Communication Commons^™

Editorial: Helping Scientists To Communicate Well For All Considered: Strategic Science Communication In An Age Of Environmental And Health Crises, Brianne Suldovsky, Marcia Allison, Marina Joubert, Ingrid E. Lofgren, Scott Mcwilliams

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

From documenting evidence-based science communication training programs to examining issues of intersectionality and inclusivity in science communication, each of the 12 articles in this special issue offers a unique perspective on science communication, public engagement, and inclusivity. The case studies of training programs provide helpful lessons learned that have broad applicability. The descriptions of how social scientific and rhetorical approaches have been used to enhance inclusive science communication offer new insights into more effective science communication practices. Our hope is that, taken together, these articles will inspire improvements in our collective ability to more effectively and equitably apply scientific research …

Cyberchondria And Covid-19 Health Threats Related To Attentional Bias And Safety Behaviors, Jacqueline J. Charles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyberchondria is described as excessively searching online for health information that ultimately increases worry and anxiety about one’s health (Starcevic et al., 2019). Research has demonstrated an increased attentional bias in anxious individuals for threat-related stimuli. Attentional bias for health information exacerbated by the frequent exposure to health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to additional health-seeking behavior. The current study aimed to explore the potential relationship between COVID-19 health threats and cyberchondria level on attentional bias toward illness-related stimuli (symptom words) and the intent to perform safety behaviors while controlling for Trait Anxiety and Health Anxiety. Participants ( …

Organizational Culture And Communication Competence Workshop: Masters Plan B, Travis Bergon

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project began as an attempt to understand how events, such as the “Great Resignation” (i.e., an unprecedented mass exit of employees from the U.S. workforce), have impacted the way in which organizations are attempting to mitigate employee turnover. In addition, this project examined what role managers might play in promoting a positive organizational culture. A review of literature identified Schein’s (1990) model of organizational culture and Spitzberg and Cupach’s (1984) conceptualization of communication competence as useful frameworks for helping managers understand and promote positive organizational culture and employee mental health and well-being. In addition, the review of literature pointed …

Pathway To Promote Diversity Within Public Transit Workforce, Mehri Mohebbi, Sumita Raghuram, Ahoura Zandiatashbar

Mineta Transportation Institute

There are many aspects of the transportation industry that can be focused on, but the lack of resiliency is one of the most urgent. Enhancing resiliency and creative problem-solving is essential to the industry’s growth and survival. But it cannot happen without building a more diverse workforce. Women still make up a small fraction of transportation workers, and African American and Hispanic employees are even less represented. These disparities are increasingly pronounced in many senior positions, particularly in STEM fields. Meanwhile, the public transportation industry is experiencing a severe and worsening workforce shortage and many agencies have reported substantial difficulty …

A Tide Of Technical Trends: Technology Competence Among Licensed Counselors, Brittany G. Suggs, Mary Sanderfer Stull, Spencer R. Baker, Kathie T. Erwin, David M. Savinsky

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

The inclusion of technology in mental health care can revolutionize the accessibility, affordability, and effectiveness of counseling services, while furnishing practical solutions to reduce mental health disparities and meet widening care demands. Steered by the Coalition for Technology in Behavioral Science (CTiBS) telebehavioral health (TBH) competencies, this study employed a descriptive survey design to investigate licensed counselors’ (LCs’) perceived technology competence in mental health care. The following research question steered the study’s exploration: What is the nature of perceived technology competence among LCs? The overarching hypothesis speculated that LCs’ exposure, familiarity, and current utilization of various mental health technologies would …

A Beacon Of Hope In A Troubled Context: Sketches Of The Life Of Mons. Paride Taban, Shepherd And Bridge-Builder, Alberto Eisman Torres

The Journal of Social Encounters

Monsignor Paride Taban, Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Torit in Southern Sudan, is a multifaceted figure. Apart from his role as pastor and religious leader, he is an outstanding peace builder and the co-founder of the New Sudan Council of Churches, one of the most significant civil society institutions during the second civil war (1983 – 2005). This institution spearheaded numerous ecumenical initiatives including development work, humanitarian relief, training of grass-roots leaders and last but not least peace mediation. He is a relentless fighter for peaceful coexistence and tolerance in an environment marked by violence, oppression and impunity and …

Sources Of Information On National Issues Among Border Communities In Yobe State, Nigeria, Mohammed Khalid Idris, Aondover Eric Msughter

