Digital Commons Network^™

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

Defining Dyslexia Within And Across Disciplines: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Ann Marie Trumbo

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: In the present study, we conducted a systematic review to investigate the core features of the definition of dyslexia across different disciplines according to their associated professional organizations and published research in order to evaluate the presence and type of inconsistencies within and across disciplines in how dyslexia is defined. Method: Definition statements of dyslexia from professional organizations in medicine, education, speech-language pathology, psychology, and the International Dyslexia Association were collected via scope of practice guidelines or via the organization's official website. Using a database with a wide disciplinary reach, we collected 764 of the most cited articles from …

Because Potato, Candice Evers

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This thesis project explores the phenomenological qualities of the internet; asking, since the internet is difficult to grasp, what other modes of investigation might we have available? Using an investigative framework set forth by Jack Halberstam, this thesis declines to come to knowledge solely through understanding the formal, the structural, the highly visible and mainstream. The literature that I have gathered provides a range of modes for interrogating the simultaneously central and inconsequential subject of my thesis itself: the potato. Juxtaposing the physical, political and material conditions of the potato the internet’s least academic mode of knowing: the meme. Analyzing …

Differences Between Brand Activism And Corporate Social Responsibility In Consumer Perception, Erika Marchiondo

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to determine if there is a perceived difference among consumers between brand activism and corporate social responsibility. Taking a stand in social and political causes has become an unspoken requirement for major brands. Consumers are selective about purchasing from brands that do not adhere to ethical practices. Consumers are also demanding increased brand transparency about the philanthropical causes brands support. I want to determine how aware consumers are of acts of corporate social responsibility and brand activism, and if consumers are able to identify a fundamental difference between behaviors associated with the two terms. …

Jeopardy! In Crisis: What Is Corporate Culture Issues Affecting The Entertainment Industry?, Evan Nemeroff

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cultural issues like sexism, racism, and social movements have impacted the entertainment industry, specifically the game show sector. This research identified how these prevalent matters in our society have affected celebrities by looking into the type of people who lead game shows, revealing if certain demographics such as race and gender influenced whether particular individuals were chosen to host a program. Included within this research are studies that portray how the game show industry has been biased explicitly towards one gender for several decades. Further research looks into a scandal that Sony faced when it had to name a successor …

Moderation Effects Of Language Skills, Residential Tenure, And Education On Immigrants’ Learning From News, Yulia S. Medvedeva, Glenn M. Leshner

All Works

Authors of the knowledge gap hypothesis predicted television’s potential to narrow the gaps in some circumstances. This online experiment aimed to bound the conditions that facilitate the leveling role of audiovisual news for a foreign-born audience ( N = 137) residing in the United States. Results showed that audiovisual news narrowed the gaps by improving learning for those who scored low on language or U.S. education and by attenuating improvements in learning for those with high language or education scores. Conversely, text news widened the gaps by sizable gains in learning for those with better language or more education.

The 1980 Refugee Act And A New Type Of National Apology, Shewit Mikael

Theses - ALL

In immigrant and refugee discourse studies, the overwhelming focus is on how the nation state excludes certain groups through bureaucratic and legislative practices. This thesis seeks to investigate how power manifests through inclusionary immigration practices such as the 1980 Refugee Act. These intentional acts of allowing entry are, at times, driven by perceptions that the nation has created crises and, in this way, allowing entry might be seen as a form of remediation or reparation. In my investigation of the 1975 and 1980 Refugee Acts, these acts appear to respond to the refugee crisis created by US involvement in Vietnam, …

Digital Equity: Difficulties Of Implementing The 1:1 Computing Initiative In Low-Income Areas, Demetric D. Williams

