Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Unpacking Political Identity In First-Time Voting Christian Women: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Mary Grace Golden

Honors Theses

As political science tends to focus on polling and statistical analysis to examine individuals’ voting behaviors, the reasoning behind constituents’ decision-making process is often left in the dark. This is particularly true in first-time voting women who come from religious backgrounds that uphold complementarian gender values. This study focuses on the following research questions: How do women experience their political identity in relation to their gender identity? How do women experience their political identity in relation to their religious or faith identity? How do women experience their political identity in relation to voting for the first time? I answer these …

Digital Pulpit: A Thematic Analysis Of Evangelical Leaders’ Statements On Twitter In The Two Weeks Following The January 6 Capitol Riot, Everett Belle Kirkman

Honors Theses

White evangelicals overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. According to the Pew Research Center, 81% voted for him. That support baffled pundits at first but held up throughout his presidency. By the time the 2020 election season was ramping up, White evangelicals who supported Trump held more tightly to their beliefs, many taking to social media to convey their opinions. Since the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, over 600 outspoken Trump supporters have been arrested and charged for inciting violence in dispute of election results. This research is a thematic content analysis of the statements …

“Oye, Como Va:” How Streaming Services Have Contributed To The Globalization Of Latin Music, Isabel Caballero

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Artistic Mother Tongue, Hannah Perkins

Honors Theses

Art is the mother tongue of culture. William Cameron Townsend, pioneer missionary and founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, said “The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.” But the mother tongue of any people of any culture is more than just the spoken and written word. It is found in every artistic and visual expression of that people. How is the Bible, the everlasting truth of God, to be expressed through artistic expression in the ‘mother tongue’ of a people?

Often, Christianity is painted as the Westerner’s religion. Christianity is very ingrained into specifically America’s cultural identity. In …

Uncovered Magazine: A Magazine Prototype And Business Plan, Avery Bowman

Honors Theses

Through developing a skin care magazine prototype and business plan, this thesis aims to show how a print magazine can be successful to a young audience. By studying the history and development of both magazines and skin care and focusing on today’s industries, now is the perfect time to launch a skin care magazine. Uncovered Magazine will not only focus on filling this gap, but also will aim to empower women to find beauty in their natural skin.

The Emergence Of Esports Through The Last Five Years, Jordan Donald

Honors Theses

Esports has been a significant new topic over the past decade but their place in the sports industry has not been specifically defined over the years. The birth of what we know as Esports came upon us in 1972 and has only had exponentially grown in the success it has had over the past fifty years. It all started with a popular little arcade game that is still played to this day, Space Invaders. Space Invaders has evolved over the years, laying the foundation and the blueprint for success for companies to follow. Esports easily had a drastic take off …

The Root Of The Problem: Mississippi And The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Matthew Brennan Hendley

Honors Theses

The Root of the Problem: Mississippi and the School-to-Prison Pipeline is a solutions journalism piece about the “schoolhouse to jailhouse” theory, which represents a phenomenon in which grade school students, the majority of which are minority youth, are funneled into the criminal justice system via schools through policies and procedures that criminalize student misbehavior. The piece is an in-depth analysis of the arrival, history, and current state of the school-to-prison pipeline in Mississippi, featuring one specific effort to dismantle the phenomenon in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District in the Mississippi Delta. In addition to this analysis, the piece explores …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Covid-19 On Students At The University Of Mississippi: Family, Careers, Mental Health, Hannah Newbold

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the effects of COVID-19 on students at the University of Mississippi. For students, COVID-19 changed the landscape of education, with classes and jobs going online. Students who graduated in May 2020 entered a poor job market and many ended up going to graduate school instead of finding a job. Access to medical and professional help was limited at the very beginning, with offices not taking patients or moving appointments to virtual only. This would require that each student needing help had to have access to quality internet service, which wasn’t always guaranteed, thus producing additional challenges.

These …

Perilous Place: Personal Stories Point To Possible Solutions To Widespread Flooding In The Mississippi Delta, Jared Poland

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and create journalistic stories highlighting the Yazoo Backwater Pumps Projects relationship to climate change while utilizing narrative storytelling techniques. Before explaining the methodology used for conducting research and interviews, the researcher describes the influence that innovations of mass communication channels have had on the way humans form groups and persuasively advocate for their positions. The researcher describes their historical perspective of mass media innovations that were vital considerations during their discovery and investigation of this politically divisive issue. The researcher more specifically focuses on the innovations that have occurred since the digital …

The Multi-Sensory Design Of A Synesthete's Everyday Experience, Madeline M. Spicer

Honors Theses

Perception, which can be defined as becoming aware of occurrences in the world through the senses, is different for every person (Merriam-Webster). My thesis deals with perception in the form of a condition called synesthesia and the communication of this condition using graphic design. Synesthesia is a condition that involves the involuntary crossing of the senses, resulting in multi-sensory experiences every time a synesthete absorbs the world and visible language. Utilizing the field of graphic design, I created several projects to communicate my three goals of conducting research on synesthesia, sharing what I experience every day, and educating others about …

Sustainable Stories: Linking Graphic Design And The Environment To Inform, Educate, And Inspire, Shannon M. Stanforth

