Digital Commons Network^™

The Mothman And Other Strange Tales: Shaping Queer Appalachia Through Folkloric Discourse In Online Social Media Communities, Brenton Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Little work has been conducted on the intersections of queer and Appalachian identities, in part because these two identities are viewed as incompatible (Mann 2016). This study uses a multimodal critical discourse analytic approach to examine the Instagram posts of the Queer Appalachia Project, which represent a substantial body of discourse created by and for queer Appalachians. Of specific interest to this analysis are those posts which employ folkloric figures, such as West Virginia’s Mothman, to do identity work that is queer, Appalachian, and queer-Appalachian. Often, this act is accomplished through juxtaposition with Appalachian imagery and the reclamation of homophobic …

The Development Of A Couple Observational Coding System For Computer-Mediated Communication, Martha S. Rackets

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Many romantic couples integrate text and computer-mediated communication (CMC) into their relationship dynamics, both for general relationship maintenance and for complex dynamics such as problem solving and conflict. Romantic couple dynamics are interactional, dynamic, and sequenced in nature, and a common method for studying interactions of this nature is observational analyses. However, no behavioral or observational coding systems exist that are able to capture text-based transactional couple communication. The main purpose of this dissertation was to develop an observational coding system that can be used to assess sequenced computer- mediated, text-based communication that takes place between romantic partners. This process …

We Live In A Society: Violence And Radicalization In The Internet Manosphere, Emily Price

Capstone Showcase

In a world of incels, pick-up artists, and other Men’s Rights Activists, friction between the so-called Manosphere and contemporary feminist thought has led to documented violence with regards to American mass shootings. Starting with the violent outbursts of disaffected young men, I will work backwards to the point of contact between the man and the Manosphere. This piece seeks not to draw a connection between radical MRAs and violence – the mass shooters draw that connection themselves in their manifestos by outlining their dissatisfaction with society as it is, and particularly with what they perceive as a politically correct and …

Habermas, The Public Sphere, And Wikileaks: The Public Sphere And The Right To Know, Mary Murray

Capstone Showcase

Jürgen Habermas, a German theorist, coined the public sphere as a place where citizens could interact, study, and debate issues together outside the realm of the home or family, which was defined as the private sphere. The public sphere can also be seen as a “manifestation of citizen sovereignty”. At its core, Habermas centered the public sphere around feudalism and the shift of one all-powerful individual reigning and representing the public to those citizens under the control of the state. Some critics argue voices encouraging the minorities were actually private voices leaking into the public sphere, while others argue the …

Using Bourdieu In Communication And Forensics Research, Stephen P. Hagan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

As norms in the forensics community are often unspoken and have few identifiable starting points, habitus and Bourdieu seems an apt place to begin an analysis. Further, such analysis can serve as a potential case study for broader applications of Bourdieu to communication studies. Thus, my goal is to provide an overview of Bourdieu’s work through his interconnecting ideas of habitus, field, and cultural capital and use those concepts to discuss college forensics as a case study of how communicative norms and attitudes are shaped in small collective social structures such as forensics. Building from that application, I explore ways …

Learning Wakanda: Assessing The Responses Of African-American Children And Their Caregivers Toward Concordant Educational Media, Cameron L. Coleman

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Screen-based educational media, as an extension of the schooling process whose history has mirrored brick and mortar institutions, have traditionally espoused narratives of Eurocentricity, shifting relatively recently to multicultural yet simultaneously raceless narratives. While many viewers have learned from and been inspired by these media, the enthusiastic response to the film Black Panther (2018), as demonstrated by financial earnings and sustained social media energy, revealed an intense yearning in the Black community for media positively centering the strengths and successes of Black lives. Launched from the sociocultural fervor for Black concordance in media, and extending concordance into the educational media …

Richard Dyer's Star Theory Applied To Musician/Actress: Lady Gaga, Allora R. Lee

Capstone Showcase

Richard Dyer’s Stars and general studies analyze the unusual phenomena surrounding influential film stars and their unmitigated power to compel and amaze those outside of the spotlight. His studies separate the theory into three intermingling parts: stars as a social phenomenon, stars as images, and stars as signs. There are many components in Dyer’s studies that can be extracted and used in analyses of particular actors and actresses. However, this does not solely revolve around film stars. In this analysis, I will be examining the famous pop music icon and recent actress, Lady Gaga. Through an analysis of her style, …

