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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Analysis Of Vogue: Femininity & Intersectionality As A Societal Standard In Fashion, Cassidy Tamburro May 2020

An Analysis Of Vogue: Femininity & Intersectionality As A Societal Standard In Fashion, Cassidy Tamburro

Scholars Week

The goal of this research project is to see if Vogue has evolved or changed its fashion coverage to be more intersectional as well as evolved in what it means to be ideally feminine. The research question that guided my work is: How has Vogue’s intersectionality and feminine ideals evolved in its fashion coverage from 1975 to 2019? My methods include a semiotic analysis of Vogue magazine covers images from 1975 and 2019, examining model diversity, cover-photo elements, and representations of styles. A qualitative analysis, including content-coding, of Vogue fashion articles 1975 and 2019. The main findings included that Vogue …


Kulshan Gives: Helping A Nonprofit Choir Create A Culture Of Giving, Emily Jackson, Schuyler Shelloner May 2020

Kulshan Gives: Helping A Nonprofit Choir Create A Culture Of Giving, Emily Jackson, Schuyler Shelloner

Scholars Week

How can a nonprofit organization change from a culture of caring to a culture of giving? Emily Jackson, Schuyler Shelloner and Emma Calvert sought to answer that question in Fall 2020 during their public relations course, Research and Campaigns. They formed the Skyline Group agency and developed a PR campaign proposal for the Kulshan Chorus. This nonprofit, social-justice-oriented choir wanted to raise awareness about their mission, increase funding and involve more choir members in more community outreach. In response to their request for proposal, the Skyline Group conducted research, defined target audiences and created a 53-page campaign booklet with deliverables …


Black Power Imagery As Resistive Memory-Making, Courtney Kruzan May 2020

Black Power Imagery As Resistive Memory-Making, Courtney Kruzan

Scholars Week

The “Four Black Panthers” is a photograph of Assata Shakur (middle left), Dhoruba bin-Wahad (far left), and two other unknown individuals (middle and far right) that was found attached to the essay Assata Shakur, Excluding the Nightmare After the Dream by bin-Wahad. “Four Black Panthers” is a part of a rich genre of Black Power Era imagery that attempts to portray the collective memory of Black communities and to articulate an alternative history that challenges the hegemonic narrative put-forth in the U.S. The narrative of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is that peaceful, non-violence made the movement. Dr. …


Journalism In The Age Of Doxxing​, Kathrine Huntington May 2020

Journalism In The Age Of Doxxing​, Kathrine Huntington

Scholars Week

Doxxing is something that is becoming more and more of a reality to many journalists today and that reality can quickly become a nightmare if used in the wrong way. Doxxing is known as the release of private information without consent of the person it is directed towards. It is important for journalists today to be familiar with what doxxing is, what ethical dilemmas it creates as well as how to protect themselves against being doxxed. Anyone can be doxxed but journalists face the highest risk in today’s modern world due to easy accessibility to technology as well as our …


Reducing Stress For Student Journalists, Melody Kazel May 2020

Reducing Stress For Student Journalists, Melody Kazel

Scholars Week

As a student in JOUR 214 and 414, I noticed that stress levels in the class were high. I asked students, currently in the class or who’d taken it one quarter previously, to fill out a survey about their stress levels and causes of stress. In order to prevent unconscious negative bias because of the nature of a survey about stress, I included questions about student satisfaction levels and causes of satisfaction. The majority of students rated stress at an eight or ten out of ten. Satisfaction levels were more varied; most students rated their satisfaction at a four, five, …


Self-Care Practices Among College Students Today: Coping With Mental Illness, Ashley Manawa May 2020

Self-Care Practices Among College Students Today: Coping With Mental Illness, Ashley Manawa

Scholars Week

This study focuses on aspects of mental health and illness experienced by college students who access the university Wellness Center. In this study, researchers conduct qualitative interviewing with participants to better understand their perspectives and experiences, as well as treatment in the form of self-care practices. Implications of this study include the impact that the self-care practices have on the students experiencing mental illness.


