Digital Commons Network^™

It's All In A Meme: A Content Analysis Of Memes Posted To 2012 Presidential Election Facebook Pages, Bobbie Foster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis was an exploratory study to understand how Democrats and Republicans design memes, use traditional media framing, and how memes fit into modern humor theories. The study explores the relationship between the traditional media frames of the ideal candidate, populist campaigner, and the sure loser (Grabe & Bucy, 2009) and the commentary added by Internet users to these images in the memes.

The study also applies the benign-violation theory (McGraw & Warren, 2010) to the analysis of memes to understand the design choices made by meme creators. The benign-violation theory states that a physical or psychological violation is benign …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

Choices In The Editing Room: How The Intentional Editing Of Dialogue Scenes Through Shot Choice Can Enhance Story And Character Development Within Motion Pictures, Jonathan Pfenninger

Masters Theses

This study examines the content of six feature length films, which showed in theaters in 2010 and 2011, from a communication perspective. Five of the scrutinized films are Academy Award winning and nominated films for Best Editing. The sixth film was the top grossing Christian feature film to be widely released within the two years. Utilizing Foss's rhetorical schema for the evaluation of visual imagery, this study examines and evaluates the composition of dialogue scenes within each film, identifying the functions of shot composition and movement choices within each film, individually. Through identification of a function, assessment and support found …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

(Mascot) Nation: Examining University Engagement On College Football Teams’ Facebook Pages, Matthew J. Haught

Theses and Dissertations

In the sport of college football, engagement with fans drives revenue for the sports teams and the athletic department; the more fans buy, the more money the school gets. This study examines the ways college football teams use Facebook to engage their publics, and how that engagement builds a sense of community. Specifically, it explores six teams that represent new college football teams, midmajor teams, and state flagship institution teams. Ultimately, it seeks to explain how social media can be a force in establishing and maintaining an online community.

A Mixed Methods Approach Of Communication Campaign Development And Assessment: Identifying The Needs Of An Audience And Determining The Value In Evaluation, Tara Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles presented in this thesis used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine two distinct stages of communication campaigns: research and evaluation. In the quantitative study, students (n = 440) at the University of Arkansas were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC), water resources, and water issues. A questionnaire was developed from an existing instrument, reviewed by a panel of experts, pilot tested, and revised. The researchers found participants were most aware (M = 3.23, SD = 1.14), concerned (M = 4.07, SD = 0.86), and interested (M = 4.10, SD …

This Is Sparta! Mediated Mythology As Pedagogy In 300, Adam W. Tyma

Communication Faculty Publications

Popular films continue to replace history courses as the source of truth with regard to important events or eras. 300, in its interpretation of the Battle of Thermopylae, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, is an example of this trend. Rather than adhering to the presented historical facts of the event, 300 offers a hyperreal interpretation of the battle and the societies that surrounded it, infusing contemporary hegemonic ideologies regarding sexuality, classism, and race into a mediated discourse that presents the spectacle of the film as reality. This essay examines the narratives that are presented within the film, …

Computer Animation For Learning Building Construction Management: A Comparative Study Of First-Person Versus Third-Person View, Jun Yu

Open Access Theses

In this paper, we have explored the effect of perspective view in educational animations on students' learning of building construction management tasks and on students' preference of perspective views. We conducted a pre-test and post-test and found no significant advantages of computer animation presented in different perspective views across three different groups. Results showed that although students have preference on perspective views, perspective views did not influence learning outcome. The study also investigated the efficacy of animation as a teaching/learning tool in comparison to the traditional textbook. Findings showed that animation enhanced student learning, although the difference was not statistically …

Visual Propaganda And Extremism In The Online Environment, Cori E. Dauber, Carol K. Winkler

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Visual images have been a central component of propaganda for as long as propaganda has been produced. But recent developments in communication and information technologies have given terrorist and extremist groups options and abilities they never would have been able to come close to even 5 or 10 years ago. There are terrorist groups who, with very little initial investment, are making videos that are coming so close to the quality of BBC or CNN broadcasts that the difference is meaningless, and with access to the web they have instantaneous access to a global audience. Given the broad social science …

