Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Into The Wild: A Journey Paddling The Lower Mississippi River With Quapaw Canoe Company, Sarah Caroline Crall

Honors Theses

Humanity’s profound relationship with water is undeniable. From our reliance on it for sustenance and transportation to the recreation it provides, water is a fundamental aspect of our existence. Yet, in our contemporary era, we find ourselves increasingly disconnected from this life-giving source that shapes us and our surroundings. The Mississippi River stands as a prime example of this detachment. Often overlooked as a lifeless river, nothing more than the backdrop to our daily lives, its significance as the heart of America is underappreciated and misunderstood by many. This thesis embarks on a journey to share the true reality that …

A Dream Come True: More Than 50 Years After Black Students Demanded Faculty And Student Leadership Roles At The University Of Mississippi, Students Of Color Are Still Grappling With What It Means To Be Included., Kaylynn Steen

Honors Theses

This thesis tells the story of University of Mississippi alumna Treasure Fisher’s journey in the organization Column’s Society, an organization known as the hosts and hostess of the University of Mississippi. Throughout Fisher’s story, historical moments from the university’s complex relationship with its Black students are weaved through in an attempt to provide context for some of the lingering racial issues at the university today. Fisher’s story, these historical moments, and other anecdotal experiences from current and former Black students, faculty, and staff at the university challenges the reader to examine what representation does, and maybe should, mean to this …

50 Years Later: How Title Ix Has Influenced The World Of Sports And The Effect It Has Had On Female Athletes, Catherine Jeffers

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to research the opportunities given to women within sports, and perceptions around their identities in the sporting industry. This thesis highlights the history of Title IX and its’ impact on gender in sports. This thesis also discusses the lack of women’s sports represented in media and the limited number of women in positions of power in sports. Since sports were introduced into modern culture, women have been advocating and fighting for their right to participate in sporting events and forcing even more complex conversations around equal compensation for their play.

An Ipad For Everyone: A Case Study Of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Digital Transition, Madeline Quon

Honors Theses

In a more technology-driven world, the industry of print journalism has been suffering. It has adapted in the past with the invention of the radio and television for broadcast news, but with the internet and social media, print journalism has been losing ad revenue and readers. Because of the advancements of journalism in the digital aspect, several newspapers have shut down over the past 20 years. Other papers changed their business models to make their content more social media oriented.

One newspaper took a more radical approach to not only stay afloat, but also thrive as a paper. The Arkansas …

Come Close And Listen: Exploring The Intimacy Of Audio Media, Eleanor Kingwell Sharples Hoover

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to demonstrate the power of the audio medium to connect speaker and listener, as a result of the uniquely intimate nature of the medium. By understanding how speakers and listeners connect through audio, the research reveals that the audio medium is a sustainable media outlet, one that is durable despite changes in culture in the media market, that has transformed over time, all while keeping itself within the principal constraints of its original form, that being sound as conveyed to a listener. Three interviews were conducted with individuals situated in different areas of the audio media landscape; …

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 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Defining And Addressing The Intersection Of Sports, Media, And Social Activism, Kaylee Layne Crafton

Honors Theses

Athletes have used their sports platforms and the elevated statuses of fame to share their political views and seek change for centuries. However, our society is now at a time in which athlete activism seems to be at its peak due to constant societal shifts and the quick, widespread dissemination of news through various forms of media. This study sought to answer one primary question: When can athletes share their views about racial equality and social justice? For Americans, the “when” in which athletes can speak up is often a divisive issue. This study analyzed how major sports leagues and …

An Outside Gaze On The Relationship Between Indigenous Groups And The Media, Nicole Daoust

Honors Theses

Indigenous groups around the world faced similar challenges. Many of these issues stem from stereotypes, one-sided stories, and overall lack of representation in the media. Without a voice or ally, they are often treated as second class citizens. For my research, I analyzed how the media affected public perception of indigenous people. I specifically focus on four groups: The Aboriginals of Canada, the Māori, Native Americans, and the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon.