Dissertations

Successful One-to-One Computing Initiative implementation requires educators to communicate and collaborate effectively with everyone in the learning community. However, other factors such as teacher’s professional development, student’s perception, and parent’s perception often affect the implementation of the One-to-One Computing Initiative. School districts, which serve low-income areas in Mississippi, have difficulties ensuring students and communities have access to the information technology they need to participate outside the school setting. The concept is often called digital equity. However, when officials do not address the capacity, there is a vital threat to the participants’ civic, cultural, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential …

Reporting On Athletes And Mental Health: An Evolution In Language And Lexicon From 1970 To 2019, Vivian Ferris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the spring and summer of 2021, several athletes made headlines for seemingly prioritizing mental health over the status quo of sports society. For example, in May 2021, during the French Open, professional U.S. tennis player Naomi Osaka announced she would not appear at press conferences, despite threats of fines, citing on social media it was for her mental health. The controversy surrounding Osaka and others led to further questions. Looking through the lens of agenda setting and framing theories, the purpose of this study is to better understand the frequency, variety, and evolution of language in journalistic coverage of …

Adults Perspectives Of Friendships And Social Interaction Between Students With And Without Complex Support Needs During A Pandemic, Jorden Morales

Special Education ETDs

Social interactions and friendships are important for all individuals including those with complex support needs (CSN). The voices of adults including parents/guardians, primary caregivers, teachers, and related service providers who responded to a survey provided insight into supporting social interactions and friendships for children with CSN during the Covid-19 pandemic This mixed methods study used thematic analysis to explore participants’ responses to open-ended questions while multiple choice questions were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Additionally, this study included a research narrative to speak to the various roles I hold related to this study (i.e., parent, educator, researcher). Three themes emerged from …

Richard Sennett Calling In Communication Ethics, Lin Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on an interplay between Richard Sennett’s scholarship and the literature of communication ethics. Content from communication ethics provides a better understanding on how Sennett contributes to urban communication in this historical moment, and answers how we can make communication possible in the era of difference.

Sennett’s scholarly concerns starts with a phenomenon that he termed as the fall of public man, which is people’s self-withdrawal from the public domain. Sennett initially credited this to a mismatched “I” and “me” and believes reconciling them would solve the problem. Later, Sennett realizes the self-withdrawal from the public domain has …

Spartan Daily, May 12, 2022, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2022

Volume 158, Issue 43

The Rhetoric Of Blame: A Rhetorical Framing Analysis Of Othering And Blame In Historical Health Crises, Colin G. Cameron

Master's Theses

The United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic was hallmarked by blame rhetoric and fluid social and political expedience. However, the pervasiveness of othering and blame in contemporary pandemic discourse is perhaps consistent with the blame rhetoric of health crises throughout history. Using a rhetorical framing analysis approach, this study aims to explore the various elements of blame rhetoric embedded in newsprint media frames regarding historic infectious disease outbreaks. In doing so, this study investigates three case studies: the San Francisco smallpox outbreak of 1876, the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s – 1990s. …

Artificial Intelligence As A Content Creator In The Publishing Industry, John Huston

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

Several methods were used in my research. A literature review was used to define artificial intelligence (AI) in general and in relation to how it’s used in literature today. I also relied heavily on Dr Leah Henrickson’s work on Natural Language Generation (NLG), which discusses authorship and roles between authors and readers.

Several case studies were used in my research. Liam Porr’s Guardian Op-ed was reviewed as his team used humans to edit GPT-3 output for a coherent article, much like I used it in a focus group. The Kimagure Artificial Intelligence Writer’s Project was also evaluated. The writing for …

A More Equitable Film Pedagogy: Including Media Literacy In Higher Education Film Classrooms To Result In Better Media Practitioners, Alexis Romero Walker

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article explains the importance of including critical media literacy practices in skills-based classrooms in film education. Students continue to use methods of filmmaking that are inherently biased because they continue to be taught an age-old set of skills that do not engage in critical analysis. With the convergence of contemporary film theory in the classroom, educators can help students learn new methods of filmmaking that are representative for all communities and people. Through textual analysis of three films, this article shows why educators in higher education film programs must include critical media literacy in the skills course curriculum and …

