Digital Commons Network^™

Strategic Branding: The Critical Role Of Brand Strategy For Successful Branding Initiatives, Sara Virginia Abell

Senior Honors Theses

In the increasingly saturated world of branding, the ability to rise above the noise and establish meaningful connections with an audience is essential. This thesis explores the relationship between brand strategy development and successful branding outcomes. An initial review of relevant literature is conducted, focusing on the importance and creation of strategy. Further consideration is given to the unique challenges associated with rebranding efforts. The practical impact of brand and rebrand strategies is underscored through case studies across varying contexts. Following this, the implementation of strategy is discussed, with an emphasis on the role of design elements and principles in …

Hybrid Publishing And The Legacy Memoir: A New Model For Preservation, Julie Kanta

Book Publishing Final Research Papers

This research investigates the advantages and limitations of hybrid publishing models for legacy-focused memoirs that integrate written narratives with visual ephemera. As traditional publishers prioritize commercial viability and self-publishing platforms present technical challenges for complex projects, legacy memoir authors face unique obstacles in preserving personal histories with professional quality while maintaining creative control.

Through an analysis of industry standards, case studies of published legacy memoirs, and an examination of current publishing models, this study identifies how hybrid publishing can address the specialized needs of legacy memoir authors in ways that traditional and self-publishing models cannot fully accommodate. The research contributes …

Aadej Comm 11 3 2025

AADEJ - The Communicator

The Communicator is the Journal of the American Association of Dental Editors. It is published quarterly and distributed digitally via email to members and posted on the Association’s website aadej.org. This issue of The Communicator features articles focused on organizational strategy, publishing ethics, and critical issues in the profession. The Editor-in-Chief announces his intention to step down, reflecting on the organization's history. The President advocates for shifting the organizational focus from individual benefits to collective sustainability ("What’s in it for us?"). Organizational updates include the restructuring of the Publication Membership to allow three voting members for the same fee and …

Beyond Democracy: How A Free Press Supports The Rule Of Law, Erin C. Carroll

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Widespread agreement has existed for centuries that a free press is essential to democracy. But legal scholars have spent almost no effort thinking about why else we might need a free press. This article attempts to widen the aperture. It argues that as the free press is essential to democracy, it is just as essential to a separate value: the rule of law.

Recognizing and investigating the connections between the free press and the rule of law is essential right now. It can help us discern how the press can create friction against the erosion of both rule of law …

Literary Networks Everywhere: An Analysis Of Literary Connections Across Time And Culture, Rachel Riffel

Journal of the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression

Project Mentor(s): Katharine Whitcomb

This paper explores the concept of literary discourse as a networked form, using Caroline Levine’s theory of “networks” as expansive systems of meaning. Through the poetry of several postmodern poets and their texts such as Terrance Hayes’ American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, Anne Carson’s The Beauty of the Husband, and Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, this essay analyzes how contemporary poets use intertextuality, historical references, and classical forms not as rigid structures but as connective nodes in a broader literary web. These texts illustrate how poetry continues to participate in an evolving cultural and literary …

Plastic Makes Perfect: An Analysis Of Plastic Surgery As Rehabilitation In Early To Late 20th Century Prison Populations, Jack West

The Ozark Historical Review

As early as 1910, journalists from around the United States reported on the cause-and- effect relationship between a criminal’s physical appearance, their offenses, and the plastic surgeons willing to help them. These surgeons were interested in changing the physical “causes” of criminality to sever the mental roots of crime, inferiority, and anti-social attitude. This paper examines the use of plastic surgery programs as reform in prison through the lens of popular newspaper and journal articles and argues that public perception and reaction revealed in these articles shaped the prison program’s journey from its underground beginning to its eventual demise.

Machine Credibility: How News Readers Evaluate Ai-Generated Content, Alexander Wasdahl

Human-Machine Communication

The advent of AI-generated news as a novel form of content demands renewed attention toward modes of understanding reader perceptions. This research sought to answer: What are the evaluative criteria used by readers in their perception of automated news content generated via natural language processing? A series of exploratory factor analyses (EFA) was conducted on results of a survey using items obtained in an initial survey phase to uncover underlying factors contributing to differences in reader article rankings. When compared with the results of factor analyses for human-generated news content, the findings offer new constellations of terms that reflect the …

Generative Artificial Intelligence And Collaboration: Exploring Religious Human-Machine Communication And Tensions In Leadership Practices, Pauline Hope Cheong, Liming Liu

