Digital Commons Network^™

An Antisemitism Academia Crisis: Communication Failure On Three Ivy League College Campuses, Rickardo W. Shuzzr

Student Theses and Dissertations

The issue of Antisemitism on college campuses in the United States has gained significant attention following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th, 2023. This discriminatory behavior, hate speech versus free speech, and academia's role in the geopolitical climate have sparked protests and raised questions about the responsibility of universities today. It has even led to high-profile presidents from institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and UPenn being called to testify before a congressional oversight committee. These university presidents and others have been the subject of ongoing flak in the public sphere. As a result, there have been …

Envisioning Our Ecological Futures. Diffracting Creative Expressions., Mariam Ismail

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis delves into the realm of eco-art, examining its multifaceted role in informing, educating, and mobilizing audiences towards sustainable environmental practices. Through an interdisciplinary lens that intertwines environmentalism, critical explorations of the anthropocene, ecofeminism, Indigenous knowledge, and social justice, this research investigates various themes, approaches, and methodologies employed by eco-artists. Utilizing a diffractive methodology, I acknowledge and respect these concepts’ contextual and theoretical differences while exploring their relationality to one another and to the artworks. By recognizing these entangled relationships, the diffractive framework creates and re-creates ‘research assemblages’ that shift away from conventional anthropocentric or representational methods of interpretation, …

Ethnic Identity Development And South Asian Stereotypes In 'Never Have I Ever', Priya Dutta, Allison Noyes

Honors Thesis

Intersectional media serves as poignant representations of marginalized communities, and as few positive models exist, researchers must explore the efficacy and impacts of celebrated works on consumers’ perspectives.

“Ethnic identity is less a process of ‘being’ and more a process of ‘becoming…’ The factors that form an ethnic identity allow its members to establish their distinguishing features from other groups, creating a sense of solidarity, belonging, and connection within their own definable cultural group through customs and celebrations, like festivals and religious gatherings, as well as through particular cultural artifacts, like a style of dress” (Stuart Hall, 1996). I will …

Representations Of Gender In Math-Related Films, Jacob Gathje

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

This project analyzes how four popular math-related films - Hidden Figures, Mean Girls, Good Will Hunting, and A Beautiful Mind - either follow, resist, or reconfigure gender stereotypes in mathematics. It includes close readings of specific scenes in each of the films, along with broader analysis of the effects of how women and men are represented differently. It concludes forward-looking focus, providing suggestions for how future math-related movies can depict a more realistic and inclusive version of the field of mathematics. Ideally, this will help improve one part of the larger issue of gender disparities in math.

Storytelling For Social Change: Using Victim Narratives From Social Media To Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students, Grace Carmack

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study employed a narrative intervention experiment aimed at challenging college students' acceptance of rape myths (RMA). Rape myths are erroneous beliefs that shift blame for sexual violence (SV) from perpetrators to victims and encompass stereotypical misconceptions about women. Three authentic narratives, shared anonymously on social media by college victims of sexual violence, were selected for their varying levels of graphic detail and situational context. The study's objective was not only to interrogate RMA among college students but also to discover which of the three narratives was most effective in reducing RMA among readers, utilizing the Transportation Theory as a …

Asserting Individuality In A Futuristic Dystopia: A Critical Analysis Of "Dirty Computer", Sam Spethman

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

"Dirty Computer" is a groundbreaking science fiction film directed by visionary artist Janelle Monáe, which delves into the complexities of individuality in a dystopian future dominated by oppressive societal forces. Through intricate narrative construction and thematic depth, the film asserts the indomitable nature of human identity against the backdrop of advanced technology and mind control. This paper explores how "Dirty Computer" challenges traditional narratives of conformity and celebrates the power of self-expression and authenticity. By employing critical lenses such as feminist, queer, and racial critiques, along with narrative and visual analysis techniques, the analysis highlights Monáe's embrace of her Black …

Make America(N Cinema) Great Again: The Rhetoric Of Nostalgia In Trump Era Cinematic Multiplicities, Courtney J. Dreyer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigates the rhetoric of nostalgia in politics and popular Hollywood cinema during the Trump era. I argue that MAGA Cinema, the contemporary trend of reboots, remakes, and sequels related to properties from the late 1970s to early 1990s, both respond to and strengthen attachments to an imagined version of the 1980s. However, this illusory golden age more closely reflects the world as depicted in the cinema of the 1980s rather than the reality of American in the years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Through a close analysis of David Gordon Green’s Halloween Reboot series, Top Gun: Maverick, and …

Are We Really Basic Bitches? A Call For Resistance And Recognition, Joshua E. Young, Allison D. Brenneise

