Communication Commons^™

Introduction To Organizational Communication, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

This course includes basic theories, structures and functions of communication in business and professional settings.  It also includes effective leadership, decision-­‐‑making, and management of communication techniques. 

Small Group Communication, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

This course covers the definition, structure, and functions of small groups. It examines theories and processes of communication that occur in formal and informal groups in professional, civic, and other contexts. Special attention is paid to the ways in which communication in small groups relates to critical and analytical thinking in small group decision making and problem solving, diversity in small groups, roles and leadership in small groups, and oral presentations in small groups. 

Social Interaction, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

Human beings employ an array of communicative symbols to craft selves, identities, groups, and reality more generally.  This graduate seminar is dedicated to examining the myriad ways humans create and negotiate realities and identities through social interaction.  As such, we will attend to the individual, groups, cultures, larger social formations, and the inter-­relationships among these arenas.    Studies of social interaction are interdisciplinary and emerge from an array of research methodologies. Consequently, our readings reflect a diversity of perspectives on disciplinary and methodological levels. 

Principles And Practices Of Public Relations Campaigns, Rashmi Thapaliya

Syllabi

This course examines the methods and approaches to planning,pitching, and implementing public relations campaigns. It introduces students to astakeholder approach to developing campaign strategy including preparing a projectproposal, managing a campaign, and evaluating a campaign’s success. The techniquesaddressed in this course are applicable to diverse clients and build on prior knowledge ofpublic relations writing.

Media Criticism, Scott Walus

Syllabi

This course is an overview to studying media content, producers, and audiences. This empirical andcritical overview maps the current state of mass communication and media studies research through boththeoretical and applied pieces. Specifically it provides the foundations to entering a conversation on mediastudies, the methodology and theory behind producer studies, various theoretical approaches to textualanalysis, and approaching audience and reception studies.

(Dis)Respect In The Classroom: A Gendered Perspective Of Academia, Abriana Nichole Vesconte

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine gendered practices and the experiences of women instructors within academia. Women face different challenges than men in the classroom, and many times, they are challenged by their students. In order to complete this study, I conducted narrative interviews with women faculty ranging from Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), contractual instructors, as well as tenured and untenured professors at a Midwest university. I was able to interview eight women faculty members of varying positions. After completing the interviews and analyzing the data from each instructor, three prominent themes emerged. These themes are: (1) public …

"Mystery Meat" And "Bulldyke": Disciplining Gender And Silencing Women Sports Reporters On Reddit, Kayla J. Peterson

Masters Theses

Most of the sports industry is a male dominated space where women are very rarely accepted. We see men in the field, whether they work or play, defend the space and tell women reporters to “stay in their lane.” This study focuses on an online news-sharing site, reddit, and examines how sports fans take it upon themselves to defend sports as a male space. Reporters, such as Sarah Spain, Jemele Hill, and Doris Burke, are subjected to hundreds of comments that silence them and discipline them based on their gender. This study emphasizes the need for gender equality in what …

Social Identity And Communicating Difference In The Current Sociopolitical Environment, Jennifer Folami

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As an individual, I have always valued diversity. The blending of different cultures has always been a part of my reality because of the environment where people from different tribes, ethnicity, and religion lived together in harmony. Growing up in Nigeria, the different tribes of my country were able to co-exist, more than that, they often shared the information about their different beliefs. The sharing of the different cultures helped foster a community that was accepting of people regardless of what made them different. Moving to the United States, I experienced a culture shock because I was in a new …

Writing Cross-Culturally: A Mental Health Fotonovela For The Younger U.S. Latino Population, Isabella Garza

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Using Digital Storytelling To Create Intercultural Awareness At Eastern Illinois University, Toluwalase Solomon

Masters Theses

Despite the increasing enrollment of international students at Eastern Illinois University (EIU), little is known about the integration of international students into the larger community. This creative thesis employs photovoice as a form of digital storytelling to amplify the voices of international students at EIU. Over an 8-week period, 7 international students from Cameroon, India, Ghana, Philippines, South-Korea, China, and France and the researcher captured images that told their stories of acculturation and socio-cultural adjustment in EIU. The main goal of this project is to improve college wide understanding on the actual lived experiences of international students in Eastern Illinois …

Student Use Of Institutional Social Media, Hayley Elizabeth Hanger

Masters Theses

This study is a quantitative exploration of student use of their university's social media accounts at a mid-sized Midwestern institution. The survey was conducted via Qualtrics and was emailed to all undergraduate on-campus students. T-tests showed that differences in reason for use existed across gender, race, and first-generation status. Chi Square test results showed a statistically significant gap between the amount of White and non-White students following institutional social media accounts. Descriptive statistics also indicated that lack of awareness is the driving reason students do not follow institutional social media accounts. Recommendations were made to increase advertisement of social media …

Obtaining And Retaining Engagement In Nonprofit Organizations, Sierra Price

Masters Theses

This project is a guide for directors to strategically communicate and display behavior that will influence volunteers to be engaged nonprofit settings. Engagement and motivation is influenced by communicative patterns from directors. Volunteer engagement can result to acceptance of leadership styles, clear understanding of vision, and building trust. Directors should minimize disengagement by fostering behavior that is correlated to working with volunteers in a partnership.

