Digital Commons Network^™

The Integration Of Spanglish Throughout Texas, Alexa Garcia, Renata Taboada, Dariela Galindo, Julianne Pena

Posters - 2026

Code switching is the combination of two or more languages spoken due to the proximity of communities (Zentella, 1997). Code switching is very common in areas with a majority Hispanic community (Devan et al., 2024). Although Spanglish is highly controversial, it is widely used through multiple parts of Texas (Stavans, 2008) Spanish in San Antonio is very different than Mexico Spanish according to Mexican-Americans (Gillespie-Duelos, 1975)

Staging Technological Change: Media Ecology, Cultural Memory, And Fantasy Theme Analysis In The Tesla Cybertruck Unveiling, John Rodgers

Communication Theses

This thesis examines contemporary product launches as communicative events, arguing that they help shape how technological change is publicly interpreted and remembered. Drawing on media ecology and cultural memory, and using Fantasy Theme Analysis as the primary method, the study analyzes Tesla’s 2019 Cybertruck unveiling as a case of symbolic meaning-making at the moment of introduction and in its immediate circulation. The analysis identifies four dominant fantasy themes that organize the launch’s symbolic world and cohere into a rhetorical vision presenting Tesla as a disruptive actor introducing a resilient technology for an already arriving future. It then traces how that …

Konglish, Abigail Escheveria, Juan Maurissio Gomez Gonzalez, Vanessa Vasquez Zavala

Posters - 2026

Konglish is a language variety resulting from contact between Korean and English

1.“Konglish is a blend of Korean and English found throughout South Korea, and often suffers or lack of prestige amongst Koreans” (McPhail, 2018)

2. “A creative, dynamic contact vernacular mixing English and Korean, including morphology, syntax, semantics, pronunciation, and discourse, but not a full language” (Lawrence, 2012)

3.  Konglish should not be understood as a distinct language variety; rather, it is a cultural practice through which Koreans draw on available linguistic resources to engage in communication and to interpret their position within the globalized world. (Park, 2021)

Bridging Cultures: Developing A Culturally Responsive Educational Website For Pediatric Service Providers, Aimun Aziz, Wendy Tremaine

Spring 2026 OTD Capstone Symposium

The increasing cultural diversity of the pediatric population in the United States highlights the need for culturally responsive, family-centered care. However, many providers report limited training and practical resources to support the integration of cultural humility into clinical practice. This capstone project aimed to develop and evaluate an evidence-based educational website to support pediatric service providers in delivering culturally responsive care.

A program development framework was used, incorporating family needs assessments, pre- and post-intervention surveys of pediatric therapy staff, and thematic analysis of key factors related to communication, trust, and provider preparedness. Community field visits with diverse populations informed the …

Framing Emirati Womanhood: Heritage, Modernity, And Soft Power In Tourism Discourse, Valerie Priscilla Goby

All Works

This paper examines how Emirati womanhood is framed within the tourism discourse of the United Arab Emirates, analysing how gendered representation operates as both a cultural and political instrument in nation branding. Drawing on framing theory and informed by feminist perspectives on tourism and media representation, this study explores the visual and textual portrayal of women on official online platforms, including Visit Dubai, Visit Abu Dhabi, Emirates Airlines, and the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth. These materials constitute a state-sanctioned narrative of national identity that integrates cultural heritage with modernity. Through qualitative framing analysis, four recurrent interpretive frames were …

What It Means To Be Latino: Exploring Identity Among U.S.-Born Gen Z Youth, Santiago Reyes, Alessandra Noli Peschiera, Melany Sarcevic, Tatiana Garcia, Leen Tlanepantla

AMTP Proceedings 2026

This study explores how U.S.-born Hispanics and Latinos define their identity within a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse demographic group. As the Hispanic population expands, traditional labels such as Hispanic and Latino often fall short of capturing the community’s cultural, linguistic, and generational complexity. With most growth now coming from U.S.-born generations, identity is shaped by a blend of American influences and heritage traditions, making it more fluid and context-dependent. Guided by Social Identity Theory and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this research uses focus groups with Gen Z participants to examine how they describe themselves, what characteristics they associate with being …

