Communication Commons^™

Interpersonal Communication Curriculum, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

This option is designed for students who are interested in developing knowledge, skills, and abilities that facilitate effective communication in personal, professional, and group contexts. Students can tailor the program so as to prepare themselves for work in multiple or multi-faceted communicative environments.

Broadcast News Curriculum, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

This concentration is designed to provide the knowledge, values, perspectives, and skills necessary to understand the roles, functions, and operations of broadcast news.

Electronic Media Production Curriculum, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

This concentration is designed to provide the knowledge, values, perspectives, and skills necessary to understand the roles, functions, and operations of various electronic media. This program of study is focused on balancing theoretical issues with practical experience.

Corporate Communication Curriculum, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

Communication is identified as one of the top skills required in any organization. This option provides students with the knowledge, values, perspectives, and skills necessary to understand the roles, functions, strategies, and management of positions within organizations with high communication demands.

Health Communication Curriculum, Communication Studies

Curriculum Programs

The Health Communication major prepares students to communicate and promote positive health behaviors in professional health care settings and in health advocacy.

Our students learn to design, evaluate, and implement health communication programs in a variety of professional settings. We take an interdisciplinary approach by emphasizing the intersection of strategic communication and health promotion as the foundation for educating individuals and creating healthier communities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sees health communication as fundamental to all health–related occupations. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 of the 30 fastest growing occupations are related to healthcare …

Support For Friends And Family Members Of Incarcerated Individuals, Brandon M. Goodman

Masters Theses

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and identify communication practices that affect incarcerated individuals and their families, specifically focusing on emotions and family communication patterns. Statistics show that there is a need for this type of research into support for loved ones of incarcerated individuals. This thesis then identifies the uses of theory and concepts related to family communication, emotions, and identity. The thesis also provides an overview of previous research on communication and incarceration, including interdisciplinary research crossing into sociology, as well as social interaction, family studies and more. In conclusion, the thesis argues that prisonization is …

Citizens On Twitter: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Emerging Political Satire, Kathryn Miller

Masters Theses

This thesis provides an overview of the history of satire, its rhetorical structure, and my interpretation of its historically culminated five fundamental characteristics. I also introduce that the rise in popularity of American political satire through various media has inspired a new wave of American satirists who project their own political satirical messages through social media platforms and how Twitter, in particular, has provided those "average" individuals with the opportunity to more actively, directly, and satirically take part in political discussions. With a collection of two data sets of tweets—one larger live tweet sweep during the first 2016 presidential debate …

Of Music And Media: A Producer Study Of Promotional Encoding On Social Media Through The Lenses Of Paratext And Medium Theory, Connor D. Wilcox

Masters Theses

While music promotion has been important aspect for musicians, bands, and musical organizations for well over a century, the rise of social media in the digital era has profoundly changed the way these promoters perceived of and practice their commercial task of selling music. Paratexts (Gray, 2010a) offer an effective lens for focusing on these promotions while encoding/decoding (Hall, 1980) justifies producer studies to examine and uncover vital aspects of production shape the text and medium theory adds further focus by recentering the medium as being distinctly influential. Existing research on music promotion highlights the uniqueness and evocativeness of the …

New Year, New Look: Communicating An Organizational Identity For The Eiu Women's Basketball Team, Nathan Bryant

Masters Theses

The attempt to increase and maintain stakeholder engagement and interaction is one of the main pursuits for public relations practitioners today. With new and changing ways to reach and engage stakeholders through various social media outlets public relations professionals now more than ever have to find a way to make their products stand out among the multiple messages a person views in a given day. This public relations campaign attempted to increase engagement and interaction with the Eastern Illinois University's women's basketball team by giving the team a new organizational identity. This identity was conveyed through the team's social media …

A Long Strange Trip Through The Evolution Of Fan Production, Fan-Branding, And Historical Representation In The Grateful Dead Online Archive, Anna Richardson

Masters Theses

This study explores how a digital music archive tells the story and contributes to the public memory of cult bands. Utilizing the Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) as the primary data source, the researcher obtained a population of 26,835 items and categorized them by the production method of fan or band, item type, era, and logo. Content analysis illustrated themes within the archive in relation to the fannish production and activity within the fandom of the Grateful Dead. The span of this specific fandom spreads across five decades and sheds light onto the ways in which the fandom surrounding cult …

"My Tattoos Make Me, Me": Constructing Personal Identities Through Tattoos, Ryan Howard

Masters Theses

The following thesis consists of a research project that seeks to understand how individuals construct personal identities through tattoos. The thesis contains background information on why the author has a personal connection and interest with the subject. The thesis also includes a review of the literature that informs the readers about the origins of tattoos, historicization of tattoos, cultural appropriation and commodification, motivations for tattooing, tattoos and the body, and identity construction. There is also a methods section that explains how the author utilized the interviewing process to gather and conduct research in the field to answer the research question: …

Service Standards In Higher Education: Lasswell's Communication Model As A Training Tool, Crystal R. Alston

Masters Theses

This paper examines a service standards training process established during the 2016/2017 academic year for Prairie State College (PSC), a two-year community college located in Chicago Heights Illinois. The goal of examining and revising the service training process was to enhance the quality of service after the college received poor service reviews from a recent satisfaction survey. Lasswell's Communication Model was used to create content and structure for a training manual and workshop as part of the overall service training process at PSC. The service standards and training manual was successfully developed and is currently being tailored to accommodate the …

Steven Avery, A Case Study: Making A Murderer Or Making An Identity, Allison Grussing

