Digital Commons Network^™

Fighting For What Is Right: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Fan Campaign To Save Anne With An E From Cancellation, Marie E. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Anne with an E fan campaign highlighted storylines of social issues that fans felt were important for society. Of particular interest to the fan community was a storyline from the series in which Anne and her friends organized a protest following incidents of sexual assault and censorship aimed at silencing girls from speaking out on gendered issues. This storyline was heavily referenced in the billboards that the fan-based campaign displayed in Toronto and New York City (Anne Nation, 2020). In this analysis, I used fantasy theme analysis (Bormann, 1972) and metaphorical criticism (Osborn, 2018) to conduct a visual and …

Halloween 2023: It's A Barbie World!, Jin-A Choi, Yi Luo, Bond Benton, Keith Green

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

Move over, black and orange, and step aside for the color that is going to dominate Halloween this year, “Barbie Pink.” And yes, Ken, “it won’t matter what you do, you will always be number two,” at least when it comes to Halloween costumes in 2023. And those wildly popular Star Wars and Marvel character costumes traditionally seen during the “spookiest” time of the year? It seems they won’t match the popularity of the fictional character, Barbie, who reemerged this year on the pop culture scene after the incredible success of the Warner Bros. film “Barbie” released in July.

Based …

External Funding Bulletin, January - June 2023, Uno Office Of Research And Creative Activity

Sponsored Programs Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Reconstituting Digital Counterpublics In Times Of Crisis: The Case Of The United States And The Republic Of Georgia, Byron B. Craig, Stephen E. Rahko, Nathan Carpenter

Faculty Publications - Communications

Since the advent of social media at the turn of the 21st century, scholars of communication, cultural studies, and media studies have long been invested in the question of the relationship between social media platforms and the discursive formation of counterpublics for social movement mobilization. In this article, we seek to pose a new question for scholarly inquiry: How do citizens leverage the tools of social media platforms to reconstitute counterpublics in times of crisis? Toward this end, we conduct a comparative case study of the way citizens leverage platforms for counterpublic formation in the Republic of Georgia and the …

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing Of Engineering Identities And Third Space, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Colleen Arendt, Rebecca L. Dohrman, Carla B. Zoltowski, Prashant Rajan

Communication Faculty Publications

The questions of why there are so few women in engineering and how to change engineering cultures to be more inclusive have garnered much social scientific research and considerable funding. Despite numerous findings and interventions, no studies to our knowledge have analyzed how difference is constituted discursively, materially, and affectively in ways that are deeply embedded in engineering occupational and societal cultures. This study takes an affective gendered organizing approach to analyze how affect is constituted through emotions/talk, interactions, and materialities. Using constructivist grounded theory, we explored our interview data of 69 engineers (45 women and 24 men) to find …

Brand Activism In The Age Of Black Lives Matter Movement, Peter M. Mwencha, Reuben K. Njuguna

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study provides a review of brand activism phenomenon against the background of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is informed by the growing number of activist customers, leaders and corporations that are taking a stand on divisive social and political issues that exists in today’s America. It finds that while socially-conscious consumers respond better to brands that support socio-political causes that they identify with, leaders and corporations should exercise caution when engaging in activism due to its divisiveness as well as the difficulty in aligning a brand’s public stance on an issue and consumers’ beliefs. The study recommends that …

The Application Of Interpersonal Concepts To Reframe Instructor Misbehaviors, Jonathan A. Mendoza

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The research literature surrounding instructor misbehaviors has been largely influenced by two typologies of misbehaviors. Kearney et al. (1991) introduced the first typology of instructor misbehaviors, which included incompetence, offensiveness, and indolence. Goodboy and Myers (2015) later revisited this initial typology, finding additional misbehaviors that reflected changes in the classroom climate, including antagonism and misbehaviors enacted during lectures. Much of the research on instructor misbehaviors utilizes these typologies, using a framework of interpersonal theories as a means of understanding instructor misbehaviors. In my review of the literature, common theories applied included expectancy violations theory, communication privacy management theory, and attribution …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 24 2023, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Rice Biomass Response To Various Phosphorus Fertilizers In A Phosphorus-Deficient Soil Under Simulated Furrow-Irrigation, Jonathan B. Brye, Kristofor R. Brye, Diego Della Lunga

