Communication Commons^™

With Generative Ai, Do We Still Need Unis?, Lily Kong, Sun Sun Lim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong and SMU Vice President of Partnerships and Engagement and Professor of Communication & Technology Lim Sun Sun discussed why there is a need for universities even as generative artificial intelligence (AI) may increasingly cause job displacement. They believe a university education can make all the difference in a world infused with innovations like generative AI, as it allows people to hone their human instincts and people skills to augment the rich substantive knowledge they will acquire. They also shared how universities, with their diverse and stimulating learning environments, can prepare individuals for …

Digital Literacy Among Older Adults In Singapore, Mindy Eiko Tadai, Micah Tan

ROSA Research Briefs

Singapore stands as the fourth most digitally competitive country, after Denmark, USA, and Sweden, in the latest edition of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (IMD World Competitiveness Center, 2022). This global ranking measures the capacities of 63 nations to adopt and explore digitally transformative practices across government, industry, and wider society. Among households in Singapore, an astounding 99% have Internet access and 92% have computer access (Infocomm Media Development Authority, 2023). Even within the eldest surveyed cohort, proportions of smartphone usage have risen from 28% in 2017 to 48% in 2021 among resident Singaporeans aged 75 and above, and …

2023 Staff Bios, Author Bios, And Abstracts Brochure

Comm-entary

No abstract provided.

Interorganizational Communication: Case Study, Emma Darocha

Comm-entary

The case presented in this study examines coercive power. An eighteen-year-old freshman attending college in a new state found himself longing for a community on campus which led him to decide to join a fraternity. Regrettably, this student did not find this community or brotherhood in this fraternity. As part of the pledging initiation, he was put in an extremely dangerous situation that was overseen by the authority figures of the fraternity. When he tried to drop out of the pledge process, he was coerced by older members to continue it and made to believe that this was something that …

Performing Relationships During Special Occasion Openings, Ashley Kayla White

Comm-entary

All conversations start with an opening. However, opening sequences take on different and at times more grandiose representations during special or uncommon interactional events. How these openings are performed, furthermore, conveys much about the social dynamics and relationships between interactants. The goal of this research is to explore how special event opening practices display relationships between people in day-to-day interaction by drawing from two recordings of special occasion communication. To achieve this, a conversation analytic perspective is employed and several concepts are analyzed in conjunction with openings. These include preference organization, affiliation, repair, body torque and spatial orientation, gaze, epistemics, …

Case Study Report: The Five Stages Of Grief In Wandavision, Lydia Osmer

Comm-entary

This report analyzes the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2021 limited Disney+ series WandaVision through the lens of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s framework of the Five Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. In the show, Wanda Maximoff uses her magic to create a personal-utopian reality “hex” following the death of her lover Vision. This magical reality works within the plot of the show to reveal how Wanda experiences and demonstrates Kübler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief.

Content For Change, Kaley Lambert

Comm-entary

This piece considers the perspectives of environmental activist Paul Kingsnorth, and author of Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture Mark Bould when assessing the power of storytelling in efforts for climate crisis action. Stories hold the potential to change perspectives and encourage new mentalities. Media content is able to perpetuate, develop, and share stories to a massive audience. This paper argues that if media content were, on a wide scale, to deliberately shift narratives to encourage compassion, action, and concern for the environment, and to discourage wastefulness and mentalities of expansion and colonialism, then it may become more feasible to mitigate …

The Almost-Feminism Of Midsommar, Kaley Lambert

Comm-entary

This paper argues that the 2019 horror film Midsommar accomplishes almost-feminism. It includes a matriarchal society, respects older women, punishes toxic masculinity, rewards emotional vulnerability, has complex and unique female characters, and has a strong female protagonist. There is also, however an overt lack of intersectionality, as Midsommar exhibits a lack of consideration for class, ableism, racism, or body diversity. This film is nevertheless a worthwhile counterweight in a sea of actively sexist horror films.

Pandemic Through The Lens: An Examination Of Repeat Photography During Lockdown, Lauren Cole

Comm-entary

The Covid-19 pandemic had sweeping effects on environments across the globe including, decreases in pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and many others. Repeat photography and social media became tools to document these changes for people to see. Generally, traditional climate imagery and repeat photography depict the degradation of the environment rather than its recovery. This paper works to show how the use of this unique situation, to promote positive environmental change, might work better as a persuasive tool in the fight for climate action.

Art In Climate Argumentation, Matthew Morely

Comm-entary

My paper examines the role of art in the environmental crisis that we are currently facing. I believe that the climate emergency is largely the result of a disconnect between the scientific community and the non-scientific community. In other words, scientists are trying to portray scientific information to a non-scientist demographic. I believe that if we are to prevail during these uncertain times, we need a middleman between these two parties. We need someone who is able to take the information that the scientists are bringing to the table and break it down to non-scientists in a way that makes …

Analysis Of 'My Sister’S Keeper' And Parents Of Terminally Ill Children, Brie Surawski

Comm-entary

This paper uses the film and the novel that it is based on to examine the behavior and communication strategies of parents with terminally ill children.

