Digital Commons Network^™

Urasawa’S Monster And The Aesthetics Of Uncertainty, Simon Lindblom

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This essay examines the anime Monster (Urasawa, 2001) through the lens of Aesthetic action (Klinger, 2024) and ethical praxis. Set in a nostalgically rendered pre-accelerationist Europe, the anime cultivates an atmosphere of uncertainty that prompts viewers to engage in complex moral issues. By exploring the anime's aesthetic strategies, this analysis reveals how Monster functions as a political device, exposing the dark undercurrents of historical trauma and the systemic exclusion of marginalised groups. The essay argues that Monster's deliberate cultivation of indeterminacy, particularly through its morally ambiguous characters and unresolved dilemmas, embodies a Determinate Performance of Indeterminacy (Klinger, 2024). This …

Research On Deconstruction Method Of Health Product Marketing Narrative Process From A Data-Driven Perspective, Yinuo Liu, Can Lu, Jianlin Yang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Against the backdrop of the platform economy, traditional misinformation detection tools are insufficient to identify "halt-true and halt-false" health information, which poses challenges to the public's health information literacy. Thus, systematic deconstruction of the narrative techniques and dissemination mechanisms of health marketing information is of critical academic and practical significance. [Method/process] From a data-driven perspective, this study constructs an integrated analytical framework characterized by the tri-layered interaction of "narrative construction, resource organization, and cognitive impact". Drawing on information ecology theory and framing theory, it further employs deep learning, semantic similarity analysis, and other methods to empirically deconstruct the data …

“All The World Is A (Debate) Stage”: College Debates As A Form Of Civic Engagement, Sara S. Whipple, Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl, Kim Connolly

eJournal of Public Affairs

Political division and self-censorship in the United States have risen considerably in recent years. One means of countering such divides and siloed dialogue is through civil discourse that exposes people to diverse viewpoints. In an effort to bridge partisan divides, the Braver Angels Organization developed a debate format centered on these principles. Virginia Military Institute is one college campus that has adopted such debates as a form of civic engagement. In this paper we describe the development of the VMI College Debates and Discourse Program which has become a leading community of practice in civil discourse and engagement across college …

Persuasive Strategies To Increase Student Voting: A Communication-Based Framework For Civic Engagement At The Higher Education Institutions, Daniel Sherrick Apambila

eJournal of Public Affairs

The decline in civic engagement among college students poses a significant threat to democratic society, with youth electoral participation dropping from 50% in 2020 to 42% in 2024. This study presents a comprehensive communication-based framework designed to increase student voting participation at Illinois State University through theoretically grounded persuasive strategies. Drawing from established persuasion theories including Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion, the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and repetitive frequency effects, this research addresses structural, informational, and motivational barriers that prevent student electoral participation.

The proposed strategic framework encompasses three interconnected approaches: (1) behavioral positioning and target segmentation …

2026 Persimmon Creek - Full Journal, Beth Keefauver, Wayne C. Robbins

Persimmon Creek

Dear Readers: Literary journals are a common component of colleges and universities spanning across many continents. As many students experience the drastic transition from childhood to independence, emotions can feel overwhelming, and life can quickly become flooded with anxiety. Writing is an outlet for many; a place humanity turns to as a form of secure therapy.

In William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, Berowne muses, “Never durst poet touch a pen to write until his ink were temper’d with Love’s sighs” (Act 4, Scene 3).

Without emotion, writing has no depth. The words on the page might seem eloquent, but the …

Meet Phoenix, Feng Jiang

Persimmon Creek

One act play

A Qualitative Content Analysis Of The Personal Branding Practices Of Forbes 30 Under 30 Honorees, Hannah Naylor Regitz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study examines the personal branding practices of 10 honorees from the Forbes 2025 North American 30 Under 30 list. Through a thematic content analysis of Instagram, the honorees’ posts, captions, and the conversation climate of their comments from October 2025 were analyzed to determine patterns and similarities in their personal branding practices. Grounded in cultivation theory, this study explored how repeated exposure to curated content of these high-achieving young professionals shapes their personal brand perception. Additionally, it explored their interaction with commenters and the types of comments they engaged with. The analysis revealed seven themes that were present …

Provorov Fights Pride Night: Hockey, Homophobia, And Reactionary Athlete Activism, Matthew R. Meier

