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Full-Text Articles in Communication
Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective On Vulnerability, Nicholas Riggs
Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective On Vulnerability, Nicholas Riggs
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In this dissertation, I study the way couples improvise relationships together. I define improvisation as a kind of performance that leads to an interpretive practice where people develop the meanings of their relationships as they perform. Participating in a performance ethnography, my romantic partner, myself, and three other couples reflect on the way we perform together on stage. Adapting the popular improv performance format “Armando” and utilizing post-performance focus groups, I observe how the couples strive to make meaning together and negotiate a joint-perspective about how they played. Ultimately, I argue that attending to the way a couple improvises their …
Feeling At Home With Grief: An Ethnography Of Continuing Bonds And Re-Membering The Deceased, Blake Paxton
Feeling At Home With Grief: An Ethnography Of Continuing Bonds And Re-Membering The Deceased, Blake Paxton
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Bereavement scholars Silverman, Nickman, and Klass (1996) have argued that rituals to continue a relationship with the deceased do not have to be considered pathological in nature. Since their work, scholars have offered specific strategies for the bereaved to actively construct a bond after death, including telling stories about those who have died, having imagined conversations with the deceased, celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries, and reviewing artifacts that represent or once belonged to them (among other strategies). Hedtke and Winslade (2004) call these “re-membering” processes by which the deceased can regain active membership in their loved ones lives. This dissertation …
Polysemy, Plurality, & Paradigms: The Quixotic Quest For Commensurability Of Ethics And Professionalism In The Practices Of Law, Eric Paul Engel
Polysemy, Plurality, & Paradigms: The Quixotic Quest For Commensurability Of Ethics And Professionalism In The Practices Of Law, Eric Paul Engel
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
According to many, the legal industry is currently suffering from a professionalism problem. The following dissertation is a response to the question, "What can be done about incivility in the practice of law in Florida?" It begins by exploring the literature examining ethics and professionalism, specifically focusing on the role communication plays in the production and reification of patterns of meaning and action. After contextualizing the professionalism problem socio-culturally and historically, the dissertation next provides an overview of some relevant aspects of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (a theoretical communication framework employed to help make sense of the existing state …
Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective On Vulnerability, Nicholas A. Riggs
Improvising Close Relationships: A Relational Perspective On Vulnerability, Nicholas A. Riggs
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In this dissertation, I study the way couples improvise relationships together. I define improvisation as a kind of performance that leads to an interpretive practice where people develop the meanings of their relationships as they perform. Participating in a performance ethnography, my romantic partner, myself, and three other couples reflect on the way we perform together on stage. Adapting the popular improv performance format “Armando” and utilizing post-performance focus groups, I observe how the couples strive to make meaning together and negotiate a joint-perspective about how they played. Ultimately, I argue that attending to the way a couple improvises their …