Digital Commons Network^™

Ypsilanti: A Cultural Assessment, Sarah Mark

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the culture of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Participants consisted of four leaders and five residents, all long-term citizens of Ypsilanti. Participants were interviewed and first asked to describe the general culture of Ypsilanti, then asked to comment on the potential presence of a music and arts scene as part of the culture of Ypsilanti. These questions are research questions one and two, respectively. Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth as people heard about the research through people I know. A content analysis of the interviews was conducted to find conceptual patterns in participants’ descriptions of the general culture as well …

Rethinking Social Support In Women's Midlife Years: Women's Experiences Of Social Support In Online Environments, Julie Dare, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2011

The midlife years (45–55) often coincide with fundamental changes in women’s lives, as women experience transitions such as menopause, changes to family structure due to departure of children or divorce, and parents’ ageing and death. These circumstances tend to increase women’s reliance upon their social support networks. Evidence suggests that social support is critical in helping women manage transitions during the midlife period and develop a sense of self-efficacy; this article highlights that this support is being increasingly exchanged through mediated communication channels. The article presents a comparative investigation of mediated communication channels, primarily email and online chat, through which …

Fan Commitment And Its Transformation Into Communitas Through The Process Of Proxemic Exchange, Arthur Alexander Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Live performances are comprised of various elements that scholars have utilized to understand the artist-fan relationship as well as the relationship among the fans themselves. In this study, I look at fandom in independent, or “indie” music and utilize my findings to creation a foundation for the understanding of fan commitment. I then argue that when a fan of a particular artist attends a live performance by that artist, they inherently engage in a proxemic exchange with the artist as well as the fans around them. This proxemic exchange is driven by fan commitment and facilitates the creation of communitas …

Surrealism Is Not Dead: A Look At Surrealism In Contemporary Mass Communication Via Analysis Of Modern Popular Films, Joi Deanne Chadwick

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study examined three modern films - Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, and Iron Man 2 - to understand the place of Surrealism in contemporary communication. The thesis began with a review of literature regarding Surrealism's revolutionary propensities and its flow into the mainstream. The review's basis was postmodernist philosophy rooted in Roland Barthes's and Umberto Eco's semiotics and Stuart Hall's cultural studies. This underlying philosophy asserted the complexity and mutability of signs and styles, a media role in acceptance and mutation of signs/styles, and endurance of ideas through cultural shifts. Semiotic analysis was crucial methodology in this study …

Still Flying: The Communicative Constitution Of Browncoat Fandom As Culture, Jonathon Nicholas Lundy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In contemporary western culture, fandom is common. Many academics and members of the general public alike conceive of fandom as outside the norms of spectatorship; to be a spectator is to enjoy an interest individually and passively. However, others contend that fandom is a more significant cultural achievement.

This study qualitatively investigated how Browncoats, or fans of the cancelled television series Firefly , communicatively construct their fandom culture. Methods included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, data analysis through Grounded Theory, and a comparative thematic analysis of the original Firefly source texts and Browncoat cultural data in order to discover meaningful themes …

Modélisation Sémiotique Et Systémique De L’Objet Design Comme Signe-Action Complexe, Sarah Belkhamsa, Bernard Darras

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Les approches sémiotiques et systémiques du design produit sont à la fois peu nombreuses et peu coordonnées. C’est ce que fait apparaitre l’état de la recherche en ce domaine. Les quelques études sémiotiques disponibles ont par ailleurs tendance à isoler l’objet de ses usages, de ses utilisateurs et de la complexité du système d’objets qui constitue son environnement proche ou des modes et styles de vie qui constituent ses univers. En conséquence, l’objet analysé est le plus souvent réduit à une image figée de lui-même. Seules les études qui relèvent de la sémiotique pragmatique veillent à inscrire l’objet dans l’action, …

A Comparative Study Of Self-Disclosure In Face-To-Face And Email Communication Between Americans And Chinese, Carolyn Durand

Senior Honors Projects

Self-disclosure occurs when one person communicates personal information about his or her self to another. This information can include facts, opinions, or feelings, and can vary in both breadth and depth. The amount of self-disclosure a person offers depends on several factors. The gender and personality of the person, the relationship they have with the listener, or target, the topic they are discussing, and the medium through which they are communicating all influence how much they are willing to reveal about themselves.