The Advocacy And Rhetoric Of Students Experiencing Hunger In The Pursuit Of College Degrees, Mckenzie Goff May 2020

The Advocacy And Rhetoric Of Students Experiencing Hunger In The Pursuit Of College Degrees, Mckenzie Goff

Scholars Week

The following proposal is examining the interaction between college rhetoric of hunger with the self-advocacy of students experiencing food insecurity. The study will be a face to face interview with 20 students of any gender, between the ages of 19 and 25. The face to face interview will cover questions on experiences in food insecurity as well as comfort level when partaking in self-advocacy and it will be followed up with an email with the same questions. The results of this study will be used to examine current rhetoric of hunger used by college administrations to reform said rhetoric.


Journalists Need To Be A Voice For The Weakest Stakeholders In The Climate Crisis, Lucille Giaccio May 2020

Journalists Need To Be A Voice For The Weakest Stakeholders In The Climate Crisis, Lucille Giaccio

Scholars Week

The paper covers the ethical dilemma concerning Journalism and its lack of coverage of the animal perspective. The research was done using Western Washington University's library databases and other news articles about the issue. The articles and websites focused on the ethical aspect of the "Voice for the Voiceless" including animals and nature. The primary issue with news organizations failing to discuss the animal suffering in the climate crisis was because they claimed it was too complicated. The challenge after that is writing for a human audience with a nonhuman perspective. Many journalists have adapted their style to cover all …


Nike In Politics: How Political Consumerism Impacts Corporate Social Responsibility, Samantha Frost May 2019

Nike In Politics: How Political Consumerism Impacts Corporate Social Responsibility, Samantha Frost

Scholars Week

How does Nike's campaign supporting Colin Kaepernick and the Black Lives Matter movement reflect the alignment of large corporations with political movements as a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and how does political consumerism impact this decision? The purpose of this project is to examine how Nike used the ‘Dream Crazy’ campaign to piggyback off the Black Lives Matter movement as a public relations and marketing strategy as well as how political consumerism is shaping corporate social responsibility. How do political movements impact the corporate world and how do corporations impact political movements? Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign titled ‘Chasing Crazy’ was …


Representation Of Addiction In The Media, Lauren Gallup May 2019

Representation Of Addiction In The Media, Lauren Gallup

Scholars Week

Presenting the story of addiction in news and entertainment media presents an ethical dilemma for those doing the storytelling. This dilemma faces the ethical paradigm of Right vs. Wrong. In this research project, I focused on how addiction is presented in the media. Media representation of addiction shapes how people think about this disease and can affect legislation to support assistance for recovering addicts. This led me to determine that media has an important place in shaping how we think about addiction. In this paper, I identified how media can do a public good by accurately and ethically covering stories …


The Education Beat In A Declining Industry, Jon Foster May 2019

The Education Beat In A Declining Industry, Jon Foster

Scholars Week

The collapse of the newspaper industry and the disappearance of the education beat on many local and national newspapers can have profound impacts on journalism, civic engagement and our democracy. In this paper, I look at the the current state of education reporting in America and examine the ethical dilemmas local and national news agencies face as well as the hopeful future it has in a transforming news industry.


Coverage Of The #Metoo & Time’S Up Movement: Examining Who Is Quoted And What Terminology Is Used In Msnbc, Fox News And The Bbc’S Coverage Of The #Metoo And Time’S Up Movements, Stella Harvey May 2018

Coverage Of The #Metoo & Time’S Up Movement: Examining Who Is Quoted And What Terminology Is Used In Msnbc, Fox News And The Bbc’S Coverage Of The #Metoo And Time’S Up Movements, Stella Harvey

