Communication Commons^™

The Case For Taxonomic Reparations, Melissa Adler

FIMS Publications

Critical histories of subjects and classifications have unearthed the spatial-temporal situatedness of knowledge organization structures and terminologies. Coming to terms with the cultural foundations upon which our knowledge organizations are built and the ways they change and stay the same means that we also confront difficult truths about epistemic and systemic violence. This paper brings KO scholars into dialogue with critical race theorists, indigenous studies scholars, and queer theorists around conversations about reparations and reparative reading practices. It argues that historical studies that expose processes of exclusion and marginalization reveal the need and possibilities for creating reparative taxonomies. The paper …

The Him Career Matrix: Illuminating A Framework For Professional Advancement, Elaine M. Zibrowski, Kelly J. Adams

FIMS Presentations

This project sought out to develop the first, Canadian HIM career matrix in order to:

1. Support a common language to describe the seven core competency areas in which HIM professionals can work;

2. Describe new and evolving roles in HIM in Canada;
3. Provide information on advanced career options available within our profession; and
4. Seek consensus around the common functions performed by Canadian HIM professionals

A Model Of Social Media Engagement: User Profiles, Gratifications, And Experiences, Lori Mccay-Peet, Anabel Quan-Haase

FIMS Publications

No abstract provided.

Display-Through-Foregrounding By Photojournalists As Self-Reflexivity In Photojournalism: Two Case Studies Of Accidental Peace Photojournalism, Saumava Mitra

FIMS Publications

This article explores media self-reflexivity as understood within Peace Journalism (PJ) in the case of photojournalists and photojournalism. Carrying forward the discussion started by Allan (2011) for research into ‘peace photography’ to be extended to ‘tacit, unspoken rules’ underlying photojournalistic images, the article shows, through two examples of mainstream news images, how photojournalists can and may break from diktats of ‘news values’ to advertently or inadvertently critique the myths of the very practice they function within. Such self-reflexive, synecdochic images which display media’s own role in covering conflict are examples from which PJ can take lessons for a new visual …

Commercial Content Moderation: Digital Laborers' Dirty Work, Sarah T. Roberts

Media Studies Publications

In this chapter from the forthcoming Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class and Culture Online (Noble and Tynes, Eds., 2016), I introduce both the concept of commercial content moderation (CCM) work and workers, as well as the ways in which this unseen work affects how users experience the Internet of social media and user-generated content (UGC). I tie it to issues of race and gender by describing specific cases of viral videos that transgressed norms and by providing examples from my interviews with CCM workers. The interventions of CCM workers on behalf of the platforms for which they labor directly contradict …

Through Google-Colored Glass(Es): Design, Emotion, Class, And Wearables As Commodity And Control, Safiya Umoja Noble, Sarah T. Roberts

Media Studies Publications

This chapter discusses the implications of wearable technologies like Google Glass that function as a tool for occupying, commodifying, and profiting from the bio- logical, psychological, and emotional data of its wearers and those who fall within its gaze. We argue that Google Glass privileges an imaginary of unbridled exploration and intrusion into the physical and emotional space of others. Glass’s recognizable esthetic and outward-facing camera has elicited intense emotional response, partic- ularly when “exploration” has taken place in areas of San Francisco occupied by residents who were finding themselves priced out or evicted from their homes to make way …

Digital Refuse: Canadian Garbage, Commercial Content Moderation And The Global Circulation Of Social Media’S Waste, Sarah T. Roberts

Media Studies Publications

The story of a rogue Canadian garbage barge attempting to offload illegal garbage in the Philippines opens this article on techno-trash, in order to underline both the relationships between countries of the Global North with countries of the Global South in matters of waste, as well as to reframe discussions of techno-trash as one fundamentally tied to material things. The definition of techno-trash is then expanded, to cover digital detritus created through an entirely digital set of practices I term “Commercial Content Moderation.” The attempt to offload mounds of e-waste and the similar ways in which a great deal of …

In/Visibility, Sarah T. Roberts

Media Studies Publications

In online life there is a normative supposition that the information- and image-rich environment of the web and other platforms should provide unfettered access to the circulation of all types of content. Less attention is paid to what is not seen, to the invisible—be it actual content that is rescinded, altered or removed, or the opaque decision-making processes that maintain its flow. In/visibility online is central to the intertwined functions/mechanisms of user experience and platform control, further operationalized under globalized, technologically driven capitalism. A digital labour phenomenon that is both responsible for it and relies upon it: is …

Ua44/4 Wku Undergraduate Advising Handbook, Wku Academic Advising & Retention Center

WKU Administration Documents

WKU handbook for advising students in choosing and completing coursework leading to a degree.