Another aspect that affects self-disclosure is culture. Culture refers to a set of beliefs, values, and traditions shared …

Grounding Theory In Practice: A Reflection On Designing And Delivering A Workshop On Intercultural Sensitivity For Korean Public School English Teachers, Kevin Giddens

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I will use a process of rigorous reflection to explore the design and implementation of a cross-cultural simulation workshop as a means of developing intercultural sensitivity among Korean public school English teachers in Daegu, South Korea. After introducing the workshop design I will describe in detail my experience of delivering the workshop. I will overlay Milton J. Bennett’s model for developing intercultural sensitivity (1993) with participant reflections as a means of grounding theory to practice and exploring whether or not participants were able to demonstrate observable movement within Bennett’s model. I will then highlight some possible modifications …

A Detailed Case Study Of Unusual Routines, Stephen D. Cooper

Communications Faculty Research

Everyone working in organizations will, from time to time, experience frustrations and problems when trying to accomplish tasks that are a required part of their role. In such cases it is normal for people to find ways of completing their work in such a way that hey can get around, or just simply avoid, the procedure or system that has caused the problem. This is an unusual routine – a recurrent interaction pattern in which someone encounters a problem when trying to accomplish normal activities by following standard organizational procedures and then becomes enmeshed in wasteful and even harmful subroutines …

Roots: Agrarian Movements And The Importance Of Ground Within The Philosophy Of Communication (A Synecdoche), Maryl Roberts Mcginley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work looks at the way in which an agrarian philosophy communicates the meaningful connection between cultivating land and being attentive to the philosophical notion of ground. It tells the story of agrarian movements from the last century with special attention to what about the philosophy has durability. This work outlines the possibility of an agrarian framework as a potential alternative to modernity. Each chapter is attentive to a different voice in the movement, exploring his engagement with an agrarian philosophy and connection to the philosophy of communication.

Mapping The World: Facts And Meaning In Adjudication And Mediation, Robert Rubinson

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores what is and what is not in adjudication and mediation, thus illuminating the profound differences between these two processes. The Article does this work in four parts. First, it offers an analysis of cognitive mapmaking and its inevitability in constructing meaning. It then explores how adjudication defines meaning in a particular way. This Article then conducts a comparable analysis of mediation. Finally, it focuses on the bridging function attorneys play between the worlds of mediation and adjudication.

A Cross-Cultural Study Of Intergenerational Communication In Workplace, Yan Guan

Dissertations

This study investigates intergenerational relationships in organizational settings and uses Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) to examine the influence of age, power, culture, and self-construal on young workers' perceptions of intergenerational communication. According to CAT, communication is stereotypical due to outgroup bias, people favor their own age or power group more than other age or power groups. CAT research showed that young Asians' perceptions of intergenerational communication may be more negative than their Western counterparts. Self-construal was studied to understand the nature of culture's influence. Research and theory supported nine hypotheses and three research questions.

A study using self-report measure was …

The Potential Use Of Slow-Down Technology To Improve Pronounciation Of English For International Communication, Bunny Richardson

Doctoral

The focus of this research is on oral communication between L1 (first language) and L2 (second language) English users - to determine whether an algorithm which slows down speech can increase the intelligibility of speech between interlocutors for EIC (English for International Communication). The slow-down facility is a CALL tool which slows down speech without tonal distortion. It allows English language learners more processing time to hear individual phonemes as produced in the stream of connected speech, to help them hear and produce phonemes more accurately and thus more intelligibly. The study involved five tests, all concerned with the intelligibility …

Lost In Translation: Emotion And Expression Through Technology, Shaylyn Joy

Honors Scholar Theses

My Thesis study was designed to bring to topic certain issues involved with CMC (computer-mediated communication.) Often we are presented with confusing or misleading situations when it comes to expressing our emotions through technological means. It is important that we are aware of certain issues such as the use of emoticons, expressing sarcasm, and the ongoing trend of Internet slang. These various aspects can create confusion in CMC, leading to a loss in translation. My survey study was designed to probe deeper into these issues by asking general questions and by analyzing sample CMC scenarios.

