Communication Commons^™

Julia De Burgos, Embodied Excess, And (Un)Silenced Memory: A Decolonial Feminist Analysis Of Performances Of Resistance, Sara Johanna Baugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation makes an argument for a decolonial move in rhetorical memory studies to more ethically account for the ways in which colonized women in the Global South, like Puerto Rican poet and revolutionary Julia de Burgos, have resisted the trauma colonization has systemically wrought against gendered, raced, and classed bodies. Building from a decolonization methodology, and theoretically situating my argument in Chicana, Latina, and decolonial feminisms, I argue Burgos's poetry both bears faithful witness to the violence of US imperial rule and articulates the dangers of a Puerto Rican nationalist movement built on a Spanish colonial foundation. Approaching Burgos …

A Child Shall Lead Them: Exploring Discourses Of Efficacy And Climate Change As They Appear In Children's Animated Film, Jason Derry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent climate change discourse has tended to presume scientific knowledge and rational argumentation as the principle factor in convincing peoples and publics toward climate action. However, scholarship across numerous fields reveals myriad other contributing factors in how people think about and respond to this environmental crisis, which leans predominately toward silence and apathy. Alongside this, children are often centered as inheriting a calamity, yet find themselves largely disempowered. From out of this rhetorical milieu I interject by way of a multidisciplinary grounding to examine the predominate framings of efficacy in the context of children, climate change, and environmental discourse. To …

Social Aspects Of Food-Sensitive Adults, Jean Elizabeth Duane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People living with food-related illnesses find themselves subjugated by commonly held ideologies causing awkwardness in social situations. The current study is a qualitative analysis addressing how people with celiac disease (CD) navigate social situations in light of dominant beliefs that influence behaviors. Initially, I identify macro-level patriarchal, religious, sexist, ableist and etiquette-related commensality ideologies that disadvantage those with CD. Drawing from the communication narrative sense making (CNSM) theory that supports storytelling and memorable messages as a sense-making tool for individuals diagnosed with chronic illness and their family members, this work highlights retrospective stories and memorable messages from 20 randomly selected …

Dominating The Disease: A Transnational Feminist Perspective Of U.S. Health Coloniality, Jessica Ann Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HIV has been a pandemic since the 1980s with 70 million people infected since the beginning, about 35 million people have died of complications resulting from HIV, and an estimated 36.9 million people living with HIV in 2017 (WHO, "HIV and AIDS"). Many organizations around the world have tried to tackle this issue, however most of these organizations are based in the West or have Western organizations holding the majority of power and control. People in these organizations have the intention of ending the spread of HIV, but they also sometimes spread Western ideology.

This work brings together communication scholarship …

"Femme Fatales Of Faith": Queer And "Deviant" Performances Of Femme Within Western Protestant Culture, Kelsey Waninger Minnick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women and queer folk are changing the religious landscape of Christianity in America, and the scope of visibility for these figures and their apostolic endeavors is widening as more and more Christians are seeking out communities rooted in doctrines of love and connection rather than exclusion and hegemonic piety. Thinking on this phenomenon, this dissertation focuses on the intersectional dilemmas of faith practice and rhetorical discourse with Western Christianity, particularly as it revolves around those female pastors and clergy - considered "dangerous" by many within the church - who are advocating for a more inclusionary church space. By conducting a …

Perseveration Or Perseverance: Investigating Interpretations Of Echolalia, Self-Stimulatory Behaviors, And Intervention Approaches For Children Who Have Autism, Ashlynn Rae Kufleitner

Senior Independent Study Theses

The broad purpose of this study was to examine professionals’ perceptions of self-stimulatory behaviors in school-age children who have autism and the relation of these behaviors to communication. More specifically, I investigated whether and how speech-language pathologists and applied behavior analysis therapists address these behaviors during therapy by analyzing what factors may influence the selection of intervention methods and how these methods may be used to shape restrictive behaviors into functional communication. Through pursuing this topic, I hoped to increase research concerning the ways that echolalia and self-stimulatory behaviors are perceived by clinicians who work with clients on the autism …