Honors Theses

The importance of the field of graphic design lies in its ability to communicate with others. It can serve to transcend barriers, to clarify messages, and to deepen universal understanding. Similarly, sustainability encompasses the three spheres of the environment, society and economy—demonstrating its interconnected complexities and multifaceted applications. In pursuing my Honors Thesis, I aimed to develop a project which would reflect the ideals of sustainability while simultaneously serving to educate about the importance of caring for the natural world. Furthermore, my research explores how the disciplines of sustainability and design overlap and interact, searching to discover ways in which …

College Students’ Use Of Social Media And Its Effects On Well-Being During Covid-19, Virginia Pressly

Honors Theses

Beginning in the late 2000s, social media began its ascent into mainstream media. Today, it has become a part of our daily routines. Due to its prevalence and nature, social media has been directly linked to deteriorating mental health in teens and young adults for some time. Many of the studies previously conducted studied Millennials. However, today’s generation of young people, Gen-Z, has a very different relationship with social media and the internet. In 2020, when the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and most work and school went virtual, social media became that much more prevalent in our …

Leadership, Job Stress And Uncertainty Among Nurses During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts And Implications In Lieu Of Pertinent Theoretical Constructs, Davis Woodson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on practicing nurses in the United States. The study considered the effect of communication, self-efficacy, intolerance to uncertainty, and life satisfaction on nurses’ job satisfaction; additionally, this study considered the extent to which nurses perceived organizational response efficacy was predicted by their perceptions of communication and perceived threat susceptibility. A total of 191 nurses participated in the online survey. The study revealed that life satisfaction was positively predicted by communication, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction in multiple regression analyses. Perceived communication positively predicted perceived organizational response efficacy …

Framing Race: An Analysis Of Media Coverage Of The Racially Motivated Murders Of Emmett Till And Trayvon Martin, Chloe Jackson

Honors Theses

In August 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago, was brutally murdered by two white men for “wolf whistling” at a white woman. Fifty-seven years later, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman on February 26, 2012. The unwarranted killings of these two Black boys caused uproars across the entire country. This study examines how the media framed and represented Till and Martin in the cases of their racially motivated murders. Prior research shows that Black male youth are framed in the media as deviant and lawless, continuously being represented as criminals. However, there …

Season Pass: Southern Miss Sports Report, Mackenzie Hamilton

Honors Theses

Season Pass: Southern Miss Sports Report is a creative activity investigating the process of producing and releasing a weekly sports report. The series is composed of twenty-four two-to-three-minute episodes that recap the highlights, scores, and performances of Southern Miss Athletic teams. In addition to the sports reports, the show includes feature stories that provide insight into the lives of Southern Miss Athletes and Athletic Staff outside of the sports world.

Season Pass aired weekly on Southern Miss Athletics’ Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts from the beginning of September 2020 through mid-March 2021. In this manuscript, I detail the pre-production, production, …

Perceived Support And Connectedness In Greek-Letter Organizations During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Julia Bishop

Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to assess whether or not students involved in the fraternity and sorority life community at The University of Southern Mississippi feel supported and connected in their respective chapters. To understand students’ perspectives in this area, a survey was developed. The survey included questions pertaining to the experiences of Greek-letter organization members with the chapter environment, efforts of chapter leadership, and personal feelings of connectedness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was sent out to all 26 fraternity and sorority chapter presidents at The University of Southern Mississippi, including the College Panhellenic Council, National Pan-Hellenic …

The Art And Importance Of Deliberative Rhetoric In Political Communications, Cameron Sadler

Honors Theses

This project explores the use of deliberative rhetorical appeals in political communications. Seven professionals spanning all levels of politics were interviewed about their work as communications specialists and strategists. Their insights further proved the necessity for attention to rhetoric in messaging.

The Ceibalitas In Uruguay: How Digital Educational Technology Affects Social Cohesion, William Bradford

Honors Theses

Digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become a focal point in improving worldwide education. There have been many studies on the effects of ICT in schools on grades and careers after graduation, but not many have studied the social impact. This study focuses on the Plan Ceibal in Uruguay to see the impact of ICT in schools on social cohesion. The Plan Ceibal was the first Nation-wide one-laptop-per-child (OLPC) program in the world. For this reason, Uruguay can provide a look into the future for other nations as they implement OLPC programs of their own. This study uses data …

Narrative Storytelling In Conjunction With Environmental Journalism, Abbey Edmonson

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the effectiveness of long-form narrative storytelling in relation to environmental journalism. It particularly focuses on effectively communicating the seriousness of climate change on a local level through narrative storytelling. The bulk of the information was gathered through multiple interviews with people experiencing the effects of climate change on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. By using interviews with local people interspersed with scientific data, I hope to be able to show the average reader that climate change is real and it can dangerously affect people on a local level, even in rural states like Mississippi.