A Choreography Of Living Texts: Selections From The Arst Oral History Project, Kenny Walker, Jennifer Malkowski, Damien S. Pfister

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Oral history projects about rhetorical studies contribute to transdisciplinary histories by creating living texts that reflect the dynamism of scholarly cultures. Through interviews conducted at the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST), we chart the organizational and intellectual history of a field, its contributions to science studies, and its potential future directions. These digitized, archived oral histories serve as an articulation point for transdisciplinary reflection, but they also represent an important strand of digital humanities work that creates living texts and keeps them open for future articulations.

Investigating The Impact Of Television Advertisement Image Quality On Telepresence, Attitude Towards Brands And Purchase Intentions, Cheryl C. Bracken

Communication Faculty Publications

In an experiment manipulating the image quality of television ads, 127 participants watched television commercials in either high or low image quality. The participants rated each ad for their attitude towards the ad and purchase intentions. Additionally, sensations of telepresence and transportation were assessed. The participants who viewed the ads in higher image quality reported more positive attitudes towards the brands, and higher levels of telepresence. The implications are discussed.

A Rhetorical Criticism Of Anti-Era Cartoons, Josie A. Burks

Honors Theses

Over the course of American history many battles have been fought to ensure that equality was extended to the citizens of the United States. With momentum from the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, a bill was introduced to Congress in 1923 that sought to ensure equality for the women of the nation, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Though this bill was later reworded and reintroduced in every subsequent session of Congress, it would not be until 1972 that the bill would become a household name. This thesis analyzes the rhetorical elements that are at play within a selection of anti-Equal …

Virtual Rebel Website: A Strategy To Increase User Engagement Through Bounce Rate Analysis, Michael Vendivel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In a media environment that increasingly demands captivating content on a website, user engagement becomes a critical factor in the strategy of maintaining user interest. Research based on website analytics has shown that decreasing the Bounce Rate increased the time a web user spends on a website, entailing higher user engagement. Bounce Rate is the ratio of single-page visits on a website divided by the total number of visits, and it is used primarily used to quantify user interest. By examining the analytics and design of the student-run news siteVirtual Rebel, produced by the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and …

Get Schooled: A Visual Social Semiotic Analysis Of Target's Branding Using Instagram, Chelsea Bevins

Masters Theses

With new technology arising, brands must be able to adapt to them. This thesis will break down brand management, using David Aaker's framework, of the Target Corporation to see if they are using modern resource, Instagram effectively. This thesis will also look at how the theory of visual social semiotics, applied to communications, is used to decipher intended meaning. Brand management embodies a company and people are driven by what a brand portrays. People are driven by values, emotions and quality within a brand. People associate products with memories, celebrities, attributes and symbols. Brands are more than just a name. …

Knowledge, Perceptions, And Outcomes Of Agricultural Communications Curriculum In Arkansas Secondary Agricultural Classrooms, Carley Payne Calico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to assess the effectiveness of agricultural communications curriculum developed and incorporated into a semester-long agricultural leadership and communications course for secondary agricultural education programs in Arkansas. This study was comprised of three parts including a pilot test, teacher training assessment, and a descriptive field test over a two-year period. For the pilot test portion of the study, students (N = 297) participated in newly developed instructional modules (careers, writing, design, and multimedia) predetermined by a committee of agricultural education and communications faculty at the University of Arkansas. The pilot test indicated students' …

Fashioning A Rhetoric Of Style: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Urban Street Style Representations In New York City, Amber Pineda

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how urban street styles are used rhetorically within local boroughs in New York City as a form of resistance to the dominant fashion industry that dictates what is "in fashion" through media. A total of fifteen video blogs developed by The New York Times were analyzed, each containing a representation of one of the five boroughs of New York City: Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens. The analysis identified themes of a rhetoric of style, consisting of primacy of text, imaginary communities, aesthetic rationales, market contexts, and stylistic homologies. These themes were then analyzed by drawing …

