Communication Commons^™

More Than Girlfriends, Geekettes, And Gladiatixes: Women, Feminism, And Fantasy Role-Playing Games, Rebecca Borah, Inez Schaechterle

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

The only function women have in D&D is to serve cookies. Gary Gygax, the most well known of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, claims he did not make this remark (Gel214th). That he did or not is perhaps, some thirty years after the introduction of the first fantasy role-playing game, of concern only to him. The problematic position of women players is a secure feature of the RPG zeitgeist. While few male gamers may openly challenge the assumption that women can or should play fantasy role games such as Dungeons & Dragons, the function of …

The Horror Is Alive: Immersion, Spectatorship, And The Cinematics Of Fear In The Survival Horror Genre, Jay Mcroy

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The video game genre known as survival horror resembles contemporary horror cinema in that both increasingly popular forms of entertainment allow audiences to experience fear resulting from the development of suspense coupled with the dread and shock of encountering monstrosity. One need only note the remarkable success of next generation video game franchises like Resident Evil (1996) and Silent Hill (1999) to realize that, more than ever before, game players in their late teens and beyond long to immerse themselves within interactive nightmares that offer the kind of thrills and chills once available exclusively through horror literature and films. However, …

The Game's Afoot: Images Of Infinite Games In Samuel Delany's Trouble On Triton, Marc R. Zaldivar

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Games are frequently used in speculative literature as a metaphor for real-world activities. In Trouble on Triton, Samuel Delany uses several sorts of games in order to explore complex systems of modeling and interrelationships between fiction and reality, extending a tradition in science fiction of placing games at the very center of social reality. Zaldivar's essay seeks to define some of the concepts of game theory that can be used to understand this complex novel and its representation of human social life. In particular, Zaldivar explores finite and infinite games and their uses within a deconstructive theoretical framework. A …

Finding Voice: Exploring Possibilities Of Healing In Conversations On An Event Of Collective Mass Violence Between Self And Other - An Interaction Between Indian And Pakistani Youth On The 1947 Partition: A Dissertation, Meenakshi Chhabra

Educational Studies Dissertations

Are there alternatives to using violence between groups that have a history of collective mass violence between them? This is the underlying concern motivating the study: This concern is guided by my personal experience as a third generation Indian, growing up on stories of the 1947 India-Pakistan partition. The 1947 Partition was an event of collective mass violence between Hindus and Muslims. The two countries have since been "enemies." Despite the death and displacement of millions across the border, the event of partition, has been largely kept outside the public discourse. All that remains are personal stories of brutality about …

Suppressing Cultural Sensitivity: The Role Of Whiteness In Instructors' Course Content And Pedagogical Practices, Laura C. Prividera

Basic Communication Course Annual

Research indicates that students of color often experience marginalization in their academic pursuits at predominantly white institutions. This study utilized critical whiteness studies to examine how communication teachers who instructed basic courses enacted cultural sensitivity in their course content and pedagogical practices. Fifteen faculty at seven academic institutions were interviewed about their teaching practices. Three recurring themes emerged in the data analysis: (a) culture and absence, (b) culture and the marginal, and (c) culture and conflict. These themes revealed how whiteness functioned implicitly to place cultural and diversity issues outside of my participants’ knowing and thus outside of their basic …

Multi-Player Computer Gaming: Better Than Playing (Pc Games) With Yourself, Melanie Swalwell

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Based on research conducted with a multiplayer gaming group, this article introduces and critically outlines the phenomenon of lanning, the practice where computer game players get together to play each other over a local area network or LAN. The author argues that lanning presents a significant challenge to a number of ingrained assumptions about computer gaming. Primary amongst these is that lanning entails players meeting, not just in the virtual world of a game, but also face to face, dealing a blow to theories that gamers are anti-social. The author argues that the sociality of this form of gameplay also …

Role Playing Games As Interactive Fiction, John Miller

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This chapter compares the experience of gaming and the experience of reading, and explores what that comparison might tell us about each. More specifically, it applies methods of literary analysis to the study of two narrative activities situated near the border of reading and gaming: Electronic hyperfictions and role-playing games. Miller first reviews literary theories of reader response and interactivity and notes how these have informed recent critical discussions of literary hyperfiction. He then critiques these discussions and the claims made for hyperfiction's liberating or empowering effect on readers: Contrary to the claims of some critics, such narratives generally fail …

