Communication Commons^™

‘It’S Like Flipping A Switch’: Understanding The Challenges, Expectations, And Identity Of High School Wrestlers, Aubree Herman

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This study aims to understand the challenges and expectations of high school wrestlers, and how they are managing their social identities within the parameters of the sport. The rise of female wrestlers within the last decade and the hegemonic masculine roots of the sport show how imperative it is that research shed light into the unique experiences of high school wrestlers. Social identity theory was used as a theoretical framework and participants answered interview questions that discussed the three components of their social identity (i.e., cognitive, affective, and evaluative). They also identified challenges that they faced, the kind of expectations …

The Dances Of The Presidency, Robert Chapin Poyser

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis will analysis the ideologies of Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, & former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The thesis will focus on the use of feminist critiques of the political rhetoric spoken by all three politicians to argue the discourse in the Obama era, Hillary Clinton’s two Presidential campaigns and President Donald Trump rise as a politician.

Local Radio Journalists’ Usage And Perception Of Artificial Intelligence In The Production Of Local News, Imani Nia Springer-Norris

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The study of human-machine communication seeks to explore journalists’ opinions and perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) in the newsmaking process, but few studies explore the impact of artificial intelligence on local news, particularly local nonprofit radio journalism. In a case study of a midwestern NPR affiliate, nine local radio journalists were interviewed about how they use AI technology at their local station and their opinions about the role of artificial intelligence as a communicator. My results showed that local radio journalists were primarily using AI for transcription, but that the station was experimenting with other AI tools for the purpose …

Not Just A Hashtag: Using Black Twitter To Engage In Critical Visual Pedagogy, Mia L. Knowles-Davis, Robert L. Moore, Susan Köseoğlu (Ed.), George Veletsianos (Ed.), Chris Rowell (Ed.)

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

[First Paragraph] We live in a global society in which we are constantly exposed to new technologies, people, and situations that transform our perceptions and worldviews. As we are exposed to these new experiences, it is increasingly necessary to maintain a critical eye and question what we are seeing. It is not enough for higher education merely to teach material; instructors should also teach the responsibilities and ethics that coincide with it. Encouraging criticality in higher education helps learners to develop a deeper understanding of social justice, inequality, and oppressive systems, and it teaches learners how to combat those issues …

The Problematics Of Gender For Aviation Emergency Communication During An Inflight Emergency: A Case Study, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Due to the rarity of female pilots, aviation communication is typically conducted in a single-gender environment. The role of gender in interactions during inflight emergencies has not yet been adequately explored. This single case analysis uses a qualitative approach based on conversation analytic transcripts to investigate how gender may be relevant either explicitly or implicitly in radio trans-missions between flight crew and Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel, as well as internal ATC phone interactions as participants work to handle an inflight emergency. This incident involved a female pilot and a male copilot, thus providing a naturally occurring rare event to …

Wooing “Willing Dupes”: The Bush Administration’S Use Of Emotional Language In The Drive Toward War With Iraq, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

The publicly available texts of the George W. Bush administration from September 11, 2001, to March 19, 2003, as presented in The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, were analyzed for word frequency and the words themselves analyzed for emotional weight using the NRC Emotion Intensity Lexicon. Transcripts of six television news agencies (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX, and PBS) were also analyzed for word frequency to determine the extent to which these agencies may have repeated and consequently amplified the rhetoric of the administration. Public opinion polling for this same period was examined in an …

Fighting For What Is Right: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Fan Campaign To Save Anne With An E From Cancellation, Marie E. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Anne with an E fan campaign highlighted storylines of social issues that fans felt were important for society. Of particular interest to the fan community was a storyline from the series in which Anne and her friends organized a protest following incidents of sexual assault and censorship aimed at silencing girls from speaking out on gendered issues. This storyline was heavily referenced in the billboards that the fan-based campaign displayed in Toronto and New York City (Anne Nation, 2020). In this analysis, I used fantasy theme analysis (Bormann, 1972) and metaphorical criticism (Osborn, 2018) to conduct a visual and …

Halloween 2023: It's A Barbie World!, Jin-A Choi, Yi Luo, Bond Benton, Keith Green

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

Move over, black and orange, and step aside for the color that is going to dominate Halloween this year, “Barbie Pink.” And yes, Ken, “it won’t matter what you do, you will always be number two,” at least when it comes to Halloween costumes in 2023. And those wildly popular Star Wars and Marvel character costumes traditionally seen during the “spookiest” time of the year? It seems they won’t match the popularity of the fictional character, Barbie, who reemerged this year on the pop culture scene after the incredible success of the Warner Bros. film “Barbie” released in July.