Women Trailblazers In The Local Oxford Community: Real And Relevant Stories Of Six Unique Paths To Success, Karsyn S. King

Honors Theses

Women Trailblazers In The Local Oxford Community is a collection of six women’s stories in six different fields and their unique paths to success, all showcased through written and visual elements in a multi-modal website. The goal of the project was to have a diverse compilation of women from a variety of backgrounds, ages, careers, and experiences. The trailblazers represented include a woman in the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, math) who is the only female on the biomedical engineering staff, a first generation college student who now holds the second highest position in higher education academia, a local woman …

Separate And Unequal: The Causes And Effects Of Economic Inequality In Our Communities, And What We Must Do About It, Jonathan Payne

Honors Theses

This project seeks to create a deep understanding of some of the key causes and effects of economic inequality. In it, I review a wide variety of research and reporting on inequality as well as interview people that have been impacted by inequality in my community, Oxford, Mississippi. This information, as a whole, is not meant to create a complete, comprehensive understanding of income and wealth inequality, which would be impossible. Instead, it is a meditation on the origins, cycles, outcomes and ethical implications of the phenomenon. In it, I contend that the vast majority of negative outcomes of inequality, …

Finding Equilibrium On The Internet: How Chinese Netizens And The Regime Navigate Social Media Censorship, Hailey Mckee

Honors Theses

China’s current social media landscape consists of the most users in the world operating within the most extensive governmental censorship apparatus in the world, which over time has created a shaky balance between personal expression and institutional order. This thesis attempts to shed light on an understudied, potentially sensitive topic by exploring the multifaceted relationship between Chinese Internet users and the communist regime in terms of content surveillance. By examining the current Internet environment, assessing the opportunities and challenges the web provides users and the regime, implementing a survey with sixteen Chinese netizens, and conducting a literature review, this thesis …

Mississippi In Technicolor: Portraits Of Strength, Devna Bose

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of my articles that have been published over four years at The Daily Mississippian, the university’s student newspaper. In these articles, I explore the many facets of the queer community in Oxford and Mississippi. These stories allow a glimpse into the modern queer community of Mississippi and examine the issues that often affect them. It is not an academic paper — it is merely an examination of the people and places that contribute to the Mississippi LGBTQ+ community. It includes stories about social issues, intersectionality, and legislature in relation to the queer population of this …

Patient Empowerment In Modern Medicine: A Personal Account Of Endometriosis And Being An Equal Partner In My Healthcare, Jacqueline Schlick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work outlines my personal experience with a diagnosis of stage three endometriosis and partial oophorectomy surgery along with the subsequent medical opinions I received by my primary OB/GYN and other doctors. This thesis seeks to discuss the issues surrounding patient empowerment, and specifically, laws that support patients in their exploration of the truths behind their conditions and the importance of self-education in order to be better equipped in conversations with their physicians. The work includes testimonials from women about their levels of knowledge into their own medical needs upon the time of their prescription to pharmaceutical medications, and how …

Defining "Evangelicals" In Print Journalism, Logan D. Williamson

Honors Theses

Evangelicalism, a movement grounded in faith and individual morality, appeared to integrate into the GOP in the late-1970s and 1980s. In 2016, national newspapers reported that 81% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, prompting a question of how the movement is defined today. I look at the recent history of the evangelical movement and the troubles that scholars, analysts and other cultural observers have had in offering a conclusive definition for the term. Next, I seek to answer how print journalists define the term and how that influences or is informed by polling results on Election Day. I interview …

The Latino South: Race And Racialization, Brittany M. Brown

Honors Theses

Taking into consideration the South’s historic black-white racial binary, this multi-media research project documents the place-specific experiences of 23 Latinos living in Oxford, Mississippi, using anthropologic methods. A digital archive accompanies the written thesis. Through interdisciplinary methods, this research examines and seeks to understand how the Latino community is conforming to or challenging the staunch view of race and identity in the U.S. South, where race is and has always been at the forefront of culture and society. Through knowing the history of race in the South and understanding the black-white racial binary, the presence of Latinos is creating space …

Home Is Where The Hot Tamale Is: Rediscovering The Delta, Georgia Corinne Clarke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project is an in-depth personal exploration of the hot tamale in the Mississippi Delta, presented in a long-form magazine piece. It analyzes the cultural exchange that brought the hot tamale to the region in the early 20th century, its racial representation in the Delta, and its future as chefs across the nation seek to interpret the regional cuisine. Further, this thesis analyzes the hot tamale’s components that tell why and how the hot tamale became a staple, and the story of hardship and discrimination that it symbolizes. Traveling through my own past, this piece reflects the interactions that …

