Digital Commons Network^™

The Power Of Storytelling: A Case Study Exploring Black Studies Through Nigerian Women Writers, Genesis Flores, Gaetan Jean Louis, Alexa Victor

McNair Scholars Program

No abstract provided.

A Word From The Writing Team (July 2023), Pam Walter, Mfa, Liz Declan, Ma, Mfa

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

This issue includes:

• Academic Commons Launches New Website
• Publication Spotlight
• Reminders
• First Friday Writing Retreat Hiatus
• Scott Renovations and You
• MS4 Residency Personal Statement Workshops

The Future Of International Law Freedom Of Journalism: A Transitional Justice Framework, Edward L. Carter

Faculty Publications

The overwhelming majority of digital and physical attacks on journalists are done with impunity. This results in lower-quality journalism, less scrutiny of government, and less healthy societies and democracies. The international human rights law concept of transitional justice could bolster collective will and inform legal mechanisms to combat such impunity. Judges and investigators in several recent cases of attacks on journalists have invoked transitional justice concepts, including truth-telling, criminal investigations and prosecutions, reparations, and institutional reforms to guarantee non-recurrence. These mechanisms should be fully implemented to protect journalism at local, national, and international levels.

Green Lighting The Altruistic Influencer, Savanna Rebecca Bagley

Theses and Dissertations

This paper comprehensively examines a new type of social media influencer characterized by altruistic tendencies. Utilizing the popular YouTube channel Vlogbrothers as the case study text for a constant comparative analysis, this research explores how the strategies altruistic influencers use to mobilize their community for good, the characteristics of the altruistic influencers, and how altruistic influencers create community. Through an in-depth analysis of 30 Vlogbrothers videos, the themes of education, community, and shared humanity emerged. Education, shared values, and calls to action are discussed as essential for mobilizing communities in charitable endeavors. Authenticity, quality, accessibility, and solutions-focused action were found …

The Role Of Online Discursive Action In Subjects' Emancipatory Repositioning In Egypt: Assault Police Case Study, Christine Saad Guirguis Ma

Theses and Dissertations

The current study's central question is how social change is discursively constructed. I studied an online feminist social movement that sparked in Egypt on Instagram in July 2020 and labeled "Assault Police." Within the critical social theory and feminism framework, I reviewed the literature on (critical) discourse, social change, and social movements. I tried to unravel the complexity around emancipation as a vital concept in the current study. I located and discussed areas of tension and identified a conceptualization that loosens the theoretical entanglement around it. The research problem sought to specify how the online discursive action facilitated desired …

Netflix’S Role In Reshaping The Global Audience’S Perception Of Arabs And Muslims, Menatalla Abbas

Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigates Netflix’s role in reshaping the global audience’s perceptions of Arabs and Muslims. The aim of this study is to understand how Netflix has positioned itself as a powerhouse in the streaming-service industry, and whether or not it has been able to use that power to promote authenticity, diversity, and inclusion. This study employed the triangulation method in order to develop a cohesive understanding of how, and to what extent, Netflix has reshaped the global audience’s perceptions of Arabs and Muslims. A content analysis of four Netflix Original Arabic productions were chosen, consisting of two series: Finding …

Using Ai-Generated Suggestions From Chatgpt To Optimize Clinical Decision Support, Siru Liu, Aileen P Wright, Barron L Patterson, Jonathan P Wanderer, Robert W Turer, Scott D Nelson, Allison B Mccoy, Dean F Sittig, Adam Wright

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To determine if ChatGPT can generate useful suggestions for improving clinical decision support (CDS) logic and to assess noninferiority compared to human-generated suggestions.

METHODS: We supplied summaries of CDS logic to ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool for question answering that uses a large language model, and asked it to generate suggestions. We asked human clinician reviewers to review the AI-generated suggestions as well as human-generated suggestions for improving the same CDS alerts, and rate the suggestions for their usefulness, acceptance, relevance, understanding, workflow, bias, inversion, and redundancy.

RESULTS: Five clinicians analyzed 36 AI-generated suggestions and 29 human-generated suggestions …

The Association Of Patient-Provider Language Concordance With Healthcare Comprehension Among Latino/As In Oregon, Grace Parra

University Honors Theses

Background: The purpose of this study is to describe the need and preferences among Mexican-origin Latinos in Oregon for language-concordant healthcare providers. We hypothesize that the presence of a language concordant provider is associated with greater health care comprehension.