Digital Extensions And Performed Players: A Theoretical Model For The Video/Computer Game, Ben Fisler

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Despite over twenty years of studies, scholars have yet to identify a productive theoretical model for the video game that does not depend on a fragmentary understanding of its form. Following Pierre Bourdieu's contention that the purpose of criticism is to understand cultural products as distinct scientific objects, and Marshall McLuhan's theory that the message and formative power of media are the media themselves, this study attempts to generate a foundational critical understanding of the video game. Building on the most lucrative intrinsic (such as David Myer's 1991 Computer Game Semiotics) and extrinsic (such as Jeffrey Goldstein's 1998 Immortal …

Allegorical Reductions And Social Reconstructions: An Introduction To Games, Gamers, And Gaming Cultures, Matthew Wolf-Meyer, Davin Heckman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Games have become a central metaphor in representations of society, and most people are familiar enough with Lewis Carroll's Alice to know that when she passes through the looking glass she finds herself embroiled in a game a Chess which is also much more (Carroll 1992 [1897]). This strange game of Chess is simultaneously a simulation and an enactment of social life in Wonderland, and Carroll plots out Alice 's narrative path as a series of tactical Chess moves, which can be understood as both an attempt to win the game and to navigate through Wonderland and her …

Cold War Games And Postwar Art, Claudia Mesch

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

During the Cold War both “superpowers” used games, particularly chess, in order to construct an ideology of complete conflict and irreconcilable division between East and West. This essay focuses on the broad cultural challenge to divisive Cold War zero-sum mentality issued by a number of artists—André Breton, Marcel Duchamp and Öyvind Fahlström, and Fluxus artists George Maciunas, George Brecht, Robert Watts, Takako Saito and Yoko Ono. These artists, in a second wave of game-focused art, returned to the concerns of surrealist art practice and to earlier cultural game theory. Even conceptual art production was impacted by the predetermined structure of …

When A Killer Body Isn’T Enough: Cross-Gender Identification In Action-Adventure Video Games, Marc Ouellette

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

While sports games try to recreate the atmosphere of a stadium or of television broadcasts of games, role-playing and action-adventure games attempt to duplicate cinematography through animation. For Tomb Raider, the virtual reality created by the cinematic animation of the game produces an environment for male-to-female cross-gender identification, a topic that has received little critical attention. The sense of identification intended in this chapter comes from psychoanalysts Jean Laplanche and Jean-Baptiste Pontalis, who describe identification as a psychological process in which a subject assimilates an aspect, a property, a characteristic of another and transforms himself [or herself] totally or partially …

Exploring And Assessing Intercultural Competence, Alvino Fantini, Aqeel Tirmizi

World Learning Publications

The Federation of The Experiment in International Living (FEIL) has now completed its first international research effort – a one and a half year project designed to explore and assess the impact of intercultural experiences provided through service projects conducted as part of the Federation’s Volunteers in International Partnerships program. This research project, titled "Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence," involved two sending and one receiving Member Organizations: Great Britain, Switzerland, and Ecuador. The project was made possible through a funding grant obtained from the Center for Social Development of the Global Service Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

A Model For Successful Teamwork, Mohamed Bakir

Theses : Honours

Increasingly, there have been greater expectations from industry and employers that universities in Australian focus on developing student generic skills, core competencies or graduate attributes. As a result, key skills included in the mission statements of most universities tend to include higher-level aims relating to critical thinking, lifelong learning and teamwork. These generic skills and others, are considered essential for successful work place practice and universities are constantly being called upon to produce graduates that can show these skills. This is not an easy task, and universities are trying different approaches to try and satisfy these needs, e.g. e-portfolios and …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Title Page

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editor's Page, Scott Titsworth

