Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“That Sucks?”: An Evaluation Of The Communication Competence And Enacted Social Support Of Response Messages To Depression Disclosures In College-Aged Students, Daniel Vieth

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Recent communication research on depression has focused on which response messages are most effective in providing emotional comfort to depressed individuals during depression dialogues. This study investigates the impact that a confidant’s initial response to a disclosure has on the disclosing individual, a key moment of dialogue for those with depression. It examines the relationship between the communication competence of responses to depression disclosures and how individuals rate those responses’ enacted social support, hypothesizing that the higher the communication competence of a confidant’s response (where competence reflects the effectiveness of interdependent communication), the more enacted social support the discloser will …

Human-Animal Communication In Captive Species: Dogs, Horses, And Whales, Mackenzie K. Kelley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

My hopes for this project are to collect and analyze the current research in the field of animal communication. In the first part, my goal is to define animal communication, specifically within human contexts. I will look at how the history of humans and certain species have intertwined to result in their modern day relationships. I will also explain why we should care about animal communication. In the second part, I will look at three specific species I have chosen to study: dogs, horses, and cetaceans. I will provide a brief history of our roles as humans in the evolution …

"All The World's A Stage:" A Social Media Project For The American Shakespeare Center, Lauren D. Ambrose

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

As the nation’s only original re-creation of Shakespeare’s indoor theater, The American Shakespeare Center plays a lead role in its local area of Staunton, Virginia. The organization boasts a prominent following in the theatre and on Facebook; however, its remaining social media accounts have been stuck in the Renaissance. In November 2014, the ASC got an update in the form of a new cast member—the “What’s Your Shakespeare Personality?” quiz and web based application. Using extensive research into local demographics, audience and arts trends and social media usage, this project sought to assist the organization in the application’s launch and …

Organizational Use Of Social Media: The Shift In Communication, Collaboration And Decision-Making, Dhruvi A. Naik

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Organizational use of social media: The shift in communication, collaboration and decision-making

Social media has driven organizational communication, collaboration and decision-making in recent times. This thesis focuses first on the popularity and widespread usage of social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and how it has provided businesses with platforms to collaborate and communicate virtually. It then explores how organizations can implement social media for the purpose of external marketing and advertising, to connect to consumers and for the purpose of internal communications. For example, how can organizations tap the potential of social media and connect with consumers? Social media …

Breaking Down Walls, Building Cross-Cultural Relationships, Jonathan H. Bukowski

VA Engage Journal

Challenges for young men and women entering the workforce upon college graduation are dauntingly intimidating. Major forces driving against success are very often connected to miscommunication, inter-cultural differences, and misperceptions about contrasting values and beliefs. A very simple and exciting way to learn and build strategies for overcoming these obstacles is choosing to study abroad during college. However, I argue that one should go a step further and make the courageous choice to volunteer while abroad. Not only will students build confidence in their ability to minimize cultural conflicts and issues, but they will also uncover the true cultural norms …