Empathy Meditation To Soothe Division, Kaley Lambert

Comm-entary

In that widespread lack of empathy and the presence of excess stress may be contributing factors toward harsh social division in the United States, programs to increase empathy and decrease stress may help to soothe these issues. Classrooms act as spaces which may be specially suited to trial and implement such programs. This research presents the foundational backing for such programs, and offers a detailed proposal for one set within the structure of a college level course.

Remembering The Aids Crisis & Act Up: The Failures Of The American Public, Government, And Cultural Institutions, Céilí Flot

Comm-entary

This paper discusses the history of the AIDS crisis and the activist group ACT UP. During the early stages of the outbreak, there was much confusion and hysteria surrounding the nature of the illness. Many misconceptions about the illness had led to inaction from the public and government. In response, ACT UP had formed to address this inaction. This paper analyzes a set of six photographs taken during ACT UP’s protest efforts and analyzes the arguments within them.

Kill ‘Objectivity,’ Save The Planet, Kaley Lambert

Comm-entary

This piece argues that objectivity is a flawed journalistic standard that is detrimental to pursuits for climate crisis action. Objectivity encourages practices that reiterate structures of injustice, disadvantage voices from marginalized communities while simultaneously advantaging stances with minimal scientific backing, and worsens matters of audience disengagement. In pursuit of reducing or eliminating this environmentally burdensome practice, this paper proposes a transition toward transparent objectivity as a possible alternative to objectivity for journalistic standards.

The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Murder, Samuel Maynard

Comm-entary

No abstract provided.

Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Surviving R. Kelly', Grace Righini

Comm-entary

This essay discusses the documentary Surviving R. Kelly, which details allegations of sexual abuse against the musician Robert "R" Kelly. The documentary provides a platform for young black women to speak out against Kelly and explain why he is an abuser. It also sheds light on victims' difficulties in obtaining justice, particularly when a celebrity is involved. The essay analyses the impact of the documentary and how it has empowered women to come forward with their own stories, regarding other women speaking out during the #MeToo movement and paving the way for future documentaries speaking out against other powerful celebrities. …

Death With Interruptions Short Analysis, Lydia Osmer

Comm-entary

In this writing piece, Death with Interruptions by José Saramago is analyzed through the lens of its stream of consciousness writing style. Using concepts from End of Life Communication studies and traditional literary analysis, this short analysis on Death with Interruptions focuses on the both the personified character of Death as well as Saramago’s stylistic choices throughout the story in order to illustrate human perceptions of love, life, and death.

Impacts Of Online Debate On Ipda Inter-Team Communication, Ethan Riley Arbuckle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper looks to analyze the differences in inter-team communication created by the International Public Debate Association’s (IPDA) switch to the virtual debate format. The analysis includes a breakdown of literature covering virtual communication, the history of the IPDA, and virtual debate. Literature has shown negative gender representation, and that virtual communication has significant internal batters to the same function as face-to-face communication. Given the impacts that virtual communication has had on connectivity, and speech patterns this research attempts to find if those impacts have been consistent in its application to the IPDA. The study uses a quantitative survey methodology …

Understanding The Support Local Movement From The Perception Of Generation Z In The Nwa Region, Daniela Medina

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The support local movement is a growing trend within Generation Z, with that comes the need to understand marketing strategies Generation Z responds to best. As Generation Z is entering the workforce and purchasing their groceries there is a need to understand how this generation perceives the term local beef. There is currently little research in regard to Generation Z and their perceptions of local beef. This study aimed to fill a gap within research by conducting a qualitative study to gather rich data to understand Generation Z’s perception of the term local beef and what marketing strategies impacted them …

Political Speech: The Influence Of Speaker Sex And Verbal Aggression On Message Perception, Amanda Magusiak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined political messaging. More specifically, I considered the influence of the sex of the speaker and the use of verbal aggression on overall message perception. One hundred and six college-aged students read eight excerpts of political speech where sex of the speaker (male; female) and level of aggression (aggressive; nonaggressive) were manipulated. Participants then completed measures assessing their agreement with the political message, the speaker’s credibility, the speaker’s communicative appropriateness, and the speaker’s level of verbal aggressiveness. Results indicated that male and female political speakers were evaluated similarly on measures of agreeableness, credibility, and appropriateness. In addition, aggressive …

The Student-Teacher Romance Film Genre: Hollywood's Historical Representation Of Abuse Of Power, Darby Gilliland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite vast literature analyzing films that depict romantic and sexual relationships between young students and their teachers, scholarship has yet to explicitly call this category of films and television a genre. The purpose of the present thesis is to define the student-teacher romance film genre and identify patterns that make it up as a means of illuminating the genre’s exploration of abuse of power in the classroom. I use a historical-generic methodology and gaze theory as a framework to conduct this analysis. I identify three distinct eras of the genre and analyze films from each time period. The first era …

Information And Communications Technology Within Coastal Resilience Planning Frameworks: The Case Of Jamaica, A Small Island Developing State, Ren-Neasha R. Blake Gilmore