Masters Theses

Steven Avery, a Wisconsin native, has spent the majority of his adult life in prison, once for a crime he was later exonerated from, and then again for murder. The Netflix series Making a Murderer documents Avery's murder trial, and uses only first hand accounts. Ultimately, this research had two goals: one was to better understand how the series utilized framing to engage in advocacy for Avery and the second was to uncover what identity was constructed by the producers and series for Avery. With a thematic analysis approach and open and axial coding this research revealed three themes that …

An Analysis Of Black Undergraduate Students' Social Activism Through Social Media Usage, Tayla Richards

Masters Theses

Social media has become a tool for college students to engage in social activism. Black undergraduate students is one population that actively utilize social media's impact as illustrated through recent activist movements and demonstrations within university communities. This study sought to explore and analyze the ways that Black undergraduate students utilize social media platforms in general and for activism. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with three Black undergraduate students and analyzed their posts on each of their frequently used social media platforms in order to study how their personal narratives were connected to their social media use.

Results showed that …

On Solid Ground I Stand: Narratives On Disclosure, Resilience, And Faith Amidst Recognition Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Wade Rhodes Dundee

Masters Theses

Childhood sexual abuse seems to be a hidden secret in American society; one of the famous, "If we don't talk about it, it won't happen" narratives. However, we know this is not true. Both the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2012) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2005) state one in four girls and one in six boys will fall victim to sexual abuse before they celebrate their 18th birthday. There is a high probability that because of the alarming lack of disclosure of male survivors, these statistics could be incorrect and could hinder creating or allowing for conversations …

Framing Gun Violence: Agenda-Setting On Nbc's Meet The Press, Daniel A. Douglas

Masters Theses

Through the use of framing theory as described by Entman (1993), this thesis examines the National Rifle Association's framing of the gun violence debate as established, maintained, and shaped by their vice president, Wayne LaPierre on three separate episodes of Meet the Press, which occurred on December 23rd, 2012; March 24th, 2013; and September 22nd, 2013. This work offers a thematic analysis that investigates several themes that emerge in the three individual interviews with LaPierre that are done by David Gregory on the program. Those themes are then analyzed through the lens of the four purposes of framing that …

Exercise Is Medicine: The Exercise Habits And Attitudes Towards Exercise Counseling Of Medical Practitioners, Zoë Roberts

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to examine the exercise habits of practicing physicians, physician assistants (PA), and nurse practitioners (NP) in Illinois to better understand their attitudes towards counseling their patients on exercise, and to analyze the frequency that these health care providers incorporate exercise counseling into their practices. Current data has revealed the exercise habits of physicians and how it has influenced the physicians' exercise counseling behaviors. But PAs and NPs have not been included in research collectively as a medical team on the topic using exercise counseling and prescription for patient care and treatment. The research was …

Welcome The Stranger? Recent History Of American Christianity And Refugee Policy, Brenda Edith Cuellar

Masters Theses

Immigration is a controversial and complex issue. The United States has a history of welcoming millions of immigrants and refugees. Recent political rhetoric surrounding immigration has been negative and associated with danger and terrorism. Religious leaders along with their congregations have a history of advocating on behalf of the marginalized as well as combating against a broken immigration system that leaves eleven million people undocumented. This research paper uses a case study to explore the Sanctuary movement, a religious and political campaign that provided shelter for thousands of Central American refugees fleeing war. Interviews with seven religious leaders in Arizona …

Chapter 9 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sally Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Beyond the I-Iot Flashes: New Portrayals of Mature Women

Chapter 1 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Full Chapter.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Becoming a Girl: Pop Culture'sFirst Stage of Gender Training

Chapter 2 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Reading Between the Lines: The Lessons Adolescent Girls Learn Through Popular Young Adult Literature

Chapter 7 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Changing the Playing (orReading) Field: ReconceptualizingMotherhood Through HumorousParenting Texts

Chapter 6 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Nine Months of Fear and aLifetime of Paranoia: The I-IiddenEffects of Pregnancy Manuals,Child Rearing Products, and More

Chapter 3 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The Gendered Self-Help Reel:How Romantic Comedies InstructWomen on Dating Dos and Don'ts

Conclusion - Hop Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sally Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Conclusion: Exiting the Funhouse - Challenging Society's Lessons One Stage at a Time

Introduction - How Pop Culture Shapes - Full Chapter.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Introduction: FunhouseMirrors - Popular Culture'sDistorted View ofGirl/Womanhood

Chapter 8 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Pumas, and Cougars, and MILFs,Oh My!: Popular Portrayals ofRomance and Sexual EncountersBetween 'The Older Woman'and Younger Man

Chapter 5 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Love, American Style: GenderedRepresentations of Marriagein the Media

Chapter 4 - How Pop Culture Shapes - Excerpt.Pdf, Melissa R. Ames, Sarah Burcon

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Selling Weddings and ProducingBrides: Mediated Portrayals of That'Perfect Day'

Culture For Sale: The Appropriation Of Japanese Style Tattoos Through Transculturation, Evan Lohmann

Masters Theses

Japanese style tattoos onto the bodies of celebrities in the United States articulate a lack of awareness towards this ancient art form through their appropriation of historically inaccurate images. The prominence of these celebrities in magazines circulated within the United States act as powerful mediums which may lead to the commodification of certain Japanese symbols in capitalistic societies like the United States. I use post-colonialism, Orientalism, transnationalism and hyper identification as the theoretical framework and semiotics as the methodology in order to examine fourteen magazine covers that showcase celebrities in the United States sporting noticeable Japanese style tattoos. The overall …