, failing to capture other viewpoints and the essence of the moment. Meanwhile, manually setting up cameras and editing videos requires technical expertise on behalf of the user. In this paper, we propose the use of machine learning (ML) to automatically select the most compelling predefined viewpoint in a VR environment, at any given moment. Our models, trained on actor motion and voice volume, …

Plant-Plant Interaction In Early- Vs. Late-Successional Varieties Of The Hawaiian Landscape-Dominant Tree, Metrosideros Polymorpha, Tomoko Sakishima

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Plant-plant interactions play an important role in assembling plant communities. Interactions between neighboring plants can vary as a result of the genetic relatedness of neighbors, impacting rates of growth and patterns of resource allocation. When growing alongside close relatives, some species decrease their growth in a form of cooperation, while others grow faster through facilitation. A complication of plant interaction studies arises because decreased growth in the presence of close relatives can also be due to competition for resources, which increases with phenotypic similarity. Further complicating matters, mycorrhizal fungi, through their connections with plant roots, may strongly influence plant interactions. …

The Guardian The Month Of May 2024, Wright State Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

News articles from The Guardian for the Month of May 2024. The Guardian is the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. It has been published regularly since March of 1965.

Engaging For A Cause: How Nonprofits Can Leverage Theory To Maximize Video Engagement On Instagram., Aiko A. A. A. Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video is the second-richest form of media, conveying both verbal and nonverbal cues to viewers (Hasim et al., 2020). When coupled with the accessibility of social media, videos can spark consumer interest and convert neutral parties to brand-supporters (Alamäki et al., 2019; Tseng & Wei, 2020). This study aimed to investigate the effects of using Aristotle’s persuasive appeals, Berger’s STEPPS, and Monroe’s Motivated Sequence on the success of nonprofit organizations’ social media videos, measured in engagement metrics (likes and comments). Through a content analysis of 50 videos posted to Instagram by randomly selected nonprofit organizations, this study found that pathos …

An Exploratory Research On The Sexualization Of Young Women On Tiktok, Grace Schmerz

Student Theses

This study adopts a mixed-method approach, utilizing both qualitative content analysis and quantitative metadata assessments to evaluate 1000 TikTok videos tagged under specific hashtags suggestive of youthful and sexualized themes. Qualitative findings highlighted the characteristics of sexualization through thematic content analysis, sorting behaviors, attire, and the context of music and speech within the videos. Themes such as sexualized postures, sexualized attire, sexualized dancing, sexualized speech, and sexualized gestures were categorized and quantified with the support of descriptive statistics. The study found a significant presence of sexualization in the sample, most prominently in post-pubescent women. Quantitatively, engagement metrics provided insight into …

A Rhetorical-Sociological Understanding Of Emotion, Amy Boone

All Dissertations

This project presents a rhetorical-sociological understanding of emotion while foregrounding the place and role of language. Born from Sara Ahmed’s work in The Cultural Politics of Emotion, it presents a simplified equation (contact + orientation = emotion) as both a prescriptive and descriptive formula for making sense of human emotional experience. Starting with an exploration of the difficult-to-understand affect system, this dissertation identifies both rhetoric and affect as energies which cannot be understood apart from their traces, the things they move, produce, and become. As a way to get at these often-invisible forces, two trace studies are conducted which explore …

“Barbie Is As Much About Fashion As She Is About Culture And Empowerment”: Feminism In Barbie The Movie And Its Postfeminist Marketing, Brooke Ashley Shepherd

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The Barbie movie has been celebrated by fans for its feminist narrative. Although the film garnered appreciation from fans across the world, my thesis illustrates that it ultimately serves as a vehicle to promote a product, leading to question its feminist narrative. This mixed method study, which combines feminist textual analysis and feminist political economy analysis, investigates feminism and postfeminism within the Barbie movie and the marketing for the movie. The feminist textual analysis identified both feminist and postfeminist ideologies that are present within the film. The feminist political economy analysis identified the marketing for the Barbie movie as postfeminist. …

Investigating The Potential Of Augmented Reality In Creating A Sense Of Place On College Campuses, Linda White

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This project examines how designing an augmented reality (AR) campus navigation app can improve college students' sense of place and connection with California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). To guide the design of the app, I engaged in qualitative research using a curated campus walk protocol that invited students to walk to their favorite place on campus and record their walk while narrating it.

