Communication Commons^™

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …

"Lecture - Anne Newport Royall", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

Annotated speech outline about Anne Newport Royall, America's first female traveling correspondent, who traveled to Florence, Alabama from July to December 1821 and also visited other local Alabama cities, such as Huntsville. Royall published a book in 1830 entitled Letters from Alabama about her travels throughout the state.

Representasi Identitas Dan Gastronomi Budaya Kuliner Jawa Dalam Lima Lagu Karya Ki Narto Sabdo, Aditya Pratama, Darmoko -, Ari Prasetiyo, Dwi Woro Retno Mastuti

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Culinary is not just food and drink, but has transformed into a study of culinary gastronomy which focuses on aspects of history, values, philosophy, taste and components. The study of the problems discussed in this research is related to the cultural identity of Javanese culinary gastronomy in the five songs by Ki Narto Sabdo. Descriptive qualitative research methods with an objective approach were applied in this research. This research uses Santich's culinary gastronomy theory and Stuart Hall's theory of cultural identity representation with a constructionist approach. As a result, the representation of Javanese culinary gastronomic cultural identity is built on …

Political Interest And News Media Literacy Among University Students: Case Of The U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2023), Nhat Anh Nguyen, Ngoc Thuy Duong Le

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

In today’s complex media environment, the ability to critically evaluate news plays an essential role in shaping political interest, especially among youth. Although media literacy has been extensively investigated in relation to civic outcomes, the particular link between news media literacy (NML) and political interest is still little known. This paper investigates this link among Vietnamese university students by means of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as a prominent foreign policy instance. Drawing on Potter’s (2004) cognitive model and Maksl et al.'s (2015) NML scale, this study primarily employs a quantitative approach using survey data (N = 410), complemented by …

Ssw 701.50: Social Welfare Policy, Ian G. Williams

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is an Open Educational Resources (OER) remixed version of SSW 701.50: Social Welfare Policy, which is taught at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. This version updated the content and integrated additional OER materials, as part of the Summer 2026 cohort of The Open Knowledge Fellowship at the Mina Rees Library. It is a Zero-Textbook (ZTC) cost course and integrates materials from a range of academic disciplines. Official course description is as follows:

"This foundation course furnishes you with the orienting knowledge and skills needed to examine social welfare policies and to understand their relevance …

Genocide In Gaza? Social Media Discussions Of Violence In Israel And Gaza, Timothy Williams, Andreas Dafnos

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article conducts social network and topic analyses of German-language posts on X that discuss genocide and terrorism in Israel and Gaza in the first six months after the October 7 attacks and compares these to broader English-language discourses on the platform. The comparison reveals subtle differences in how Israeli violence and governance and Palestinians are discussed and who is seen as complicit in supporting violence. Markedly, German-language posts discuss what constitutes antisemitism more and employ a more restrained language towards Israel as a state and its political actors than English-language posts. We tie these findings back to the idiosyncrasies …

Fostering Responsible Ai Use In Communication: An Integrated Approach To Digital Literacy Education, Omer Keynan, Liron Mishkin Drezner, Yuval Gozansky

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The paper presents an innovative approach to teaching digital literacy to eighty-two B.A. communication students, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI). Over a semester, students developed proficiency in using AI tools for content creation while exploring their ethical implications. The course integrated practical skills with ethical considerations, providing hands-on experience with AI platforms and facilitating critical discussions on issues such as AI biases. For their final projects, students created social media campaigns using AI tools, accompanied by introspective reports on their creative process and ethical reflections. We aimed to equip future communication professionals with skills to navigate AI-driven content creation responsibly. …

Mapping Media Literacy Assessment: A Systematic Review To Connect The Dots, Lara Azar, Casey Frechette, Hafsa Zia, Joy Amulya

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The goal of this study was to address persistent challenges in assessing media literacy by reviewing assessments developed between 2011 and 2020. We combined landscape analysis, research synthesis, and grounded theory to select assessments, identify key attributes, iteratively code, analyze, and create an integrated synthesis of approaches to media literacy assessments. The analysis classified media literacy constructs by learning dimension (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors) and participation mode (consumption, engagement, creation). The results showed that while most assessments focused on consumption-oriented constructs, engagement- and creation-oriented constructs were also included. Assessments primarily served three research purposes: evaluating media literacy levels in populations, …