The Morphology Of Sex: Tracking Change In The Sex Discourse At Augustana College, Robert E. Burke

Audre Lorde Prize

Here, I track how the criteria for deeming sex as acceptable or unacceptable have changed over time at Augustana College. To do so, I apply two critical lenses to archived issues of the Augustana Observer. The first lens involves Rubin's concept of the "sex hierarchy," a variety of categories by which we may judge sex as good or bad. The second lens is related to Berlant and Warner's "national heterosexuality," a concept that claims that sexual norms are intrinsically elastic but politically, culturally, and economically firm under capitalism. Making use of a localized "snapshot" approach, I use recent Augustana history …

Colonial Patronage: Evolutions In The Critique Of Sartre’S “Orphée Noir”, Gus Huiskamp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One of the most interesting and controversial episodes in the history of the Négritude literary and philosophical movement came when two white, French authors prefaced the texts of two of the movement’s most significant authors. Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Orphée noir” is one of these texts in question, and it served as the preface for Léopold Sédar Senghor’s Anthologie de le nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache de langue française. In one sense, one might characterize Sartre as a friend to the Négritude movement, exposing it to the francophone mainstream and thereby helping it gain traction in Western academia. Viewed a different way, …

Jrsm 7422: Writing For Strategic Media (Syllabus), Kim Marks Malone

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Writing for all aspects of public relations and advertising, with a specific focus on writing for audio/visual and social media platforms, including translating one message across multiple technologies and platforms. Focus will be on writing in an active, engaging voice that aligns with the organization’s mission and profile.

Jrsm 7422: Writing For Strategic Media (Syllabus), Kim Marks Malone

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Writing for all aspects of public relations and advertising, with a specific focus on writing for audio/visual and social media platforms, including translating one message across multiple technologies and platforms. Focus will be on writing in an active, engaging voice that aligns with the organization’s mission and profile.

Cyberbullying Prevention In Schools, Robin Neorr

Masters Essays

Cyberbullying is a growing problem among teenagers. Students are always connected via text messages and social media websites. The years of a student being bullied at school and then going home to a safe space where their bully was no longer able to torment them are over. Constant connectivity allows for 24-7 access for the bully to torment their victim. Combine this with an increasing number of social media outlets and the tormentors’ belief that they can remain anonymous online; it is clear there is a need for students to learn ethical communication methods in school.

This essay will examine …

Intrusive Teaching: The Strain Of Care Labor, Identity And The Emerging Majority In Higher Education, Jayne R. Goode, Katherine J. Denker, Daniel Cortese, Lisa Carslon, Kerri Morris

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

United States publicly-funded higher education systems are experiencing increasing pressures. In response, higher education institutions have broadened their appeal to students less likely to attend college as part of their fiscal strategies. This growing student population consists of first-generation students and individuals from marginalized backgrounds who often enter college underprepared, and higher education must retain these emerging-majority students to ensure fiscal stability. When enrollment and retention are viewed from a business model, faculty duties expand into triage care and student emotional support. This qualitative investigation of faculty in a publicly-funded state university explores intrusive teaching practices marked by monitoring and …

Perceptions Of Asian American Representation In Entertainment Media, Lydia Susan Owens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rise of Asian American representation in entertainment media has brought new questions to the current perceptions of Asian Americans in American culture. Where whitewashing of roles or stereotypes of the Model Minority were once portrayed frequently in the past, there are now more diverse stories being shown. When representational images are being shown in entertainment media, there is need for a media literacy lens to critically analyze these images. With this rise in Asian American representation, what are current perceptions of Asian Americans in American culture and American entertainment media? What are current levels of media literacy? This study …

From The Margins To The Center: Legitimation Strategies From An Alt-Right Case Study, Lauren C. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing interest in understanding Donald Trump’s election in 2016 as part of the historical trajectory of white racial identity politics, we do not know much about how ideas deemed “radical right” become mainstreamed. My study builds on extant research that implicates the emergence of the think tank industry by viewing one such right wing think tank as a racialized organization. My analysis focuses on the organizational strategies of the National Policy Institute (NPI). Google searches for NPI spiked in 2016 with their vocal support of Trump and visible organizing in D.C. Using Williams’ (2018) theoretical framework of organizational …

Adjustment To Life In America: Black African Graduate Level Students, Denver Daniels

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine what challenges Black African graduate students face when adjusting to life in the United States. A secondary concern was to examine what coping strategies were used during the transition. A qualitative approach was used to interview the participants and through coding, develop themes related to their time as graduate students.