Communication & Theatre Faculty Publications

The 2022–2023 NHL season witnessed a spate of reactionary protests to team-sponsored Pride Nights by players set off by Philadelphia Flyers defensemen Ivan Provorov. In this essay, I consider the reactionary side of athlete activism through an analysis of these protests. Drawing on a critical rhetorical perspective, I critique the discourse of players, coaches, teams, and the league to outline the discursive features of athlete activism that advocates for the hegemonic status quo. I argue that these reactionary protests feature a refusal to engage in public discourse, a reliance on individual beliefs and personal choices, and tacit institutional approval from …

Pandemic-Driven Mediatization Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Jamaica, Gervon Garcia Marsh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica experienced a radical shift in its relationship with information and communication technology (ICT) due to the COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns imposed by the Government of Jamaica. Prior to the pandemic, ICT use was less pronounced in the life and ministry of the Church, suggesting limited susceptibility to mediatization. This shift accelerated the mediatization of the Church, leading to a heavy reliance on ICT that has become entrenched in its life and ministry post-pandemic. This qualitative exploratory case study examined how pandemic-driven mediatization shaped the collective agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica through ICT, …

Creative Conversations: The Un-Meeting As An Approach To Agricultural Extension Communication, Jessica R. Spence, Eric K. Kaufman, Megan M. Seibel, Jean A. Parrella, Crystal Tyler-Mackey, Benjamin B. Grove, Bolane Adebayo, Olamide Olowoyo, Sonika Poudel, Stephanie Zhu, Michael Gutter

Journal of Extension

The agricultural industry increasingly faces complex challenges that require diverse stakeholder input, and traditional meeting approaches often limit engagement and perpetuate top-down dynamics that can inhibit effective problem-solving. This article explores the ``un-meeting'' format as an alternative, highlighting its ability to foster inclusive, participant-driven discussions that encourage collaborative brainstorming and actionable outcomes. Based on our experience with a statewide agriculture summit, we discuss the principles underlying un-meetings, the facilitation process, and the practical implications for Extension professionals. Recommendations include the importance of knowledgeable facilitators, a large team for effective management, and limiting session cycles to maintain focus and depth in …

Expanding Ai Literacy: The 5cs Of News Literacy In The Era Of Generative Ai, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Paul Cook

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article adapts the 5Cs framework of news literacy—context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption—to media environments shaped by generative artificial intelligence. We argue that prevailing discussions of AI literacy overemphasize technical or functional competencies while underemphasizing the social, cultural, political, and communicative systems in which AI operates. Drawing on previous research, we define AI literacy as knowledge of the technical, social, and ethical dimensions of AI-mediated content production, distribution, and consumption, along with the critical capacities needed to exercise agency within those processes. We show how the 5Cs can be reinterpreted for generative AI environments and integrate pedagogical implications for …

The Current - Volume 37 Issue 3, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Striking A Balance With Social Media Use On An Uneven Playing Field, Stacey F. Stearns, Jennifer E. Cushman

Journal of Extension

Social media is now an integral part of Extension's communications and marketing strategies; however, it is an uneven playing field. While social media allows greater access to audiences and introduces Extension programs to new audiences, the social media companies also control the platforms and algorithms. The challenge is balancing the need to engage our audiences where they are with the lack of control Extension professionals have over the platform and how audiences access and use our content. This commentary includes a case study of an Extension Facebook page that Meta inadvertently deleted, and the repercussions the organization faced in rebuilding.

Have You Done Your Duty? Impact Of Direct Mailing Campaign On Septic System Owners' Maintenance Knowledge And Behaviors In Coastal Texas Watersheds, Audrey Mccrary, T. Allen Berthold

Journal of Extension

As part of a watershed protection plan, the Texas Water Resources Institute and AgriLife Extension Service developed and distributed an educational postcard (``mailer'') about septic system maintenance to mailing addresses outside of public sewer service areas. The mailer was distributed four times within 1 year. The impact of this mailer was evaluated with a retrospective pre/post-test within a mailed survey. Overall, the mailer was effective at increasing knowledge of septic system owners and prompting maintenance action. Mailers can be a cost-effective alternative for educational initiatives where the target audience is not able to or interested in in-person or online programs.