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Wastewater-recovered phosphorus (P), in the form of the mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4∙6H2O), may provide a sustainable alternative to decreasing rock-phosphate reserves. Struvite can be generated via precipitation methods, potentially reducing the amount of P runoff to aquatic ecosystems. The objective of this greenhouse tub study was to evaluate the effects of chemically and electrochemically precipitated struvite (CPST and ECST, respectively) on aboveground plant response in a hybrid rice cultivar grown using furrow-irrigation compared to other common fertilizer-P sources [i.e., triple super phosphate (TSP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP)] using three replications of fertilizer treatment in a P-deficient silt loam (Typic Glossaqualfs). Aboveground …

Private Ownership Of Public Facts: Docudramas, Deals, And Life Story Rights, David Fagundes, Jorge L. Contreras

Faculty Articles

From Elizabeth Taylor to Mike Tyson, celebrities have claimed ownership of their personae. But while the right of publicity and other laws give individuals the right to control commercial exploitation of their images, voices, mannerisms and taglines, the law stops short of recognizing a property interest in the events of their lives. On the contrary, the First Amendment protects producers of expressive works when telling non-defamatory stories about real people. The intuition that exists among celebrities and lay persons alike that individuals own their “life stories” has been fueled by the decades-old Hollywood practice of “acquiring” life story rights from …

Perspectives On Usability Testing With Iot Devices In Technical Communication Courses, David Wright

English and Technical Communication Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Article Offers Perspectives on Adopting Smart Home Technology into Usability Testing for Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) Courses. Usability is a Valued Skill for Technical Communicators. However, Usability Testing Methods Have their Problems as Pedagogical Tools. Internet-Of-Things (IoT) Devices and Smart Home Technology (SHT) May Offer Instructors Tools to overcome Some of Those Problems. This Article Details Advantages and Concerns Associated with using SHT for Curricular Usability Testing.

Pandemic Communication: International Communication, Anthony Spencer

Other Scholarly Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our world as we previously knew it. One of those major changes is how we communicate with one another across national borders. The pandemic forced us to find ways to improve the way we utilize social media outlets to communicate with others around the world. Research into global communication has long been too focused on the West, and particularly the United States. This shift in our communication usage also provides a moment of pause to reflect on ways to make the field of international communication more inclusive and focus on key issues which influence transnational …

Transnational Dominican Activism: Documenting Grassroots Social Movements Through Esendom, Nelson Santana, Amaury Rodriguez, Emmanuel Espinal

Publications and Research

Dominican-descended people are one of the most dynamic Caribbean and Latin American ethnic and cultural communities in the United States. Whether in the Dominican Republic or as members of a transnational community, the Dominican population has a long and rich history of challenging the powers that be, confronting unjust acts, and opposing oppressive laws within the communities they inhabit through their civic engagement. This paper addresses one question: As Dominican society and the world have evolved, what has been the role of U.S.-based online media in sustaining, disseminating, and rescuing the long tradition of civic involvement and struggle exemplified by …

It Helps And It Doesn’T Help: Maternal Perspectives On How The Use Of Smartphones And Tablet Computers Influences Parent-Infant Attachment, Rebecca Hood, Juliana Zabatiero, Desiree Silva, Stephen R. Zubrick, Leon Straker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

As families increase their use of mobile touch screen devices (smartphones and tablet computers), there is potential for this use to influence parent-child interactions required to form a secure attachment during infancy, and thus future child developmental outcomes. Thirty families of infants (aged 9–15 months) were interviewed to explore how parents and infants use these devices, and how device use influenced parents’ thoughts, feelings and behaviours towards their infant and other family interactions. Two-thirds of infants were routinely involved in family video calls and one-third used devices for other purposes. Parent and/or child device use served to both enhance connection …

Normal Redefined: Exploring Decontextualization Of Lorises (Nycticebus & Xanthonycticebus Spp.) On Social Media Platforms, Luke F. Quarles, Kim Feddema, Marco Campera, K. A.I. Nekaris

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Decontextualization is a concept from psychology whereby new words are learned outside of the context of the here-and-now. Decontextualized language is used for discussing abstract concepts and is crucial to the development of academic language. When it comes to images, a dearth of context can lead to a lack of clarity, such as the use of ambiguous decontextualized images in environmental communication, leading to the promotion of greenwashing. Here we refer to decontextualization as the removal of wildlife from their wild ecological context. Images and videos of globally threatened species are increasingly popular on social media. Showing such taxa …

An Artificial Therapist (Manage Your Life Online) To Support The Mental Health Of Youth: Co-Design And Case Series, Aimee-Rose Wrightson-Hester, Georgia Anderson, Joel Dunstan, Peter M. Mcevoy, Christopher J. Sutton, Bronwyn Myers, Sarah Egan, Sara Tai, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, Wai Chen, Tom Gedeon, Warren Mansell

