Communication Commons^™

Black Minds Matter: Exploring The Double Trauma Of Anti-Blackness And War On The Psycho-Political Well-Being Of African And African-Descent Refugees From Ukraine, Macire Aribot, Nassim Ashford, Korea S. Badio

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Amid the horror of the Russia-Ukraine war, Black refugees from Ukraine have suffered multiple traumas: The trauma of war and the trauma of anti-blackness. The world caught a glimpse of this via social media and news reports that African people were physically blocked from boarding trains and buses by Ukrainian officials, as well as neighboring countries denied entry to people who were not “Ukrainian.” These double traumas have undoubtedly placed Black refugees in Ukraine among the most vulnerable group of people in this humanitarian crisis. However, despite the psycho-political suffering Black refugees have experienced during the Russia-Ukraine war, their voices, …

¿Aviso O Alerta? Developing Effective, Inclusive, And Consistent Watch And Warning Translations For U.S. Spanish Speakers, Joseph E. Trujillo-Falcón, América R. Gaviria Pabón, Joseph T. Ripberger, Abby Bitterman, Jonathan B. Thornton, Mackenzie J. Krocak, Sean R. Ernst, Estilita Cassiani Obeso, John Lipski

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: Technical Reports and Related Materials

Spanish-speaking populations in the United States are more vulnerable in disaster contexts due to inequities, such as language barriers, that prevent them from receiving life-saving information. For the past couple of decades, governmental organizations have addressed these issues by translating weather watches, warnings, and advisories into Spanish. Previous studies suggest that these Spanish translations do not communicate the same level of urgency as their English counterparts. To identify whether these translated products result in inequities between English and Spanish speaker reception and comprehension of forecast information, we asked a representative sample of U.S. English (n = 1,550) and Spanish (n …

When The Influencer Says Jump! How Influencer Signaling Affects Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications

With signaling theory, credibility, and social media engagement (SME) as guiding frameworks, this study used an experiment to examine how social media influencers (SMIs) affect how people engage with COVID-19 misinformation. SMI-promoted information elicited more SME, credibility, and purchase likelihood than non-SMI promoted information. The most effective message was a post promoted by an SMI that contained detailed information about an authentic product. However, data indicated nuance regarding the effect of SMIs. The authenticity of the information as well as the amount of detail in the post played a role. Additionally, mediated effects analysis showed that the impact of SME …

Strangers Switching Their Identities: Cultural Identity Management And Performance On Social Media A Qualitative Analysis Of International Students’ Intercultural (Ex)Change Processes And Perceptions Regarding Their Stay In The United States And Countries Of Origin, Vivian Kretzschmar

All Theses

In this globalized world, cross-country travel for education has been a prevalent (5.6 million students identified as international students in 2020) and ever-increasing (with a predicted increase of 250% by 2030) trend through the past decades. The sojourn impacts the students’ experience of the new culture and the ensuing shocks and adaptations. The understanding of something as complicated as culture, trying to be integrated into a new culture, and its perception to individuals, of course, have their ways of distinct communication trends through social media.

The struggle of maintaining and changing one’s cultural identity and adaptation across cultures has been …

College Of Graduate Programs And Honors Studies Newsletter - December 2022, College Of Graduate Programs And Honor Studies, Wright State University

College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies Newsletter

A six page newsletter created by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies at Wright State University. This newsletter includes a upcoming events, message from the dean, and more.