Spaciousness As An Acoustic Measure Of Prosody In Autistic Children, Boram Kim, Rhiannon Luyster, Jason Bishop

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

Distinctive prosody has been reported in autism, yet acoustic studies have yielded inconsistent findings, particularly for F0-related measures. Two dynamic measures, spaciousness (magnitude of pitch excursions) and wiggliness (rate of pitch-direction changes), offer alternatives, but spaciousness has not yet been applied to English-speaking autistic children. The present study therefore compared acoustic characteristics of prosody from autistic and language-skill matched nonautistic children (age 3–7) using spaciousness, wiggliness, F0 measures (mean, standard deviation, and range), and speech rate. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that only spaciousness showed significant group differences, and these differences were independent of utterance length. Replication in larger samples is …

From Consumers To Makers: A Community-Based Model Of The Diy Food And Beverage Kit Ecosystem, Mark Mitchell, Richard Martin, Sheila Mitchell

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The market for do-it-yourself (DIY) food and beverage kits continues to expand as consumers seek experiences that combine convenience, learning, creativity, and participation. This conceptual paper proposes a four-community ecosystem model consisting of consumers, makers, marketers, and consumption communities. Drawing on value co-creation, prosumption, experiential consumption, and diffusion of innovation theories, the model suggests that participation in DIY production transforms consumers into makers, fosters a maker identity, and encourages engagement in product-category consumption communities. Through sharing experiences and outcomes, participants attract new consumers into the marketplace, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth. The framework extends value co-creation theory by explaining …

Brand Gravity And Instant Adoption: Consumer Visitation, Loyalty, And Trip Chaining Following The Entry Of A New National Coffee Chain, Mark J. Sciuchetti Jr., Jianping Huang

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study examines how consumers adopt a strong national brand immediately after its entry into a small regional market. Using anonymized mobile location data from the first twenty-nine weeks of a new Starbucks location in Anniston, Alabama, the analysis evaluates weekly visitation, repeat behavior, visitor origin distance, trip chaining, and temporal demand. The store opened above its subsequent steady state, indicating activation of preexisting demand rather than a gradual diffusion process. Repeat visitors generated 82.6% of visits within the observation window, showing rapid movement from trial to habitual use. The entrant also exhibited a flatter distance decay gradient than adjacent …

Where Shoppers Look First: How Navigation Bar Design Shapes Visual Attention Online, James Coyle, Linh Nguyen, Lee Hillman

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract

Despite the crucial role that a website navigation bar can play in affecting consumer behavior, there has been a lack of theory-driven studies to investigate how to most effectively design navigation bars. Grounded in cognitive fit theory and visual attention theory, this study investigates how the effects of navigation bar design and content can influence visual processing of an unfamiliar online retailer’s website. A total of 40 subjects participated in a controlled experiment in which we gathered eye-tracking data. We find that navigation bar placement strongly affects how quickly participants locate the navigation bar: an unexpected placement more than …

Reducing Cognitive Load To Strengthen Customer Engagement: The Strategic Role Of Digital Tools, Neda Mossaei, Maryam Tofighi

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper examines how advanced technological interfaces, particularly chatbots and augmented reality, influence customer engagement by reducing the cognitive effort required to interact with firms. As digital tools become increasingly embedded in everyday life, companies are leveraging these technologies to streamline communication, personalize experiences, and foster long-term relational outcomes. Guided by cognitive load theory, this study argues that minimizing mental effort in customer–firm interactions improve engagement by making interactions more seamless and intuitive. At the same time, relationship marketing theory emphasizes that reducing cognitive barriers can cultivate customer engagement, trust, and loyalty over time. Together, these perspectives suggest that implementing …

Oct. 2026 - At The Table: How Mda Advocacy Turns Member Concerns Into Action, Timothy Rath

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The cover story provides an in-depth examination of the Michigan Dental Association’s grassroots advocacy framework, highlighting the successful enactment of Senate Bill 105. SB 105 addresses "virtual credit cards" by requiring dental insurers to offer reimbursement options without transaction fees. The article details how MDA staff, legislative leaders, and Political Action Committee (PAC) donors collaborate to identify member priorities, build legislative relationships, and educate policymakers. Emphasizing the essential role of practicing dentists in state capitol discussions, the story illustrates how grassroots participation turns practice challenges into legislative victories.

Oct. 2026 - 5 Clinical Questions. Better Clinical Decisions., Timothy Rath

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This feature previews the continuing education program presented by Dr. Melissa Seibert at the 2027 Sun, Sand & CE Cruise. Focusing on minimally invasive caries management and evidence-based restorative dentistry, the article outlines five daily clinical challenges faced by practitioners. Topics include determining when to restore versus monitor lesions, evaluating caries risk, selecting therapeutic agents, and translating dental research into practical workflows. The piece emphasizes practical decision-making and peer networking to help clinicians improve patient outcomes and return to practice reenergized.