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The prevalence of child and adolescent mental health issues is increasing faster than the number of services available, leading to a shortfall. Mental health chatbots are a highly scalable method to address this gap. Manage Your Life Online (MYLO) is an artificially intelligent chatbot that emulates the method of levels therapy. Method of levels is a therapy that uses curious questioning to support the sustained awareness and exploration of current problems. Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed interface for MYLO in young people aged 16 to 24 years with mental health problems. …

Lessons Learned From Interdisciplinary Efforts To Combat Covid-19 Misinformation: Development Of Agile Integrative Methods From Behavioral Science, Data Science, And Implementation Science, Sahiti Myneni, Paula Cuccaro, Sarah Montgomery, Vivek Pakanati, Jinni Tang, Tavleen Singh, Olivia Dominguez, Trevor Cohen, Belinda Reininger, Lara S Savas, Maria E Fernandez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing awareness about and advances in addressing social media misinformation, the free flow of false COVID-19 information has continued, affecting individuals' preventive behaviors, including masking, testing, and vaccine uptake.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we describe our multidisciplinary efforts with a specific focus on methods to (1) gather community needs, (2) develop interventions, and (3) conduct large-scale agile and rapid community assessments to examine and combat COVID-19 misinformation.

METHODS: We used the Intervention Mapping framework to perform community needs assessment and develop theory-informed interventions. To supplement these rapid and responsive efforts through large-scale online social listening, we developed a …

Boycotting Vs. Canceling: Exploring Consumer Activism Against Corporations, Erica Buchman

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to establish the difference between boycotting and canceling a corporation and what compels consumers to act. Consumer activism attempts to hold companies to account when a line, be it arbitrary or rational, is crossed, and these attempts are not always successful. However, when enough social pressure is exerted on a company via boycotting, depending on the wrongful act committed, accountability and change can be possible. I want to determine what some of the factors are that could compel customers to engage in consumer activism or boycott against a corporation and whether a corporation that …

Investigating Mental Illness Perception On Social Media And The Propensity To Self-Diagnose, Camille R. Omega

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The perception of mental illness has often been studied in traditional face-to-face settings, but the research on its perception in an online setting has been growing recently. Social media platforms have allowed for important conversations regarding mental health to gain popularity and led to the formation of communities where users can share their personal experiences. It has also given professionals the opportunity to educate others on various mental health topics and answer specific questions their audience may have. From these posts and forums, users who are concerned with their mental health can be given the guidance to achieve proper assistance …

Examining Patient-Physician Communication As A Form Of Mutual Persuasion Using The Conversational Argument Coding Scheme, Pritam Kanthala

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Communication between the patient and the physician in clinical encounters has traditionally been considered a passive interaction on the side of the patient, whereby the healthcare provider examines the patient's condition and circumstances, evaluates the situation, and prescribes a certain treatment plan or procedural solution that will heal the patient's ailment. However, recent research and fundamental communications understanding strongly emphasizes that effective communication is a two-way endeavor that ideally should involve input and insight from both sides of the conversation. Treating all clinical interactions as a one-way didactic experience where a provider usually goes through a checklist of commonalities would …

Personality And Social Media Use, Joshua Pearson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study seeks to examine the connection between social media usage and the Enneagram personality model. This connection will aid in a better understanding of what motivates individuals to use social media. The information found in this study will be applied to understanding behavioral addiction. This understanding will allow more personalized treatment for individuals already subject to these behaviors and preventive treatment for those more susceptible to behavioral addiction to social media. In order to find the connection between social media use and the Enneagram personality model, a survey including an Enneagram personality inventory, a social media use inventory, and …

Bilingual Switch Cost Effect On Language Processing, Ancuta Rader

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Recent reports suggest that over half of the world's population regularly uses two or more languages (or dialects) in their daily lives. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 21.6% of the population communicates in a language other than English within their homes. Thus, it is essential to methodically investigate how language processing and learning vary between monolingual and bilingual individuals. To date, research on the effects of bilingualism on language processing has been inconsistent or conflicting. The present study was designed to empirically examine if bilingual speakers differ in language processing and comprehension compared to their monolingual counterparts. It was hypothesized …

Post, Share, Like: The Role Of Facebook In The Russo-Ukrainian War, Hannah Michelle Snyder

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Facebook is being used by both Russia and Ukraine as a tool of war, for very different purposes. This demonstrates that the platform no longer serves the sole function of connecting communities together. Existing literature has recognized that social media is being used in the current Russo-Ukrainian war but has yet to conduct comparative and contrastive analyses of Russian and Ukrainian social media strategies and effects. Conducting these analyses will illustrate not only what strategies are being used, but how they can be simultaneously advantageous and disadvantageous for belligerents. By focusing on one platform, Facebook, one can not only learn …

