Communication Commons^™

Upvoting The Audience: A Burkean Analysis Of Reddit, Doug Urbanski

Masters Theses

My thesis examines the Internet community Reddit through the rhetorical framework of Kenneth Burke, specifically his work with identification between individuals and how identification shapes communities. I focused on three sections of Reddit: World News, Ask Reddit, and Politics, and analyzed the best-voted comments of top posts from each section, focusing on how anonymous users communicate with one another and how their anonymity might influence the ways they interact. Additionally, I propose a method for instructors to use Reddit in the classroom, taking advantage of the medium's systematic anonymity.

A Strategic Communication Campaign To Build Effective Relationships, Lauren Kluge Padillo

Masters Theses

This creative thesis discusses a strategic communication campaign that will help build effective relationships with the use of several communication strategies and marketing plans. I used our department's move to a new location as an opportunity to initiate dialogue to solve communication problems that are currently an issue. A brochure was developed as a tool that can be later used for reference. The project was successful and did bridge the communication gaps. Based on the success of the project, we will continue to use the literature and make visits to our internal and external customers.

Expediency Versus Harmony: Reconsidering The Values Of Collectivist Cultures In Intercultural Communication, Tori Hagy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Battle Of The Brands: Producing Medium-Specific Video Promotion Of Music Commodity Signs For The New Media Epoch, Josh Grube

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Situating The Study Of Messages About Non-Heterosexual Sexual Orientation In Everyday Ordinary Interactions: A Call For Paradigm Change, Clinton Lee Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the motivations that may orient an individual to another' s sexual orientation. Extant literature has traditionally focused on the ways in which individuals "detect" or recognize another's sexual orientation, but has failed to explore the communicative strategies individuals routinely engage in and the reasons he or she may be interested in another' s sexual orientation. As such, this study fits nicely into the interpersonal and intercultural communication literatures that concern themselves with the social construction of identity, which is an ongoing interactional task to which conversationalists orient. The data for this study was collected during the fall …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Team Identification In Professional Sports, Lisa Schleef

Masters Theses

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are becoming more relevant, especially in professional sports. Community members have begun to expect sport organizations to have charitable foundations, given that they are in a perfect position to have successful CSR programs. Explained through team identification and social identity theory, CSR programs provide a great opportunity to bring fans together and foster team identification. CSR programs should help fans develop a positive social identity, by allowing them to become part of a group and interact with other fans. If a person is a fan of a team that helps its community and does good …

"Single Girl Summer" Enterprise: Building A Successful Brand Using Social Media As A Branding Tool, Rashida Lyles-Cowan

Masters Theses

This is a creative thesis that examines the benefits of using an integrated public relations and marketing campaign for the novel, Single Girl Summer. The campaign was created during the fall semester of 2012, after determining that the novel lacked a clear and concise brand identity. This document outlines important factors that happened during the campaign including; literature research, plan of implementation, promotional work, and more. Finally, this paper discusses the implications of the campaign and results, examining the effectiveness of the integrated public relations and marketing campaign for Single Girl Summer.

Organizational Identity As A Promotional Tool: The Case Of The Panther Paw, Samantha L. Neal

Masters Theses

This paper examines a promotional campaign that was put together during the fall semester of 2012. The campaign was for a local bar, the Panther Paw Bar and Grill, and after data collection, it was determined that the main issue the bar suffered from was a lack of identity. So, with this knowledge, organizational identity was chosen as the main promotional tool for the campaign. The content of this paper outlines this process from start to finish including data collection, the plan put in place for the bar, and the promotional work that was done throughout the fall semester of …

Pygmalion Music Festival As Alternative Media? A Critical Analysis Of The Intersection Of Independence And Corporatization, Patrick R. Singer

Masters Theses

This study of Pygmalion Music Festival utilizes a theoretical framework of alternative media theory to analyze the festival's position in independent and corporate music festival and concert production. Pygmalion Music Festival is a mid-sized independently owned and operated music festival held annually in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. This research investigates the progression of independent ( or "indie") music culture, how the industry has gradually become co-opted by the corporate music industry, and how Pygmalion Music Festival is situated within the indie/corporate binary. This binary is not black and white, rather an intersection that creates a blurred area between the two. "Indie" artists …