Scholars Week

The widespread conversation on sexual assault and harassment that has been growing since October 2017 has impacted many industries, including journalism. Movements such as #MeToo and Time’s Up aim to raise awareness about the prevalence of these issues and stop the cycle of abuse. Within these movements, many celebrities have spoken publicly about their experiences, resulting in extensive media coverage on an issue that has historically been swept under the rug. The terminology that is used when it comes to issues of sex crimes and allegations is incredibly important because there is a great amount of nuance between terms. It …


The Little Klansman: A Symbol Of American Infantilism Amidst Racial Tensions, Lucia Gruber May 2018

The Little Klansman: A Symbol Of American Infantilism Amidst Racial Tensions, Lucia Gruber

Scholars Week

During December of 1865, a string of violence was unleashed as the United States witnessed the birth of its most infamous hate group, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In the decades following its conception, the influence of the KKK has waxed and waned, but membership has always been a family affair. A photograph that exemplifies this phenomenon is one of a young boy identified as Josh, which was captured at a KKK rally in Gainesville, Georgia over Labor Day weekend in 1992. I argue that the photograph of The Little Klansman serves as an example of metonymy because it represents …


#Me Too: An Analysis On Whose Sexual Assault Stories The New York Times Publishes, Alyssa Evans May 2018

#Me Too: An Analysis On Whose Sexual Assault Stories The New York Times Publishes, Alyssa Evans

Scholars Week

Source representation in media impacts the public’s perception of social issues and groups represented. This study examines the extent to which coverage by The New York Times of the #MeToo movement includes a diverse background of victims of sexual assault and harassment. An extension of research is added to scholarly discourse on framing of sexual assault victims and the inclusivity of the Times’ reporting on sexual assault. Human sources most often sourced in #MeToo-related stories analyzed were white female victims who held jobs in the entertainment industry or politics. The second most often represented source was found to be white …


Diversity Climate Assessment Of The Communication Studies Department, Annapurna Beavon May 2018

Diversity Climate Assessment Of The Communication Studies Department, Annapurna Beavon

Scholars Week

This study is a mixed-method assessment combining survey questionnaire and qualitative interviews in assessing and understanding student experiences in the communication studies department at Western Washington University. The purpose of the study is twofold: (a) to examine students’ perception of the diversity climate in communication classes and the department in general; and (b) to understand communication patterns that silence marginalized voices in the classroom. Aside from studies published in educational journals, Halualani (2010) is the first published study in the communication discipline that investigates diversity climate assessment at a multiracial university on the U.S. West Coast. Therefore, the findings of …


The Fake Account For The Real Self, Miranda Abrashi May 2018

The Fake Account For The Real Self, Miranda Abrashi

Scholars Week

Fake Instagrams, or more commonly known as "finstas" have increased in popularity over the past few years. This study's goal is centered around finding patterns of behavior that explain the desire to use finstagram as a platform. I observed the culture surrounding finstas by engaging directly by creating and posting my own content while interacting with others' content as well. I created and used my finsta for three months, during which I observed and conducted interviews to expand on my own knowledge and understanding of this particular culture. I discovered three main findings through my research that supported individuals' need …


St. Vincent’S “Equal-Opportunity” Guitar, Lexi Foldenauer May 2018

St. Vincent’S “Equal-Opportunity” Guitar, Lexi Foldenauer

Scholars Week

This research paper applied semiotics to examine the ways in which Ernie Ball Music Man's PR campaign for the release of St. Vincent's customized guitar utilized a third-wave feminist framework.