Columbia Chronicle (04/07/2014), Columbia College Chicago

Columbia Chronicle

Student newspaper from April 7, 2014 entitled The Columbia Chronicle. This issue is 40 pages and is listed as Volume 49, Number 25. Cover story: "'Israeli/Palestinian Conflic' section reinstated: AAUP inquiry contends college violated professor's academic freedom" Editor-in-Chief: Lindsey Woods

Canadian Patriotism And The Timbit: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Tim Horton's Inc.'S Canadian Connection Through The Application Of Semiotics, Shelanne Jennings

Masters Theses

This study examines the content of Tim Horton's television advertisements from 1980 to 2014 from a communication perspective. Using Peirce's semiotic theory, this study examines the significations of Canadian culture as they appear within each advertisement for the purpose of establishing the time and extent to which Canadian culture was used over the course of Tim Horton's advertising history. This study finds that Tim Horton's advertisements did not purposefully use Canadian significations during the 1980s to create a connection between their brand and Canadian patriotism. However, after discovering Canadians' natural affinity to the Tim Horton's brand through focus group research …

Communication As Yoga, Kristen Caroline Blinne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I am in conversation with the following questions: How can individuals and communities teach and learn to engage more peacefully, nonviolently, and compassionately with each other? Further, how can one practice a style of communication that helps at least one person suffer less each day? In asking these questions, my goal has been to imagine as well as attempt to actualize a world where individuals and communities work together to create less suffering in each other's lives by first developing compassionate awareness of our interconnectedness, then "waking up" not only to our own divinity but also to …

Aesthetically Designed Maps: Development And Perception, Catherine Wang

Graphic Communication

This research explored the creative element of subway map creation in light of its effectiveness. Printed subway maps, used often for metropolitan cities and areas, are limited in physical dimension and scale, carrying minimal information. The New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Tokyo, Paris, London and Moscow subway maps highlight similar design and abstraction that fulfill the basic necessary elements for subway patrons. Over the years since the first metro map for each city was created, maps have become more simplified by removing physical land features and reference points to make way for expanding and new subway lines, stations, and …

Visual Communication And The Digital Turn, Bettina Fabos

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

I am very excited about the Digital Turn on multiple levels as a way of expressing ideas in visual form and making them more accessible and finding different ways to tell stories. As Joan Didion wrote, “we tell ourselves stories to live,” and I live and breathe that phrase.

For this presentation, my aim is to show you the new forms of communication that excite me to no end, and then talk about how our relationship with new media content producers has drastically changed. If you have never heard of SnowFall, an incredibly impressive piece of interactive media that …

Review Of Eyes On Labor: News Photography And America's Working Class By Carol Quirke, Bonnie Brennen

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Political Communication, Paul A. Soukup

Communication

This review seeks to introduce political communication by showing the kinds of studies currently published. Of necessity not complete, it does not list every study nor does it include every possible approach to political communication, but only those published in the sample of journals—one hopes enough to indicate the scope of this wide area of communication study

Jour 3526: Photojournalism/Digital Image (Syllabus), Matthew J. Haught

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Photograph as narrative; see, interpret and capture images that communicate information and have meaning and storytelling power; manipulation of digital media with software for use in broadcast, web and print; ethical problems related to digital manipulation. One lecture hour, four laboratory hours per week.

Jour 3900: Visual Journalism (Syllabus), Jin Yang

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to design software of Photoshop and InDesign; application of fundamental design principles and visual journalism principles; development of publication projects.

Jour 3900: Visual Journalism (Syllabus), Tori Cliff

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to design software of Photoshop and InDesign; application of fundamental design principles and visual journalism principles; development of publication projects.

Jour 3900: Visual Journalism (Syllabus), Jason R. Terrell

Journalism and Strategic Media Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Introduction to design software of Photoshop and InDesign; application of fundamental design principles and visual journalism principles; development of publication projects.