Untangling Media Literacy, Information Literacy, And Digital Literacy: A Systematic Meta-Review Of Core Concepts In Media Education, Géraldine Wuyckens, Normand Landry, Pierre Fastrez

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article presents a systematic meta-review of the scientific literature discussing the concepts of information literacy, media literacy, and digital literacy. While carrying out a cross analysis of the way in which literature reviews specifically address these three concepts, this article identifies, and articulates a critical analysis of, the main findings from the reviewed texts regarding the conceptual landscape that they cover. This work highlights confusion between the constitutive dimensions of literacies, recurrent difficulties in establishing theoretical articulations between contributions, and operationalization problems in observing and assessing these literacies. These issues are the subject of a discussion grounded in the …

The Art Of Audiencing: Visual Journaling As A Media Education Practice, Theresa Redmond

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Using qualitative methods with an action research design, the author investigates uses of visual journaling as a media production opportunity in an undergraduate media literacy class. Through visual journaling as an arts-based inquiry process, students engaged in production, creating and sharing graphical representations of their emerging media literacy knowledge and perspectives. Findings illuminate visual journaling as a way of audiencing that cultivates agentive knowledge building, active negotiation of learning, and student-centered expression in the context of media literacy education. Visual journaling as a method of production results in a manageable and creative maker experience that augments learning, inviting students to …

Improving Children’S Wellbeing Through Media Literacy Education: An Irish Study, Vicky O'Rourke Dr., Sarah Miller Dr.

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Via diverse content including programmes, songs and child-led social media channels, children are constantly exposed to commercially funded messages encouraging purchase behaviour. While there is no definitive agreement that advertising to children is detrimental to their wellbeing (Rowthorn, 2019), there is an enduring concern over the unintended effects of advertising on children (Opree et al., 2019). A substantive body of literature advocates for media literacy education to enable children to critically assess the content of marketing messages (De Pauw et al., 2018; Nelson, 2016). However, there is a dearth of research focusing specifically on the relationship between media practices of …

Exploring New Literacies: A Case Study On Technology And Teacher Development In Cuban Primary Schools, Kate Maloney Williams

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Cuba has successfully eradicated traditional illiteracy – with over 99% of its population considered to be literate. However, as other societies have digitized and moved towards a globalized marketplace, U.S. sanctions have severely limited the import of new technologies into the country and classroom. In response, this case study sought to investigate the learning environments of Cuban primary schools to determine the breadth of a divide and the suitability for applying recommended frameworks to teaching. Observations of primary school classrooms and facilities provided insight, bolstered by semi-structured group interviews and surveys with teachers, teaching students, and education professors. Findings revealed …

Measuring Fake News Acumen Using A News Media Literacy Instrument, Tyler W. S. Nagel

Journal of Media Literacy Education

News media literacy education is gaining increased attention in the age of fake news and post-truth America. However, as with any pedagogical goal, it is important to be able to evaluate the success of the delivery. In a survey built on existing news literacy frameworks, 1476 students at a large Canadian polytechnic answered questions about their own news literacy, fake news acumen, and news consumption habits. Analysis of the data suggests that conscientious fake-news attitudes and behaviors are correlated with an existing news media literacy scale, providing a method of evaluating the success of fake news education efforts.

Can High School Students Check The Veracity Of Information About Covid-19? A Case Study On Critical Media Literacy In Brazilian Esl Classes, Karin Paola Meyrer, Dorotea Frank Kersch

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In a globalized world, critical media literacy is imperative when selecting the content we consume amid countless offers. Therefore, the purpose of this case study is to analyze which resources 3rd year high school students (16-17 years old) from an English as a Second Language class in Brazil use in the construction of authorial journalistic articles demystifying fake news about COVID-19 and if the interventions conducted previous to the task were helpful in their process of developing critical media literacy. To this end, firstly students analyzed news about COVID-19 from international websites; secondly, they discussed aspects of a video that …

The Rise Of Xr Storytelling And The Contribution Of Consumer Accessibility, Cost Efficiency, & Intrinsic Value To Feasibility, Sarah Moffatt

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

This research assesses the current state of XR (extended reality) publishing and its feasibility within an exceptionally virtual landscape. Feasibility is measured upon the challenges and opportunities posed by accessibility, cost efficiency, demand, and intrinsic value.