Basic Communication Course Annual

We explore the history and position of the foundational communication course (FCC) in communication education. The material impact of calling the course basic since the 1940s has caused internalized oppression, which results in a lack of innovation and general disempowerment. The use of the term basic to describe the foundational communication course reflects little cultural awareness of the impact of the word. The term basic also demonstrates a need to adapt the course to meet the needs of its constituents. Failing to adapt may result in more oppressive conditions for communication education, a problem if the discipline is to make …

Tackling Networked Misogyny Through Graduate Curriculum Design, Carolyn M. Cunningham

Feminist Pedagogy

This paper explores the importance of sharing feminist research through digital projects. One of the barriers of digital projects is the networked misogyny that graduate students face. This paper offers several strategies for addressing networked misogyny, including teaching about digital privacy, strategies for documenting harassment, collective engagement, and integrating trauma-informed pedagogy.

Code^Shift Newsletter Spring 2024, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Nicole Cheah

CODE^SHIFT Research

No abstract provided.

Do Bisexuals Thrive In The Corridor? Liminal Identity, Communication, And Well-Being, Katie Kassler

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In this dissertation I aim to test direct and moderating associations between bisexual liminal identity, social identity complexity, micro-aggressions and micro-affirmations, and well-being. In Chapter One, I offer my theoretical definition of and position bisexuality as a liminal identity. Next in this chapter, I (a) hypothesize a direct association between bisexual liminal identity and well-being, (b) posit competing hypotheses related to social identity complexity as a positive cognitive appraisal moderator (i.e., social cure perspective) and negative cognitive appraisal moderator (i.e., uncertainty identity perspective) of the main effect, and finally (c) posit hypotheses related to individual- and group-aimed micro-aggressions and micro-affirmations …

You’Re Looking Very Shane Today: Rhetorical Field Methods & The Materiality Of Queer Mediated Representation For Sapphic Women, Ariel L. Kizer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

When marginalized communities are left without real-life mentors, they often turn to media as a guide. In this project I assert that mediated sapphic woman characters impact the identity development and everyday experiences for sapphic women in material ways. I explore what mediated narratives sapphic women consume and analyze how these messages become symbolic rhetorical tools that queer women rhetorically mobilize to narrativize and negotiate their queer identities. To achieve this goal, I utilized rhetorical field methods by interviewing 20 queer women ranging from the ages of 25-40 in dyadic, semi structured interviews. These women use varying terms to label …

Street Art And A New Space Of Democracy In Post-Soeharto Indonesia: Reading Anti-Tank Project Posters, Ali Minanto

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

This article deals with the intertwine between street art and the practice of democracy in post-Soeharto Indonesia. It attempts to investigate the role of street art in the contemporary political landscape of Indonesia, especially two decades after the reformasi (reformation) movement. Reformasi, which was marked by the collapse of the New Order regime in 1998, is regarded as a turning point in Indonesia's democracy after 32 years of authoritarian government. Street art took a crucial part in that historic moment as a medium of protest. This study shows cases of the Anti-Tank Project, one of Yogyakarta’s street artists, posters with …

An Interdisciplinary Approach To Language Activism From Community Colleges: Linguistics Meets Communication Studies, Carlos De Cuba, Poppy Slocum, Laura Spinu

Publications and Research

This chapter describes the work of three linguists working in communication departments at two community colleges in the City University of New York system (CUNY) to counter deficit approaches toward dialectal variation in the field of communication studies (and beyond). The authors’ approach includes professional presentations, curricular redesign, identifying linguistic discrimination in textbooks, and conducting professional development workshops and seminars. They believe that the things they are doing are easily reproducible, so they are shared in this chapter in the hopes that more people will get actively involved in reducing/eliminating such harmful classroom pedagogies that involve deficit views of dialectal …

Empowering Voices: Exploring The Career Trajectories Of Women Of Color Hr Professionals Amid Disruptive Change, Brandi R. Muñoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated strategies to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives in organizational leadership, focusing on supporting women of color in the workplace. The specific problem addressed was the underrepresentation and barriers faced by women of color in leadership positions despite their potential contributions to organizational success. The study employed a qualitative approach, combining qualitative interviews with socioeconomic data analysis. Data collection methods included semistructured interviews with women of color and a survey to gather demographic and employment information. The sample consisted of 16 women of color human resource professionals working in various industries and organizational settings across the …

Black Girls Youth Participatory Action Research & Pedagogies, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, Venus E. Evans-Winters