Human-Machine Communication

The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) applications has bolstered efforts toward human-machine collaboration. Given the lag in research on AI and religion, this study examines how pastors engage GAI to develop religious human-machine communication practices that constitute their leadership. Findings from in-depth interviews with pastors in the U.S. reveal that they view GAI as an idea generator, research assistant, co-author and translator. Clergy enact multiple ways to incorporate GAI communication in religious education and to enhance sermonic performances. Concurrently, pastors perceive tensions between innovation and established rites, as they contend with the authenticity and spiritual depth of GAI content …

Investigating The Persuasive Potential Of Communicating With Generative Artificial Intelligence Chatbots For Mental Health: The Roles Of Perceived Message Contingency, Cognitive Elaboration, And Issue Involvement, Hanyoung Kim, Yanyun (Mia) Wang

Human-Machine Communication

With the ever-increasing adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) chatbots in diverse communication roles, there is a burgeoning need to address how people process and respond to messages from these technologies. This study explores the theoretical mechanisms by which the use of GenAI chatbots influences persuasive outcomes related to mental health, examining perceived message contingency and cognitive elaboration as mediators, and issue involvement as a moderator between the two mediators. Through an experimental setting using ChatGPT, compared to non-conversational online resources, we discovered that GenAI chatbot use led to greater cognitive elaboration through an increased sense of message contingency, leading …

Making Sense Of The Role Of Chatgpt In Education: An Examination Of Student Views In China, Italy, Kenya, Uruguay, And The U.S., Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn P. Edwards, Weiming Ye, Anna Maria Manganelli, Chad Edwards, Soledad Caballero, Lusike Mukhongo, Giovanni Ferrin

Human-Machine Communication

This article investigates the diffusion and adoption of ChatGPT among college students from a multinational convenience sample, informed by the scholarly literature on the diffusion and progressive appropriation of ChatGPT by students and teachers within the education sector and the strategies adopted by academic institutions. We applied a figurational approach to this study, offering two theses that try to understand the societal meaning of ChatGPT diffusion in the educational sector. Operationally, we explored university students’ behavioral intentions, practices of use, and opinions toward ChatGPT in five countries (China, Italy, Kenya, Uruguay, and the United States of America) through an online …

Naturalistic Tobacco Retail Exposure And Smoking Outcomes In Adults Who Smoke Cigarettes Daily, Benjamin Muzekari, Nicole Cooper, Anthony Resnick, Alexandra M. Paul, Omaya E. Torres-Grillo, Mary E. Andrews, Bradley Mattan, Christin Scholz, Darin Johnson Ph.D., José Carreras-Tartak, Melis E. Cakar, Susan Hao, Emily Zhou, Elizabeth Beard, Steven Mesquiti, Farah Sayed, Michael A. Fichman, David M. Lydon-Staley, Ian J. Barnett, Andrew A. Strasser, Thomas R. Kirchner, Lisa Henriksen, Emily B. Falk

Faculty Publications

Importance  The tobacco industry spends more than $8 billion annually in the US on marketing at the point of sale. Exposure to tobacco retail has been associated with smoking outcomes, but substantially less is known about how objectively logged everyday tobacco retail exposure is associated with smoking outcomes.

Objective  To assess preregistered hypotheses that individuals would report (1) greater craving and (2) more cigarettes smoked on days when their exposure to tobacco retail is higher than usual.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This multimodal, within-person cohort study combined objectively logged geolocation tracking, public tobacco retail location records, and ecological momentary assessment …

The Cowl - V. 89 N. 2 - September 25, 2025

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 89 No. 2 - September 25, 2025. 16 pages.

Parental Expectations Of Pediatric Care For Children, Brenan T. Cash, Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosley, Donia Timby, Laura Herold

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

Access to childhood pediatrics is a major factor for a full and healthy childhood for all children from adolescence to adulthood. However, the physical health aspect has been the main focus of most primary care clinics, and there is little focus on mental health. Mental health issues, which involve anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, are more prominent than they have ever been, as up to 30% of children have experienced mental health issues that involve post-traumatic stress disorder, especially during the pandemic years. This study employed a non-experimental, quantitative analysis utilizing online closed-ended survey questions. Caretakers were offered an anonymous, …

Lindenwood Digest, September 24, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Experiences With Social Media Social Comparison In Women Ages 18-28: A Qualitative Study, Olivia Oakley Dr.

