Communication Commons^™

Lindenwood Digest, October 22, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Skill Evolution In The Age Of Ai-Utilizing Text Analytics For Skill Gap Analysis To Prepare Women For Leadership Roles, Blenda G. Mutuma, Marcelline Ouma, Beth Kanyiri

Communications of the IIMA

ABSTRACT
The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the global workforce, presenting both opportunities and challenges for leadership development, particularly for women. As AI automates routine tasks and redefines skill requirements, there is a growing demand for uniquely human capabilities such as emotional intelligence, creativity, and strategic thinking, qualities that are inherently strong and often highly associated with women. Research indicates that women typically score higher in emotional intelligence, particularly in areas such as empathy and relationship management, which are critical for effective leadership (Goleman, 2020). Furthermore, studies by McKinsey & Company (2022) highlight that gender-diverse leadership teams, …

The Big Bang Theory’S Blurred (Tele)Vision Of Scientific Ethics: Some Thoughts For Educators Who Want To Change The Channel, Lee-Anne Broadhead, Sean J. Howard

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This article investigates the way the popular American television program The Big Bang Theory represents the pursuit of scientific knowledge and reflects on the cultural and educational implications of the show’s contradictory problematization and valorization of the reductionist method at the core of modern Eurocentric science. Drawing on story-lines relating to military research, animal experimentation, and pharmaceutical drug trials, we consider the show’s precarious balance of implicit critique (the consistent exposé of systematically violent, often unethical research) and overt celebration (the presentation of science as “cool,” and its practitioners as flawed but endearing). This tension, we argue, enhances the show’s …

The Impact Of X On Economic Policy Communication, Ray Harris Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates how U.S. presidential candidates use the platform X (formerly Twitter) to frame and communicate their economic policy during the election campaign period. The research uses a quantitative content analysis method to select candidates' posts and systematically examine the frequency and patterns of economic themes posted by the candidates, drawing from the agenda-setting and framing theories. Moreover, this study aims to measure audience engagement (likes, reposts, comments) to see which message strategy resonates best. The literature review underlines how this media tool can direct political communication and influence public opinion on significant issues. Existing research lacks a systematic …

Creating Feminist Icons, Engaging With Feminist Concepts Via Ai, Regina M. Luttrell Ph.D., Carrie T. Welch M.A.

Feminist Pedagogy

The authors describe an undergraduate media diversity course assignment that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) to explore gender representation in media. Students engage in an activity where they use AI text-to-image generators to create fictional feminist icon characters. This activity is designed to complement discussions on AI bias and gender norms in media, prompting students to critically examine how AI tools reinforce or challenge stereotypes. By linking their experiences with AI-generated images to feminist theory, students gain a deeper understanding of intersectionality, representation, and media bias. The assignment is part of a class that traces feminist movements through pop culture media …

Exposing Bias In Ai Art: A Hands-On Feminist Pedagogy Activity, Sheri-Lynn Kurisu, Emely Yanagida

Feminist Pedagogy

This Original Teaching Activity (OTA) introduces students to the biases embedded in AI-generated art, drawing from feminist critiques of the male gaze (Mulvey, 1975) and Emanuele Arielli’s artificial gaze (2024). AI technologies, often assumed to be neutral, frequently reproduce and amplify societal inequalities related to gender, race, and class. This activity engages students in a hands-on exploration of these biases by prompting AI art generators, analyzing the results, and reflecting on the implications of algorithmic bias. Through structured exercises, students compare their expectations with AI-generated images, identifying patterns of stereotyping and erasure. Classroom discussions focus on how AI’s aesthetic choices …

Teaching About Abortion Access With Charley The Chatbot, Laura E. Willis, Kim O'Neill, Nicole Cushman

Feminist Pedagogy

Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) decision which countermanded federal abortion protections, artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to identify, monitor, and track people seeking medical treatment. The teaching activity presented here asks students to consider data privacy concerns and the role of AI in seeking abortion care, before introducing them to Charley the Chatbot, an AI interface designed to protect and inform abortion seekers. Students interact with the chatbot based on a series of fictional vignettes about abortion seekers in various stages of pregnancy and geographic locations. Following a peer discussions, students examine both how restrictive …

Embracing Uncertainty And Resisting Suspicion In The Faculty-Student Relationship, Natalia Rybas

Feminist Pedagogy

This critical essay discusses the suspicion and distrust appearing when educators think that students can (mis)use generative AI tools. The essay argues that education is rife with relations of inequality, reminds us that technologies are never neutral, and explores using uncertainty as a method of resistance to suspicion about students. The suspicion grows from the relations embedded in higher education because power, privilege, and oppression shape the experience of teaching and learning. Technological innovations, such as AI, carry power relations embedded in their designs and assumed uses, making all participants of the learning process vulnerable and disrupting the process itself. …

Teaching Oppositional Resistance To The Weaponization Of Artificial Intelligence In Acts Of Gendered Violence, Lili R. Romann, Elizab​Eth A. Hintz

Feminist Pedagogy

Meeting the aims of this special issue to take a uniquely feminist approach to understanding AI in higher education, we offer a critical commentary to help other scholars apply a critical feminist lens when teaching about the promise of artificial intelligence in the classroom. Specifically, we center pornographic deepfakes as a primal, contemporary, and disastrous example of the gendered weaponization of artificial intelligence. This critical commentary has staying power – equipping future teachers with feminist tools to tackle AI (as well as the inevitable future of AI to come) in pedagogical practice.