Latinos' Collectivism And Self-Disclosure In Intercultural And Intracultural Friendships And Acquaintanceships, Audrey Liz Schwartz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Self-disclosure is the process of sharing personal information with others and varies according to relationship intimacy, cultural norms, and personal values. Collectivism, defined as the tendency to define oneself in terms of social/cultural roles, may impact self-disclosure in intercultural relationships. The present study investigated whether Latinos/as reliably self-disclose more in intracultural versus intercultural friendships and acquaintanceships. An additional question was whether cultural variables such as collectivism, ethnic identity, and acculturation are related to self-disclosure differences. Data were collected via an online survey from internationally born Latinos and Latino Americans. Results of linear mixed effects model testing revealed that relationship type …

Anthropology And Ethnography: Contributions To Integrated Marketing Communications, Claudia M. Wright

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Student Research

This paper explores the ways in which anthropological research, specifically ethnography, can be useful in an Integrated Marketing Communication approach. Starting from a brief description of the different ways in which the discipline of anthropology has studied consumption, the paper turns to review how it can serve effectively to understand both the corporate as well as the consumer culture. Furthermore, the role that the anthropological discipline plays for Integrated Marketing Communication strategies is presented along with some examples of how different firms have used it. This paper is an approach to understanding ethnography not only as a market research methodology, …

Hollywood Representations Of Irish Journalism: A Case Study Of Veronica Guerin, Pat Brereton

Articles

This paper emanates from an interest in how the journalist profession is represented on film. This discussion is framed, broadly, by an effort to gauge the performative nature of journalists, from ‘hard-boiled’ press hacks to egomaniacal TV reporters, while situating the vocation within conventional media studies, which privileges political and ethical indicators like ‘the Fourth Estate’ or as ‘Public Watchdog’.

Body And Bulimia Revisited: Reflections On "A Secret Life", Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

In 1996, the author published “A Secret Life in a Culture of Thinness: Reflections on Body, Food, and Bulimia” (Tillmann-Healy, 1996), an account of her struggle with binging and purging from ages 15 to 25. She came to understand bulimia as a communicative act, expressing fear, anxiety, and grief. From 25 to 35, her recovery from bulimia involved learning to “purge” emotion through other forms of communication (e.g., dialogue, writing, and teaching). At 35, separation and divorce pose the greatest challenge to the author’s 10-year recovery, yet she does not return to bulimic expression. This article invites readers to sense …

Chinese Harmony Theory, Guo-Ming Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Based on Chen’s harmony theory of Chinese communication, this entry explicated that the ability to reach a harmonious state of human relationship is the main criterion the Chinese use to evaluate communication competence. In order to achieve harmony interactants are required to follow three principles: (1) intrinsically to internalize jen (humanism), yi (righteousness), and li (rite); (2) extrinsically to accommodate shih (temporal contingencies), wei (spatial contingencies), and ji (the first imperceptible beginning of movement); and (3) strategically to exercise guanxi (inter-relation), mientz (face), and power in the behavioral level.

Communication, Crisis, And Identity: Dialectical Tensions In Family Narratives About Hurricane Katrina, Laura Poole Rogers

Dissertations

In this study victims of Hurricane Katrina ordered their experiences with the crisis into meaningful themes which expressed their values, actions, inactions, occupations, needs and losses, and feelings. In interviews participants explained what happened, when it happened, how they responded, how they thought they should have responded, and how they handled situations surrounding the storm. Narratives about situations after the storm revealed descriptions of their and others' relationships in interactions with representatives of larger social units. The dialectical analysis revealed dialectical tensions that emphasized participants' dynamic and changing relationships and identities. Dialectical analysis of narratives about those relationships revealed dialectical …

Hiv/Aids: An Opportunistic Infection Of Globalization?, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Organizational Culture, Workplace Incivility, And Turnover : The Impact Of Human Resources Practices., Dana Cosby Simmons 1969-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between two communication-related dimensions of organizational culture, workplace incivility, and turnover. In particular, it investigates the impact that four human resources practices have on the relationship between incivility and turnover. These practices are (a) training, (b) formal policies, (c) grievance procedures, and (d) vertical hierarchy. Employing data from the National Organizations Survey (2002), the study provides a conceptual model suggesting that "soft" measures such as organizational culture and human resources practices impact the bottom line of an organization. The dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter One provides an introduction to the research problem and …