Video Game Cultivation: Sowing The Seeds Of Consumer Behavior, Jonathan K. Mattson

Masters Theses

George Gerbner (1998) dedicated a significant amount of this life attempting to understand the creation and impact of mass media messages on viewers. Out of this research sprang cultivation theory, which holds viewers' realities can be impacted over time by the media environment they inhabit and its overarching messages. While often applied to television, cultivation theory has largely ignored other mediums, specifically video games. Video games have evolved as a medium since the public arcades of the 1980's and now run on high-powered, internet-enabled consoles. These consoles allow producers into the home of the consumer, saturating them with messages. This …

Those Who Slay Together, Stay Together: A Thematic Analysis Of Concert Fan Narratives And The I-57 Youth Punk Music Scene, Michael James Janowski

Masters Theses

This study uses qualitative methods of narrative interviewing and thematic analysis of narrative to explore the communicative phenomenon of youth punk concert fan story-telling. It explores how the phenomenon functions to construct the subculture of the I-57 youth punk concert fan music scene. Through methods of thematic analysis of narrative, the study works to deconstruct numerous implicit understandings and taken-for-granted assumptions that drive and govern interactions among youth punk music fans participating within the I-57 youth punk music scene. The study is broken down into four exploratory categories where meanings are derived and critically analyzed: youth, punk, fandom, and the …

"A Few Smooth Moves": Phi Rho Eta Fraternity Inc. National Branding Campaign, Shea E. Brunson

Masters Theses

For my creative thesis, I chose to conduct a public relations campaign for Phi Rho Eta Fraternity Inc. For the past 18 years, Phi Rho Eta Fraternity Inc. has worked towards emphasizing academic excellence, community development, and brotherhood among black men, with all efforts relating to the core fraternity principles of pride, respect, and excellence. As the fraternity nears its second decade of existence and grows at an exponential rate; the need for a cohesive, unified brand has become the focus of the national executive board. It is for this reason that my PR campaign focuses on branding and re-branding. …

The Construction Of Spiritual Identity: Cmm And Conversion To Catholicism, Stephanie Gruner

Masters Theses

This study uses the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) to examine the spiritual stories of six people who were not raised Catholic, but joined the Catholic faith as adults. The participants' experiences reveal that their spiritual identities have both personal and communal aspects and that they view their identities as both fixed and changing. Additionally, when communicating their spiritualities to others these individuals must balance relationship concerns with the desire to express their spiritual identities. Applying CMM's hierarchy of meaning to the data shows that the levels work together in shaping the participants' understandings of their identities. The participants' relationships …

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Janssen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Pressured by activists to take responsibility, American corporations recently found themselves in the spotlight for their past ties to slavery. Responding to the issue, they stepped into a complex discourse of reconciliation. Taking a rhetorical approach, this article analyzes the response of Aetna Inc. It explores how corporate rhetoric functions within present discourses about historical injustices and illustrates that Aetna's response informed by common strategies of corporate apologia inhibited meaningful reconciliation. The article thus furthers criticisms of (corporate) apologia in the context of historical injustice and raises questions about the potentialities and limitations of corporate rhetoric for reconciliation.

Contesting Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy, Intersectional Reflexivity, And Personal Narrative: Queer Tales Of Academia, Richard G. Jones, Bernadette Marie Calafell

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In this essay, we use personal narrative to explore allies and alliance building between marginalized people working in and through higher education, with an eye toward interrogating the ways in which ideologies of neoliberalism work to maintain hierarchy through the legitimation of Othering. Inspired by Conquergood (1985), who calls scholars to engage in intimate conversation rather than distanced observation, we offer our embodied experiences as a way to use the personal to reflect upon the cultural, social and political. Our narratives often recount being out of place, moments of incongruence, or our marked Otherness. Through the sharing of these narratives, …

Contesting Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy, Intersectional Reflexivity, And Personal Narrative: Queer Tales Of Academia, Richard Jones, Bernadette Calafell

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In this essay, we use personal narrative to explore allies and alliance building between marginalized people working in and through higher education, with an eye toward interrogating the ways in which ideologies of neoliberalism work to maintain hierarchy through the legitimation of Othering. Inspired by Conquergood (1985), who calls scholars to engage in intimate conversation rather than distanced observation, we offer our embodied experiences as a way to use the personal to reflect upon the cultural, social and political. Our narratives often recount being out of place, moments of incongruence, or our marked Otherness. Through the sharing of these narratives, …

