Communication Commons^™

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 …

Author Biographies

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Index Of Titles And Authors, Volumes 1-17

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Submission Guidelines

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Back Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Statewide Public Affairs Television: Expanding The C-Span Model To The State Level And Achieving Institutional Status In The Process, Karen M. Rowley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A study of 10 states that have statewide public affairs television networks finds that these systems have become an integral part of the state governmental process in the same way that C-SPAN has become an institution in Washington, D.C. That is, lawmakers, legislative staff members, lobbyists, and statehouse reporters ignore it at their peril. At the same time, the content produced by these state versions of C-SPAN has altered the way in which the members of these groups do their jobs by providing a monitoring capacity that makes it easier for them to be more productive. This study uses a …

Doe V. Bell, Harley Abrevaya

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using Web Sites To Achieve Organizational Goals: Are Nonprofits Doing It Right?, Alisha Nicole Tillery

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines how and to what extent nonprofit organizations are using their Web sites to fulfill their organizational goals and missions through volunteerism and fundraising. Through in-depth interviews of communication/public relations managers and executive directors at nonprofit organizations new information reveals factors that negatively affect nonprofits organizations’ growth in Web site development and technology, as well as those factors that push nonprofits to break the digital divide. Four nonprofit organizations that provide youth services in Memphis, Tennessee were selected.

The Discursive Practices Of Chemical Discipline, Roger L. Pippin

LSU Master's Theses

This project examines the history of science and its relationship to the popular, or lay, audience, a problem of rhetorical inquiry since Aristotle. This project also explores the implications of the emerging trend in lay literature on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to transform the causal mechanism underlying ADHD so that it is isomorphic in structure and parallel in content to the most contemporary and fetishized sciences of the human body. In other words, how ADHD was once a problem of brain chemistry, and is now a problem of genetics is not simply a matter of scientific practice on the …

Civic Journalism And Community Newspapers: Opportunities For Social And Civic Connections, Amy Burroughs

LSU Master's Theses

This study sought to fill in a gap in civic journalism research by considering its implications for community newspapers, those small, locally oriented publications that serve rural and suburban communities throughout the country. In particular, this study posed the argument that such newspapers may have advantages in pursuing civic journalism, and that these approaches may especially benefit newspapers in high-growth communities. This study relied heavily on the language of theorists who describe journalism as a public conversation, the quality of which - its usefulness for readers as citizens and members of a community - the press can either help or …