Based …

Ua12/2/74 Lambda Society, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Lambda Society

Ua61/3 Health & Human Services Dean's Office, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Unprocessed records created by and about the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services.

Ua12/2/79 Lambda Chi Alpha, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Lambda Chi Alpha and its forerunner fraternities Pi Lambda Alpha & Phi Sigma Tau.

Ua12/2/76 Alpha Xi Delta, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Alpha Xi Delta sorority.

“They Hurt Me Pauley:” Applying Queer Performance Theory Within L.B. Hamilton’S Play A Midnight Clear To Understand Gendered Violence And Prejudice Against Feminine Msm, Skyllar M. Schoening

Schultz-Werth Award Papers

This essay uses the theoretical lens of queer performance theory to analyze L.B. Hamilton’s play, A Midnight Clear, to increase awareness of gendered violence and prejudice against feminine men-seeking-men (MSM). I first contextualize existing literature about sexual assault and the limited research about feminine men regarding sexual violence and assault. Then, I examine the components of queer performance theory, positing a metaphorical equation of combining both queer theory and performance theory to further understand the roots of queer performance theory. In this section, I also suggest the importance of representation and identity within a dramaturgical and theatrical-based lens from both …

The Influence Of Peyton Manning’S Christian Masculinity, Jacob Edwards

Schultz-Werth Award Papers

Have you ever had a role model or favorite athlete? I had a few, Peyton Manning was and still is my favorite. My favorite team has always been the Indianapolis Colts and that is the team Peyton Manning played for. Growing up I collected a variety of trading cards. I have a couple of Peyton Manning’s rookie cards and even one of his jersey cards. I remember getting those and being pretty fired up when I got them. I admired his attitude toward the sport as it always seemed like he was trying to make a positive impact, work hard, …

External Funding Bulletin, January - June 2023, Uno Office Of Research And Creative Activity

Sponsored Programs Bulletins

No abstract provided.

Exploring Parents' Knowledge Of Dark Design And Its Impact On Children's Digital Well-Being, Claire Bessant, Luei Lin Ong, Laurel Aynne Cook, Mariea Grubbs Hoy, Beatriz Pereira, Alexa Fox, Emma Nottingham, Stacey Steinberg, Pingping Gan

UF Law Faculty Publications

Dark design (also known as deceptive design; Colin et al., 2018 and dark patterns; Mathur et al., 2019) is evidenced by “a user interface carefully crafted to trick users into doing things they might not otherwise do” (Brignull, 2022; page 1). Much dark design is constructed with monetization as the primary goal- even in spaces without ecommerce design (e.g., free-to-play apps representing >95% of all mobile apps; Fitton et al. 2021). Many recent dark design strategies are also oriented towards collecting user information. Concerns about children’s vulnerability to inappropriate online marketing and economic fraud, and the impact of organisational data …

My Parents Don’T 💬 Like I Do, Will Jent

Emerging Writers

Social media is no longer a platform solely for the youth. People of all age groups have found social media, and the language that these groups use can be an indicator of how they use the platforms. Through the analysis of language use pulled directly from social media posts and data collected by other researchers, I found that older generations tend to use social media to gather information, while younger groups use social media for its titular function. By interpreting others’ language use online, people can become more understanding of those they encounter, creating a friendlier space for all.

The Negative Impact Of Social Media's Algorithms On Society, Julia S. Tucker

Emerging Writers

The tools utilized by social media, including algorithms and curation of media feeds, contribute to media phenomenon such as filter bubbles and confirmation biases. These agents transfer from the digital world to the real world, negatively affecting our society, and changing our behaviors. Some examples include political polarization, imposter syndrome, and extremism. These attributes of social media also promote the spread of mis and dis- information, which can negatively impact our social and personal health.