Dissertations

This qualitative study aimed to understand young women’s experience using social media and their reported mental health connections, such as self-esteem and comparison. As inferred in recent research, a wide range of social media content is being produced and consumed, from promoting the “thin ideal” to newer campaigns advocating for body positivity (Cohen et al., 2019, Grabe et al., 2008; Groesz et al., 2002). In a time where there is so much online content to consume, it is important to continue to evaluate the lived experiences of those using social media. This phenomenological qualitative research captured the lived experiences of …

Beyond Objectivity: Interventionist Journalism And Professional Role Performance In Global South Media Landscape, Nagwa Fahmy, Hossam Elhamy

All Works

This study investigates journalistic interventionism within the diverse media landscape of the Global South. Journalism in these regions sometimes takes an interventionist approach. Understanding this approach necessitates moving beyond Western-centric paradigms that may overlook Global South media’s distinctive historical, political, economic, and sociocultural circumstances. The primary objective of this research is to understand the manifestation of the interventionist journalistic role performance across various Global South countries, examining its overall prominence and the influential factors that affect interventionist role deployment. The study examines interventionist journalism in 16 Global South nations using quantitative content analysis of 59,391 news items from 153 media …

The Political Framing Of The 2024 China-Indonesia Joint Statement, Mahbi Maulaya

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Political leaders always carefully choose what to say and how to state it, as all words count for influencing the public, explicitly or implicitly. Eventually, the ideas framed in a political statement are best understood contextually rather than merely textually. After Prabowo Subianto, the president of Indonesia, visited China in November 2024, both countries released a controversial joint statement. This article aims to analyse the political frames observable in the 2024 China-Indonesia joint statement with a discourse analysis method. The article found five political frames in the statement: 1) Indonesia agrees to China’s vision of global order; 2) China has …

"Elements Don’T Mix!": Unearthing Racial Scripts And A Rhetorical Economy Of Whiteness In Disney And Pixar's Elemental, Linsay M. Cramer, Gabriel A. Cruz

Communication, Media, and Culture

Using a narrative rhetorical approach, we map how Disney and Pixar’s 2023 film, Elemental, sustains a rhetorical economy of whiteness, as theorized by Asen and Kelly, which emphasizes the degree to which rhetorical constructions of racial difference are foundational to whiteness and economic systems. We identify and critique how Elemental discursively contributes to a system of exclusivity for those within the bounds of whiteness concerning economic mobility via racial scripts. Created and produced during Joe Biden’s United States (U.S.) presidential term (2021–2025), Elemental offers a metaphorical tale that engages the fractious, politically conservative anxieties concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) …

The Current - Volume 36 Issue 2, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

English King And German Commoner: An Exploration Of Sixteenth Century Clothing And Identity, Bradley Moore

The Ozark Historical Review

There is perhaps no other external article which is more closely tied to one’s sense of identity than clothing. With a quick glance, one can readily gauge a person by their dress. So too, in the sixteenth century; clothing was used to construct identity, and in some cases to deconstruct it as well. This paper seeks to explore how identity and clothing are in many ways, inseparable. Concepts of religiosity, gender, nationalism, and “the other” were all intimately tied to dress and fashion. During the sixteenth century, perhaps even more strongly than now, clothing could be read like a book …

Opting Out: Over-Alerting And Warning Fatigue In The Era Of Wireless Emergency Alerts, Jeannette Sutton, Michele M. Wood

Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity Faculty Scholarship

While warning fatigue is commonly described among emergency management practitioners as a problem due to over-alerting, which leads to opting out, there has been limited research to define these concepts in a systematic manner that can inform policymaking around public alerting strategies, especially as they relate to Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). In this study, we draw from semi-structured interviews with emergency managers and open-ended responses from surveys with emergency managers and members of the public, to develop definitions of “over-alerting” and “warning fatigue” and to identify the conditions that cause the public to “opt out” of WEA messages. We conduct …

The Malditas, The Filipinas, And The Azkals: A Socio-Onomastic Examination Of Nicknames Used For The Philippine Women’S And Men’S National Football Teams, Satwinder Rehal, Inez Z. Ponce De Leon

Department of Communication Faculty Publications

Nicknames in sports can serve a wide range of social and semantic functions. Assigning nicknames to athletes and teams can allow fans to identify with them. Such names can also become symbolic resources that fans and teams turn to when asserting their identity. Nicknames in sports come to convey varied meanings and interpretations understood within a set of contextual properties. This paper fills an empirical gap and investigates nicknames of national sports teams used in Southeast Asia. The investigative focus is on the nicknames of the Philippines men’s and women’s national football teams. Employing Leslie and Skipper’s socio-onomastic framework, this …

Guide To The University Relations Records (University Of San Diego), University Of San Diego University Relations

University Records

The University of San Diego University Relations records document the functions of the University Relations department and its offices. These functions include publication design, editing, and final products; planning for activities and events; surveys and research on community relations; and fundraising activities.