Faculty Scholarship

More than a decade ago, as a group of anti-racist and feminist researchers, including one of the authors, set out to survey the landscape of the schooling experiences of Black girls, we encountered a pronounced knowledge desert that threatened research-informed policy interventions that served to protect Black girls. Most research at the time focused on the educational experiences of male, female, or Black students. There was hardly any readily available data on the school-based outcomes of Black girls as a specific group of students with a unique set of experiences. In Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, & Underprotected (Crenshaw, …

‘Hot Girl Teaching’ In A Faith-Based Environment, Niya Pickett Miller

Feminist Pedagogy

There is much to learn from Megan Thee Stallion, the self-proclaimed “Hot Girl Coach.” However, her provocative lyrics and hyper-sexuality are challenging to interject into communication-themed classes at a predominantly white, faith-based university where many students come with an expectation for learning that resists mainstream trends and upholds conventional Christian values and conservative ideological ways of thinking about socio-political issues. This commentary offers a faith-based and feminist perspective about how including Black popular culture, and (more broadly) culturally diverse texts in predominately white, faith-based classrooms can work and why such centering does not contradict biblical principles.

No Ela Without Ella: Understanding The Naming And Crafting Of Gendered Subjectivities In Puerto Rico, Carmín Quijano Seda

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At the beginning of the 20th century, the official metadiscourses about gendered job titles sedimented the idea that names or indexes pointing to women should be interpreted as unskilled, cheap, or even free labor in Puerto Rico (Azize, 1985; Muñiz Mas, 1998; Baerga-Santini, 1999). For this reason, Puerto Rican women organized and fought for equality in work settings. Furthermore, they became more active in politics and the government. Nevertheless, the Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) and local media discourses and interpretations about women’s labor discouraged them from participating in more senior positions (Acevedo Gaud, 2012).

However, this interpretation seemed to have …

Digital Echoes: The Influence Of Internet And Social Media On The “Ideal” Conception Of Motherhood In Indonesian Stunting Programs, Sari Damar Ratri

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This article examines how information about childhood care available on social media affects the construction of ideal Indonesian mothers. Specifically, I pay closer attention to how women's roles and experiences in stunting prevention campaigns are portrayed and enacted online in the context of the digital socialization of these programs. Based on online ethnographic research from 2021-2023, which examined social media accounts of healthcare professionals and mothers, this article explores the construction of “ideal” motherhood within the digital realm of stunting programs. As health care professionals’ social media accounts carried messages and embodied the authoritative power of medical knowledge, they helped …

Tragedi Kebudayaan Dan Objektivasi Hubungan Manusia: Sebuah Refleksi Mengenai Pemikiran Georg Simmel, Kevin Nobel Kurniawan

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This article attempts to describe Simmel’s intellectual thoughts, particularly those related to the mode of human relationship. By applying a systematic literature review, this article demonstrates the uniqueness of Simmelian thought in comparison to other major classical sociological thinkers, like Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. For Simmel, a macro-level analysis on societal culture can be carried out by focusing on the micro dimension of the everyday life. In this context, Simmel speaks of the tragedy of culture that transpires through the process of objectification, where relationships become increasingly impersonal. At the end, this article provides a commentary on …

“Merdeka Belajar”: A Cultural Political Economy Of Indonesia’S Neoliberalising Nationalist University, Inaya Rakhmani

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

This article examines the realignment of nationalist higher education in Indonesia to suit market interests. Using a cultural political economy approach to knowledge and power, this article selects and analyses university policy reforms and narratives in Indonesia that have guided university reform in the past decades. It suggests that the reorganisation of Indonesia’s higher education sector can be understood through the relationship between structural change in the global economy, which occurs together with cultural shifts within national and local conditions. It looks at how universities and higher education policies are organised in post-authoritarian Indonesia under the framework of neoliberal governance, …

A Report From The 2023 National Communication Association Annual Convention, Mick Brewer

Title III Professional Development Reports

This blog post presents a brief review of activity featured at the 2023 National Communication Association's annual conference, held in National Harbor from November 16-19, with the theme "Freedom."

Digital Phobia: An Inquiry For Mapping The Unseen Dimension Of New Digital Anxiety, The ‘Digiphobia’, Amarjit Kumar Singh ,Library Assistant, Md. Arshad Ali , Professional Assistant, Dr. Pankaj Mathur, Deputy Librarian,

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: As technology continues to advance, individuals' interactions with digital platforms have become integral to daily life. Amidst this technological evolution, a novel concern emerges—Digital Phobia, hereafter referred to as “Digiphobia.” This phenomenon, although not previously explored in scholarly literature, necessitates an in-depth investigation due to its potential impact on individuals' well-being. Our research employs a two-step methodology to investigate its existence, implications, and manifestations.