Communication Apprehension In Romantic Relationships And Effects On Mental Health, Meg Mccoy

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This study examines how and if university students’ communication apprehension (CA) within romantic relationships affects their mental health. Inspired by Communication Accommodation Theory, this researcher conducted both a survey and in-depth interviews with undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to test these relationships and further explore experiences of CA in romantic relationships. The findings of this study reveal that lower levels of CA are positively correlated with a healthier mental status, including overall mental health and self-esteem. In addition, the data indicates that participants do not experience CA except when it comes to sensitive subjects. Employing accommodative …

To Be Not So Lonely: Support And Community Through Twitter Fan Accounts In The Harry Styles Fandom, Abigail Garrett

Honors College Theses

This study aims to examine the ways that fan accounts on social media foster community and fill the void of emotional engagement when the artist is not as active. It also looks at how fans’ parasocial relationships change when the subject of their emotional connection disappears. This study adds to previous research done on fandom, parasocial relationships, and social media. To perform this study, a close content analysis was done, focusing on one specific Harry Styles fan account on Twitter, @hsdaily. Two time periods were defined, one being a time of low activity from Harry Styles and one being high …

Vivienne Westwood And The Socio-Political Nature Of Punk, Ashley Rosato

Honors College Theses

Punk fashion, which helped define the punk movement in the 1970s, has been ever changing as it adapts to modern times. Before it was the watered-down, mainstream mass-produced aesthetic that it is today, punk style was full of counterculture meaning and signs that communicated counter-hegemonic ideologies to the public. Vivienne Westwood, one of the contributors to early punk culture and the mother of British punk style, designed clothing that was central to the ethos of the early punk movement. Through a semiotic analysis of five of Westwood’s designs from the 1970s, this study aims to demonstrate how Westwood’s early punk …

The George Harris Show August 08, 2022, Part 5 Spanish To English Translation, Jonathan Gerweck

Honors College Theses

This thesis is an attempt at a Spanish-to-English translation of part of a comedy skit by Venezuelan American comedian George Harris performed on October 11, 2022, in Miami, Florida. As an academic, I have been captivated by foreign languages since a young age and have studied German up to the collegiate level. After moving to New York and studying at Pace University, an educational institution that does not offer German, I decided to teach myself Spanish. I reached the Advanced level of the language within my second semester of officially studying it at Pace University. I believe that the future …

The Guardian The Month Of December 2022, Wright State Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

News articles from The Guardian for the Month of December 2022. The Guardian is the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. It has been published regularly since March of 1965.

A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the influence of social and structural communication variables on the perceived social connectedness of people experiencing homelessness in the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and Joplin, Missouri areas. This study employed the ecological perspective of communication infrastructure theory (CIT; Ball-Rokeach et al., 2001) and a communication perspective which envisions communicative interaction as constitutive of social experience. Using survey data from 166 participants, this study examined 11 research questions and hypotheses drawn from extant literature on homelessness, social connectedness, and CIT. ANOVAs, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a complex relationship between individuals and the communicative environment. This study …

The Guardian The Month Of November 2022, Wright State Student Body

The Guardian Student Newspaper

News articles from The Guardian for the month of December 2022. The Guardian is the official student-run newspaper for Wright State University. It has been published regularly since March of 1965.

Social Media Impact On Small Brick And Mortar Businesses, David N. Bowles

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the implementation of various strategies and goals for small to medium brick-and-mortar enterprises regarding their use of social media. Drawing from primary data collection with small brick-and-mortar businesses within the greater metro area of Portland, Oregon, the value of social media is the ability of an organization to create a sense of value for their consumers while promoting positive relations and enhancing the consumer's ability to interact with an organization on a more personal level. Focusing on the implementation of various strategies and promotional efforts to increase the success of these small businesses and align their organizational …

Streaming Gender, Masculinity, And Race: Luke Cage's Impact On The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Samual Madison Mcmillen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Streaming Gender, Masculinity, and Race: Luke Cage’s Impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe analyzes gender, masculinity, and race in Marvel’s transmedia universe. The analysis examines streaming television’s role in confronting social issues related to gender, masculinity, and race, such as systemic racism, white supremacy, and toxic masculinity. This study examines the impact of three Netflix series on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders, as these series were Marvel’s initial use of streaming television. The character, Luke Cage, appears in each of these Netflix series, and while each series tells a story of its own, the …

The Cowl - V. 87 N. 8 - December 1, 2022

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 87 No. 8 - December 1, 2022. 16 pages.