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Irene Janssen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Pressured by activists to take responsibility, American corporations recently found themselves in the spotlight for their past ties to slavery. Responding to the issue, they stepped into a complex discourse of reconciliation. Taking a rhetorical approach, this article analyzes the response of Aetna Inc. It explores how corporate rhetoric functions within present discourses about historical injustices and illustrates that Aetna's response informed by common strategies of corporate apologia inhibited meaningful reconciliation. The article thus furthers criticisms of (corporate) apologia in the context of historical injustice and raises questions about the potentialities and limitations of corporate rhetoric for reconciliation.

Hegemonic Peter?: A Critical Analysis Of Hegemonic Masculinity In Family Guy, Justin Danowski

Masters Theses

Hegemonic masculinity is a constantly evolving and highly nuanced theory. The original definition was designed to study the oppression males exert over females. Later definitions expanded on the original to include young, effeminate or gay men. In the realm of television, hegemonic masculine forces are perpetuated by not only male characters but marginalized groups as well. This creates gender stereotypes to be accepted and embraced as the norm in a culture. This project takes a critical look at the animated television comedy Family Guy and explains how hegemonic masculinity is portrayed throughout the episode "Family Gay". To accomplish this, the …

A Plaguing Militainment: Ideology, Metaphor, And Interpellation In Thq's "Homefront", Brendan G.A. Hughes

Masters Theses

Roger Stahl's book Militainment, Inc. has set the standard for studying the convergence of military culture and popular entertainment-otherwise known as militainment. This concept is easily discernible for rhetorical critics studying discursive texts in the late twentieth century, particularly after the start of the war on terror. This project examines a militainment text, the first-person shooter videogame Homefront. Produced by design company THQ and developed by Kaos studios, this game foreshadows the future of the United States should Kim Jong-Il's son succeed in unifying the divided peninsula and the American superpower crumble. After reviewing relevant literature and outlining three important …

Spaces Of Marginalization [Equal] Margins Of Resistance: Congolese Women's Testimonies Facilitate Rhetorical Agency, Saunnie Elizabeth Knotts

Masters Theses

US and Western European discourses tend to articulate women in the developing world within a Western context, perpetuating the image of women of the developing world as "third world" silent victims. Testimonies are a powerful medium for indigenous peoples to advocate for change and define experiences for themselves as well as for their communities (Smith, 2008). In this thesis, I draw on postcolonial feminist theories, theories on testimonio, vernacular rhetoric, and rhetorical agency to frame an analysis of multiple artifacts wherein Congolese women are shown speaking glimpses of their testimonies about the rape they endured. Other artifacts show women holding …

Technology Mediated Recruitment: An Exploration Of How Students Used Social Media To Choose College, Ashley Nicole Cooper

Masters Theses

This qualitative study explored the use of social media as a tool to recruit prospective college students. Social media was defined as any electronic media that serves as a networking tool with the ability to educate prospective and current college students about an institution of higher education (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc.). The researcher met with two focus groups comprised of current college students to discuss their use of social media during their college search process.

Recommendations were developed for student affairs professionals and for future research. General themes and categories from participant responses were evaluated. The findings suggest that …

Upper Level Administrators: Communication With Students Via Social Media, David Adam Arnold

Masters Theses

The present qualitative study was executed by interviewing five upper level administrators at a four-year public institution in the Midwest in order to explain their current understanding of social media technologies, and in what ways they were currently using social media to connect with millennial students. Previous research has been done on millennials' use of technology and social media in the university setting; however, little research has focused on way non-millennial upper level administrators are using social media in order to purposefully engage students in a meaningful way. Themes from categories identified during one-on-one interviews indicate that upper level administrators …

Dynamic Crisis Modifiers: Bp's Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Catherine G. Bocke

Masters Theses

When an organizational crisis emerges, crisis communicators must craft specific messages for their stakeholders and the public. While an organization is attempting to shape how the public perceives it during a crisis, the media work to frame the public's perception of the crisis through news coverage. Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) is a prescriptive theory that assesses a crisis situation to determine which crisis response will best protect the organization's reputation. Two factors, crisis history and severity, serve as modifiers that can affect the crisis situation, and ultimately influence the best response. BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill serves as …