Fashion Advertising, Men’S Magazines, And Sex In Advertising: A Critical-Interpretive Study, Jennifer Ford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines sexualized portrayals of women in fashion advertising found in metro-sexual men's magazines as visual rhetoric. Historically, studies on sexual images of women in advertising have focused on content analyses of these images and how they affect women. This study asks how sexualized imagery of women functions rhetorically as part of a branding message designed to sell products. The exemplar advertisements were chosen specifically for their sexual imagery from an earlier study by the researcher on sexual images of women in fashion advertisements found in men's magazines.

The messages interpreted within the visuals of this study reveal a …

Exploring Interdisciplinary Prayer Research In A Health Context, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

Communication, Psychology, and Sociology are three leading academic disciplines engaged in the social scientific study of prayer, the spiritual communication between a believer(s) and God, but rarely do these disciplines collaborate in interdisciplinary prayer scholarship. Possibilities for interdisciplinary prayer research in a health context are explored through a review of the literature and academic interviews. Interdisciplinary linkages in the prayer-health context are organized in an integral "all-quadrant" theoretical model, and an assessment of the viability of interdisciplinary prayer-health research is considered.

Sp 501 Communication As Christian Rhetoric , Stacy R. Minger

Syllabi

Holy Bible. (Please choose a translation to work from rather than a paraphrase). Schmit, Clayton. The Public Reading of Scripture. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002. ISBN:06-870-45-371 SP 501 Communication as Christian Rhetoric Syllabus Page 2 Schultze, Q. J. An Essential Guide to Public Speaking: Serving Your Audience with Faith, Skill, and Virtue. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006. ISBN 08-010-31-516 Volf, Miroslav. Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. ISBN 0-310-26574-6 1 VHS Tape or a DVD-R for recording your speeches. If you record to a DVD you will need to stay after class to …

Sp 501 Communication As Christian Rhetoric, Carolyn Smith

Syllabi

“Communication as Christian Rhetoric provides a context for instruction and practice that introduces the art of written and spoken communication within a clearly articulated Wesleyan theological framework for the purpose of Christian ministry. As a core course within the theological curriculum, its purpose does not simply replicate undergraduate speech and communication studies. Students will be provided with appropriate means for cultivating necessary habits of Christian life and speech in light of the Christian rhetorical tradition, classical rhetoric, and contemporary communication studies in preparation for Christian ministry in a multicultural society. This course is designed to integrate theological and scriptural knowledge, …

Communication And The Knowable Community, Bonnie Brennen

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This essay draws on Raymond Williams's concept of a knowable community in an effort to understand the myriad of connections that exist between individuals and society. Williams, who sees communication and community as synonymous, suggests that a knowable community may ultimately emerge through the process of communication and that in the discovery of connections between individuals and society, an understanding of historically specific patterns may be shown. This essay also discusses an oral history project with journalists who worked for Gannett in the 1960s as an example of an emerging knowable community that questioned traditional notions of community and challenged …

Sp 501 Communication As Christian Rhetoric, Carolyn Smith

Syllabi

“Communication as Christian Rhetoric provides a context for instruction and practice that introduces the art of written and spoken communication within a clearly articulated Wesleyan theological framework for the purpose of Christian ministry. As a core course within the theological curriculum, its purpose does not simply replicate undergraduate speech and communication studies. Students will be provided with appropriate means for cultivating necessary habits of Christian life and speech in light of the Christian rhetorical tradition, classical rhetoric, and contemporary communication studies in preparation for Christian ministry in a multicultural society. This course is designed to integrate theological and scriptural knowledge, …

Interview With Roger Mosvick, Class Of 1952 And Professor Of Speech And Communication, Roger Mosvick

Macalester Oral Histories

No abstract provided.

I Want To Know You I Want To Understand You, Jeane Dos Santos Alves Cooper

LSU Master's Theses

I want to know you I want to understand you is a new media work that uses the World Wide Web to discuss the issues of traditional and new methods of communication, as well as exploring the concepts of collaborative and interactive art.