Communication Commons^™

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

In The Name Of Merit: Racial Violence In The Academy, Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt

Faculty Publications

Racial violence in the academy is enacted upon faculty of color, particularly women, in multiple disciplines. This essay attempts to both expose and suggest that everyday systemic racism has become a pervasive and normalizing feature within disciplines that continue to privilege white and Eurocentric forms of knowledge-making while devaluing others. Furthermore, attempts to challenge such supremacies are immediately countered by calls and charges of incivility. This is an essay about the costs of unmasking norms of civility as it bears upon constructions of both whiteness and meritocracy.

Shush: A Creative (Re)Construction, Kathleen Spring

Faculty & Staff Publications

Shush: A Creative (Re)Construction stems from work conducted during a sabbatical in fall 2017. The audio piece, Shush Me Awake, is a composition that explores the shush as a performative act. The accompanying framing essay uses an autoethnographic approach to provide a contextualized look at the composition process for this piece, while simultaneously situating it within existing scholarship in library and information studies on the image of the librarian and stereotypes. The composer notes provide additional technical details about the audio piece itself.

Small Places, Big Successes: Rural Towns Revitalizing Themselves, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Key Indicators of Transformative Change

Income Taxes 2000-2016

- Federal Adjusted Gross Income 20%

- State Adjusted Gross Income 56%

Property Tax Valuations 2000 2018

- Ord 131%

- Valley County 280%

Community Strengths And Opportunities, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Community Strengths and Opportunities

The following is a list of twenty characteristics found among thriving communities, based on research conducted by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development. The Heartland Center found that thriving communities will tend to possess a variety of these characteristics, but not all twenty characteristics. Review these characteristics. Based on your community, rate each characteristic as a (1) agree, (2) neutral or (3), disagree.

Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

The people of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming view entrepreneurship as the key to future survival. Entrepreneurship, they say, will encourage more people to shop locally, while attracting more outside dollars into the community. Locally owned businesses are important for a community that faces such challenges as a 54% unemployment rate, 28% living on per-capita payments to tribal members, and 62% living below the poverty level. While there are many opportunities for economic development, the twist is finding the right strategy and maintaining traditional cultural and tribal values that are important to the two tribes that share this reservation.

The Role Of Social Media In Enhancing Risk Communication And Promoting Community Resilience In The Midst Of A Disaster, Kathryn E. Anthony, Steven J. Venette, Andrew S. Pyle, Brandon C. Boatwright, Carrie E. Reif-Stice

Publications

The importance of engendering community resilience after a disaster event cannot be overstated. In this chapter, we argue that the strategic design of risk communication messages is critical for communities affected by crises. In the past, many communication practitioners employed the single shot, top-down approach for constructing messages, especially during crises. Given growing recognition of the ineffectiveness of this model, scholars have become more attentive to the role of message design in conveying risk to stakeholders. Specifically, through the lens of the message convergence framework, we argue the need for a multiple messages approach that targets diverse groups of people …

Real-Life Information Literacy, Derek Malone, Paul Campbell

Collier Library and Information Services

No abstract provided.

Gold & Blue, Fall/Winter 2019, St. Mary's University- San Antonio, Texas

Gold & Blue

This is the Fall/Winter 2019 edition of Gold & Blue which is St. Mary's University's official school publication.

The Effects Of Prototypicality And Gender Salience On Liking And Friendship Potential Of A Female Interlocutor, Rong Ma, Anita Atwell Seate Atwell Seate, Nick Joyce

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Drawing on self-categorization theory, this article examines the indirect effects of gender salience and prototypicality on friendship potential through increasing liking of a female interlocutor. We manipulated biographies of the fictitious interlocutor to change perceptions of prototypicality. For women, gender salience interacted with prototypicality to directly predict liking and the desire to become friends with the interlocutor indirectly through liking. Specifically, there was an interaction between prototypicality and gender salience, such that as gender salience increased, the prototypical interlocutor was liked significantly more and had higher friendship potential. For men, the same relationships did not appear. We discuss the implications …

A Matter Of Life And Def: Poetic Knowledge And The Organic Intellectuals In Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, Anthony Blacksher