Finding Aids are tools used to aid research by describing the materials in a collection. University Records Finding Aids include historical and/or biographical information along with a description of the collection and a folder listing of the content.

To view this collection please email University Archives and Special Collections staff at [email protected].

Towards Accessibility In Healthcare For Individuals With And Without Hearing Loss: Evaluation Of Usability, Fit, And Communicative Effectiveness Of A Transparent N95 Mask Prototype, Samuel R. Atcherson, Brooklyn Schultes, Jeanne Hahne, Barbara Debaun, Chris Showell

JADARA

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity of effective face masks in both public and healthcare settings for mitigating the spread of disease. However, traditional face masks impede communication, posing significant challenges for approximately 13% of the general population and 10% of healthcare and social assistance workers who have hearing loss and who rely on lipreading and other non-verbal cues. Traditional surgical masks and N95 respirator masks serve important roles in healthcare, but they differ in levels of protection. Currently, a transparent surgical mask is available, but not an N95 version. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the usability, fit, …

The Guardian The Month Of September 2025, Wright State Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

News articles from The Guardian for the Month of September 2025. The Guardian is the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. It has been published regularly since March of 1965.

Ai, Celebrities, And Their Fans: The Cyber-Pseudo-Event*, Gabbie Iorio

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

Tech companies often use celebrities to facilitate adoption of new technologies, and they’re doing the same with AI. For example, Meta is employing celebrities to attract users to their AI products, not only to adopt the technology, but to provide the company data for testing and optimizing the products. Fan communities, such as Nicki Minaj’s Barbz, have also taken up AI technology as a new medium for fandom expression. This paper will explore the varying degrees of success of these applications of AI technology, while putting them in conversation with scholarship on images, celebrity, and fandom.

*Top Graduate Paper

Good Vibrations: Folk Circles As Communication Environments, Missy Alexander

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

For over 25 years, I have participated in the creation of music and community through what are commonly called folk circles. Typically run as monthly gatherings, participants who range from complete beginners to seasoned pros, join together and share their favorite songs. These environments have clearly defined rules for participation (although rarely stated overtly), a strong ethos of mutual support, and frequently function as a path to friendships for people new to a community. This essay examines the folk circle as a communication environment and posits an explanation of why it is impervious to digital invasions.

The Evolution Of Women Behind The Wheel, Gabrielle Iorio

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

This paper places the current state of women in motorsports in conversation with scholarship focused on media and cultural identity by providing historical context for women in motorsports while analyzing media representations of Danica Patrick and current racers Hailie Deegan, Toni Breidinger, and Tatiana Calderon. While great progress has been made in acceptance of women as professional race car drivers and in media representations of them, stereotypes still face these drivers when it comes to obtaining sponsorships and the types of sponsorships they receive.

Old Frames On New Media: Health Misinformation In Black Digital Communities, Merriah Croston

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Growing evidence suggests that health misinformation has the potential to proliferate on social media. However, our understanding of the problem’s magnitude continues to evolve. Despite several studies on health misinformation and Black communities in the United States (U.S.), few of these studies characterize misinformation within digital settings. This dissertation seeks to address this gap by: 1) synthesizing the literature on health misinformation and Black communities to identify prevalent misinformation topics and claims, characteristics of exposure to and belief in these topics and claims, and successful intervention strategies; 2) quantifying and characterizing the volume of COVID-19 misinformation on Black Twitter during …

Engaging Students And Stakeholders In Times Of Crisis: Hbcus Bridging Social Capital On Facebook While Navigating Physical Distancing, Pamela Peters

Journal of Research Initiatives

COVID-19 placed a strain on colleges that tend to rely on tuition, especially small HBCUs, which traditionally serve a high percentage of underrepresented students. Being away from campus, many stakeholders were experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety. Social media offers an outlet for schools and stakeholders to stay connected during a crisis. Using social capital, this study examined how small HBCUs bridged social capital on Facebook during the year before and the first two years of the pandemic. A comparative analysis of Facebook posts of 30 HBCUs with a student population of under 2000 was conducted to determine post …