Basic Communication Course Annual

As my tenure as editor of the Basic Communication Course Annual comes to an end, I have a great deal of excitement about the future of communication education and basic course scholarship. Looking back on the three most recent volumes, the diversity of scholars and ideas is remarkable. Moreover, careful readings of articles found in these volumes will show that these scholars are using rigorous methods to ask and answer theoretically provocative and practically potent questions. Indeed, these volumes will add to the rich history of this journal and will also serve as a foundation from which to build as …

Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Connected Classroom Climate And Communication Apprehension: Correlations And Implications Of The Basic Course, Robert E. Carlson, Karen Kangas Dwyer, Shereen G. Bingham, Ana M. Cruz, Marshall Prisbell, Dennis A. Fuss

Basic Communication Course Annual

Although scholars have recommended increasing relational variables in the classroom such as familiarity, acquaintance level, and collaboration to help students moderate communication apprehension (CA), few, if any, academic studies have investigated the relationship between CA and a supportive climate among students in the college classroom. Self-report data were collected from 523 undergraduate students from a Midwestern university who participated in a large curriculum assessment program using the Connected Classroom Climate Inventory (CCCI) and the PRCA-24. Results showed significant relationships between student perceptions of connected-classroom climate and CA levels throughout the course.

The First Year Experience (Fye) And The Basic Communication Course: Insights From Theory And Practice, David W. Worley, Debra A. Worley

Basic Communication Course Annual

Institutions of higher learning increasingly focus on the first year experience (FYE), given the twin needs of persistence and retention. In view of this renewed emphasis, this essay provides insights from theory and practice exploring how the basic oral communication course (BOCC) can adapt existing basic course content and pedagogy, as informed by the standards established by the National Communication Association, to more effectively address the FYE. Specifically, this essay summarizes FYE scholarly literature, reviews representative FYE textbooks, and discusses apparent connections between FYE, basic communication content, and the ways in which the BOCC can practically and naturally link to …

Speaking Assignment Options: Enhancing Student Involvement In The Learning Process, David E. Williams, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article reports on the use of speaking assignment options implemented at Texas Tech University. Students in the public speaking classes were given the option of delivering a manuscript speech or a reasoned response. The rationale for the assignment options is that students will be more motivated to perform an assignment that they have a choice in and seen more personal benefit in. The paper will address each assignment, how the speaking assignment options were implemented and some results from a survey administered to the students who completed the speaking assignment options exercise.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistants And Their Use Of Nonverbal Immediacy Behaviors In The Basic Communication Course, Wesley T. Durham, Adam C. Jones

Basic Communication Course Annual

Over the past two decades, perhaps no instructional communication topic has been researched as thoroughly as teacher immediacy. However, one important area of the existing teacher immediacy literature that remains underdeveloped is how undergraduate teaching assistants enact immediacy behaviors, and how, if at all, students respond to these teaching assistants differently based on the enactment of these behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to gain a clearer understanding as to what, if any, immediacy behaviors are used by undergraduate teaching assistants in the basic communication course at a large Midwestern university. The researchers conducted 50 hours of observation …

Enacting A Pragmatist Educational Metaphysic Through Civic Engagement In The Basic Media Studies Course, Shawn T. Wahl, Chad Edwards

Basic Communication Course Annual

We argue that in order to help forward John Dewey’s vision of a pragmatist educational metaphysic, civic engagement through service learning in the basic media studies communication course is a possible plan of action. Specifically, we focus on basic media studies communication courses (e.g., introduction to media criticism, media and society, media and culture) and discuss ways to implement civic-oriented service learning activities for the purposes of fostering greater civic engagement. We draw on literature concerning media literacy and service learning that lead to a case study featuring application of Dewey’s philosophy to a media literacy project. This essay is …

Instructors, Students, Managers, And The Basic Organizational Communication Course: Are We All Working Together Or Working Apart?, M. Sean Limon, Philip J. Aust, Lance R. Lippert