Methods: This is a cross sectional study in collaboration with the General Consulate of Mexico. We developed a 20-item survey that includes questions about socio-demographics, a validated language-based acculturation scale, and questions regarding language concordant care experience and preferences used in previous studies. We are recruiting at the Mexican Consulate 500 Latino/as ages 18 or older who had a healthcare visit …

It's A Mean, Mean World: Social Media And Mean World Syndrome, Samantha Kemp

University Honors Theses

Born from cultivation theory, which suggests that media has a profound effect on viewers' perceptions of the world around them, Mean World Syndrome is a psychosocial phenomenon that describes increased levels of fear, anxiety, and pessimism, as well as an overall perception of the world as "meaner" than it actually is, as a result of heavy viewership of violence-related mass media. Mean World Syndrome has primarily been associated with television consumption, but a major societal shift towards consumption of social media instead of television over the last two decades necessitates investigation into how social media affects its users. Through an …

A Handmaid’S Tale: Amy Coney Barrett, Originalism, And The Specter Of Religion, Calvin R. Coker, Joel L. Reed

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In this essay, we analyze the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett to identify and explain the interaction between religion and jurisprudential philosophy. By tracing rhetorical scholarship on religion, politics, and the Supreme Court, we highlight tension engendered by both the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Barrett herself in locating her Catholicism as a desirable attribute for a nominee while at the same time espousing the importance of judicial objectivity. We suggest Barrett and her supporters on the committee invoked the judicial philosophy of originalism to allay this tension while occluding conversations about Barrett’s prior ideological …

Social Media And Society: An Investigation Of How Female Athletes Use Instagram, Kathleen Amore

University Honors Theses

Athletes increasingly leverage social media so they can share experiences first-hand, sell products, and promote their personal ideas and skills. Female athletes can become empowered through Instagram's ability to give a 'voice' to the object through captions, as well as its' ability to generate revenue through endorsements. Female athletes who find the most success on Instagram often post content that highlights their sexuality and personal life over their sport. Their success is found through a form of 'self-objectification', which can be seen as empowering and/or regressive to women’s sports. To explore this tension, my research project focused on the intentions …

Exiles: Trauma, Art & Design, Edwin Lew-Højbak Paquette

University Honors Theses

A BFA thesis about the researching, writing, illustrating, and printing of a graphic novel. The story, an auto-biographical exploration of trauma using magical realism, is based on the Jungian psychology concept of shadow work and Internal Family Systems (IFS).

Queering/Querying Educational Spaces: The Lgbtqia2+ Learning And Affirming Challenge, Jennifer L. Bonnet, Liliana Herakova, Tausif Karim

Feminist Pedagogy

Legislation regulating learning content and approaches seek to limit exposure to and consideration of non-cis-heteronormative ways of being and knowing (Sawchuk, 2022). Denial of access to a more difference-affirming curricula reinforces hegemonic cultural norms (Chen & Lawless, 2018). Research on the college experiences of LGBTQIA2+ identifying individuals indicates a generally chilly campus climate, recognizing that “colleges and universities have historically been shaped by and for cisgender, straight individuals” (Pryor, 2017, p. 36). Educators can play a key role in reshaping this reality by co-constructing affirming environments where learners can generatively engage with difference and grow their capacities for cultural responsiveness …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Enrico Pea And The Awareness Of Never-Ending Detachment (Alexandria, Egypt 1896–1914), Stefano Giannini

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

This chapter analyzes the postcolonial discourse in Italy, through the voice of the novelist and playwright Enrico Pea (1881–1958). Living outside of Italy, Pea gained a unique awareness of the notion of multi-ethnic societies, of the concepts of nationality, borders, and boundaries. Alexandria, Egypt, is Pea’s referential space. It is a center, and at the same time, a marginal place. Alexandrea ad Egyptum, that is, the door to Egypt, as it was known in antiquity, this city brought together Arab and European artistic experiences that converged on, and were triggered by, its multicultural profile. The history of political exile …

Understanding The Consumption Of Antimicrobial Resistance–Related Content On Social Media: Twitter Analysis, Hyunuk Kim, Chris R. Proctor, Dylan Walker, Ronan R. Mccarthy

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing concerns in our society. Today, social media can function as an important channel to disseminate information about AMR. The way in which this information is engaged with depends on a number of factors, including the target audience and the content of the social media post.