Deinfluencers As Institutional Actors: Dramaturgical Work And The Embedded Contestation Of Consumerism, Gokcen Coskuner-Balli, Charlene Chu, Niklas Myhr, Cristina Nistor

Business Faculty Articles and Research

"In the sections that follow, we develop theoretical scaffolding for our analysis. We begin by reviewing the literature on institutional work, focusing on how embedded actors engage in purposive actions to disrupt taken-for-granted norms. Next, we examine theoretically how influencers operate, setting the stage for understanding how deinfluencers leverage and subvert these roles. We then review scholarship on anti- consumption and consumer resistance, highlighting how deinfluencers depart from conventional activist modes by adopting culturally embedded, everyday practices. Collectively, these literatures inform our conceptualization of deinfluencing as a dramaturgically enacted form of institutional work. Subsequently, we present our methodology, followed by …

Using The Diary–Interview Method With Time-Constrained Professionals: The Case Of Journalists And Harassment, Ilmari Hiltunen, Reeta Pöyhtäri, Kaarina Nikunen

The Qualitative Report

This article presents a methodological reflection on the diary–interview method’s value and application when used with professionals whose schedules are both demanding and unpredictable, drawing on the authors’ insights from a study examining the harassment and intimidation of journalists. Our experiences demonstrate that combining solicited diary entries with recurring interviews can yield substantial advantages over using either method alone. Diaries are particularly well suited to capturing rich, situated data and individual perspectives, adding distinctive value especially when exploring sensitive or personal issues. Interviews that probe these accounts and revisit incidents in greater depth, in turn, enhance understanding of participants’ emotions, …

The Living Lab: Instructional Design Interventions To Improve Communication And Equity In Federal Housing Programs, Joana I. Camp

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

The Living Lab is an independent applied research project informed by my 25 years of lived experience as a Section 8 voucher holder, examining how instructional design strategies can improve administrative workflows, communication, and equitable access within the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Drawing on sustained participation, the research identifies two primary systemic barriers: the federally mandated 15-day inspection period and incomplete Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) packets. To address these issues, the project developed the RFTA Roadmap—a zero-cost, clarity-driven communication tool that embeds sequential instructions directly within procedural workflows, mitigating the Split-Attention Effect and cognitive “Bandwidth Tax” associated with standard …

The Migrant As A Pilgrim: Decolonising Identity And Belonging, Susan Nemec

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper responds to pilgrimage scholar George Greenia’s assertion that meaningful intersections exist between pilgrimage and various forms of displacement, such as migration or involuntary exile due to famine, war, or political unrest. Greenia proposes that vulnerable, displaced individuals might find shelter, both conceptually and emotionally, within the framing of pilgrimage. By extending concepts of pilgrimage, it can be understood as a deliberate and intentional journey, simultaneously emphasising the transformative potential inherent in migratory movement. By adopting a working definition of pilgrimage as ‘any form of travel that is intentional, purposeful, or transformative,’ the paper considers how migrancy, particularly within …

Human First: How Journalists Employ Ethics Of Care And Empathy When Covering School Shootings, Grace M. Ficara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School shootings have become a regular part of the news media cycle in the 21st century. Now, more than ever, journalists are needing to find innovative, yet empathetic, ways to deal with such crises as they navigate their own professional boundaries. Using the Ethics of Care model, this research intends to showcase how journalists have, willingly or unwillingly, utilized an empathetic approach when covering school shootings and how they use these tools to comfort their sources and themselves. Through semi - structured interviews of 9 participants, this study seeks to connect the practice of journalism with the one thing journalists …

They Find A Way: The Transnational Practices And Experiences Of Diaspora Conflict Journalists, Grace E. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As global tensions continue to rise, media landscapes are changing. Diaspora communities play an integral role in this shift, as they search for verifiable news with a global perspective to keep them informed on crises in their home countries. In order to keep their communities informed, diaspora journalists step up to localize coverage, creating transnational networks to bridge home and host countries. They often work through intense situations, sacrificing normalcy for information. Building on the framework from Ogunyemi’s (2018) diasporic media observations, Fraser’s (1992) counterpublics theory, and D.K. Thussu’s (2006) contra-flow in global media theory, this study explores how diaspora …