Basic Communication Course Annual

Three studies were conducted to determine the extent of overlap between basic organizational communication textbook content (1990-2002), student perceptions of basic organizational communication knowledge and skills important for the workplace, and managerial expectations of communication knowledge and skills for graduates. Overall, findings indicate overlap on assigning importance to group/team communication, leadership, verbal communication, and conflict management; however, there were differences on a range of topics addressed in the basic organizational communication course deemed essential for job success. Implications of the studies’ findings indicate that organizational communication textbooks could emphasize more “soft skills” such as interpersonal relationships, listening, dealing with conflict, …

Re-Focusing The Basic Public Speaking Course: Changing To An Epideictic Framework To Create Community, Janis L. King

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article will first look at five speeches given by various Nobel Prize winners to determine if speakers were asked to prepare and deliver something other than the traditional speech. Secondly, a review of Megan Smith’s legislator’s speeches, which were delivered in public and received media coverage, will be conducted. Lastly, this essay will suggest the reason for the new expectations and provide a new framework for public speaking courses.

The Basic Course As Social Change, Mark Leeman, Arvind Singhal

Basic Communication Course Annual

Working as an agent of social change calls for perseverance and determination. In our work as, and with, change agents all over the world we have seen many well-meaning people working to serve populations that are often hopeless about the future, demoralized, and/or seeking quick solutions that may not address the real issues or causes of problems. At our university we often see similar characteristics in students enrolled in the basic course. That population can be similarly hopeless about the future (at least in the course), de-motivated, and dreaming of escape through the attainment of a passing grade via the …

Revising Pedagogical Strategies In Large Enrollment General Education Courses, Deborah Craig

Basic Communication Course Annual

The goal of this paper is to describe and present initial findings of a pilot research project conducted spring semester 2005 and funded through a fellowship from the Academic Development Center at the author’s university. The pilot project focuses on the pedagogical strategy of speaking themes and how the use of themes can facilitate the goals of the AACU, address student intellectual development and increase motivation through student autonomy. This paper identifies a problem, briefly reviews communication education literature, presents a theoretical perspective from which to view the problem, presents initial findings, and discusses implications of theory application and initial …

The Use Of Professional Seminars To Prepare Future Faculty For Teaching Basic Communication Courses, Lynn M. Harter, Elizabeth Graham, Stephanie Norander, Daniel E. Rossi-Keen

Basic Communication Course Annual

We focus in this essay on three substantive accomplishments of professional seminars that merit attention because of their ramifications for how we teach and learn in basic communication courses: (1) accomplishing teaching, research, and service as inter-related scholarly acts, (2) interlacing stories of our discipline with stories of learners’ lives, and (3) providing institutionalized support for teaching and learning. Additionally, we offer example reading lists and assignment sheets (see Appendices A, B, and C) in hopes that such resources might prove useful for other graduate programs committed to holistic preparation for students entering the academy.

Case Study Of A Basic Course: Using Assessment To Legitimize Innovation, Marlene M. Preston, Rachel Holloway

Basic Communication Course Annual

As public higher education enters an era of increasing demand, shrinking resources, increased competition, and restructuring (Hebel, Schmidt, & Selingo, 2002; Schmidt, 2002), many colleges and universities will turn to measures of productivity and quality to decide what new efforts will be funded and what efforts will be discontinued. Because change will be necessary for public universities to thrive (Yudof, 2002), basic courses may be increasingly called upon to prove their efficacy and/or shift their focus to meet new demands.

The following case study describes the five-year process through which a two-semester first-year communication sequence was accepted into the general …

Kenneth Burke, The Basic Communication Course, And Applied Scholarship, Scott Titsworth, Ben Bates, Pam Kenniston

Basic Communication Course Annual

The Journal of Applied Communication Research published a forum of position papers in 2000 (Volume 28, Issue 2) that sought to define “applied communication research.” Collectively, the authors called for scholarship that embodies a reflexive relationship between theory and practice (O’Hair, 2000; Keyton, 2000, Cissna, 2000; Eadie, 2000; Frey, 2000; Seibold, 2000; Wood, 2000). In this essay, we call for applied scholarship that focuses on how we talk, perform, and theorize the basic communication course. Drawing from the works of Kenneth Burke (e.g., 1931/1968; 1935; 1937/1984; 1941/ 1967; 1945/1969; 1954/1984), we focus specifically on the salience of discourses of and …