This study concluded that there were a number of issues that Black African graduate students face. The students reported that they experienced homesickness, culture shock, and discrimination during their time at school. Specific themes also emerged as to how they coped with …

Consumer's Media Exposure, Attitude And Purchasing Behavior On "Café Amazon For Chance", Sirapassorn Cheepborisut

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The objective of this research was to study the media exposure, consumers’ attitude and consumers’ purchasing behavior toward Café Amazon for Chance by using surveys to collect the data from current customers at Café Amazon for Chance aged 18 and above. Two hundred and seven were collected. The result shows that the media exposure of Café Amazon for Chance’s is low level. However, the majority of the sample has a good attitude toward the social enterprise concept of Café Amazon for Chance that supports social disabilities to have a career and be able to work equivalent to normal employees. Moreover, …

ความใส่ใจต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม การรับรู้ ทัศนคติ และการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืชของผู้บริโภค, ธีรวัจน์ วุฒิปัญญาคม

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ (1) ศึกษาความใส่ใจต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม การรับรู้ ทัศนคติ และการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืชของผู้บริโภค (2) ศึกษาความแตกต่างระหว่างลักษณะทางประชากร กับความใส่ใจต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม การรับรู้ ทัศนคติ และการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืช (3) ศึกษาถึงอิทธิพลของความใส่ใจต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม การรับรู้ และทัศนคติ ต่อการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืช เป็นการวิจัยเชิงปริมาณ (Quantitative Research) โดยการวิจัยเชิงสำรวจ (Survey Research) ใช้แบบสอบถามเป็นเครื่องมือในการเก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลผ่านทางกูเกิลฟอร์ม (Google Form) โดยมีกลุ่มตัวอย่างคือผู้ที่อาศัยอยู่ในเขตกรุงเทพมหานคร อายุ 18 ปีขึ้นไป จำนวน 400 คน แล้วนำผลมาวิเคราะห์ประมวลข้อมูลทางสถิติด้วยโปรแกรม SPSS ผลการวิจัยพบว่า เพศหญิงมีความใส่ใจต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม การรับรู้ ทัศนคติ และการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืชสูงกว่าเพศชาย ผู้ที่มีอายุมาก มีการรับรู้ต่อเนื้อทำจากพืชสูงกว่าผู้ที่มีอายุน้อย ผู้ที่มีการศึกษาต่ำกว่าปริญญาตรี มีทัศนคติ และการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืชสูงกว่าผู้ที่มีการศึกษาสูงกว่า นอกจากนี้ยังพบว่า ทัศนคติต่อเนื้อทำจากพืช มีอิทธิพลเชิงบวกต่อการตัดสินใจซื้อเนื้อทำจากพืชอย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติ

ทัศนคติและความตั้งใจซื้อของนิสิตนักศึกษาต่อการเคลื่อนไหวของแบรนด์เพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ, อัฏฐพร จันทราสินธุ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การวิจัยครั้งนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่ออธิบายความสัมพันธ์ของทัศนคติ 3 องค์ประกอบ ได้แก่ ทัศนคติต่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ ทัศนคติต่อแบรนด์และทัศนคติต่อการเคลื่อนไหวของแบรนด์เพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ ตามทฤษฎีความสมดุล ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างเพศและชนชั้นทางสังคมกับทัศนคติต่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ และความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างทัศนคติต่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศกับความตั้งใจซื้อสินค้าหรือบริการจากแบรนด์ที่เคลื่อนไหวเพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ ใช้ระเบียบวิธีวิจัยเชิงปริมาณ ด้วยการสำรวจ มีกลุ่มตัวอย่างเป็นนิสิตนักศึกษาในระดับปริญญาตรีหรือเทียบเท่าในประเทศไทย เก็บรวบรวมข้อมูลตั้งแต่วันที่ 21 พฤษภาคม- 2 มิถุนายน พ.ศ.2564 กระจายแบบสอบถามทางทวิตเตอร์ ได้รับแบบสอบถามที่สมบูรณ์จำนวน 408 ชุด ผลการวิจัยพบว่า กลุ่มตัวอย่างจะรู้สึกดี เมื่อแบรนด์ที่ตนชอบออกมาเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ ซึ่งสอดคล้องกับจุดยืนของตน อย่างมีนัยยะสำคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ 0.05 ( X2 = 316.96) ทัศนคติต่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศไม่มีความสัมพันธ์กับเพศ (X2- Prob=0.076) และ ชนชั้นทางสังคม (X2- Prob=0.358) และ ทัศนคติต่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศมีความสัมพันธ์ทางบวกกับความตั้งใจซื้อสินค้าหรือบริการจากแบรนด์ที่เคลื่อนไหวเพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศ อย่างมีนัยยะสำคัญทางสถิติที่ระดับ 0.01 (r=0.193 , p-value<0.001) ผู้วิจัยยังพบอีกว่า กลุ่มตัวอย่างประมาณครึ่งหนึ่งเคยได้ยินหรือเห็นแบรนด์ออกมาแสดงจุดยืนเกี่ยวกับความเสมอภาคทางเพศ และเชื่ออย่างมากว่าการที่แบรนด์ออกมาเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อความเสมอภาคทางเพศย่อมทำให้สังคมเกิดการเปลี่ยนแปลงในเรื่องนี้มากขึ้น และยังเชื่อว่าแบรนด์ต้องมีความรับผิดชอบหรือหน้าที่ในการเป็นกระบอกเสียงให้กับสังคม โดยเฉพาะเรื่อง “การเรียกร้องความเสมอภาคทางเพศ” “การต่อต้านการคุกคามทางเพศ” และ “ความหลากหลายทางเพศ”

Terministic Screening And Conspiracy Theory In Political Communication: A Critical Analysis Of Trump’S Rhetorical Ties To Fair And Alex Jones Through “Invasion” Immigration Discourse, Emily A. Wiedeman

Masters Theses

This study focuses on the political and social communicative implications that result from mirrored anti-LatinX immigration discourses from three different political entities: President Donald Trump, special-interest hate group the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR), and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Through a critical communication lens, the author presents and discusses the influence of presidential communication, and its ability to contribute to and bolster xenophobic political undertones, creating a communicative environment that functions to empower and embolden proponents of racially based discrimination. Further, this study discusses the power presidential communication has to legitimize, normalize, and amplify the racist and xenophobic anti-LatinX discourses …

The Monster At The End Of This: A Feminist Media Analysis Of Coverage Of Representative Ilhan Omar, Emma L. Schlei

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

With the impending 2020 election and the upcoming centennial anniversary of the 19th amendment, the topic of women in politics is more relevant than ever. Ilhan Omar is a Representative elected to the 2018 United States House of Representatives and is one member of the “squad,” a group of four women of color under the age of 50 who identify as part of the left wing of the Democratic Party. Ilhan Omar has been the focus of many liberal and conservative media outlets. In this research I focus on the tropes of Islamophobia that Omar faces to examine how political …

Race, Gender And Mediated Representations In The Farah Strike, Matthew Desiderio Minnich

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

May 1972, 4,000 garment workers at Farah Manufacturing Company in El Paso went out on strike for the right to be represented by a union. The strike against Farah was the first major social movement in the El Paso area in modern times. Over 80% of the striking workers were Latina. The female employees at Farah were at the forefront of the Chicana feminist movement. The labor battle at Farah proves the organic link between Chicana feminism and class struggle. The Farah strike caused a new family dynamic to rise from the ashes of the traditional Mexican household. Using Burke's …

Young, Dumb, And Broke: How Family Communication Affects Financial Literacy, Brenna Micek

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Thousands of Americans carry debt, whether it be a mortgage, student loans, or auto loans. The average American graduates with at least $35,000 in debt (Kurt, 2019). Many Americans are not confident in their financial capabilities (Godsted & McCormick, 2007). Research has shown that learning from parents leaves a larger impact than learning in the classroom (Lucas & Buzzanell, 2011). The purpose of this study is to explore how family communication – specifically conversation and conformity orientation – and relational closeness within a parent-child relationship affect messages about finances and the emerging adult’s financial literacy. Conversation orientation, conformity orientation, and …