Women And Health Care: Exploring The Communication Dynamic Between Women And Their Doctors, Mairin Mccurdy May 2018

Women And Health Care: Exploring The Communication Dynamic Between Women And Their Doctors, Mairin Mccurdy

Scholars Week

This is a qualitative study examining the effects of the communication between patient and doctor on the self-concept of female patients. The researchers will use a combination of the Health Belief Model, which studies the individual constructs and beliefs that one feels and how this affects decisions made about health, and the Spiral of Silence, which explores how minority groups stay silent for fear of retaliation. Through the scope of these theories, the researcher will attempt to understand how insufficient communication on the part of the doctor, both in situations of diagnoses and in general practice, impacts how the female …


Capturing The Moment: A Rhetorical Analysis Of World War Ii Celebration, Kylie Wagar May 2017

Capturing The Moment: A Rhetorical Analysis Of World War Ii Celebration, Kylie Wagar

Scholars Week

The iconic image V-J Day in Times Square is nationally remembered for the celebration of the end of World War II. Focusing on the archival collection Victory and Peace from the National Archives, this research demonstrates a disconnect in American perceptions and the reality of culture through iconic images. Specifically I investigate the extent to which images from the 1940s are romanticized, celebrated and replicated in reflection of remembrance of the World War II era. These replications do not properly reflect the true events in 1945, but rather the idea that many would like to take away from this era. …


From Bra-Burners To Bureaucracy: The Evolution Of Second-Wave Feminism Through Now Newsletters, Alexandria Baker May 2017

From Bra-Burners To Bureaucracy: The Evolution Of Second-Wave Feminism Through Now Newsletters, Alexandria Baker

Scholars Week

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was an influential organization in the 1960s for furthering the agenda of second-wave feminists. The organization had many strategies for developing and controlling the national agenda for feminism, one of which was the production and dissemination of newsletters by local chapters of the group. This research paper analyzes the techniques used for legitimizing second-wave feminism to women who were unaffiliated with NOW, and the ways in which these newsletters interpolated new members into the group. The research involved conducting a textual analysis on a representative archival newsletter from the time period. This paper concludes …


Best Practices In Civic Engagement: A Case Study Of The B Kind Campaign By The Downtown Bellingham Partnership, Lauren Drake, Hallie Fuchs May 2017

Best Practices In Civic Engagement: A Case Study Of The B Kind Campaign By The Downtown Bellingham Partnership, Lauren Drake, Hallie Fuchs

Scholars Week

In November 2016, the B Kind Campaign was launched by the Downtown Bellingham Partnership (DBP) to address the growing concerns of many Bellingham residents. These concerns grew in conjunction with the presidential election, during which candidates with opposing ideologies created a rhetoric that caused civil unrest amongst many Americans and impacted local communities. In response to input from community and business leaders, the DBP created the Campaign in under 24 hours. Their public relations efforts focus on showcasing the inclusive atmosphere downtown Bellingham is known for, while creating spaces where people of all identities can feel welcomed. This message is …


Feminist Mother In A Hyper-Masculine Society, Thu Le May 2017

Feminist Mother In A Hyper-Masculine Society, Thu Le

Scholars Week

This paper examined a character with notable mention from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, called Ekwefi. A textual analysis of the text and the role this character plays indicated that she communicated her identity as an independent woman in relation to being a second wife. Ekwefi seems to be, at first, pitied because of her lack of children and, subsequently, her bitter attitude. After further examination of her two prominent identities, Ekwefi displays characteristics of feminism through her actions, and by the actions of those around her. This paper ellaborates on these feminist motherhood roles of the character in a hyper-masculine …


Lolita Themes In Photography: An Ethics Case Study, Tiffany Ng May 2017

Lolita Themes In Photography: An Ethics Case Study, Tiffany Ng

Scholars Week

This case study involves the highly controversial South-Korean photographer, Rotta, and his erotic depictions of women with visual insinuations of underage children, more commonly known as the Lolita theme or aesthetic. These controversial images form an important ethical case study, which is evaluated through the TARES framework by Baker and Martinson (2010).