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation unpacks the poetry, performances, and the production of Def Poetry Jam to explore how a performative art embodied and confronted racial discourses, including stereotypes and also, addressed the racism, patriotism, and imperialist discourses that circulated after 9/11. Def Poetry Jam contributes to the intellectual capacity of spoken word and performance poetry, and poets as intellectuals, where poets produce and disseminate knowledge, ideas, and data, in the form of narratives, that contribute to critical consciousness. The effectiveness of the series lay in the consistent blurring of entertainment, knowledge, anti-capitalism, and capitalism. This research demonstrates how Def Poetry Jam provided …

Can Accessibility Liberate The "Lost Ark" Of Scholarly Work?: University Library Institutional Repositories Are "Places Of Public Accommodation”, 52 Uic J. Marshall L. Rev. 327 (2019), Raizel Liebler, Gregory Cunningham

UIC Law Review

For any body of knowledge – an ark of power or a corpus of scholarship – to be studied and used by people, it needs to be accessible to those seeking information. Universities, through their libraries, now aim to make more of the scholarship produced available for free to all through institutional repositories. However, the goal of being truly open for an institutional repository is more than the traditional definition of open access. It also means openness in a more general sense. Creating a scholarship-based online space also needs to take into consideration potential barriers for people with disabilities. This …

Communication And Aging (Online Course), Elizabeth Gill

Syllabi

A survey of the research in key areas related to aging and communication. Course introduces central theories of communication and aging and approaches to studying intergenerational communication. Communication’s influence on societal attitudes about aging and intergenerational communication, and the impact of communication on issues of independence, wellbeing, healthcare, close personal relationships, decision-making, and other communicative contexts related to aging will be examined. 

Communication And Conflict Management (Online Course), Elizabeth Gill

Syllabi

This course examines the nature of interpersonal conflict, its causes and consequences. The focus is on application of communication theories and research that illuminate why people behave as they do in conflict. The course also focuses on how to effectively manage conflicts and improve interpersonal communication quality. 

Communication In Families, Elizabeth Gill

Syllabi

This course provides an examination of communicative structure,function, and process among family members. The family system as a whole and major subsystems(parent-child, siblings, spouses) are explored. Emphasis is on the role ofcommunication in the construction, maintenance, and change of family relationshipsthroughout the family lifecycle.

Communication In Health Professions (Online Course), Elizabeth Gill

Syllabi

A study of the role communication plays in health professions. The course focuses on the impact of communication on patient-provider interactions and health-related outcomes. Communication skill development and communicative best practices for a variety of healthcare providers are emphasized. 

Introduction To Communication Theories, Richard Jones

Syllabi

How does communication work? Why does communication work thatway? Scholars in communication studies begin to answer these questions through the applicationof communication theory. This course serves as an introduction to a broad range ofcommunication theories related to interpersonal, group and public, intercultural, media, gender,and organizational communication. This core course is required for communication majorsbecause it serves as a building block for upper level communication courses that depend upon aworking knowledge of communication theories and processes. This course serves as part of youroverall training as a communication scholar/professional in regards to critical thinking, analyticthinking, critical reading, and listening skills. In this …

Introduction To Speech Communication, Richard Jones

Syllabi

This course focuses on the fundamental principles of selecting, analyzing, evaluating, organizing, developing, and communicating information, evidence, and points of view orally. The course includes instruction in techniques of listening and informative, persuasive, and reactive speaking.

Communication Research, W. Robinson

Syllabi

How do you find answers to questions you have? How do you ask the“right” questions? How do you solve problems and puzzles related to information retrieval,processing, and organization? How do you synthesize in writing the information you find?These are all important questions that this course will help you address. Developing a strongunderstanding of and ability to use research methods is a practical and important skill forstudents of communication studies to use in other college classes, internships, future careers,and graduate school education.

Communication Theory, W. Robinson

Syllabi

A survey of communication theories in rhetorical, public, interpersonal,organizational, and mediated contexts.

Case Studies In Organizational Communication, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

This course examines key issues inOrganizational Communication through an analysis of case studies. Students will apply various theories of Organizational Communication to real-­‐‑life (or real-­‐‑life inspired) cases from contemporary organizational settings. 

Introduction To Organizational Communication, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

This course includes basic theories, structures and functions of communication in business and professional settings.  It also includes effective leadership, decision-­‐‑making, and management of communication techniques. 