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Coastal areas increasingly grapple with coastal hazards like hurricanes, tropical storms, sea level rise, and flooding. Proactive and agile coastal resilience solutions are necessary to reduce such risks and their associated socio-economic and environmental impacts. For these reasons, global coastal planners are pursuing climate action through multi-sector collaborations, innovative hybrid natural and manufactured solutions, and feasible mid to long-term coastal resilience strategies. While climate action is high on governments’ agenda globally, integrating information and communications technology has diffused widely within the coastal planning space in small island developing states, drawing on more technology-driven solutions. Very few empirical studies in the …

The Mutual Constitution Of Culture And Psyche: The Bidirectional Relationship Between Individuals’ Perceived Control And Cultural Tightness-Looseness, Anyi Ma, Krishna Savani, Fangzhou Liu, Kenneth Tai, Aaron C. Kay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

According to the theory of mutual constitution of culture and psyche, just as culture shapes people, individuals’ psychological states can influence culture. We build on compensatory control theory, which suggests that low personal control can lead people to prefer societal systems that impose order, to examine the mutual constitution of personal control and cultural tightness. Specifically, we tested whether individuals’ lack of personal control increases their preference for tighter cultures as a means of restoring order and predictability, and whether tighter cultures in turn reduce people’s feelings of personal control. Seven studies (five preregistered) with participants from the United States, …

Inner Portraits, Bethany Salisbury

Graduate Theses

This paper investigates the many interconnected layers of women’s mental health through portraiture and how animal and plant symbolism can represent the way women's hormones and bodily health affect their mental health. I reveal how the artwork created presents these connections and inner mental health narratives to the viewer, creating a space of empathy, destigmatization, and self-reflection. This body of portraiture art connects five women through a series of both two-and three-dimensional portraits based on interviews using my own adaptation of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoots’ (1983) portrait methodology.

Women and non-binary individuals have always dealt with difficult interactions of bodily and mental …

Crafting Journalism: The Pseudonyms Of American Reform, Sierra Fishman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States saw the rise of "Stunt Girls" and "Sob Sisters" in journalism. These pioneering women defied traditional societal expectations of housewives and pursued careers in reporting, gaining recognition for their accomplishments through the dangerous nature of their work. While many may know the name Nellie Bly, the pseudonym for Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, other reporters played a vital role in the transformation of journalism, including Caloipe, Nellie Bly, Lola, Annie Laurie, Dorothy Dix, Enid, Eva Gay, Nora Marks, Girl Reporter, Nell Nelson, Grace Ermine, Meb, and Olivia. It is important to …

Telehealth In Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Saghi Nassrouie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Description: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is an epidemic that has many factors involved in its management to maintain control. Patients with DM2 require routine evaluations and blood work to provide comprehensive care. COVID-19 caused major shifts in traditional care which sparked an increase in the utilization of technology like telehealth. Telehealth can be an effective tool used to manage diabetes and help attain better glucose control, but its effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants further investigation.Purpose: The purpose of this project was to determine if telehealth visits were more effective in reducing Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in adult patients with …

Perceptions Of Student Loan Debt: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Black Undergraduate Students' Experiences., Pilar Prather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rising cost of higher education concerns many families in the United States, especially those from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of Black students' perception of their student loan debt and how their financial knowledge influences their decisions at a public institution. This qualitative research provides space to empower individuals to share their stories through semi-structured interviews to get an account of their experiences. Grounded in Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Theory, the study seeks to capture the unique ways Black students make financial decisions. The dissertation is divided into five chapters: …

The Landscape Does Not Care It Is A Landscape: A Utopian Pessimist Journey In Kentucky., Shachaf Polakow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

These thesis and exhibition, invite the viewers to travel through different places in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The region’s landscape, like many other American landscapes, is often known to the public through the settler colonial lens—a lens that ignores Indigenous peoples’ history in the region. The work in the exhibition is a response to landscape art's history and its complicity with American settler colonialism- art that was recruited to create a new identity for the settlers and for the country from the beginning of the American Colonial Project. Landscape art was a crucial part of this effort, presenting the land …

Toward A Better Understanding Of Social Network Site Engagement In Influencing Health Behaviors: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Message Framing, Endorsement Cues, And User Engagement, Shawn Chunhsien Chiang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of social network sites (SNS) to deliver health interventions has been on the rise in recent years due to their popularity among the general population and functionalities that facilitate interactions with the content, or with other users of SNS. Despite that, scholars have noted challenges, including low engagement, associated with SNS-delivered interventions. This dissertation’s overall purpose is 1) to document the current state of measuring engagement within SNS-delivered health interventions, and 2) to empirically examine the interplay between message framing, social endorsement and engagement in a randomized experiment using Instagram. Results from the scoping review showed that a …

The Autistic Perspective: Interviewing Autistic Adults On Lived Experiences With Behavior Modification And How It Has Shaped Their Communication, Lighla R. Whitson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of behavior modification (BM) based treatment, the best-known example being Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), is established as an evidence-based practice for promoting communication and other outcomes for Autistic individuals. As such, many Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) use it in their practice to target various forms of communication. Among many autistic advocacy groups, however, ABA and other BM informed therapies are often described as a detriment to mental and emotional health. Organizations such as the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) have come out against the practices and recommend finding different approaches to teaching communication skills. Much research is needed …