Communication Barriers Experienced By Academicians And International Students During The Education Process And Related Solutions, Ferhat Kaçar, Yusuf Taha Okan

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objective: In this study, we address the communication barriers between academics and international students using a phenomenological approach. The aim of the study is to examine in depth the communication barriers faced by these two groups in the education process and to develop solutions for these barriers.

Method: The qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews with 42 academics and 50 international students were analyzed using the MAXQDA 20 package program.

Results: In the study, four themes and sub-codes related to these themes were identified: (1) academics’ communications problems with international students, (2) solution suggestions for academics’ communication problems, (3) international …

Leveraging Csr To Buffer Brand Challenges During Crises: A Saudi Arabian Perspective, Nouf Alrayes, Abdullah Alhidari

Journal of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in Emerging Markets

Crises, such as economic downturns or global health pandemics, pose significant business challenges. Engaging in CSR initiatives that contribute to societal well-being can help mitigate the negative consequences of crises, reinforce customer gratitude, and minimize corporate hypocrisy. CSR is critical in shaping a company’s accountability and ethical responsibilities. Consequently, there is an opportunity for the firm to see the role of CSR and how it affects customers’ responses and attitudes during any difficult situation. Drawing upon attribution theory and the customer gratitude reciprocity cycle, a conceptual framework was developed to test the impact of CSR on the variables: corporate hypocrisy, …

Designing Visibility: Addressing The Hidden Curriculum For First-Generation Cal Poly Students Through Graphic Communication, Issac Enrique Cervantes

Graphic Communication

First-generation college students often encounter invisible barriers in higher education, including unspoken terminology, institutional practices, cultural norms, and academic expectations that are rarely made explicit but are essential for student success. While this information is frequently transmitted informally through family networks or prior exposure to higher education, first-generation students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, often lack access to these channels. As a result, students may experience confusion, a reduced sense of belonging, and inequitable academic outcomes.

This senior project investigates and addresses this gap using inclusive graphic communication and user experience (UX) design principles. Through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders …

Trusted Forms—The Case Of Barack Obama’S Birth Certificate, Karl-Heinrich Schmidt, Frederik Schlupkothen

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Documents can be understood as containers for information that enable remote communication between people across space and time. They are therefore fundamentally subject to issues of trust. The theoretical treatment of documents as a means of remote communication has a long history and has arrived in the age of electronic document exchange, as shown by the work of R. T. Pédauque, which is taken as a starting point here.

To take theory further, form-based documents are discussed here as an example. Form-based documents control the information provided by fillers by specifying form fields. The core of this paper is to …

The Politics Of Remembering: Reconfiguring The Diorama Of Monas As Augmented Living Document, Suprayitno Suprayitno, Zulfatun Sofiyani, Rahmi Rahmi

Proceedings from the Document Academy

This paper examines the Monas diorama as a central apparatus in Indonesia’s politics of remembering, whose narrative consolidation during the New Order rendered it a state-authored monument of national memory. Drawing on Foucault’s distinction between monument and document, Ferraris’s ontology of documentality, and Perret’s concept of document design as projective epistemology, the study reframes the diorama as a documentary assemblage shaped by inscription, power, and institutionalized forgetting. Through diachronic, synchronic, comparative, and experimental analyses, the paper diagnoses failures across the physical, social, and cognitive dimensions of Monas as a document, revealing narrative authoritarianism, representational rigidity, and the absence of plural …

Cerebral Documents And Algorithmic Sensemaking: Searching For Expressions In Human And Artificial Cognitive Collaborations, Rebekah L. Cowell

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Generative Artificial Intelligences (AIs) and current advanced large language models (LLMs) are algorithmically designed to generate text-based conversations as conversational agents (CAs), by replicating human language and conversational communication. Pairing human cognition with generative computationally coded cognition. We have never been here before: cerebral and artificial information collaborations and processing producing expressions that may or may not become visible as second-hand/secondary source documents.

