Digital Commons Network^™

Volume 5, Issue 2 (2022) Migration, Community, And Environment During A Pandemic

International Journal on Responsibility

No abstract provided.

Making In Media Education: An Activity-Oriented Approach To Digital Literacy, Thomas Knaus

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Why is maker education a suitable approach for giving learners the 21st century skills they need to cope with the digital transformation? This article provides an answer and represents a defense of maker education in the field of educational science. Taking a human-media-machine interaction model as the basis for discussion, this article highlights the growing importance of digital technology as well as technological principles for human communication and interaction. Communication technology and the influence of technology on culture and society require a broad understanding of media literacy in the sense of digital literacy. By broadening the theoretical basis of media …

An Event-Without-Witness: A Nietzschean Theory Of The Digital Will To Power As The Will To Temporalize, Talha Issevenler

Publications and Research

This article offers a Nietzschean theory of digital will to power to conceptualize the temporality of social media feeds run by algorithms. Stylistic and methodological temporalities of Nietzsche are discussed as well as their influence in subsequent social theory of political technologies. The paradox of heavy investment in both subjective expression and nonhuman temporalization in social media milieus is addressed with the concept of an event-without-witness drawn from Nietzsche’s account of himself as the solitary thinker of catastrophe of nihilism and psychoanalytical and deconstructive literatures on the catastrophes of the 20th century. Nietzsche’s fundamental resistance to and fascination with the …

Theorizing, Bounded Rationality, And Expertise: Cognitive Sociology And The Quasi-Realism Of Problem-Solving As A Course Of Activity, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

The question facing sociology is whether it is a field or a discipline. If it is a field, then there is no need for theorizing. However, if sociology is a discipline, then problem-solving cannot be disentangled from theorizing without a loss of intelligibility – the inability to explain the social as the concept of the discipline. Through the quasi-realism of problem-solving as a course of activity, this chapter presents cognitive sociology as a paradigm appropriate to the concept of the social understood as an ongoing course of activity. In doing so, it is shown how bounded rationality and expertise play …

Terminally Ill Documents: The Lasting Impact Of Ephemera, Deama Khader

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Murals and portraits of cultural icons such as George Floyd and Ahed Tamimi are more than aesthetically engaging objects. They can inspire viewers to act, attend protests, and share their own feelings on an issue, whether that be in the form of more street art or something as simple as a social media post. This is often how social and political movements are made.

Street art poses a unique challenge to information professionals since the documents that are created with the intention or expectation of disappearance. They are documents suffering from terminal illness. Their ephemerality is their disease. Per the …

Document Dimensions Of Imuseum’S Instagram Posts, Ciwuk Musiana Yudhawasthi, Lydia Christiani, Widya Damayanti

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Social media is source of information during a pandemic. Using virtual ethnography methods and cyber media analysis, this article tries to trace digital cultural artifacts on IMERI iMuseum’s Instagram posts. Digital cultural artifacts that emerged were then analyzed using Buckland's concept of physical, mental and social dimensions of document. The results of the analysis show that cultural artifacts in iMuseum’s IG posts have document dimensions, seen from the physical, mental and social aspects and even a combination of dimensions. In the context of infodemic, through its social media, iMuseum seeks to carry out its role in disseminating information on health, …

Uncovering A Natural History Mystery At The University Of Akron, Gary M. Holliday, Lara Roketenetz

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Students were engaged in a combination of detective work, biology, archives, art, and education/outreach to prepare a collection of taxidermied birds donated to the University of Akron by the Rhodes family in the early 1900s for public access and exhibition. Students had the opportunity to learn from leading experts regarding the historical significance of biological collections, proper preservation protocols, digitizing and archival practices, and the urgency of science education and communication for a public audience. Many campus and community partners were involved, including experts from local museums and nature centers.