My analysis reveals the larger patterns that students use to select favorite places and favorite routes to those places, as well as how space navigation may lead to the formation of a sense of connection with …

Advancing Qualitative Inquiry In Agricultural Communications: An Analysis Of Theories, Methodologies, And Standards For Quality, Karli Yarber

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a deep dive into the evolving landscape of qualitative research within the field of agricultural communications. Through a trio of research articles, this research critically assesses the application of theories, methodologies, and standards for quality across studies published in six disciplinary journals from 2003 to 2023. The first manuscript explores the theoretical frameworks guiding qualitative research in agricultural communications, uncovering a diverse but scattered theoretical underpinning with Framing, Diffusion of Innovations, and Uses and Gratifications Theory emerging as the most prevalent. The second manuscript meticulously examines the methodologies employed, revealing a growing acceptance and application of qualitative …

Beyond The Bedroom Door: Investigating Representations Of Sex In Young Adult Literature, Amelia Gutche

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines representations of sex in young adult (YA) fiction, focusing on negative patterns, empowerment, and healthy relationships. Through analysis of seven YA novels and existing scholarship, three research questions are addressed: the evolution of sexual representations in the twenty-first century, patterns characterizing teenage sexual situations, and distinctions between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Findings reveal a shift toward more inclusive and empowering depictions, yet lingering conservative values and silences persist. YA literature often portrays sex as a source of fear and obsession, limiting adolescent power and perpetuating unrealistic ideals. Healthy relationships are characterized by support systems, mutual respect, and …

Instagram And Influencer Marketing: An Empirical Study Of The Parasocial Interaction Theory And Its Effects On Purchase Intention, Caroline Marie Chumley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have studied different factors that contribute to a parasocial interaction theory, and how this relates to purchase intention in the marketing industry. Previous research concentrates on parasocial interactions between television personalities and consumers, rather than influencers on social media. It is important to determine exactly what factors lead consumers to create a parasocial interaction with influencers in the media and determine how that parasocial interaction mediates purchase intention. Influencer marketing on Instagram is included in this study, as it contains brand-sponsored posts and allows users to interact with each other. This study utilizes the parasocial interaction model to determine …

“Ufo Reports Swamp Mississippi”: Media Coverage Of The 1973 Pascagoula Alien Abduction, Jane Fort

Honors Theses

On October 11, 1973, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker reported that they were taken aboard an unidentified flying object (UFO) in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Hickson and Parker’s abduction is now known as one of the most famous extraterrestrial encounters in the United States. In 1973, Hickson and Parker’s story captivated the media’s attention, and fifty years later, in 2023, UFOs are still widely reported on. This thesis utilizes the first-hand narratives from Hickson and Parker’s individual books to provide a detailed retelling of what happened on October 11. This thesis then analyzes the media coverage of the Pascagoula alien abduction in …

Sowing The Gospel In The Southern "Vorstenlanden"; Wonogiri In The Protestant Evangelists’ Travelogues In The Early Twentieth Century, Adi Putra Surya Wardhana, Dennys Pradita

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

The goal of this study is to analyse the travelogues of Protestant evangelists in Wonogiri, a topic so far barely touched upon. Despite being a predominantly Muslim community, Wonogiri was one of the areas in the principalities of Surakarta targeted by the zending. Therefore, this study explores various aspects, including the purpose behind the visits of Protestant missionaries, the discourses presented in the travelogues, and the perspectives of these evangelists on the belief system prevalent in the community in the early twentieth century. Based on several travel accounts, this research utilizes a critical discourse analysis approach. The evangelists built …

Ua12/2/2 Talisman: Pulse, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Spring 2024 Talisman:

• Hunter, Leah. Pulse
• Muscutt, Carson. High on Bluegrass – Jordan Riehm
• Meyers, Jeffrey. Science of Movement – Exercise Science
• Murray, Debra. Pasture to Plate – Agriculture
• Murray, Debra. Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
• Coffee, Bobbi. Passion, Pain, Curiosity – Innovation Campus
• Story, Miriam. Drafts of a Postcard (October 2023)
• Johnston, Katelyn. Beyond Sound – Deaf
• Hunter, Leah. One Good Week – Madison Weis
• Alali, Cecilia. Crafted Cadence – Speech Team
• Blankenship, Alisa. Loving You
• Sandlin, Ellie. Here After – Death
• Booth, Pandora. Rooted in Rhythm – Step Shows
• Booth, Pandora. Horoscopes
• Pulse Playlist

Charge The Cockpit Or Die: An Anatomy Of Fear-Driven Political Rhetoric In American Conservatism, Daniel Hostetter

Senior Honors Theses

Subthreshold negative emotions have superseded conscious reason as the initial and strongest motivators of political behavior. Political neuroscience uses the concepts of negativity bias and terror management theory to explore why fear-driven rhetoric plays such an outsized role in determining human political actions. These mechanisms of human anthropology are explored by competing explanations from biblical and evolutionary scholars who attempt to understand their contribution to human vulnerabilities to fear. When these mechanisms are observed in fear-driven political rhetoric, three common characteristics emerge: exaggerated threat, tribal combat, and religious apocalypse, which provide a new framework for explaining how modern populist leaders …

Artificial Intelligence And Film: A Journey In Public Perception From 1960 To The Present Day, Kayla Anderson, Andrew Roggeman, Joseph Fuller

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

An analysis of accomplishments in film from the 1960s-2020s that feature Artificial Intelligence to give a full picture of how public perception has changed towards these technologies over time, supplemented by historical and technological context.