Through market analysis of past and ongoing XR storytelling projects, as well as qualitative methods which include industry interviews and public surveys, it has been found that publishers would do well to first adopt augmented reality storytelling methods before venturing further into virtual reality storytelling. Because augmented reality is generally more accessible and cost efficient, its adoption contributes to increased …

Lawyers That (Say They) Listen: An Exploratory Study Into Law Firms With Listening Specific Branding, Kacey Henriques

Honors Theses

The following investigation attempts to explore the communication dynamics between law firms and their clients. As shown in this research, clients tend to make note of poor communication skills, specifically listening skills, when they interact with attorneys. In an attempt to appeal to clients who have had negative interactions in respect to listening, several law firms across the country are utilizing branding that stresses their strengths in listening (what I term listening specific branding). In the investigation to come, three law firms are analyzed that utilize this type of branding. Additionally, three law firms that specialize in similar areas of …

A Content Analysis Of Queer Slang On Tik Tok, Kuri Benitez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Social media platforms’ concentration of diversity and interactions has accelerated the rate of cultural change on the Internet. With the rise of Tik Tok, a video-sharing social media platform, language used by marginalized groups is being incorporated into the platform’s slang due to the rapid rotation of trends. This study aims to provide data to a new field related to Tik Tok culture and the effects of trends on marginalized groups.

Using qualitative content analysis, this article studies an LGBTQ+-inspired Tik Tok trend to determine if the portmanteau of “-ussy”’s meaning has changed from its original use and if trends …

Improving The Quality Of Crisis Communications Using Social Media Analytics, Alex Joshua Berry

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, social media data from a public school district was utilized to help improve district communication during and after a crisis. Data was analyzed by utilizing the programming languages R and Python. The programming languages helped generate data that allowed this research to evaluate how the quality of crisis communication could be improved by using these methods. In the study, the data identified emotions in the text of comments, identifying information gaps (finding questions), and manually identified misinformation to show school districts various methods to help generate messages that can help answer the questions of parents and community …

Research Over Improved Methods Of Affective Text Analysis, Zachary Shipp

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Between Rock And A Hard Place: Rock On The Border Between Nations And Cultures, Jose Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

Laredo, Texas has a vibrant rock music scene that has developed since the late 1960s. However, there was a time during the 1980s and early 1990s that live rock music venues were very few, and local rock bands were relegated to holding private events if they wished to perform. The history of live rock music in Laredo and its resurgence during the 1990s and 2000s was explored through interviews with local musicians, examining the role the Internet, social media, and online music platforms have played in propagating it in recent years. The result is a better understanding of this transnational …

Spartan Daily, May 5, 2022, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2022

Volume 158, Issue 40

Finding Their Chrysanthemum: Linguistic Representation In Children's Literature, Marielena Zajac

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Children in America today struggle with finding themselves in the books they read due to societal expectations. From an early age, children are dictated on the correct way to speak and write in “American,” which can leave children and their home languages feeling unseen and dismissed. To help further the conversation and promotion of linguistic diversity in American society, this capstone analyzes dialectal representation in children’s books, with a heavy focus on attitudinal linguistic principles rather than prescriptive mechanics. The secondary research explores current literature and resources that discuss literacy acquisition in adolescents, trends in dialects in America, and childhood …

The Cowl - V. 86 N. 19 - May 5, 2022

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 86 No. 19 - May 5, 2022. 32 pages.