Closing The Concern-Action Gap Through Relational Climate Conversations: Insights From Us Climate Activists, Julia Coombs Fine

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Several studies have found that relational climate conversations can be an effective method of increasing conversational participants’ concern about the climate crisis and encouraging them to take collective action. However, little work has yet examined how such conversations are practiced by climate activists, a group with expertise in relational organizing. Drawing on surveys and semi-structured interviews with climate activists across the USA, this analysis finds that activists frequently have climate conversations with friends and family, most of whom are politically progressive and somewhat to very concerned about the climate crisis. These findings might seem to suggest that climate activists only …

Racial Disparities In Physician And Non-Physician Health Professionals: Investigating Barriers For Pre-Professional Students, Emily Remer

Honors Projects

“Diversity” is a buzzword across today’s educational, professional, and office settings. With so many looking to “diversify” their fields, it is important to note the endless ways in which people are diverse. From culture to religion to age to gender to race, and the intersectionality of them all, there has been a push to increase diversity as a means to better serve individuals in minority groups. While all forms of diversity are important, as is their intersectionality, the purpose of this project is to focus on racial disparities. There is no question that racial disparities exist across many roles we …

Impacting Michigan Latino Students’ Perceptions Of Higher Education: How To Better Communicate And Promote 4-Year College Degree Opportunities, Michael A. Guerra

Masters Projects

In the state of Michigan, the marginalization of Latino students continues due to historical and social factors; this is ultimately reflected in higher education enrollment and graduation rates when compared to their White peers, the dominant group in the state (MI School Data, 2022). For varying reasons, not every student will seek higher education after high school, but it is worth ensuring opportunities and reasons to attend are properly communicated for sake of helping Latino students better explore all their college and career options. While the Michigan Latino population has the highest labor force participation compared to other racial or …

Spartan Daily, December 1, 2022, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2022

Volume 159, Issue 42

Censorship, Pandemic, And The Field Of Power: The Death And Revival Of A Chinese War Epic, Zhaoxi Liu

Communication Faculty Research

This case study examines the dramatic change of fortune of the Chinese war epic “The Eight Hundred”. The movie was censored in 2019 during China’s celebration of the country’s 70th anniversary but became the market-saving hero in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Through the lens of Bourdieu’s theory of the field of cultural production, this study argues that the movie’s changing fate is essentially the change of its political, symbolic and economic capitals, under different field conditions. The subfield of commercial films in China is subject to the control of political and economic forces in the field …

Yaljod Full Issue 4.1, Sombo Muzata

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The Young African Leaders Journal of Development (YALJOD) is a biennial journal and an official publication of the Young African Leaders Forum (YALF). It was established in 2015 to host scholarly analysis and competing viewpoints about the development of Africa; and it’s multidisciplinary approach makes it more formidable. YALJOD accepts papers from varied disciplinary areas — including Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Humanities — that show direct relevance to the development of Africa. It publishes researches understood as the social, economic, political, cultural and technological processes of change in Africa. The intended audience of the journal remains the entire African …

Black Female Athletes’ Use Of Social Media For Activism: An Intersectional And Cyberfeminist Analysis Of U.S. Hammer-Thrower, Gwen Berry's 2019 And 2021 Podium Protests, Ariel Newell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much attention has been paid to Black male athlete activism both historically and in the contemporary movement for black lives. Black female athletes have also made historic contributions as activists, and they continue to do so. However, Black female athlete activism has not always been acknowledged or heard. This is a problem, as Black women in American sports and society face overlapping racial and gender inequities and injustices that distinctly marginalize and oppress them. However, some Black female athlete activists (BFAAs) have begun using social media to challenge media narratives about themselves, to redefine what it means to be a …

A Study Of The Effect Of Sympathetic Framing On Attitudes Toward The Homeless, Marshall Mills

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Implication Of Corruption On Sustainable Development In Africa: (Using Nigeria As A Case Study), Ezeifekwuaba Tochukwu Benedict