Sensemaking or sense(un)making is a unique autonomous human drive cognitively, our information processing is sensemaking in action and expressions and articulations are evidence of the sensemaking cycle. Documentation [expressed or articulated through various mediums] are a product …

Moment Of Recognizability: Askancing And The Global South, Pedro Lange Churion, Tanu Sankalia

Global Studies Faculty Publications

This article introduces askancing as an epistemic strategy for the Global South to challenge the Global North’s construction of the Global South’s alterity. Askancing is a neologism we propose by engaging with Jacques Lacan’s speculations on the gaze as it pertains to the construction of “the other.” We argue that this strategy of askancing might already be implicit in postcolonial theories, from the notion of the subaltern, through “decoloniality,” to “ecologies of knowledge.” Central to askancing—and contrary to the decolonial call for an epistemic break with modernity—we agree with Dipesh Chakrabarty’s assertion that modernity’s rational discourse is both “indispensable and …

Understanding Perceptions Of A Peruvian Local Market Program: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Rosmery Ramos-Sandoval Dr., Jano Ramos-Diaz

The Qualitative Report

Despite growing global interest in short food supply chains (SFSCs), little is known about how consumers in developing countries perceive these models, especially through digital platforms like social media. This study investigates how Twitter users represent and perceive SFSCs in the context of the Peruvian government´s “De la Chacra a la Olla” program. The study analyzed 1,167 tweets from Peruvian Twitter users referencing the hashtag #DeLaChacraALaOlla between 2014 and 2020, using reflexive thematic analysis within an exploratory case study framework to examine consumer perceptions of SFSCs. The analysis revealed three key themes in consumer perceptions of SFSCs on Twitter: direct …

An Autoethnographic And Relational Exploration Of Identity Negotiation Within Romantic Relationships Between Nonbinary Partners And Cisgender Women, Maddison L. Russell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how trans and cisgender partners negotiate gender identity, care, and relational well-being through an autoethnographic examination of everyday communication. The study draws from eighteen personal narratives across family, academic, and romantic contexts to trace how gender-based microaggressions and cisnormative expectations become embedded in ordinary talk, gestures, and silences, shaping identity development and relational stability. At its core, this work argues that relationality emerges as a pervasive and constitutive condition that shapes how affirmation, misrecognition, and belonging are experienced within trans/cis relationships and across time. Through examining moments of misunderstanding, minimization, and avoidance, the study reveals how microaggressions …

Disconnected Connection, Dyane L. O'Leary

Arkansas Law Review

Lawyering is a human experience in a digital world. Lawyers have long derived pride from labels like personal counselor, trusted advisor, and steady confidant. Sure, sometimes a productized legal service or one-off Turbo-Tax-style filing is all a client needs. But it’s still a people profession, the lifeblood of which is connection with others: clients, colleagues, witnesses, and countless more. Calls for attention to lawyers’ so-called “soft” skills have grown louder in recent years, tagged with descriptors like “people” or “business” or “professional” skills. Modern communication tools facilitate connection and relationship building like never before. But that which connects us threatens …

The Impact Of Violent Content Media Exposure On Behavioral Outcomes: The Mediating Role Of Media Engagement, Melissia Emad Eskander

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how repeated exposure to violent content in films, television series, and video games may influence behavioral outcomes among Egyptian media consumers. Drawing on the General Aggression Model, Social Learning Theory, and Cultivation Theory, it examines how individual interpretation, emotional involvement, and narrative absorption mediate the effects of media violence. It also considers how personality traits shape audience responses, specifically aggression, empathy, and narrative immersion.