A Journey Of Cross-Cultural Adaptation: An Autoethnography Of A Vietnamese Graduate Student In The American Classroom, Tram Nguyen

Masters Theses

Cross-cultural adaptation is not a new area of study, however, there is very little research focusing on the cross-cultural adaptation of Vietnamese students studying in America. The process of cross-cultural adaptation occurs naturally and necessarily regardless of the intentions of the individuals as long as they continuously engage in communication with the host environment and are functionally dependent on it. This research examines on the difference, the challenge and the way Vietnamese students have undergone throughout the process of adaptation from the original Asian culture to American culture, especially in the classroom context. The theoretical construct to guide the study …

Students Reception Of Ethnic Diversity Topics From White And Non-White Faculty, Cobi Christiansen

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study is to investigate the phenomenon of the student population being more ethnically diverse than the teacher population as well as examining student perceptions of ethnic diversity topics based on their perceptions of faculty ethnicity. A quantitative using a survey method was designed to investigate students' reception of ethnic diversity topics from White and Non-white faculty. From three different institutions in Central Illinois, 141 undergraduate education students, which included students who are majoring in early childhood, elementary, or secondary education as well as students who are receiving teaching certificates with their majors, participated in this study. …

The Influences Of Social Media: Depression, Anxiety, And Self-Concept, Emily Baker

Masters Theses

The current study examined correlations between social media use and its effects on depression, anxiety, and changes in self-concept through quantitative and qualitative data. Variables included in the analysis of Study 1 were depression, anxiety, time spent using social media, number of platforms used, perception of addiction, and type of use. Study 1 showed no significant correlations between social media used and depression or anxiety, however observational analyses of correlation tables revealed a relationship between time spent using and number of platforms used; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using …

Media Criticism And Morality Policing On Twitter: Fan Responses To 'How To Get Away With Murder', Melissa Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

In an alarmist age when tirades about society's eroding ethics areabundant, the media is often a scapegoat for those who fear that cultural valuesare disintegrating. For decades, from reality television's debauchery to celebrityprogramming's narcissism to fictional drama's excessive violence, television hasbeen blamed for contributing to society's so-called moral decline. Recently, concernhas expanded from content to include twenty-first century television viewingpractices. Studies argue that binge watching television leads to antisocial dispositions,depression, and immorality. Likewise, social media is credited forcreating a generation of narcissists and prompting increased levels of depression,jealousy, and apathy. Television viewing today often entails double screening - whereinviewers are …

Building A Blog/Building A Brand: Public Relations Campaign For "Goodwill Hunting" Fashion Blog, Yanik Gene Flowers

Masters Theses

The ability to consistently and cohesively communicate a brand's identity is the central focus of a public relations campaign. This project chronicled the creative and promotional efforts put forward to effectively communicate the brand of Goodwill Hunting - a fashion blog based on the thrift adventures of a 21-year-old college student. Exploring concepts embedded in branding, authenticity, blogging and social media; this campaign was able to establish and maintain a brand identity for Goodwill Hunting through the intentionality of content creation and promotional activity. Goodwill Hunting's blog site and Instagram account was ran for four months and the efforts of …

Students Perspective Of Healthy Living In College, Andrea Coxey

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology, the researcher studied what participants definition of a healthy lifestyle as compared to how they actually live. Through conducting six one on one interviews with participants, it was found that physical health was the most widely recognized aspect of health, and that each participant had a unique definition of health. Mental health was not initially recognized by participants but was shown to be an important connection to all aspects of health including physical health, emotional health, sleep and nutrition. Participants recognized the importance of involvement and their transition to college as impacting their definition of health and …

Re-Presenting Black People Through Ott Television, Bradley C. Chatman

Masters Theses

Dynamic and diverse representation of black men and women in traditional television has been suppressed through the lens of many problematic ideologies since their introduction to television. Over-the-top video streaming platforms have created new avenues for making televisual content for mass audiences with less censorship and restrictions. This opens a door of opportunity for studying black representation. Focusing on original television written by black men and women for over-the-top platforms, I perform a textual analysis on Luke Cage, Dear White People, and Broke as the population of black-written television on OTT to find the character types and roles …