Forum Response — The Only Constant Is Change: Exploring Grief, Burnout, Ungrading, And Ai In The Basic Communication Course, Kristina Ruiz-Mesa, Ana Terminel Iberri

Basic Communication Course Annual

In the years since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the world of higher education has seen incredible developments in teaching modalities, increased awareness of the socio-political and economic constraints facing many of our students and faculty, and an acute awareness of the rhetorical and material precarity that is facing higher education (Morreale et al., 2022; Ruiz-Mesa, 2022). These precarious conditions have contributed to questions regarding the future of higher education and adaptations needed to serve our diversifying student needs and address the pressing issues facing our world and our campuses. Conversations about well-being in the basic course classroom …

Small Moments: Anthropological Poetry, Lee Davis

Undergraduate Theses

Have you ever perhaps overheard a conversation and thought it reminded you of your own life, or someone you knew? You most likely moved on, and you most likely completely forgot about who you overheard. This collection of poetry was written to urge thought on these secret moments of connection which most people experience every day. Every poem in the collection was written from something I overheard in public, as though I were reading prompts. The pieces are fictional in the sense that I really know so little of the full context, but real in the sense that when I …

Death Stranding: A New Digital Ecology, Jordan Long

Theses and Dissertations

This essay analyzes Death Stranding, the 2019 release from contemporary game auteur Hideo Kojima. Here, I discuss the unique potentialities of this game world, detailing the ways in which Death Stranding expresses ecological perspectives. Asynchronous multiplayer serves as a unique metagame, helping to prove that play is a process of action which facilitates ecological thinking. The world of Death Stranding is filled with strange objects. The nonhuman entities that the player encounters throughout the game, for example, seem entirely alien. And yet, when these entities are properly understood, we realize that their inclusion is necessary--and natural. Your "job" in the …

Comics About Organs: Social Support And Graphic Medicine In The Awkward Yeti, Jacob Gibb

Theses and Dissertations

Comic strips have always been a medium for more than humor. Many comic strips published on social media sites address mental health issues. Despite their popularity, the field of graphic medicine, which examines the intersection of health care and comics, has seen little to no examination of how these comics function on social media. Utilizing the popular comic The Awkward Yeti, this research examines how the rhetorical devices of comics make them an ideal medium for communicating about mental health issues and providing social support to social media users. This study conducts a content analysis of 15 Instagram posts from …

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 7 Special Issue: Mediatization

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 7. Special Issue on Mediatization

Artificial Sociality, Simone Natale, Iliana Depounti

Human-Machine Communication

This article proposes the notion of Artificial Sociality to describe communicative AI technologies that create the impression of social behavior. Existing tools that activate Artificial Sociality include, among others, Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, voice assistants, virtual influencers, socialbots and companion chatbots such as Replika. The article highlights three key issues that are likely to shape present and future debates about these technologies, as well as design practices and regulation efforts: the modelling of human sociality that foregrounds it, the problem of deception and the issue of control from the part of the users. Ethical, social and cultural …

A New Family Member Or Just Another Digital Interface? Smart Speakers In The Lives Of Families With Young Children, Giovanna Mascheroni

Human-Machine Communication

Based on longitudinal qualitative research involving twenty families with at least one child aged eight or younger, the article provides an account of how families, as distinctive communicative figurations, adopt, use and make sense of smart speakers through diverse socially situated practices. Findings show that parents and children enter in a communicative relationship with smart speakers based on their attribution of human-like or machine-like traits to the device, and the device response to their expectations. Moreover, engaging in communicative practices through and with smart speakers, family members subvert or reinforce existing power relations. However, smart speakers acquire new agency by …

Mediatization And Human-Machine Communication: Trajectories, Discussions, Perspectives, Andreas Hepp, Göran Bolin, Andrea L. Guzman, Wiebke Loosen

Human-Machine Communication

As research fields, mediatization and Human-Machine Communication (HMC) have distinct historical trajectories. While mediatization research is concerned with the fundamental interrelation between the transformation of media and communications and cultural and societal changes, the much younger field of HMC delves into human meaning-making in interactions with machines. However, the recent wave of “deep mediatization,” characterized by an increasing emphasis on general communicative automation and the rise of communicative AI, highlights a shared interest in technology’s role within human interaction. This introductory article examines the trajectories of both fields, demonstrating how mediatization research “zooms out” from overarching questions of societal and …

Smoothing Out Smart Tech’S Rough Edges: Imperfect Automation And The Human Fix, Christian Katzenbach, Christian Pentzold, Paloma Viejo Otero

Human-Machine Communication

In this article, we take issue with an idea of autonomous and efficient automation that is upheld through the paradoxical conjunction of a flawed vision of the technological fix and the under-acknowledged human work required to fill in the gaps between machines and users. Our argument is based on two case studies that sit at opposite tails of automation processes: the front end of self-service checkouts and the back end of content moderation. This juxtaposition allows us to surface three themes on how the hype around automation is enabled by human interventions: the ad-hoc sociality in situated practices of automation, …