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

Adapting News Production To Social Media Logics As A Revenue Strategy: The Case Of Beritabali.Com, Irsanti Widuri Asih, Aryo Subarkah Eddyono

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Over the past decade, news consumption has increasingly shifted from websites to social media, leading to a significant decline in advertising revenues for online news outlets. This shift presents a serious challenge for small-scale local media in Indonesia, which typically operate with limited financial and human resources. This study explores how Beritabali.com, a local news outlet, responds to these challenges by addressing three central questions: why it produces content for social media, how it adapts to the social media ecosystem, and what implications arise from this transformation. Drawing on the theory of deep mediatization and employing a qualitative methodology …

Lindenwood Digest, October 15, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

A Social Media Campaign And Web-Based Survey About Prostate Cancer Genetics: Mixed Methods Study, Amy Leader, Stacy Loeb, Preethi Selvan, Ashley Hunter, Rebecca Hartman, Scott Keith, Veda Giri

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Germline genetic variants are important for prostate cancer (PCa) management and hereditary cancer risk assessment, but testing is underused. Furthermore, patients are often unaware of the genetic connections to PCa. Social media is increasingly serving as a source of awareness for health information and a method to gather data from a large population.

OBJECTIVE: There were three objectives: to (1) create and test social media messages related to PCa genetics and genetic testing, (2) determine which social media message was most engaging, and (3) assess knowledge of and attitudes toward PCa genetic testing through an online survey using the …

Call For Editor, Volumes 39-41 (2027-2029), Angela M. Hosek

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Call For Manuscripts For Volume 38, Angela M. Hosek, Elina Nikolskaya

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Forum Response — Beyond Gatekeeping: Narratives And Infrastructures For Inclusive Foundational Courses, Sergio Fernando Juárez, Ana Isabel Terminel Iberri

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Connection Over Convention: Promoting Collaboration Between Communication Centers And Foundational Communication Courses To Support Student Diversity And Inclusive Practices, Laura Stengrim, Miranda N. Rouse, Elizabeth Reeves O'Connor

Basic Communication Course Annual

Foundational communication courses and communication centers have the opportunity to work in tandem to better help students. Communication centers serve as a hub for students to receive help with their oral communication skills, serving students enrolled in foundational communication courses and across disciplines. As foundational communication course instructors and administrators adjust to changing student demographics and expectations, communication centers can take the lead in promoting inclusive practices by providing resources, professional development, and guidance to instructors, students, and the wider academic community, thus letting go of traditional approaches to promote more innovative practices that stem from collaboration between communication courses …

Using Public Narrative In The Basic Course, Jenifer Goblish, Mark Fokken, Ben Walker

Basic Communication Course Annual

Higher education is rapidly changing and in order to survive instructors need to meet students where they are; this means rethinking and challenging some of the traditional approaches to public speaking in the Basic Communication Course (BCC). This essay outlines how the authors implemented a new assignment in their BCC based on Marshall Ganz’s concept of the Public Narrative. The authors explain their approach and review the benefits and challenges of implementing the Public Narrative into their BCC.

Reimagining The Basic Course: Integrating Asian And African Storytelling Traditions In Public Speaking Pedagogy, Dious Joseph

Basic Communication Course Annual

Public speaking courses often reflect Eurocentric rhetorical traditions, focusing on argumentation, logic, and individual presentation styles. This essay proposes a redesign of public speaking curriculum by incorporating storytelling traditions from Asian and African cultures. These traditions emphasize communal narratives, moral lessons, and audience engagement through relatable stories, offering a richer, more inclusive approach. The essay contrasts the communal and narrative-focused traditions of Asian and African storytelling with Western argumentation and rhetoric. It advocates for integrating these storytelling techniques into public speaking courses to make them more representative of global perspectives, benefiting both international and domestic students. Such integration would prevent …

Is Seeing Believing? Comparing Students’ Mediated Social Learning About Public Speaking Anxiety Using Audio-Only Or Audio-Visual Instruction, Peter B. Gregg

Basic Communication Course Annual

This study examines how mediated instruction affects public speaking anxiety (PSA), self-efficacy, and motivation. Grounded in social cognitive and multimedia learning theories, 137 students viewed or listened to a brief lecture on PSA control. Results showed significant improvements in self-efficacy, reduced PSA, and increased motivation, with no significant differences between audio-only and audio-video formats. These findings suggest that audio-only instruction can be as effective as video-based content, offering an accessible alternative for diverse learners. The study highlights the value of brief, mediated interventions for improving public speaking outcomes in both traditional and online learning environments.