Fact-Checking In The University: The Experience Of The ‘Verificatón Electoral’ As A Model Of Teaching Innovation, Irene Larraz, Samuel Toledano, Jordi Rodríguez-Virgili, Félix Arias Robles, Ángeles Durán, Marta Pérez-Escolar, Rocío Zamora Medina, Rubén Ramos Antón, Óscar Espíritusanto Nicolás, Miguel Ángel Esteban Navarro, Marcos Bermejo Gil

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article analyzes the experience of Verificatón, a teaching innovation project based on a live fact-checking hackathon aimed at identifying and combating disinformation in the electoral context. The initiative, developed by the fact-checking media outlet Newtral in collaboration with nine Spanish universities, brought together a hundred journalism students. The results show that this experience facilitates the adoption of the fact-checking methodology in the students' professional practice and contributes to overcoming the competency gap in university journalism education. The case study validates this training proposal, which, framed within an electoral scenario, reinforces students’ learning of the role of critical thinking in …

Civil Discourse: A 3-Part Lesson Plan With Media Literacy Connections, Greg Davis

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article presents a three-part lesson plan designed to help students develop civil discourse skills through emotional self-regulation, value exploration, and structured debate. Drawing inspiration from Alaa Al-Musalli’s work on “Unteaching Divisive Argumentation,” the lesson introduces students to the emotional dynamics of disagreement, the ethical diversity that underlies opposing viewpoints, and the practice of respectful argumentation. The culminating activity—a classroom debate over a fictitious local law regulating electric bikes and scooters—invites students to reflect on how tone, listening, and self-awareness affect discourse. Integrating media literacy, the lesson concludes with a discussion of memes and online bias, prompting students to evaluate …

Balancing Our Capacity To Serve: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women Navigating Personal, Professional, And Community Leadership Roles, Shemeka K. Brathwaite

Student Theses

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of Black women community leaders as they navigate a balance between their professional, personal, and community leadership roles. The research design uses the theoretical frameworks of Black Feminist Intersectionality and Role Theory, specifically addressing the cultural burdens imposed by the Strong Black Woman archetype, which adds additional role strain. The study began with a questionnaire completed by 54 Black women community leaders, followed by 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews selected from this pool. The study’s key findings are illustrated in a Black Women’s Sustainable Community Leadership Framework. Black women community leaders exude high self-efficacy, …

Kitchen Table Press: A Case Study Of Regression To The Neoliberal Mean, Alaina Disalvo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the idealistic founding of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press in 1980 and its slow downfall, culminating in the cession of ownership of the Press to a university in 1992. It traces the ideological development of Kitchen Table Press’s key founders, Barbara Smith and Audre Lorde, and their respective relationships to the ideologies of other renowned feminist figures of the era, specifically June Jordan and Adrienne Rich. It examines the history of the Press through historical, intersectional, affective, and socialist lenses. This thesis argues that neoliberal pressures can bend even the most radical organizations away from their …

From Double Absence To Double Presence: Video-Selfie As Empowerment In A Multicultural Italian Classroom, Maria Ranieri, Ilaria Bucciarelli, Giulia Cuozzo

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This paper examines the video-selfie as a tool for empowerment in multicultural secondary school classrooms. We draw on data from the European ICME project, focusing on a vocational secondary school in Italy, where 17 of 18 first-year students – approximately half of whom had migration backgrounds – produced short videos presenting themselves through personally meaningful objects. Students then participated in a structured reflection activity after watching each other's videos in class. We combine three theoretical frameworks: critical media literacy, identity and self-representation studies, and Mezirow's transformative learning theory. Our argument is that the video selfie empowers in multiple ways: it …

Kicau Kericau: The Chirps And Warbles Of A Bird-Human Story, Airien Ludin

Masters Theses

This thesis tells the tale of bird-human relationships and what it means to live alongside one another, subverting the hierarchical view of humans as above birds inherited from colonial history. It asks how the practice of illustration can function as a site of Two-Eyed Seeing, where scientific and local knowledge are held together as an entangled narrative. It also examines how mendongeng (storytelling), as I have experienced it within Indonesian culture and everyday contexts, can help us understand birds as a companion species with their own agency.