Depending On Twitter For Breaking News: A Comparison Between American And Saudi Students, Maria Zoheir Hamdan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aimed to measure the extent of American and Saudi students' dependence on twitter to get breaking news and how they interact with this platform in light of uses and gratifications theory. To investigate the similarities and differences between the two groups, 91 American students and 98 Saudi students participated in an online survey in spring 2018. It concluded that both American and Saudi students depend on twitter to get breaking news, and finding out what is happening is the first motivation to use twitter. While most Saudi students voted for twitter as the most important source to get …

Suffer The Children: A Collection Of Biographical Stories From Patients, Families, And Professionals In The World Of Pediatric Cancer, Samuel Taylor Farris

Honors Theses

One area of cancer diagnoses that has garnered much attention in recent years is pediatric oncology. Many adults, certainly not all, increase likelihood of cancer, both directly and indirectly, through usually habitual lifestyles (tobacco use, alcoholism, etc). Meanwhile, children are plagued by cancer through seemingly no fault of their own, provoking widespread curiosity. Researchers tend to analyze pediatric cancer with quantitative data, but this investigation is based on qualitative information, by compiling a list of thirty individuals who have, in some way, been affected by pediatric cancer, and examining their attitudes and reflections in various time stages, outcomes, and relations …

Brain Drain In Mississippi: Why Some Of The State's Best And Brightest Are Leaving, Savannah G. Smith

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of stories in which I explore some of the underlying reasons that the state of Mississippi is experiencing a large outmigration of educated, millennial citizens, known as Brain Drain. This project is not an academic paper nor is it an attempt to fix the problem of young Mississippians leaving the state but rather an examination of the situation written in journalistic fashion. It attempts to shine a light on an issue that has plagued the state for years and deserves attention. It includes stories about the social climate, economic opportunities, the state legislature, and profiles …

The Importance Of Cultural Context In Engaging Multicultural Consumers, Ingrid Valbuena

Honors Theses

This research will explore the importance of cultural context in engaging multicultural audiences through communication cues strategically placed in advertising messages. Consumer response to cultural cues embedded in messages targeted to multicultural consumers will be examined to identify influences that determine its effectiveness in appealing to multicultural markets. Taking into consideration that consumer brand personality perceptions and reactions must be considered within a cultural context. (De Mooij, 2004) brands communication to multicultural consumers have to be informed within the consumer's cultural context. The current multicultural population growth, growing purchasing power, and the different ways people respond to different messages has …

A Body A Day: Constructing Deviance At The Mississippi State Asylum, Rachel Christine Childs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the first graves of assumed-former asylum patients were discovered at the University of Mississippi Medical Center over 25 years ago, it wasn’t until 2017 that the estimated body count—which had been rising in reports for several years—rose above 7,000. Along with national attention, the growing burial site has prompted large-scale efforts by a consortium of scientists and scholars to determine how best to utilize and memorialize the remains, and yet to date, a complete cultural study that explores the sociopolitical context which these people represent has yet to be published. Consisting primarily of archival material and interviews, my research …

How Newspapers In China, India And Bangladesh Framed The Rohingya Crisis Of 2017, Md Khadimul Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Rohingya persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017 attracted intense international media attention. In light of normative theory, media of different countries are assumed to cover an issue differently because of differences in the socio-political systems involved. This study examines how media from three different countries framed the Rohingya Muslim issue. These systematic and qualitative content analyses of six newspapers from three neighboring countries — China, India and Bangladesh — examines media framing of Myanmar in light of Robinson’s (2001) Policy-Media Interaction model. The timeframe of the study was one month, starting on the first day of Myanmar’s Rohingya …

Social Media Adoption Among Small-Market Mississippi Newspapers, William Dejournett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to examine the attitudes, application and results of Mississippi newspapers’ and others’ use of social media. The goals are to determine the worth of social media to Mississippi newspapers, and to try to identify if there is any anecdotal or other information linking the use of social media to increased readership (print or electronic) and ad sales. Additional goals are to identify if there are any innovative or creative ways newspapers are utilizing social media so that these methods may be employed by other newspapers. The diffusion of innovations theory is an important aspect of this study, …