Improving Spiritual Care Competency Among Intensive Care Unit Nurses: Promoting Holistic Patient Care Towards End-Of-Life, Joanne Nguyen, Dana Bagis

Nursing | Student Research Posters

Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses play a crucial role in providing physiological stabilizing care in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, often marked by constant changes and variability in complex patients. Despite their specialization, the aspect of spiritual care tends to be overlooked, particularly in the context of end-of-life care. This is significant because previous studies have shown that a lack of spiritual care leads to poorer health outcomes, decreased coping, increased depression, and diminished quality of life for patients. This research proposal aims to investigate the spiritual care competency among ICU nurses who partake in spiritual care based training, with …

Infusing Theology In Changemaking Curricula: Engaging Justice Natives With Christian Social Thought, Jonathan Bowman Phd

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

As “justice natives,” today's undergraduate students are motivated to engage directly with the world around them in ways unseen throughout most previous generations. Interestingly, secular humanistic perspectives on changemaking are in keeping with a wide variety of biblical teachings and principles of Christian social thought. At the same time, educators and practitioners can better engage these students to lessen a disconnect that often seems to emerge between social justice causes and the modern church. This paper applies a praxis-based approach, Kingian Theology, the Beatitudes from the gospels, elements of liberation theology, Wesley's thoughts about community engagement, and principles of both …

Oaxacalifornia: Indigenous Transnational Spaces As Grassroots Cosmopolitanism, Antonieta Mercado

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

Paradoxically both immigration and indigeneity are common conditions for exclusion from full citizenship in contemporary settler nation-states. Marginalized populations such as immigrants and Indigenous groups, resist the homogenizing rules dictated by dominant notions of culture and citizenship deployed by settler colonial states, entailing often hegemonic practices of control from institutions, such as the school and media. This essay discusses the creation of a transborder space between Mexico and the US named “Oaxacalifornia”. This “deterritorial” space was named and is maintained by Mexican Indigenous migrants from the state of Oaxaca who spend their daily lives interacting through communicative and civic practices …

Perceptions Of Collegial And Uncollegial Behaviors After A University Consolidation: A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of How Faculty Viewed Members Of Their New Academic Units, Dora E. Saavedra, Jennifer Lemanski, Kristine M. Wirts, Shawn P. Saladin, Joanne Rampersad

Communication Faculty Publications

Much has been written about collegiality in academe, most notably by Cipriano (2011), Buller (2006, 2012), and Cipriano and Buller (2012, 2017), Flaherty (2013). Concomitantly, awareness has increased about instances of abusive supervision (Gere, 2020), incivility (Andersson & Pearson, 1999), microaggressions (Sue & Rivera, 2011) bullying and mobbing (i.e., group bullying) in the workplace and in higher education (Cowan, 2009), Duffy (2009), Lutgen-Sandvik (2006), Lutgen-Sandvik and Tracy (2012), Heeman (2007), Lutgen-Sandvik & McDermott (2011), and Taylor (2012). Instances of incivilities have continued to be a concern as evident in the journal article in Nature titled: “Astronomers victimized colleagues—and put historic …

Persuasive Attack And Defense Of Campus Free Speech: Implications For The First Amendment, Joseph R. Blaney, Matthew J. Blaney

Faculty Publications - Communications

This essay examines controversies and exchanges regarding free speech on college and university campuses in the United States. The authors offer an overview of the general discord about free speech and a review of the most current and relevant jurisprudence. Following this, theories of persuasive attack (Benoit and Dorries, 1996; Legge et al., 2012) and persuasive defense (Benoit, 1995) are used as a lens to characterize the topoi (opportunities for argument) from which attempts to limit or protect campus free speech proceed. Analysis points to future conflicts centered on viewpoint neutrality versus a compelling interest in protecting listeners from potentially …

Cross And Crown™: Trademarks And The Legal Naming Of American Religions, Andrew Ventimiglia

Faculty Publications - Communications

Can religious organizations use American trademark law to assert control over the name of a religion? Further, what is the relationship between a religious organization as guarantor of fundamental spiritual truths and the signs by which it is known? To answer these questions, this article traces the history and role of trademarks in American religion with a focus on Christian Science's faith-branding strategy. This narrative explores the religious use of trademarks as an emergent strategy in the early twentieth century to manage religious practice through brand management and trademark law. Using a combination of archival research and legal analysis, this …