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

The scenario of the rise of corruption in Africa particularly in Nigeria is so much a problem. It cuts across the various Private Sectors including different tiers of government. This research paper applied collected secondary data from library materials, government publications, journals, the internet and daily newspapers. The kernel of the research paper is on the facts that corrupt practices among the class of political leadership have led to the undermining of the stability and growth of the country's economy. Also, it is discovered that corruption maximizes the poverty level that triggers criminal exercises in the Nation. The paper suggests …

Vivienne Westwood And The Socio-Political Nature Of Punk, Ashley Rosato

Honors College Theses

Punk fashion, which helped define the punk movement in the 1970s, has been ever changing as it adapts to modern times. Before it was the watered-down, mainstream mass-produced aesthetic that it is today, punk style was full of counterculture meaning and signs that communicated counter-hegemonic ideologies to the public. Vivienne Westwood, one of the contributors to early punk culture and the mother of British punk style, designed clothing that was central to the ethos of the early punk movement. Through a semiotic analysis of five of Westwood’s designs from the 1970s, this study aims to demonstrate how Westwood’s early punk …

The George Harris Show August 08, 2022, Part 5 Spanish To English Translation, Jonathan Gerweck

Honors College Theses

This thesis is an attempt at a Spanish-to-English translation of part of a comedy skit by Venezuelan American comedian George Harris performed on October 11, 2022, in Miami, Florida. As an academic, I have been captivated by foreign languages since a young age and have studied German up to the collegiate level. After moving to New York and studying at Pace University, an educational institution that does not offer German, I decided to teach myself Spanish. I reached the Advanced level of the language within my second semester of officially studying it at Pace University. I believe that the future …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the influence of social and structural communication variables on the perceived social connectedness of people experiencing homelessness in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and Joplin, Missouri areas. This study employed the ecological perspective of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach et al., 2001) and a communication perspective which envisions communicative interaction as constitutive of social experience. Using survey data from 166 participants, this study examined 11 research questions and hypotheses drawn from extant literature on homelessness, social connectedness, and CIT. ANOVAs, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a complex relationship between individuals and the communicative environment. This study …

A Frayed Edge: A Qualitative And Poetic Inquiry Analysis Of White Antiracist Protest In 2020, Emily Katt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiphasic study explored the narratives of five first-time Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating during the historic confluence of conflicts in 2020 America. After positioning the liminal 2020 circumstances within an antiracist research lens, the author analyzed, first through grounded theory and then secondarily through poetic inquiry, how these five participants described their protest experiences. The grounded theory phase yielded an overarching theory that first-time protestors experienced a dual process of unsuturing and of calling-out, with three subthemes categorized within each of these two processes. The author moved into analysis with the poetic inquiry phase, crafting poems guided by six …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 24. Wallace At 200: Potential Subjects For Student Theses, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

The bicentennial of Alfred Russel Wallace’s birth in 2023 will likely produce a wide array of reviews of his life and work; here, we pause for a short look at some Wallace-related questions that might be adapted for student theses and dissertations. Some of the subjects treated fall in with established lines of research, while others are suggested by other Wallace interests or activities that have not been much explored.

“What’S Belonging Got To Do With It?”: An Exploration Of Campus Racial Climate And Sense Of Belonging In Black Counseling Students Attending Predominately White Institutions In The North Atlantic Region, Erin Durrah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) dialogues are raging across campuses throughout the U.S. with specific focus on the needs of Black student populations in the aftermath of the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbury murders. However, if the supportive spirit of the DEI initiatives is undermined by a hostile campus climate and local community, it may negatively impact the learning environment isolating the target population, while also effecting their potential for successful completion of their programs. The current qualitative study aims to explore the perceptions of belonging expressed by Black graduate students enrolled in Council for Accreditation of Counseling …

Multivariate Fairness For Paper Selection, Reem Alsaffar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peer review is the process by which publishers select the best publications for inclusion in a journal or a conference. Bias in the peer review process can impact which papers are selected for inclusion in conferences and journals. Although often implicit, race, gender and other demographics can prevent members of underrepresented groups from presenting at major conferences. To try to avoid bias, many conferences use a double-blind review process to increase fairness during reviewing. However, recent studies argue that the bias has not been removed completely. Our research focuses on developing fair algorithms that correct for these biases and select …

Communication As Conscience, Florence Chee

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Focusing on ethics in games studies, Chee notes the importance of
communication as it has played parts in these other fields and how that might
reflect back on our community.