An Evaluation Of Media Messaging By African Fashion Designers And Marketing Message Strategies, Esther Oyindamola Oyanibi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent times, African brands have been featured heavily in global landscape fashion events, with brands from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya leading the way. Although such recognition could be traced to their expertise, the unique approach of African brands involves putting out unique designs that easily stand out in the global fashion market. However, their uniqueness goes beyond the designs they put out, as it is also strongly expressed in their media messaging and, consequentially, their marketing strategy.

This study provides a content analysis of the most important characteristics of eight brands from different regions of the African continent. …

A Frayed Edge: A Qualitative And Poetic Inquiry Analysis Of White Antiracist Protest In 2020, Emily Katt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiphasic study explored the narratives of five first-time Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating during the historic confluence of conflicts in 2020 America. After positioning the liminal 2020 circumstances within an antiracist research lens, the author analyzed, first through grounded theory and then secondarily through poetic inquiry, how these five participants described their protest experiences. The grounded theory phase yielded an overarching theory that first-time protestors experienced a dual process of unsuturing and of calling-out, with three subthemes categorized within each of these two processes. The author moved into analysis with the poetic inquiry phase, crafting poems guided by six …

Sex-Related Differences In Violence Exposure, Neural Reactivity To Threat, And Mental Health, Heather E Dark, Nathaniel G Harnett, Danielle R Hurst, Muriah D Wheelock, Kimberly H Wood, Adam M Goodman, Sylvie Mrug, Marc N Elliott, Susan Tortolero Emery, Mark A Schuster, David C Knight

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and amygdala play an important role in emotional health. However, adverse life events (e.g., violence exposure) affect the function of these brain regions, which may lead to disorders such as depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety disproportionately affect women compared to men, and this disparity may reflect sex differences in the neural processes that underlie emotion expression and regulation. The present study investigated sex differences in the relationship between violence exposure and the neural processes that underlie emotion regulation. In the present study, 200 participants completed a Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure in which cued and …

Smart Classroom User Manual, Claire Nickerson Mlis

Library Faculty Publications

In 2018, Fort Hays State University began building a prototype for a low-cost, portable smart classroom. This project was a collaboration between the library and the Institute for New Media Studies and was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This manual assumes that you are working with a smart classroom kit with components that have already been collected and set up, either by you or by an organization or consortium. If you are trying to create a smart classroom kit or set up the smart classroom screens, please consult the Smart Classroom Designs document. If you are …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 24. Wallace At 200: Potential Subjects For Student Theses, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

The bicentennial of Alfred Russel Wallace’s birth in 2023 will likely produce a wide array of reviews of his life and work; here, we pause for a short look at some Wallace-related questions that might be adapted for student theses and dissertations. Some of the subjects treated fall in with established lines of research, while others are suggested by other Wallace interests or activities that have not been much explored.

The Art In Science: The University Of Michigan’S Bioartography Project, Deborah L. Gumucio Phd

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

"The Art in Science: The University of Michigan’s BioArtography Project" emphasizes the importance of using art to convey scientific information to the public. Scientists and medical professionals often struggle to communicate their research effectively to non-experts. The BioArtography Project, initiated in 2005, combines art and science to bridge this communication gap. It features striking images of cells and tissues under microscopes, accompanied by lay-language descriptions of the research behind each image. The project aims to engage the public, stimulate curiosity, and convey information about scientific discoveries. BioArtography images have led to meaningful discussions with the public, dispelling myths and educating …

Communication As Conscience, Florence Chee

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Focusing on ethics in games studies, Chee notes the importance of
communication as it has played parts in these other fields and how that might
reflect back on our community.