Collective Healing Within Queer Paradoxes: Deconstructing Emotional Abuse In Lgbtq2sia* Communities To Cultivate More Accountable And Compassionate Worlds, Alexia Siebuhr

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Emotional abuses within LGBTQ2SIA* communities are rarely acknowledged as existing or often normalized. Through care and anti-oppression works, transformative justice models such as community and self-accountability have helped carve out ways of addressing harm directly and breaking cycles of violence. The research in this thesis has been through mixed qualitative methodologies including semi-structured interviews and surveys. The participants' along with other authors, artists, activists and scholars’ narratives draws upon the experiences of emotional abuse lived within structural and social surveillance. The settler colonial state sanctioned projects have responded to harm by perpetuating violence upon those most marginalized. Deconstructing emotional abuse …

Navigating The Silences: Social Worker Discourses Around Race, Cherie Bridges Patrick

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This thesis explored social worker discourses to learn what they could reveal about professional workplace practices and experiences with race and racism. The study traced the subtle and elusive racism often found in everyday professional conversations that are not considered racist by dominant consensus. Using tools of thematic and critical discourse analysis (CDA), and van Dijk’s (1993, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2011) general theory of racism and denial (1992, 2008), data from 14 semistructured interviews and one focus group with a racially diverse group of social workers was analyzed in two ways. First, thematic analysis offered a horizontal or flat exploration …

Repetition Or Reckoning: Confronting Racism And Racial Dynamics In 2020, Kevin D. Thomas, Judy Foster Davis, Jonathan A.J. Wilson, Francesca Sobande

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Western Media Coverage Of International News: A Content Analysis Of Associated Press Coverage Of Africa, Adukwu Samuel Atadoga

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines how the Western media frames its coverage of Africa and this impact on Westerners’ views of Africa. To develop the hypothesis and provide the data needed to answer the research questions, I reviewed the literature on framing, the determinants of international news coverage, as well as international media coverage. Newspapers were my data sources, and using LexisNexis with the key word “Africa,” I searchedthe online news service of the Associated Press(AP). Thissearch yielded 1,000 articles and was reduced by including only those published between January,2015 and January,2016,and then using random sampling. The final number of articles analyzed …

Facebook As A Disruptor Of Journalism And Political Debate In Vietnam, Viet Tho Le

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research interrogates Habermas’s theory of the public sphere and applies it to the specific situation of ‘state digital authoritarianism’ in the Vietnamese Facebook environment. It examines how Facebook is disrupting the situation in Vietnam, offering a new dimension to the situation and enabling greater political understanding and engagement by young Vietnamese Facebook users.

The thesis asks whether Facebook should be constructed as a new forum for the expression of public opinion, creating a quasi-public sphere, promoting the country’s democracy and fuelling dissidents’ hope? If the answer is ‘yes’, to what extent has the Vietnamese Facebook sphere expanded or deepened …

Communication Administration As A Tri-Voiced Sustainable Community, Ronald C. Arnett

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Books and authors have challenged the focus on “me” alone, rejecting “individualism” that seeks to stand above social context and constraints (Tocqueville, 1955; Arnett, 2019; Arnett, 2020), “narcissism” that falls in love with one’s own image (Lasch, 1985), and “emotivism” that limits decision making to personal preferences (MacIntyre, 1984). Contrary to a focus on an individual abstracted from a social context, one finds an emphasis on community (Arnett, 1986). When, however, a conception of community embraces only those empirically present, it becomes an abstraction oblivious of the phenomenological considerations of persons before and after the present moment. This essay textures …

A Social Media Strategy For An Academic Department, Stephanie Buermann, Heidi Everett, R. Jeffrey Ringer, Traci Anderson, Alex Davenport, Eddah Mutua

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This essay describes the process one communication studies department used to develop a social media strategy. That process involved identifying the audiences to be reached, establishing goals and objectives, conducting an audit to identify possible message posts, and selecting posts to reach our goals and objectives. The resulting strategy involves posting messages two to three times per week targeted toward specific audiences and reflecting twelve objectives. A calendar was created to guide the posts. Future research will assess the effectiveness of the strategy.