A mixed-methods approach was adopted. A structured survey of 200 Egyptians aged 18 and above assessed media exposure, aggression, empathy, narrative engagement, and behavioral outcomes. In parallel, a content analysis of Egyptian films …

Refugees In Egypt: State Framing, Ministerial Narratives, And The Politics Of Representation On Social Media, Habiba Kohail

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines Egyptian government discourse on refugees in 2024, a year characterized by heightened regional displacement and the enactment of Egypt’s first Asylum Law (Law No. 164 of

2024). Using a multidisciplinary framework that combines framing analysis with van Dijk's socio-cognitive approach, the study systemically analyzes how the government construct refugees on social

media and sets the boundaries of their inclusion in Egypt.

The thesis analyzes the Egyptian government discourse on refugees across official social media platforms from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, a period that witnessed an increase in the government engagement in the refugee issue …

Coordinated Management Of Meaning In U.S.-Russia Relations: How Meanings Shaped Communication Surrounding The Potential Invasion Of Ukraine, Russell James Hampsey

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative discourse analysis applies the coordinated management of meaning theory to examine the diplomatic interactions between the United States and Russia from November 2021 to February 2022, the critical negotiation period preceding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Systematically applying the theory’s hierarchy of meanings model to the official discourse resulted in the segmentation of 1,428 official texts for analysis. Comparative coding of the data exposes how worldviews and recursive feedback patterns shape adversarial postures, perpetuate negotiation impasses, and prevent the emergence of co-constructed meaning. This research illuminates how national meanings are actively constructed and maintained through discursive interaction, reinforcing …

The Cowl - V. 89 N. 14 - February 12, 2026

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 89 No. 14 - February 12, 2026. 20 pages.

Un Extraño En Una Tierra Extraña: A Latino Debater’S Recollections Of The United Kingdom Debate Tour, Richard D. Pineda

Studies in Debate and Oratory

Through the lens of a first-time participant of the Committee on International Discussion and Debate Tour of the United Kingdom and Portugal in 1997, this autoethnography examines the values of the debate tour experience from my unique standpoint. Having been in competitive speech and debate for eight years at that point – from high school through college – the debate tour challenged many of my assumptions about the activity and my perspective on speech and debate as an experiential learning platform. Specifically, I examine the experience of being on the tour through the identity lens of a Latino debater and …

International Students In Early American Forensics: Notes On The History Of The U.S.-Japan Forensics Relationship During The Late 19th And Early 20th Centuries, Satoru Aonuma, Junya Morooka, Tomohiro Kanke

Studies in Debate and Oratory

Ending 215 years of “national seclusion,” in 1854, Japan ratified the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States and opened its doors to the rest of the world. Because of this special bilateral relationship, between the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, more Japanese began traveling to the U.S. than to any other country. Focusing on young Japanese who went to the U.S. as students and participated in debate and oratorical education during this period, this essay will re-examine the history of the U.S.-Japan relationship in terms of academic debate and oratory. During this period, American …

Empowering Rural Voices Through Deliberative Mini-Publics, Elizabeth B. Hinchcliff

The Rural Educator

This conceptual paper explores the tension between valuing and listening to community voices, while also providing a space wherein rural advocates and community members can come together to address difficult issues prevalent within rural schooling, through deliberative mini-publics. A multiplicity of reasons supports deliberative mini-publics, but I explore three in particular, the first being that they provide a space wherein an intentionally diverse set of community voices and perspectives can be shared, listened to, and explored. Second, the goal of any democratically deliberative space is to explore multiple perspectives as part of the process to seek solutions that contribute to …

An Impact Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Utilizing Informal Health Communication Interventions To Spread Health Recommendations And Change Public Perception, Lina Mohamed Ezzat Ahmed Abdel Mawgoud

Theses and Dissertations

Brain health is an increasingly urgent but critically under-addressed public health priority in Egypt and the wider MENA region. Despite its centrality to aging, productivity, and overall quality of life, public understanding of brain health remains limited, and stigma continues to shape responses to dementia and cognitive decline. This study evaluates the effectiveness of informal, culturally adapted health communication as a tool to shift perception, increase awareness, and promote behavior change among non-medically trained adults in Egypt.

Grounded in global evidence on cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity, and the life-course approach to brain health, the intervention translated expert-informed brain health recommendations into …