Reconstituting Digital Counterpublics In Times Of Crisis: The Case Of The United States And The Republic Of Georgia, Byron B. Craig, Stephen E. Rahko, Nathan Carpenter

Faculty Publications - Communications

Since the advent of social media at the turn of the 21st century, scholars of communication, cultural studies, and media studies have long been invested in the question of the relationship between social media platforms and the discursive formation of counterpublics for social movement mobilization. In this article, we seek to pose a new question for scholarly inquiry: How do citizens leverage the tools of social media platforms to reconstitute counterpublics in times of crisis? Toward this end, we conduct a comparative case study of the way citizens leverage platforms for counterpublic formation in the Republic of Georgia and the …

Perceptions Of Active Social Media Adults’ Mental Health After Participating Online With Uncivil Political Discourse With Out-Group Members, Bridgette Eastman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Online incivility that occurs in the comment sections of social media sites has become increasingly prevalent. Much of this incivility occurs in the context of political debate. Previous research has indicated that heated political debates online can lead to increased levels of emotional distress and that individuals have the capacity to become addicted to a variety of activities that take place on the internet. Using the theoretical lens of the social identity model of individuation effects, this study explored the impact of online political incivility on the mental health of individuals who engage in this type of behavior. This study …

Improving Disease Management Among People With Type 2 Diabetes Through Mobile Persuasion: Development And Test Of The Construal Model Of Health-Related Communicative Control, Fatima Barakji

Wayne State University Dissertations

Many chronic illnesses can be managed by adhering to recommended medical regimens and through the avoidance of unhealthy behaviors, which foregrounds the importance of social control, a construct concerned with restricting/ regulating an existing unhealthy behavior or warning of a future unhealthy behavior (Craddock et al., 2015; Sarason & Sarason, 2001). This dissertation study investigated social control from a communication perspective by developing the concept of health-related communicative control (HRCC), which refers to the reduction, restriction, regulation, or elimination of undesirable health behaviors through persuasive verbal messages. Using this concept along with construal level theory (Trope & Liberman, 2010) from …

Engineering Emotion Sustainably: Affective Gendered Organizing Of Engineering Identities And Third Space, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Colleen Arendt, Rebecca L. Dohrman, Carla B. Zoltowski, Prashant Rajan

Communication Faculty Publications

The questions of why there are so few women in engineering and how to change engineering cultures to be more inclusive have garnered much social scientific research and considerable funding. Despite numerous findings and interventions, no studies to our knowledge have analyzed how difference is constituted discursively, materially, and affectively in ways that are deeply embedded in engineering occupational and societal cultures. This study takes an affective gendered organizing approach to analyze how affect is constituted through emotions/talk, interactions, and materialities. Using constructivist grounded theory, we explored our interview data of 69 engineers (45 women and 24 men) to find …

Brand Activism In The Age Of Black Lives Matter Movement, Peter M. Mwencha, Reuben K. Njuguna

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study provides a review of brand activism phenomenon against the background of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is informed by the growing number of activist customers, leaders and corporations that are taking a stand on divisive social and political issues that exists in today’s America. It finds that while socially-conscious consumers respond better to brands that support socio-political causes that they identify with, leaders and corporations should exercise caution when engaging in activism due to its divisiveness as well as the difficulty in aligning a brand’s public stance on an issue and consumers’ beliefs. The study recommends that …

Small Value-Add Local Food Retailer’S Covid-19 And Post-Covid-19 Strategies, Timothy L. Schauer, Denise Ogden, Doc Ogden

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The pandemic came as a blow to retailers that were already under pressure from online competitors that offered low prices and provided the convenience of shopping from home. The media tended to cover the plight and challenges for larger chain stores and big box retailers. However, the small local food providers and retailers also faced challenges and had to manage without the luxury of having dedicated staff and deep pockets with which to navigate through the pandemic. This paper explores the experiences and strategies used by 20 small local value-added food providers and retailers as they navigated the pandemic. Additionally, …