Objective: The aim of this study is to better understand how AMR-related content is consumed on the social media platform Twitter and to understand some of the drivers of engagement. This is essential to designing effective public health strategies, raising awareness about antimicrobial …

The Pioneering Efforts Of Ellen Larsen: The First Female Sports Information Director At Brigham Young University, Kiana Schlenker

Theses and Dissertations

Title IX began the change of integrating women's sports into universities, but it was up to each university's athletic administration, external media sources, and public relations practitioners to determine how female athletes and sports were supported and publicized. In 1976, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah hired Ellen Larsen as its first female sports information director responsible for women's sports. Through her 19 years as a sports information director at BYU, Larsen was an advocate for her athletes and helped pave the way for future female athletic administration roles. While there is plenty of literature on male sports information directors, …

Improving Communication Access With Deaf People Through Nursing Simulation: A Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration, Jamie L. Mccartney Ph.D., Tracy Gidden, Jennifer Biggs, Kathy Geething, Karl Kosko Ph.D.

Journal of Gender, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Studies

Baccalaureate nursing and sign language interpreting students participated in a pediatric discharge simulation with a deaf person playing the role of the baby’s parent. At the conclusion of the simulation, participants were emailed a consent letter and a link to a 17-item questionnaire developed by the authors. Responses were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, whereby nonparametric statistics were calculated to examine Likert-scale items. A Mann-Whitney test statistic was calculated, instead of an independent samples t-test, given the smaller sample in the current study (n = 26). A question was posed to participants that evaluated their self-perception of the effectiveness of …

Gender And Socio-Economic Differencesin South African Consumers’ Sentimentstoward Marketing Practices, Thérèse Roux

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

Studies on modern consumers’ sentiments toward marketing in an emerging market context are vital. This paper compares demographic diff erences in South African consumers’ sentiment toward marketing. Data were collected via a survey with 444 diverse consumers residing in the Tshwane metropolitan area. The fi ndings revealed that South African males are signifi cantly less satisfi ed with marketing communication practices compared to females. Consumers earning lower income were signifi cantly less positive towards marketing in general as well as product quality, price, and selling practices. Afrikaans-speaking consumers’ attitudes were less positive towards marketing communication. The fi nding can guide …

Behavioral And Physiologic Relationships Between Sensory Processing, Attention, And Prediction In Autistic Children: An Eye Tracking Study, Courtney Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence has risen to one out of every 36 children born in the United States being diagnosed. Many individuals diagnosed experience sensory processing difficulties that make life challenging for them and their caregivers. However, there is no clear consensus on why sensory processing issues occur. Previous research has linked attention function to atypical sensory processing. Our study aimed to understand potential underlying mechanisms and correlates of this relationship. We theorized that prediction is a key contributing factor to how attention and sensory processing interact. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sensory …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Motivational Speeches In Sports Films, Brenna Seeman

Theses and Dissertations

This paper applies Aristotle's historic modes of persuasion, namely ethos, logos, and pathos, to the motivational speeches found in 20 popular sports films. Through this analysis, major themes concerning how coaches utilized persuasive tactics were found and used to compile a list of important characteristics of motivational speeches. This initial analysis found pathos to be the most effective form of persuasion among motivational speeches in sports films. Because of this finding, a deeper analysis took place with five of the speeches, focusing specifically on how the visual, sound and other thematic elements contributed to the overall pathos of those rhetorical …

The Effects And Reversibility Of Combination Inhaled Corticosteroids On Phonation Threshold Pressure (Ptp) And Phonation Threshold Flow (Ptf) In Ex Vivo Rabbit Larynges, Melanie Elizabeth Blauer

Theses and Dissertations

Although combination inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) are known to cause voice disorders in otherwise vocally healthy individuals, it is unknown whether those adverse effects can be reversed by the cessation of treatment. Quantitative aerodynamic measures such as phonation threshold pressure (PTP) and phonation threshold flow (PTF) can be used to identify the development of, and recovery from, vocal pathologies. We examined the effects and reversibility of ICs on laryngeal aerodynamics. This study was a mid-project investigation as part of a larger ongoing project. The 18 larynges were from rabbits that received ICs, a control condition, or no treatment. Experimental group rabbits …

Emotion, Sensory Processing, And Prosody In Neurotypical And Autistic Young Adults, Annika Henderson

Theses and Dissertations

There is a paucity of research regarding autistic adults, yet as autistic individuals grow to adulthood, they are often met with several barriers because of their differences from the neurotypical (NT) population. Given the demands of adult social interaction, some of the social difficulties experienced by autistic adults are likely related to emotion processing and prosody function. With sensory processing differences added as a diagnostic criterion for autism within the last decade, an investigation into its relationship with emotional processing, another marked difficulty for this population, is warranted. There are logical connections between sensory processing, emotion, and prosody, such that …