Trust In Relationships: A Study To Determine The Importance Of Trust, Cara Cosentino

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research study was conducted to determine the importance of trust in relationships. To determine the difference in trust levels, opinions on being hurt by an intimate partner are studied next to the participants' opinions of being hurt by a close friend. Surveys were completed by 65 participants ages 18-24 on Eastern Illinois University's campus. The survey was nine questions long and had mainly multiple choice answer options. Results were surprising on participants' levels of trust. Every participant believed that trust was the key factor in making an intimate relationship work, yet an almost exact 50% of the participants had …

International Image Repair: Integrating Culture Into Image Repair Discourse, Nicole Mangiaracina

Masters Theses

An organization's image and reputation rely heavily on how it interacts with its stakeholders. With an increase in globalization, more organizations are conducting business internationally with diverse stakeholders. When an organization faces a crisis, it must design specific messages that meet the needs of its stakeholders and the public. Image Repair Theory not only provides strategies for crisis communicators when crafting messages, but it also provides guidelines to critically evaluate those messages. Most crisis communication research, including Image Repair Theory, does not address cultural differences. The ways in which a culture perceives, understands, and communicates about crises and image repair …

Male Vs. Female Emotional Expression In Text Messaging, Stephanie Gruner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study focused on gender differences in emotional expression in text messaging. It sought to discover whether men or women use more emotionally expressive tools and words in texts and whether the gender of the person receiving the message affects a person’s emotional expression when creating text messages. Fifty female and fifty male college students completed a two-part study in which they created text messages displaying particular emotions according to given scenarios. The participants were instructed to create each message as if they were texting a member of the same sex, and then a member of the opposite sex. A …

Romantic Conflict: A Problematic Integration, Alyssa Obradovich

Masters Theses

Though conflict is to be expected in most romantic relationships, research determines the amount of conflict within a relationship is likely to peak in the dissolution phase. Ending relationships is rarely easy, and the experience can be wrought with mixed emotions and uncertainty. Problematic integration theory offers a perspective that specifically deals with uncertainty and ambivalence but has yet to be applied to romantic conflict. This thesis examines uncertainty in conflict within the dissolution phase of romantic relationships. This perspective offers a more holistic view of how couples negotiate uncertainty in dissolving conflicts.

Constitutive Walls: The U.S.-Mexico Border Fence And Constructing Identity, Mary Katherine Klipp

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the growing literature of constitutive rhetoric, originally coined by Maurice Charland. Through a case study of the US/Mexico border fence, I illustrate that the communicative tactics of articulation, appropriation and image events have the potential to act as interpellative strategies of identity construction. Through my analysis, I show how these strategies function in constitutive rhetoric in both verbal discourses and in visual rhetoric through image events. I also note that the lack of discourses in an argument may have implications that are equally significant to those that are present.

The Graying Of Facebook: Emerging Adults And Their Parents As Facebook Friends (Fbf), Jodi M. Jackson

Masters Theses

Emerging adults and their parents have a unique relationship, especially during the transition into emerging adulthood. More specifically, as emerging adults and their parents navigate the waters of being Face book friends (FBF), they must learn to negotiate dialectical tensions, along with other prominent issues such as boundary management, impression management, managing tensions, and ease of communication Facebook provides. The core of this study centers around Baxter and Montgomery's (1996) theory on Relational Dialectics. Interviews with both emerging adults and their parents were conducted and analyzed to provide the results of this study. This study explores the intersection between social …

New Age, Old Discourse: National Geographic, Orientialism, And Coverage Of Afghanistan In The 21st Century, Brandon Hensley

2010 Awards for Excellence in Student Research & Creative Activity - Documents

This paper explores National Geographic magazine's coverage of Afghanistan in 2002. In total, 7 of the 12 issues from 2002 have articles about Afghanistan regarding the war, continuous hardship and unrest, and an Afghan woman refugee with green eyes who was on the cover in 1985 and disappeared until 2002. Through a critical examination of these articles as textual representations of the Orient, I intend to draw upon Said's framework of Orientalism to explore how the discourse in National Geographic coverage of Afghanistan is embedded in a hegemonic reproduction of the indigenous other and the West's "benevolent" role in stabilizing …