Ua19/16/2 Golf Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, meet statistics and photos related to the WKU golf in 2016.

Ua19/16/1 2016-17 Wku Track & Field Cross Country Record Book, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

WKU track and field media guide for 2016-17 season.

Ua1f Wku Greek & Service Organizations Bibliography, Wku Archives

WKU Administration Documents

Bibliography of sources related to discipline, honor, Greek and service fraternities and sororities at WKU.

Ua1f Wku Extended Campuses Bibliography, Wku Archives

WKU Administration Documents

Bibliography of sources regarding WKU's extended campuses in Glasgow, Owensboro and Elizabethtown.

"I Warn You Ming, Stay Away From My Friends!”: The Language Of Superhero Mythology In Flash Gordon, R. James Buehner

ETD Archive

The Flash Gordon (Stephani, 1936) serial is a profoundly important, indeed seminal superhero film that has not been granted the critical attention that it deserves within modern film scholarship. Its position at the beginning of the genre of the modern screen superhero is examined through its evident thematically mythic implications and its culturally centered historical aspects. The serial Flash Gordon is treated and analyzed as a self-standing text that provides clues to the ontological and genealogical foundation and conventions of the screen superhero that is dominant in the media landscape today. This analysis is conducted through the Freudian – Jungian …

Teen Perceptions Of Cell Phone And Internet Sexual Messaging: Trends And Predictors, David Gregg

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to propose and test a predictive model for high school sexting in order to better understand influences and characteristics that contribute most to one’s decision to sext. Sexting was defined as either sending or receiving photos, videos, or text messages that contained full nudity, partial nudity, sexual requests, or comments of a sexual nature. Rates and typical recipients of sexual content were also examined in this study. A sample of 314 high school students in an urban area of Southeast Michigan were surveyed. Males were found to more frequently report engaging in nearly …

"A Barrier With Roses Growing Out Of It”: An Interrogation Of The Relationship Between A Service-Based Nonprofit Organization And Its Clients, Deborah Dee Sellnow-Richmond

Wayne State University Dissertations

Service-based nonprofit organizations exist to meet needs otherwise unmet within the for-profit sector. This study investigates women’s decision to visit a specific healthcare site and the relationship they develop with their reproductive healthcare organizations. Focusing on women’s decision to choose a healthcare organization that focuses solely on reproductive healthcare and access to care, regardless of socioeconomic status, emphasizes the unique relationship women, particularly women of marginalized status, have with reproductive care in the United States. Importantly, these experiences provide the means to examine the broader context of women’s reproductive healthcare access among marginalized communities and the role of nonprofit organizations. …

Access, Oppression, And Social (In)Justice In Epidemic Control: Race, Profession, And Communication In Sars Outbreaks In Canada And Singapore, Huiling Ding, Xiaoli Li, Austin Caldwell Haigler

English Faculty Publications

This article investigates issues of social injustice experienced by various oppressed groups in SARS outbreaks in 2003, paying particular attention to medical care workers in Canada and Singapore, with many of them being immigrants from East Asia and Southeast Asia. It identifies communication strategies employed by civic networks, especially nonprofit organizations, to help marginalized groups acquire institutional and literacy accesses so that they could respond more effectively to such injustices in complicated and multicultural contexts. Through combined use of Jost and Kay’s work on the three types of social justice (2010), oppression (Young, 1990), and access (Porter, 1998), this study …

Rachel Dolezal, Caitlyn Jenner, And Identity Transformation: Identity Legitimization In Internet Comments, Sarah G. Pillow

Communication Studies Student Scholarship

This paper looks at the ways in which a person's identity may be legitimized or delegitimized by looking at the supposed identity transformations of Rachel Dolezal and Caitlyn Jenner, and the subsequent internet reactions. Through analyzing one article and its associated public comments, this paper considers the citizen critic and their role in creating an identity through five criteria of legitimization: identity has evidence to back it up; perceived truthfulness of the person; permanence of identity; experience of oppression; and activism and/or advocacy.