Through my research, I …

Whose Expectation? Ideal Beauty And The Cultural Construction Of The American Woman, Ameliea Rose Dulaney

Honors Theses

My research project “Whose Expectation? Ideal Beauty and the Cultural Construction of the American Woman” explores the cultural and political climate of American society over the last four centuries, analyzing how ideal beauty standards have worked in the lives of American women over the years, examining (1) how they have been negotiated by women at different times of cultural and political flux, (2) how, although beauty has long been an integral aspect of feminine identity, it has become even more so with the introduction of new technologies (advertising, tv, makeup, etc.), and (3) how as a result, the definition of …

A Tale Of Two Companies: The Importance Of Public Relations Amidst The Shift Towards Corporate Activism, Olivia Schwab

Honors Theses

By comparing the controversies that stemmed from Papa John’s John Schnatter and CrossFit’s Greg Glassman, some obvious public relations strategies stand out, including but not limited to understanding an audience, adapting to a changing environment, establishing a crisis communications plan, and taking controversial stands on issues close to the audience’s hearts. Most importantly though, if companies preach messages of social change, they must follow up on their stances with corrective action to do their best to help facilitate it in society.

While examining the history of corporate activism, it is clear why and how some corporations become the victims of …

Controversy, Coverage And Cancel Culture: The Daily Mississippian's Reporting Of The 2018 Ed Meek Controversy, And Related Findings, Mason Thomas Scioneaux

Honors Theses

As this thesis reflects a body of work completed by a journalism student near the conclusion of a journalism education at the University of Mississippi, I approached research and writing in that way. I interviewed three people, for an hour each, and the things I learned in those interviews greatly affected the conclusions I reached with this thesis. My full transcripts from those interviews are located in Appendices A-C. I also did a lot of scouring through articles of The Daily Mississippian from fall 2018 and otherwise; I looked at every single edition of the paper from that semester, both …

Connecting Charities With Creatives: Bridging The Gap Between Local Nonprofit Organizations And University Of Mississippi Students, Natalie Pruitt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the need for marketing resources among North Mississippi nonprofit organizations and apply the findings to develop and launch a website based on primary and secondary research that connects local North Mississippi nonprofit organizations with University of Mississippi graphic design, marketing, bachelor of fine arts and integrated marketing communication (IMC) students seeking experience to complete various marketing and graphic design- related tasks and develop and implement an integrated marketing plan to promote and raise awareness for the website.

Nonprofits face the challenge of allocating funds from donations to create functional and creative communications …

Lost In Translation: The Communication Differences Of Men And Women In Dating And Marriage Relationships, Jessica Daniell

Honors Theses

Communication between men and women may sometimes lead to confusion, frustration, misunderstanding, disagreement, or doubt. This is not because of the incompetency of one gender compared to the other, but in fact has much to do with the way in which males and females generally communicate and the reasons for why they do so. Communication styles develop beginning in infancy and are influenced by the interactions between the child and their parents and peers. Parents are highly instrumental to early childhood development; through both verbal and nonverbal communication with their children, they shape norms, values, and beliefs that are highly …

Attention Platform 9¾: The Hogwarts Express Is Cancelled. Exploration In Cancel Culture, J.K. Rowling, And Beyond, Mallory Whitson

Honors Theses

In the past decade, the general public’s understanding of social media justice via the media has drastically changed the environment of the public sphere. This policing via the internet is known as ‘cancel culture.' In 2021, cancel culture is commonly defined as “a way of behaving in a society or group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject and stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that offends you” (Cambridge). However, this definition only covers the surface of cancel culture. Not only is the support of a public figure withdrawn by their …

Theory And Practice: Selecting And Implementing Effective Framing To Present Climate Science To A Lay Audience, Lauren Wilson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the advantages and effectiveness of using storytelling in the form of narrative journalism to communicate the topic of climate science to a lay audience. The thesis combines personal experience with secondary research in order to support the claim that framing the issue in such a manner effectively communicates the severity and impact of climate change.

Through my research I discovered that storytelling is not only a social tool for humans, but a means to safely and efficiently pass on vital information to those unfamiliar with certain knowledge. The use of narrative has …

Just Country: A Magazine Prototype And Business Plan, Clare Wojciechowski

Honors Theses

Through this thesis, I have aimed to understand how a print magazine can be successful in the digital age of 2021. In coming up with the concept of Just Country, I saw an area of popular interest that is not served well in the magazine industry. Through thorough research of magazines and country music, I have developed a business plan as well as a prototype for Just Country: The 21^st Century Country Music Magazine.

Defusing Polarization: The Politics Of Medicaid Expansion In Louisiana, Sarah Procopio

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Story Behind The Story: A Comparative Textual Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Following Mob Violence In 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma And 2020 Minneapolis, Minnesota, Justin Franklin

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Cultivation Effects From Television Crime Dramas To Forensic Practices, Stephanie P. Mobley

Honors Theses

Television and its effects have been frequently studied due to the prevalence of television in today’s society. Cultivation theory examines these effects by claiming that people’s perceptions of the real world are shaped by the social reality portrayed on television. This paper used this theory to examine a link between college student’s viewership of television crime dramas and their opinions about forensic practices. It used quantitative survey questions and previous research to come to conclusions for the research questions. The three research questions asked whether frequent viewing of crime dramas cultivated false beliefs about three forensic practices, (fingerprint analysis, polygraph …