Strangers Switching Their Identities: Cultural Identity Management And Performance On Social Media A Qualitative Analysis Of International Students’ Intercultural (Ex)Change Processes And Perceptions Regarding Their Stay In The United States And Countries Of Origin, Vivian Kretzschmar

All Theses

In this globalized world, cross-country travel for education has been a prevalent (5.6 million students identified as international students in 2020) and ever-increasing (with a predicted increase of 250% by 2030) trend through the past decades. The sojourn impacts the students’ experience of the new culture and the ensuing shocks and adaptations. The understanding of something as complicated as culture, trying to be integrated into a new culture, and its perception to individuals, of course, have their ways of distinct communication trends through social media.

The struggle of maintaining and changing one’s cultural identity and adaptation across cultures has been …

Development Of The Payment Systems: An Economic Need Or A Technological Deed, Heba Mekawy

Future Journal of Social Science

This paper is mainly concerned with showing most of the economic aspects related to both banking transactions, payments, and eventually the payment systems and their development. The economic aspects are discussed on both the macroeconomic and the microeconomic one as well. The discussion in the paper also covers the economic implications of the payment systems and the economic rationale behind their development. The paper has concluded that the economic need of the financial market is the main driver behind the development of payment systems. They also serve as outcomes concerning the well-functioning of the financial market. Thus, the technological development …

The Impact Of Ethnic Groups On National Security, Seham Fawzi

Future Journal of Social Science

Ethnic diversity in and of itself does not negatively affect national security. The threat it imposes to national security is a result of many factors combined with political opportunity that fundamental changes occurring in the political system exploited by ethnic and sectarian groups trying to change the political system to their advantage. Many factors such as political, historical, economic, social, cultural, environmental, and psychological factors may lead ethnic groups to rebel and impose threats to the national states of any country especially developing countries.

“You Can Get Clarity That Other Students May Feel The Same Way You Do”: Exploring Students’ Decision-Making Around And Motivations For Engaging In Evaluative Talk About Instructors, Maria Hannah

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

This multimethod study was conducted to explore students’ decision-making to approach or avoid interactions with peers about instructors and investigate motivations for instructional dissent. Participants (N = 124 college students) responded to measures of instructional dissent behavior and motivations for social gossip, then responded to an open-ended question about the risks and benefits of talking about instructors with other students. Quantitative results indicated that expressive and vengeful dissent were related to the following motives for gossiping about instructors: information gathering and validation, group protection, negative influence and social enjoyment. Regression analyses revealed negative influence and group protection account for unique …

Importance Of Good Communications For Generational Ag Business Transfers, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

Adapted from Right Risk, volume 10, Issue 10, October 2022.

Effective communication within a farm or ranch family, especially when multiple generations are operating and managing the business, is the underpinning of all other decisions made in a family business. It is critical that farm and ranch families identify areas of contention and develop communication skills that will allow them to negotiate satisfying outcomes. This may involve basic skills training, including communication, problem solving, and decision making.

Pilgrimage Sites As Magnets Of Interfaith Tolerance: The Case Of Kemaliq Lingsar In Indonesia, Suhadah Suhadah, Deddy Mulyana, Pawit M. Yusup, Nuryah A. Sjafirah

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study aims to reveal the practices of tolerance between the adherents of Islam and Hinduism when they were engaged in worship at Kemaliq Lingsar, a sacred religious site which is used as a pilgrimage site where both parties pray and perform religious tourism and rituals. Drawing on the interpretive approach, this study found the wisdom of the two religious communities in Lingsar Village, West Lombok Regency, Indonesia. This area exhibits unique strategies for sharing the same pilgrimage site: two communities performing their respective rituals in turn and in unison in the same space with complete understanding. This tolerance practiced …