Small Group Communication, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

This course covers the definition, structure, and functions of small groups. It examines theories and processes of communication that occur in formal and informal groups in professional, civic, and other contexts. Special attention is paid to the ways in which communication in small groups relates to critical and analytical thinking in small group decision making and problem solving, diversity in small groups, roles and leadership in small groups, and oral presentations in small groups. 

Social Interaction, Samantha Szczur

Syllabi

Human beings employ an array of communicative symbols to craft selves, identities, groups, and reality more generally.  This graduate seminar is dedicated to examining the myriad ways humans create and negotiate realities and identities through social interaction.  As such, we will attend to the individual, groups, cultures, larger social formations, and the inter-­relationships among these arenas.    Studies of social interaction are interdisciplinary and emerge from an array of research methodologies. Consequently, our readings reflect a diversity of perspectives on disciplinary and methodological levels. 

Principles And Practices Of Public Relations Campaigns, Rashmi Thapaliya

Syllabi

This course examines the methods and approaches to planning,pitching, and implementing public relations campaigns. It introduces students to astakeholder approach to developing campaign strategy including preparing a projectproposal, managing a campaign, and evaluating a campaign’s success. The techniquesaddressed in this course are applicable to diverse clients and build on prior knowledge ofpublic relations writing.

Media Criticism, Scott Walus

Syllabi

This course is an overview to studying media content, producers, and audiences. This empirical andcritical overview maps the current state of mass communication and media studies research through boththeoretical and applied pieces. Specifically it provides the foundations to entering a conversation on mediastudies, the methodology and theory behind producer studies, various theoretical approaches to textualanalysis, and approaching audience and reception studies.

The ‘Hypertextual’ Self: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Social Media Use For Identity Work Among Muslims In North America, Annisa Meirita Patimurani Rochadiat

Wayne State University Dissertations

Digital connectivity and social media use have become increasingly commonplace as internet-mediated communication and mobile phone technology dominate our daily communication repertoire. Informed by a multidisciplinary theoretical framework of the cybernetic Big Five theory (CB5T; DeYoung, 2015), Communication Theory of Identity (Hecht, 1993), an affordances framework (DeVito, Birnholtz, & Hancock, 2017), and respectability politics (Higginbotham, 1993), this two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) dissertation explores some of the implications of social media use for North America’s (the United States and Canada) Muslims, and how Muslim social media users engage with and communicate through internet-mediated technologies to …

Cognitive Processing And Climate Change: The Impact Of Political Ideology On Processing Climate Change Information, Quinn Massaroni

Master of Arts in Communication

This study addressed information processing for climate change messages from representatives of a political party. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the political ideology of a message source and message sender and its impact on perceived hazard characteristics, negative affective response, and information processing behavior. Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 posited that when the source and message receiver have the same political ideology, the receiver will experience heightened levels of concern about climate change. Hypothesis 3 and Hypothesis 4 posited that, regardless of the message source, participants are more inclined to heuristically process information. Research …

Trends In American Newspaper Coverage Of Autism, Allison Miller

Master of Arts in Communication

The public's understanding of disabilities is cultivated via several media resources, including news media. Disability scholars often cite negative representations of disabilities in mass media, yet analyses of newspaper journalists' coverage of autism remain scarce. The present study explores the frames, stereotypes, stigmatizing cues, and individuals cited in news coverage of autism through a content analysis of The New York Times and USA Today coverage of autism from 2013-2016. The findings revealed that episodic frames are consistently utilized to discuss autism. References to abnormal social tendencies and coupling autism with adverse circumstances were the most common stereotypes in newspaper coverage. …

Video Gaming As A Gendered Pursuit, Jenna M. Drenten, Robert L. Harrison, Nicholas J. Pendarvis

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

As video game technology has evolved, so too has the gendered nature of the video gaming subculture. This chapter characterizes the broad cultural context of gaming and the shifting social patterns of gendered game play. By reviewing existing research at the intersection of gender, gaming, and consumption, we identify three primary research opportunities to build upon existing research: understanding consumers’ lived experiences in the gendered gaming subculture, exploring the gendered gaming marketplace (e.g., shopping, advertising), and investigating the systemic, structural, and cultural underpinnings of gaming. Existing research in the field is not exhaustive nor complete; rather, opportunities for research identify …