The Study Of Crisis Narratives Over Time: Mayfield, Ky In The Aftermath Of The 2021 Tornadoes, Rebecca Freihaut

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study was a year-long longitudinal qualitative research project using the case study of Mayfield, KY after the catastrophic tornado event that impacted their community on December 10, 2021. Oral histories were collected from 18 participants who lived in or were closely connected to Mayfield at the six month and 1.5 year marks after the disaster. Later, after the oral histories were archived and made available to the public, the transcripts were used to extract the crisis narratives from the oral histories and the data was thematically analyzed using the existing theory and theoretical framework of Narratives of Crisis: Telling …

National Assessment Program: Ict Literacy 2022: Technical Report, Dominique Hall, Kate O'Malley, Renee Kwong, Emma Camus, Tim Friedman, Kristy Osborne, Zachary Watts, Dulce Lay

ICT - Digital Literacy

This report describes the various technical, operational and administrative procedures of the NAP– ICT Literacy 2022 assessment. It should be read in conjunction with the NAP–ICT Literacy 2022 Public Report, which presents a summary of the cognitive and contextual analysis of the data collected in the 2022 cycle. The assessment instrument used in NAP–ICT Literacy 2022 was based on the design principles established for NAP–ICT Literacy 2005, which continued through the assessment cycles in 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017. The assessment was computer-based and included a broad range of task formats including multiple-choice, short text response, and simulated and authentic …

Portrayals Of Family Resilience In Webcomics During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis, Claire Catherine Heaney

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Families and couples were challenged with stresses unlike any other as individuals faced adversities from lockdowns, as well as fears derived from the coronavirus. During the pandemic, trends of webcomics became more popular, particularly comics that depicted characters in romantic relationships dealing with “the new normal.” In this project, I suggest that social media webcomics incorporated topics of coping. The purpose of this study was to examine webcomics that documented daily life situations during lockdowns and stress-buffering skills found in couples’ interactions when dealing with concerns. Utilizing Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, 585 romantic relationship webcomics posted from March …

The Fashioning Of Individual And Group Identities In The Thrifttok Community, Kathryn Andronowitz

Holster Scholar Projects

In the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, a noticeable surge of videos focused on thrifted clothing appeared on the social media platform TikTok, coinciding with an increase in offline thrift store traffic. Individual contributors to these trends comprise a networked community of popular creators and lifestyle followers of these thrifting videos on TikTok, or “ThriftTok,” based on the commonly-used hashtag of the same name. The ThriftTok community is not monolithic. Its productions encompass a spectrum of videos ranging from flea market explorations and goth-style thrifted fashion, to reselling tips and “thrift with me” videos. Its participants range from indie band …

The Persistence Of Ethnopopulist Support: The Case Of Rodrigo Duterte's Philippines, Dean C. Dulay, Allen Hicken, Ronald Holmes

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The past few years have seen an emergence of populist leaders around the world, who have not only accrued but also maintained support despite rampant criticism, governance failures, and the ongoing COVID pandemic. The Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte is the best illustration of this trend, with approval ratings rarely dipping below 80 percent. What explains his high levels of robust public support? We argue that Duterte is an ethnopopulist who uses ethnic appeals in combination with insider vs. outsider rhetoric to garner and maintain public support. Moreover, we argue that ethnic affiliation is a main driver of support for Duterte, and …

Impact Of Social Media On The Mental Health Of College Student Athletes, Maria Blasco Maurici

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the influence of social media on the mental health of college student-athletes. With the adoption of social media platforms and the challenges faced by college student-athletes, understanding the implications of social media usage becomes a priority. This study examines the potential positive and negative effects of social media on the mental health of collegiate student-athletes and considers the role of social media in shaping their self-perception and identity. By comparing with existing research and conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis, this thesis aims to find answers on the relationship between social media and the mental health of college …

From “The Loss Of The Innocents” To “Crisis Actors”: Media Portrayal Of Rampage School Shootings From 1998-2021, Justice E. Greene

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

As rampage school shootings continue to occur in the United States, media coverage of such shootings continues to evolve. Media is a powerful force for how people form their understandings, opinions, and beliefs and, at least in part, the types of media they consume, it is important to understand how rampage school shootings are conveyed to the public. These shootings go through what is known as an “Issue-Attention Cycle” (Downs 1972) as coverage progresses. Using content analysis, this thesis examines New York Times articles covering nine rampage school shootings from 1998-2021 to see both how media coverage changes over the …