Exploring Posttraumatic Growth In Aphasia: A Qualitative Investigation, Camille Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored posttraumatic growth (PTG) in people with aphasia and is the qualitative arm of a larger mixed-methods study. After an initial experimental session, 23 people with aphasia (PWA; 12 females and 11 males) completed a 60-minute semi-structured interview during which participants expanded on previously-given questionnaire responses and then answered five additional open-ended questions about communication in their daily life. Interviews were transcribed orthographically and coded using reflexive codebook analysis. A stakeholder with aphasia was consulted to gain insight from an insider's perspective about whether codes and themes captured the experiences of aphasia. Reflexive codebook analysis revealed two themes. …

The Reversibility Of Effects Of Combination Inhaled Corticosteroids On Sustained Phonation Pressure And Flow In Ex Vivo Rabbit Larynges, Elisabeth Barlow

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the reversibility of the adverse effects of combination inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) on vocal fold health as part of a five-year study. This pilot study tested the hypothesis that the adverse effects of ICs may be induced and then reversed, using a benchtop model and rabbit larynges measuring sustained subglottic pressure and airflow. Eighteen rabbits were assigned randomly to 5 subgroups, including baseline, induction experimental, induction control, reversibility experimental, and reversibility control. Baseline rabbits did not receive any treatment. Both experimental groups, induction and reversibility, were administered Advair until visual-perceptual ratings were noted. …

Microaggressions That Students From Underrepresented Groups Experience In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Samantha Berryhill

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored microaggressions that underrepresented students in Communication Sciences and Disorders experience. Phase I included a survey that was sent out to 276 undergraduate and graduate students at one university with 14 questions. Students were asked to identify with demographic variables, rate their sense of belonging, and discuss microaggressions they had experienced. Phase II comprised of individual interviews with six participants that further explored their experience as an underrepresented student in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Interviews were transcribed and coded using a content analysis. Across the two phases, quantitative, mixed-method, and content analyses were completed. Interviews were transcribed and …

Contextualizing The Role Of Answerers' Gaze Orientation In Turn Taking, Cassidy Moore

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis extends our understanding of the role of gaze orientation in turn taking, answering the following research question: When an answerer withdraws their gaze from a questioner at the completion point of the first turn-constructional unit of their answer, is this a practice for communicating that their answer-turn-so-far is not transition relevant (i.e., that the answerer is not complete with their turn and will continue speaking)? Data are videotapes of 274 information-seeking sequences drawn from 28 dyadic, mundane, English conversations between close friends. The methods are mixed, including conversation analysis and coding for statistical purposes. Data were transcribed for …

Validating A Predictive Early Kindergarten Dynamic Assessment Of Word Level Reading And Language, Taylor Jordan Cena

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the preliminary psychometrics to revisions to the decoding subtest of the Predictive Early Assessment of Reading and Language (PEARL) dynamic assessment and to further examine the predictive validity of the language subtest of the PEARL. Specific aims were to (a) determine if kindergarten students made gains on the PEARL decoding subtest from pretest to a delayed standard posttest and to a delayed novel posttest, indicating that floor effects were mitigated, (b) to examine if there was variance in the delayed standard posttest and novel posttest scores, (c) to determine if there was …

Citing Seeds, Citing People: Bibliography And Indigenous Memory, Relations, And Living Knowledge-Keepers, Megan Peiser Choctaw Nation Of Oklahoma

Criticism

By turning the page or reading further, you are accepting a responsibility to this story, its storyteller, its ancestors, and its future ancestors. You are accepting a relationship of reciprocity where you treat this knowledge as sacred for how it nourished you, share it only as it has been instructed to share, and to ensure it remains unviolated for future generations.

This story is told by myself, Megan Peiser, Chahta Ohoyo. I share knowledge entrusted to me by Anishinaabe women I call friends and sisters, by seed-keepers of many peoples Indigenous to Turtle Island, and knowledge come to me from …

Trees And Texts: Indigenous History, Material Media, And The Logan Elm, Mark Alan Mattes

Criticism

Settler accounts of the Cayuga Native American Soyeghtowa (Logan), such as Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, interpret his famous mourning speech, “Logan’s Lament,” as the words of a melancholic, noble savage and vanishing Indian. This essay decolonizes settler accounts of Logan’s words and deeds such as Jefferson’s book by considering Indigenous relationships to a once-living memorial on Shawnee land in central Ohio, the Logan Elm, which nineteenth-century settlers apocryphally identified as the site of Logan’s speech. Drawing on scholarly work on Indigenous writing and historical media by Native American and settler intellectuals, as well as local …