Oct. 2026 - Mastery Creates Presence, Anish Gupta D.D.S.

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Written by oral surgeon Dr. Anish Gupta, this reflective essay explores the connection between clinical mastery and patient-centered hospitality in surgical practice. Defining practice core values as "be the best, do the best" and "unreasonable patient-centeredness," the author illustrates how technical expertise frees clinicians to be fully present and empathetic with anxious patients. The article emphasizes that clinical competence should serve to alleviate patient fear, remove practice friction, and elevate the healthcare experience through mindful, compassionate service.

Navigating Text-To-Speech (Tts): Ethical Leadership In The Use Of Generative Ai For Extension, Xue A Dong, Paul A Hill

Journal of Extension

Text-to-speech (TTS) AI technology transforms written content into natural-sounding speech, offering a useful tool to enhance accessibility and inclusivity in Extension work. This article examines the role of TTS AI in bridging communication gaps, particularly for diverse and multilingual communities, and demonstrates the importance of ethical leadership in its adoption. By prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion, Extension professionals can leverage TTS AI to foster greater connection and engagement. Practical applications and examples are provided to guide the integration of TTS AI into programs. The article also offers recommendations for experimenting with innovative technologies to improve educational outcomes and increase the …

How Wisconsin Extension Educators Talk About Climate Change Without Talking About ``Climate Change'', Sky Hershberger, Todd P. Newman

Journal of Extension

Climate change touches all areas of Extension's programming. To understand how educators approach talking about climate change with constituents, we interviewed 15 Extension educators and three program managers in Wisconsin. Crops and Soils educators view climate change as interwoven with their work, Financial Education educators view it as mostly disconnected, and Community Economic Development educators range between these extremes. Educators in all three programs avoid the polarizing phrase ``climate change,'' instead focusing on specific, local, and relatable issues. Educators show empathy and emphasize resilience (adaptation) rather than mitigation. These findings can inform Extension's organizational strategy on climate change.

“None Of Them Use Facebook Anymore, It’S Just For Us, Internet Dinosaurs” Czech Media Education Teachers And Social Media, Karolína Šimková, Ana F. Oliveira, Annamária Neag

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

In today’s digital age, media education teachers are expected to be at the forefront of guiding young people through the complex digital world. This study aimed to explore how media education teachers’ personal and professional engagement with social media shapes their teaching practices in Czech primary schools (teaching pupils aged 11–15). Through 17 semi-structured interviews, we delved into teachers’ social media use, classroom discussions, and pedagogical approaches to media education to identify the distinct attitudes these teachers hold toward social media. The study shows that Czech media education teachers’ diverse strategies for integrating social media into their curriculum are primarily …

Unlocking The Performance Of Racial Dissimilarity In Subordinate-Supervisor Dyads: Collectivism And Communication Media Are Key, Orlando Richard, Rawia Ahmed, María Del Carmen Triana, M. Fernanda Garcia

All Works

As opposed to past literature in which racial dissimilarity has been largely examined through a negative lens, this study fills an important gap by revealing that racial dissimilarity between supervisor and subordinate can lead to a knowledge advantage. Based on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework, we conducted a field study of 151 subordinate-supervisor dyads to examine how dyadic racial dissimilarity impacts Elaboration of Task-Relevant Information (ETRI) and subordinate job performance when jointly moderated by subordinate cultural values and communication media. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and mediation analysis. We found that ETRI was higher under conditions of dyad racial dissimilarity …

A Word From The Writing Team (October 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Communication Wisdom: Insights On Communication Principles, Messages, And Relationships, Jack E. Rogers

National Forensic Journal

Edited by Philip M. Backlund, Steven A. Beebe, Ronald D. Gordan, and Sherwyn P. Morreale, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group: New York and London, 2025, ISBN: 978-1-032-87681-8 (hardback); ISBN: 978-1-032-87676-4 (paperback); ISBN: 978-1-003-53389-4 (eBook).

Aligning Vision: Issues Facing Disability Accommodation In The Forensics Space, Ryan Corcoran

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Drawing The Circle: Framing Forensics As Educational Looping, Ben Walker

National Forensic Journal

In light of shrinking numbers on teams and at tournaments, Klosa (2008) called for more sustainable practices in forensics. Now with funding in higher education dwindling (Fenner, 2018), forensics needs to adapt to the changing landscape (Walker & Walker, 2024). This essay outlines how forensic coaches can align our co-curricular activity with a trending educational philosophy: looping.