Introduction: This research paper introduces and proposes the term "Digiphobia" as a comprehensive conceptualization of anxiety arising from interactions with digital spaces, applications, and environments. The proliferation of digital technologies has led to the emergence …

The Disney+ Kingdom : Essays On Nostalgia, Representation And Branding, John Perlich, David Whitt

BSU Faculty PubCast

Listen to a conversation with Dr. John Perlich (Bemidji State) and Dr. David Whitt (Nebraska Wesleyan), editors and contributors on the book Disney+ Kingdom: Essays on Nostalgia, Representation and Branding. It is a collection of essays that examines a variety of Disney+ content.

Credit: Podcast produced by Tammy Bobrowsky (Bemidji State). Music "Collaboration"by Radioontheshelf, 2025 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0).

The Power Of Polish: Exploring The Impact Of Nail Adornments On Perceptions Of Attraction, Sara Demichele

Honors Theses

Understanding the significance of nail adornments in shaping perceptions of attractiveness and mate value provides insights into human behavior and preferences. In the current investigation, participants rated human nail length and color on physical attractiveness and partner desirability measures. Results revealed significant effects of nail length and color across different demographic groups. Medium-length nails consistently received higher ratings for physical attractiveness, cuteness, and partner desirability compared to short and long nails. White-colored nails were generally rated most attractive, while blue and black nails received the lowest ratings. Additionally, participants reported a moderate association between having manicured nails and feelings of …

The Regenarrative: How To Change The Story In Order To Change The Future, S. Rose Bigheart O'Leary

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Abstract

In the era of Climate Change, many are concerned that the end of the Anthropocene, or the end of the era of human life on Earth, is upon us. Western European colonialism and its subsequent systems (settler-colonialism, colonial-capitalism, and globalization - sometimes termed “neocolonialism”) have all been implicated in contributing to unsustainable behaviors linked to accelerating climate change. In searching for possible solutions, some have called for listening to Indigenous Peoples, citing ethics of sustainability found among many Indigenous cultures. However, the cultural products of settler-colonialism are still dominant in ways that do not allow for Indigenous worldviews to …

From Screen To Classroom: The Role Of Televised Narratives In Enhancing Educational Belongingness For Black American Students, Feyi Oshinyemi

Masters Theses

This creative thesis examines the influence of televised narratives on shaping the educational experiences of Black American students, exploring the interplay between media representation and educational belonging. It proposes how televisual narratives can better reflect and support the educational identities of Black American students, aiming to foster a greater sense of belonging and representation in educational media. This document serves as an accompaniment to the center of this work, a twelve minute pilot episode that explores the challenges and triumphs of students navigating their educational journeys. This work not only provides a detailed breakdown of the episode's narrative and production …

Autopathography Across Media: Trauma And Fluid Embodied Subjectivity, He (Kristen) Shen

Honors Theses

Illness memoirs with first-person point of view have gained more attention in recent years among medical sociologists and anthropologists. Different from traditional “case histories”written by doctors that are in danger of ignoring patients’ voices, autopathograhical works delineate narrators’ transformative experiences of persons to patients, emphasizing the importance of gaining social understanding of illness. Focusing on three works within the category of autopathography across genres and media forms in the late 1950s and contemporary periods, The Cancer Journals (1980) written by Audre Lorde, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019) written by Esmé Weijun Wang, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) directed …

Narratives Of Identity: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Biracial Identity Construction And Performance In Family, Education, And Media, Eboni Springfield

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis explores the complex construction and performance of biracial identity within the context of the United States, delving into the historical and ongoing impacts of race and racism, and the pervasive influence of white supremacy. Through an autoethnographic approach, this study investigates how personal narratives illuminate the processes of biracial identity construction, expression, and negotiation across three social institutions: family, education, and media. The findings reveal the intricate and intersecting interactions that contribute to identity formation, highlighting the expansive nature of intersectionality. The analysis demonstrates that biracial identity is continuously shaped in response to white supremacy, which complicates efforts …

Intercultural And International Communication In The Surrogacy Industry, Jessica Baker

Undergraduate Scholarship

Understanding the relationship between intercultural communication, international communication, and the proper way to discuss sensitive topics (infertility, surrogacy, LGBTQ+) in the surrogacy industry leads to strong communication. When communicating internationally or interculturally, there may be challenges such as language barriers, cultural differences, and cultural taboos. In order to avoid uncomfortable situations or miscommunication, knowing how to change the way we communicate with Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is a necessity to navigate important conversations. In the surrogacy industry, knowing how to communicate interculturally and being culturally competent about sensitive topics such as infertility or loss can determine the success of a …