Perception And Policy: U.S. Sociological Attitudes And Policies Towards Guatemalans And Salvadorans In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Violeta Paredes Jun 2016

Perception And Policy: U.S. Sociological Attitudes And Policies Towards Guatemalans And Salvadorans In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Violeta Paredes

Scholars Week

This paper looks into Guatemalan and Salvadoran history and immigration in the late 20th Century and identifies how these patterns compare to and continue to affect present day immigration policy. By examining the difference between how immigration policy was handled prior and after the events that occurred on 9/11, the reader will be able to distinguish how social perception of immigrants in the U.S. changed drastically with the span of a few months. By examining the history of immigration policy post-WWII, the reader will be able to identify that aid such as providing asylum has historically contributed to systematic …


Youtube Celebrity And The Future Of Online Video, Nicole Shapiro May 2016

Youtube Celebrity And The Future Of Online Video, Nicole Shapiro

Scholars Week

In recent years, the rise of online video streaming services has become so great that traditional media, such as television, are worried about a potential eclipse in popularity and prevalence. YouTube is the largest online streaming platform, with over 1 billion users, and accounts for one-third of all internet traffic. This study analyzes YouTube’s attempt to professionalize the platform through a new service YouTube Red – taking amateurs, making them professionals and crafting them into celebrities – and what that means for the future of online video. This study looks at other scholarly works to analyze what makes a celebrity, …


A Reflection On Developing And Healing From Bulimia In College, Libby Keller May 2016

A Reflection On Developing And Healing From Bulimia In College, Libby Keller

Scholars Week

A look into a personal recovery from an eating disorder relapse.


An Examination Of Methods Used In Truth Campaign Advertisements, Monea Kerr May 2016

An Examination Of Methods Used In Truth Campaign Advertisements, Monea Kerr

Scholars Week

Every advertisement, no matter its nature, has a specific set of signs that it communicates. The meaning derived from the advertisements varies from person to person across different cultural and societal norms. This textual analysis of anti-tobacco television advertisements addresses the tobacco industry and the development of advertisements that aimed to bring it down. Utilizing the truth® campaign as an example, this study provides insight into the imagery and methods that are used in television advertisements in order to convince smokers to quit or non-smokers to never smoke. The different ways in which these strategies relate with audiences is a …


Social Privilege And International Volunteering, Stephanie Sisson May 2015

Social Privilege And International Volunteering, Stephanie Sisson

Scholars Week

I explore the awareness of social privilege revealed in the discourse among international volunteers. I conducted 10 semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The participants were university students who completed international service learning programs in Cambodia and Thailand. I analyzed the data using the grounded theory, specifically the constant comparison method. Findings revealed that international service learning alone proved ineffective in challenging institutionalized, self-mediated, and internalized social privilege. Implications of the study portray the need for universities to invest in follow-up programs that promote the sharing of volunteer experiences, guided critical reflection, and community out-reach based in solidarity. Taken together, this study suggests …


The Construction Of Gender Through Man Ray's Le Violon D'Ingres, Louise Strandoo May 2015

The Construction Of Gender Through Man Ray's Le Violon D'Ingres, Louise Strandoo

Scholars Week

This paper works to deconstruct the performance of gender created in Man Rays’ famous 1924 Photograph, Le Violon d’Ingres. Utilizing theories of performativity and surrealism, I explore how this image rhetorically constitutes ideals of femininity and normalized bodies. I analyze the semiotic codes of violins and amputation to conceptualize how audiences decode the model in the photograph to be female and the image to be surreal. By offering an intersectional reading of this text, I encourage audiences to consider how photographic images hail specific representations of identity. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of the material body and argue that …


The Critique Of Uncertainty Reduction, Riley Beard May 2015

The Critique Of Uncertainty Reduction, Riley Beard

Scholars Week

I sought to critique the theoretical implications and practical applications of the uncertainty reduction theory (URT) as utilized in the computer-mediated communication (CMC) context. In general, the URT is heuristic. It has been tested in multiple contexts, and provides valuable insights and predictions about interpersonal relationships. After almost four decades, despite cultural shifts, the URT is still widely used in the communication field. However, my analysis of the testing of the theory reveals its weaknesses. Particularly, the URT was generated within a Eurocentric framework, and it reinforces the practices of the dominant culture. The applications of the theory were mostly …