The Relationship Between Resilience, Coping, And Social Media, Lillian N. Hurley

Masters Theses

This study was designed to explore relationships between measures of resilience, coping strategies, social media usage, and depression. Resilience refers to one's ability to endure and recover from adversity. Many theories about what contributes to the development resilience have been explored without a clear consensus. Taormina (2015) argued that adult personal resilience is comprised of four dimensions - determination, endurance, adapatability, and recuperability. Coping, a construct related to resilience, is the process of regulating emotions, cognition, behavior, physiological responses, and the environment in response to stressful events. Past research indicated those with poorer mental health have the tendency to use …

Why A Negative Body Image? A Study On Gender, Social Media, And Mass Media, Taryn Bland Teeters

Masters Theses

This study was designed to identify the contributors to body image (BI) dissatisfaction. The factors affecting the adult body image and the extent of their consequences were examined. This study attempted to determine the extent to which these individual's peers, the mass media, and social media affect their BI, body shaming, and the individual's shame of others.

An anonymous online questionnaire was utilized and sent to participants by snowballing through the use of Facebook and email. Participants were asked to identify their age, gender, pleasing and displeasing body parts, their use of social media, and an overall rating of their …

Branding & Style Guides: Editing For Usability (A Project For Lake Land College), Baylor D. Gardner

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Promoting A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Changes In Promotional Strategies Seen In Star Wars Marketing Campaigns, Michael Fenton

Masters Theses

This piece examines promotional material from the Star Wars campaigns for The Phantom Menace in 1999 and The Force Awakens in 2015 to find differences in promotional strategies with regards to globalization, fandom and fan perception and the use of online spaces. Trailers, tie-in product materials and websites are given visual and textual analysis to find how the films have evolved to accommodate a larger, more culturally diverse audience. In doing so this piece seeks to understand how the changing consumer landscape is impacting the way product are advertised, and how prospective advertisers can maximize their audience through adjusting their …

Student-Instructor Negotiations Of Vulnerability In Higher Education, Kelli A. Halfman

Masters Theses

Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead states, "Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional" (p. 2). The purpose of this study is to examine student-instructor negotiations of vulnerability via acts of self-disclosure both inside and outside of the classroom. For the traditional student, college is a transitional period that prove challenging, leaving one feeling vulnerable. This study offers a unique perspective of vulnerability and expands our limited knowledge on how vulnerable self-expression manifests within …

War Spin: How U.S. Politicians, The President And The Media Frame Foreign Intervention, Samantha White

Masters Theses

In this research, I seek to explain how three different foreign policy actors, the President, key Senators, and the media frame intervention policy when determining if intervention is used for human rights versus U.S. interests. I will be looking at four different areas of turmoil (Bosnia (1992-1995), Rwanda (1994), Syria (2011-present) and Iraq (2003-2011)) to see if the Presidents, Senators, and the media framed their intervention around human rights atrocities being committed, or if they framed it around a national security dilemma.

A Guide To Patient-Provider Interactions In Women's Healthcare, Emma Welton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Media Use And Public Opinion Toward The Affordable Care Act, Matthew Cain

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

The author tests a number of hypotheses regarding views of the Affordable Care Act. Using a regression model and a variety of other data sources, the author finds support for the argument that the debate was forged by partisanship and ideology, along with age.

Googalization: The Response To A “Friend Request” In The Workplace, Ashley Harrington

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

With social networking taking over the lives and time of its users, workplace time and productivity appear to be neglected and decreasing. However, perhaps online social networking is just a plan that has yet to make its inclusion into the workplace. Within this context, the author considers both the positives and negatives associated with social networking in the workplace.

The Comparative Method Of The Most Similar And Most-Different Systems For Crisis Communication Research, Claudia Janssen Danyi, Paul Danyi

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

This article contributes to research methodology in crisis communication. It explores thepotentialities, values, and limitations of the comparative method of most-different and most similarsystems for crisis communication research by reviewing its development andapplication within the field of comparative politics. As a social scientific mode of inquiry, wepropose that this research method has the potential to bridge crisis communication research’srich legacy of interpretive case studies with its growing body of experimental research, andthat it can add an intriguing layer of inquiry to the field. Concluding, the article suggestsdirections for future comparative crisis communication research.

Communication In Organizations Curriculum - Online Degree Program, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

This online degree completion option will help students enhance their marketability in today’s professional environment through the integration of theory and practice and the development of relational and organizational communication skills. Individuals who are proficient communicators are more valuable in contemporary organizations that are increasingly global, team-based, and feature flatter hierarchical structures.