Branding For Hope Services, Roberta Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hope Services is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization located in Seaside, California. Hope Services was in need of a new marketing and branding plan in order to reach more people throughout the various communities that are being served. The first contributing factor is limited outreach throughout the community, the consequence to that is low client rates which brings less staff. The second contributing factor is limited caseworkers, the consequence is low levels of applications being accepted or seen. The last contributing factor is limited access to technology, the consequence is low levels of knowledge of resources for possible clients. The capstone …

A Word From The Writing Team (December 2022), Pam Walter, Mfa, Liz Declan, Ma, Mfa

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

This issue includes:

• Writing Retreat—Happening This Week!
• BioRender Webinar—Next Week
• Coming in 2023

Examining The Association Between Facebook Marketing And Applications Received In Graduate Programs At One University, Heather Danielle Campbell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the technological world continues to grow and expand, the use of social media marketing continues to increase. Graduate programs looking to increase the number of applications received can turn to Facebook to market their programs. This study looks at the use of self-presentation, from a graduate program level of Facebook use, to create content that reaches their target audience. Self-presentation allows graduate programs to control the types of marketing, posts, and content displayed regarding their program in an effort to be seen in a certain light. This study explores six types of Facebook content perceived as favorable in the …

“What’S Belonging Got To Do With It?”: An Exploration Of Campus Racial Climate And Sense Of Belonging In Black Counseling Students Attending Predominately White Institutions In The North Atlantic Region, Erin Durrah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) dialogues are raging across campuses throughout the U.S. with specific focus on the needs of Black student populations in the aftermath of the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbury murders. However, if the supportive spirit of the DEI initiatives is undermined by a hostile campus climate and local community, it may negatively impact the learning environment isolating the target population, while also effecting their potential for successful completion of their programs. The current qualitative study aims to explore the perceptions of belonging expressed by Black graduate students enrolled in Council for Accreditation of Counseling …

Multivariate Fairness For Paper Selection, Reem Alsaffar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peer review is the process by which publishers select the best publications for inclusion in a journal or a conference. Bias in the peer review process can impact which papers are selected for inclusion in conferences and journals. Although often implicit, race, gender and other demographics can prevent members of underrepresented groups from presenting at major conferences. To try to avoid bias, many conferences use a double-blind review process to increase fairness during reviewing. However, recent studies argue that the bias has not been removed completely. Our research focuses on developing fair algorithms that correct for these biases and select …

“It’S About The Two Selves”: Experiences In Code-Switching Between Home And Academic Environments, Travis Wolven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study is an exploration of how college students navigate code-switching between their home and academic environments. Data were collected from five participants using interview and small group methods. Through the lenses of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) and Memorable Messages (MM) frameworks, the researcher explores how key MMs affect how participants coordinate and manage meaning in communications with others in their home and college environments. Findings were fourfold: 1) participants chose between following established and creating new rules when code-switching; 2) participants shared experiences and strategies regarding knowing when and how to code-switch; 3) preparing audiences for …

When Advocacy Becomes (In)Voluntary: A Thematic Analysis Of Disability Focused Organizations, Michelle Brazeau

All Theses

Only 19.1% of people with disabilities are currently employed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022b). Stigma associated with disability often forces people with disabilities to have limited options in terms of employment. This has caused organizations like Bitty & Beaus Coffee and The Prospector Theater to make it their mission to hire people with disabilities. To better understand how these organizations are communicating about disability online a thematic analysis of the Instagram pages of Bitty & Beaus Coffee and The Prospector Theater was conducted. The findings suggest that these organizations use the image and likeness of the employees with disabilities to …

Development Of The Payment Systems: An Economic Need Or A Technological Deed, Heba Mekawy

Future Journal of Social Science

This paper is mainly concerned with showing most of the economic aspects related to both banking transactions, payments, and eventually the payment systems and their development. The economic aspects are discussed on both the macroeconomic and the microeconomic one as well. The discussion in the paper also covers the economic implications of the payment systems and the economic rationale behind their development. The paper has concluded that the economic need of the financial market is the main driver behind the development of payment systems. They also serve as outcomes concerning the well-functioning of the financial market. Thus, the technological development …