This project takes two forms: first, a picture book titled Sun Bird …

Tùn-Scene And A-Futurism: Biomythography, Opacity, And Posthuman Imagination, Minglu Du

Masters Theses

Grounded in the author’s position as a Chinese feminist, this thesis examines how East Asian women, as well as East Asian-coded femininity more broadly, are objectified and othered within futurist visual culture in the age of artificial intelligence. Through an engagement with ornamentalism, techno-Orientalism, and posthumanism1 , it argues that the persistent figure of the feminized humanoid cyborg continues to reproduce colonial and patriarchal structures of desire, rendering marginalized bodies as fetishized and violable surfaces. In response, the thesis develops Tùn-Scene, a biomythographic artistic framework and the first experiment in what the author provisionally names A-Futurism. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

A Qualitative Study Of Journalism Course Syllabi In Relation To The First Amendment, Elizabeth L. Bunnell

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this research is to gain more insight into collegiate journalism course syllabi and the First Amendment. The First Amendment is a foundational aspect for a career in journalism, and one way to learn how college journalism students are interacting with the First Amendment is to conduct a qualitative analysis of the syllabi. A syllabus is the contract between professor and student for the course; therefore, it should contain the most important information relating to the course. 47 syllabi were collected from the School of Journalism and Strategic Media from the Spring 2025 semester. After reading through each …

The Case For Undergraduate Student Organizing, Nina Goldshmid

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This paper is a reflection and timeline of my experience organizing a union and negotiating a contract as a student worker at Barnard College. I explored the power dynamics between student workers and college administrations, how to promote unity for progress, and why some undergraduate students are deciding to organize. I discussed the actions of the college that could stifle union organizing and negotiations, the obstacles involved in organizing, and the ways to build solidarity through awareness and coalition. I summarized the main takeaways from my experience and characterize the current student labor movement.

The Living History Project: Documenting Winona State's Legacy, Holly A. Foss, Kenneth Goroztieta, Aubree G. Hansen

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This table will showcase the work of the Living History Project at Winona State University which preserves the history of WSU by documenting the careers of people who have impacted the university for the better.  The table will display three short documentary films produced by students during the Fall 2025 semester, running on a monitor with headphones on a continuous loop. The films feature Tom Sawyer (former football coach), Jo Stejskal (former Dean of Nursing), and Jim Bromeland (former Professor of Political Science).  Alongside the films, the table will include a display of photography from premieres over the past 20 …

Didactic Aspects Of Education Of Primary Teachers With A Focus On Strengthening Their Media Literacy And Fighting Disinformation. Experience From The Czech Republic, Kamil Kopecký, Veronika Krejčí

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The paper describes specific experiences with educational activities aimed at strengthening media literacy in the field of combating disinformation among primary and secondary school teachers, which were implemented in 2022-2023 through the Central European Digital Media Observatory. A total of 3633 primary and secondary school teachers from all over the Czech Republic participated in the education and evaluated the educational events. The article presents examples of specific educational activities oriented to the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes of students through teaching in primary or secondary school.

Leveraging Critical Social Media Literacy To Safeguard Youth Against Violent Radicalization And Extremism, Muhammad Akram, Adeela Arshad-Ayaz, Muhammad Ayaz Naseem

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Social media is inundated with radical and extreme propaganda. Such information is often left unfiltered due to platform algorithms that are economically driven and socially unethical in design. It puts social media users, mostly youth, in danger of becoming radicalized and vulnerable to supporting and engaging with extremist beliefs. When young people lack sufficient critical social media literacy (CSML), radical and extremist information impacts their perspectives, affecting behavior in the real world. A PRISMA-guided systematic review of the Web of Science core collections and the Scopus database was used to find peer-reviewed articles about how CSML skills can be used …

Teacher Reflections On Media And Information Literacy In Vietnamese K-12 Schools: Current Practices, Challenges, And Pathways For Improvement, Tinh T.T Le, Minh Tran, Anh Dương, Huong T. Pham, Vy Tran, Daniel Jackson