Reimagining "Public Speaking" Projects: A Creative And Inclusive Experience, R. Brandon Anderson, Jennifer A. Butler

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article advocates for an inclusive approach to public speaking instruction by incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL). We describe an alternative assignment—“Telling Your Story”—that emphasizes narrative and multimodal expression through a gallery walk format. Designed to support neurodivergent students while benefiting all learners, the assignment reframes traditional speech models and offers a flexible, creative way to enhance public speaking skills. We argue that inclusive design should be viewed as pedagogical best practice, not merely accommodation.

Basic Course Forum Introduction, Angela M. Hosek

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Feeling At Home In The Basic Communication Course: A Qualitative Case Study Of Faculty And Student Perceptions Of A Connected Classroom Climate At One Midwestern University, Cynthia Grobmeier

Basic Communication Course Annual

The concept of a connected classroom climate considers that peer-to-peer interaction, not just instructor-student interaction, contributes to a sense of community in the classroom that can impact student outcomes. This qualitative case study considers both student and instructor perceptions of what contributes to that sense of connection in the classroom at a mid-size, four-year, Hispanic-serving university. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and member checks with students and instructors who engaged in the first-year basic communication course during the Spring 2022 semester. Four themes emerged in this study: a) the communication classroom is uniquely positioned to create a sense of …

Speech Delivery Versus Speech Content: How Do Non-Expert Audiences Assess Public Speeches?, David G. Levasseur, Elizabeth A. Munz

Basic Communication Course Annual

Public speaking classes should ideally produce students whose speeches are favorably received by an audience. Unfortunately, we actually know very little about how non-expert audiences assess such speeches. Given this information gap, the present study asked untrained public speakers to watch and rate a variety of speeches. Participants were also asked to provide qualitative comments to justify their speech ratings. These qualitative comments were content analyzed, and the content analysis results revealed that participants’ evaluative observations: (1) focused much more on speech delivery than on speech content; (2) referenced specific nonverbal channels (e.g. eye contact) more than combined nonverbal clusters …

“I Did Not Come Back The Same”: Implications Of A Study Abroad Basic Communication Course, Kristen L. Farris, Andrea Avila, Lauren Green, Michael Burns, Marian L. Houser

Basic Communication Course Annual

The goal of this case study was to explore students’ experiences in a study abroad program of the basic communication course. Thirty-six students enrolled in a study abroad program in the summer of 2023 participated in focus groups tasked to understand more about students’ challenges and learning outcomes. Results from our study suggest students’ significant takeaways from the study abroad experience were their personal growth through improved communication skills and cultural appreciation via expanded worldviews. The findings also suggest these students experienced challenges including language barriers and nonverbal behavioral differences as well as initial negative expectations of intercultural interactions. However, …

From Public Speaking To Multimodal Communication: A Reevaluation Of The Basic Communication Course, Stephanie Medden, Brian Myers, Kristin Roberts-Raymond, Maik Stanitzke

Basic Communication Course Annual

This article contributes to ongoing discussions regarding the evolution of the basic communication course. The authors detail the multi-year process of redesigning their institution's basic communication course, now centered on multimodal communication, and share insights from its implementation. Emphasizing the need to respond to increased cultural and linguistic diversity, a high prevalence of speaking anxiety, and the need to development multimodal communication competencies, the course redesign underscores the necessity for communication educators to adapt proactively to changing cultural, educational, and professional landscapes. Drawing from data collected through faculty and student surveys and focus groups, the authors highlight how incorporating linguistic …

“It Would Just Show The Teachers Don’T Care”: Exploring Student Perceptions Of Introductory Communication Courses And Instructor Value In The Ai Era, Brandi N. Frisby, Joe C. Martin, Jessalyn I. Vallade, Renee Kaufmann

Basic Communication Course Annual

As generative AI grows in popularity, so do the concerns regarding whether this technology has the capability to effectively teach written and oral communication skills, thereby affecting the perceived value students place on introductory communication courses (ICC). This study sought to address that concern by asking students to provide qualitative and quantitative responses on (a) the effect of generative AI on their development of essential communication skills, (b) the value of the ICC in the face of generative AI capabilities, and (c) perceptions of instructors’ use of generative AI for instructional responsibilities. Results highlight students’ preference for human instruction over …

Editor's Page, Angela M. Hosek

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Cover And Front Matter, Volume 37

Basic Communication Course Annual

Cover, editorial board, table of contents

Lindenwood Digest, October 8, 2025, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.