How First Generation Students Acclimate To The College Campus, Emani Richmond

Communication Studies Student Scholarship

This population of first-generation students is ripe for study because of their growing prominence on college campuses across the nation. The existing literature on FGS takes a more specific approach through looking at individual measures that are taken to support FGS such as the role of “academic self-concept,” how FGS negotiate the multiple identities they represent while in college, and how to retain students from low-income backgrounds (DeFreitas & Rinn, 2013; Orbe, 2004; Thayer, 2000). These studies are valuable because they bring information to the people that support FGS in assisting support staff with the understanding of their unique hurdles …

No News Is Good News: Newspaper Reports Of Calumet’S Italian Hall Disaster, Allie Penn

Upper Country: A Journal of the Lake Superior Region

This paper focuses on the newspaper bias within various newspapers after the Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. The paper samples newspapers from Calumet, Houghton, and Hancock, the Upper Peninsula, Lower Peninsula, Midwest locations and major metropolitan areas. It uses primary resources, including interviews and the Coroner’s Inquest to evaluate the accuracy within multiple newspaper articles.

Adult Health Literacy, Sofia Durrani, Meghan Ellden, Meredith Haddix, Kenzie Kacmarcik, Farzana Karim, Katie Meuer, Puja Sheth, Taylor Tresatti, Amelia Whitman

ISCOPES Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

What Is Fake News?, Derek Malone

Collier Library and Information Services

No abstract provided.

The New Digital Media Value Network: Proposing An Interactive Model Of Digital Media Value Activities, Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Ronen Shay

Media and Communication Faculty/Staff Publications

This study models the dynamic nature of today’s media markets using the framework of value-adding activities in the provision and consumption of media products. The proposed user-centric approach introduces the notion that the actions of external users, social media, and interfaces affect the internal value activities of media firms via a feedback loop, and therefore should themselves be considered value activities. The model also suggests a more comprehensive list of indicators for value assessment.

The Domain Specificity Of Intertemporal Choice In Pinyon Jays, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Bryce Kennedy, Dina Morales, Marianna Burks

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

When choosing between a piece of cake now versus a slimmer waistline in the future, many of us have difficulty with self-control. Food-caching species, however, regularly hide food for later recovery, sometimes waiting months before retrieving their caches. It remains unclear whether these long-term choices generalize outside of the caching domain. We hypothesized that the ability to save for the future is a general tendency that cuts across different situations. To test this hypothesis, we measured and experimentally manipulated caching to evaluate its relationship with operant measures of self-control in pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus). We found no correlation …

De-Westernizing Public Relations: A Comparative Analysis Of Culture And Economics Structure In China And Mexico, César García

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Arts and Humanities

The main purpose of this article is to challenge the normative ideal of public relations, usually shaped by a Western perspective, highlighting there is a broad typology of non-Western PR models, which are the norm across the world. This article emphasizes how public relations principles of excellence are not only exceptionally met but also suggests that Western public relations can learn from the rest of the world about, for example, how personal relations can enrich the profession. Using a qualitative method, this paper compares two populated countries with large economies, China and Mexico. The main finding of the article is …

Professor Studies Invasive Species In Africa, Nicole Nelson

The Scope

James Vonesh, an associate professor of biology at VCU, recently returned from South Africa, where he focused on an invasive species of frog. His research question: Why do certain species flourish in a new environment while others do not?

Project Tracks Veterans’ Brain Injuries, Riley Murtagh

The Scope

About 20 percent of veterans who fought in the Iraq War sustained concussions. Of soldiers who received head trauma, about 8 percent continue to have symptoms, says Dr. David Cifu, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the VCU School of Medicine. “We need to understand how they’re going to do in terms of those symptoms.”

Many College Students Abuse Alcohol And Adderall, Vanessa Gleiser

The Scope

VCU Counseling Services has seen the gamut of substance abuse problems experienced by college students. “Alcohol is the most abused substance,” says Kristen Kidd Donovan, one of the counselors. Some students also abuse Adderall, which can have serious health consequences.

Songbird’S Winter Grounds Face Environmental Threats, Kirby Farineau

The Scope

VCU graduate biology student Jessica Reese has documented the environmental threats facing the prothonotary warbler. Development has depleted the mangrove forests of Panama and Colombia where these gray and yellow songbirds spend the winter months.

Commercial Drone Research Takes Off At Vcu, Joe Forcier

The Scope

As microprocessors and mounted cameras have become smaller, unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, have skyrocketed in popularity. But UAVs aren’t just child’s play. Researchers at VCU say the devices could be used in a range of beneficial ways, from inspecting bridges and searching for lost hikers to shooting documentaries and surveying land.