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media and Information Literacy (MIL) education is widely recognized as essential, yet its adoption in Vietnamese K-12 schools is still at the early stages. This study examines the current state of MIL education in Vietnam from the perspective of teachers. Drawing on insights from a trial online MIL teacher training program, which includes teachers’ learning journals, lesson plans, and an open survey using SWOT forms, we explore the approaches they use, the challenges they face, and the opportunities in promoting MIL education in their school setting. Additionally, the findings highlight specific professional development needs to enhance teachers’ MIL instruction quality. …

Productive Disruptions: An Equityoriented Framework For Civic Media Literacy In The Digital Era, Carlos Jimenez, Lynn Schofield Clark, Johnny Ramirez

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article introduces Productive Disruptions as a framework for civic media literacy that centers equity and social justice. Past scholarship has emphasized understanding media content and gaining competence in media production. To center equity as a structural concern beyond individual behaviors, we argue for media literacy interventions that support disrupting racism in content, production, and digital media distribution systems themselves. Drawing on an ethnographic case study with young people experiencing marginalization, we examine how youth productively disrupted instances of systemic racism via TikTok and Instagram. We identify three distinct modes of intervention: creating counter-narratives that disrupt racist discourses, subverting adult-led …

Promoting News Literacy With Epistemological Beliefs, Ifla Checklist And Ai: Insights From A Teacher Training Program In Italy, Flavio Manganello

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This study examines the integration of epistemological beliefs, the IFLA checklist for evaluating news credibility, and the News Verifier, an AI tool powered by GPT-4, within a teacher training program aimed at enhancing news literacy. It explores the relationship between educators’ epistemological profiles and their ability to classify news using the IFLA checklist. The study also evaluates alignment between human classifications and those generated by the News Verifier, examining the potential of AI as a complementary resource for supporting practice and reflection in news literacy education. Results indicate that consistent application of the checklist improves alignment with AI outputs, although …

The Sensationalizing Of Presidential Assassinations In Mass Media Throughout American History, Lindsay E. Smith

Undergraduate Theses

This project explores how mass media has shaped the public response to presidential assassinations across American history. By examining the deaths of Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963), we can trace how evolving media technologies – such as newspapers, yellow journalism, radio broadcasts, and live television coverage – have sensationalized violence, politicized tragedy, and transformed periods of national mourning into mass spectacles. The thesis analyzes reporting methods, narrative framing, and the news industry to show how each has influenced emotional response, political landscapes, and eventual presidential legacy. Ultimately, we find that …

Media Center Gets New Studio, Name, Timesdaily

Documents

New Media Center and grand opening for the new Communications Building (former Gymnasium) in 1988

Mass Communication Floor Plans, Architect Hill, Howard, & Nix, Muscle Shoals

Documents

Floor Plans for Communication Department at University of North Alabama

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Influence By Design: A Network Strategy For Integrated Deterrence, Robert S. Hinck

Joint Force Quarterly

Confronting the complexity of the future security environment requires new concepts to coordinate efforts for maximum effect. The 2022 National Defense Strategy appropriately identifies integrated deterrence as the centerpiece of these efforts but criticisms regarding its strategic application remain. While integrated deterrence is associated with one set of national security strategies, its points of emphasis will endure. This essay addresses current limitations of the concept by offering a tangible and theoretically grounded approach connecting the ends, ways, and means by which the Joint Force and interagency, in combination with US allies and partners, can enact integrated deterrence across the spectrum …

International Students In Early American Forensics: Notes On The History Of The U.S.-Japan Forensics Relationship During The Late 19th And Early 20th Centuries, Satoru Aonuma, Junya Morooka, Tomohiro Kanke

Studies in Debate and Oratory

Ending 215 years of “national seclusion,” in 1854, Japan ratified the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States and opened its doors to the rest of the world. Because of this special bilateral relationship, between the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, more Japanese began traveling to the U.S. than to any other country. Focusing on young Japanese who went to the U.S. as students and participated in debate and oratorical education during this period, this essay will re-examine the history of the U.S.-Japan relationship in terms of academic debate and oratory. During this period, American …