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

Information has been termed as power in the 21st century. Every century has its uniqueness, and the uniqueness of the 21st century is the availability, ease of access, proliferation, and strength of information. This study examines the sources of information among border communities in Yobe State. The study attempts to find out how people in border communities in Yobe State access information and the specific sources of information they have access to, including non-mass mediated channels and platforms.It also strives to ascertain if people in border communities in Yobe State get information on national issues and, if so, how frequently …

A Discourse Analysis Of Online Readers’ Comments On Political Discourse In Nigeria, Abubakar Jibril, Sabiu Idris, Adamu Mohammed

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The internet has liberalized political discussion in Nigeria, and enhanced public debates on trending social, economic, religious, and political issues on the various platforms it harbours, such as the social media, online news sites and blogs among others. Online comments sections of news sites enable readers for instance, to discuss issues raised in the news from their individual points of view. This development facilitates interaction among news producers and consumers, and serves as effective feedback mechanism. However, previous researches have established disturbing trends on the platforms, bordering on a seaming inclination of discourse to ethnic, religious and regional schmaltziness. This …

Interview With Noe Rwezangoro & Antoinette Nakizungu, Noe Rwezangoro, Antoinette Nakizungu, Ezra Schrader

Interviews

Transcript of interview with Noe Rwezangoro & Antoinette Nakizungu Per the "Methodology" section, the transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

This interview was recorded over Zoom and manually transcribed.

Music: Seeking Pleasure, Emotional Language, Ritualized Communication, Jillian N. Gerlach

Interdivisional Studies Summer Fellows

The impetus for my project was how I view listening to music as a spiritual or religious experience. Listening to music, instead of practicing religion, satisfies my inclination toward spirituality. In the introduction to my paper, I outlined how music exists in my life. I thought it was valuable to provide my unique experience to give context to my research. I created a diagram that delineates how I interact with music and the benefits I derive from listening to music. During this self-reflection, I realized listening to music functions like a ritual for me. I noticed my individual ritualized listening …

Promoting Body Positivity Through Stories: How Protagonist Body Size And Esteem Influence Readers’ Self-Concepts, Megan A. Vendemia, Melissa J. Robinson

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Through two experiments (N = 497), we documented how distinct portrayals of women in stories can impact readers’ engagement in social comparisons and influence important aspects of their self-concepts. Specifically, this research investigated the effects of character body size (thin vs. large), body esteem (low vs. high), and story ending valence (sad vs. happy) with two distinct storylines. Results indicated that high (vs. low) body esteem characters are not only rated more aspirational, but also led readers with greater self-discrepancy to report lower state body image, suggesting upward social comparison processes are at play. Further, results indicated that reading …

Lindenwood Digest, July 27, 2022, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

All Together Now

DePaul Magazine

New initiatives across campus, such as the Social Transformation Research Collaborative, Social Impact Incubator program and College of Law curricular changes, amplify DePaul’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Symbolic Annihilation And Stereotyping Of Native American Women In News: A Content Analysis Of Health, Safety, And Economic Status Related News, Shreyoshi Ghosh

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

This is an exploratory study on the safety, economic, and health challenges of Native American women who constitute about 1.5% of the American population. With the symbolic annihilation and stereotyping of Native American people and women of color, there was a need to study the portrayal of Native American women in news. The findings indicated there was a growth in news coverage during 2018-19 and safety, including missing and murdered, emerged as a key topic. But symbolic annihilation in health and economic status including pay gap news was significant. Health news mostly covered maternal health and deaths but excluded most …

Volume 58, Issue 1, Summer 2022 Speaker & Gavel

Speaker & Gavel

Complete digitized issue (Volume 58, issue 1, Summer 2022) of Speaker & Gavel.

The Shakedown Of Warm-Ups: An Assessment Of Pre-Speech Exercises' Impact On Public Speaking Anxiety, Joshua Westwick, Kelli J. Chromey, Karla Larson Hunter, Andrea Carlile

Speaker & Gavel

Academics have suggested that the use of warm-up exercises like those used by forensics competitors before a competition may reduce students’ public speaking anxiety (PSA). However, little empirical work has assessed these anecdotal claims. Thus, to assess the impact of using warm-up exercises in the foundational course, we developed and tested a uniform warm-up protocol for students enrolled in our standardized, multi-section public speaking course. This study sought to discover whether students who engaged in physical and vocal function exercises prior to speech delivery would have lower speaking anxiety over the course of the semester than students in the control …

Forensics In Times Of Crisis. Reframing Citizenship And Social Change As "Winning", Justin Gus Foote

Speaker & Gavel

This article extends the challenge I offered at the National Communication Associate (NCA) Annual Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in November 2018. During the conference I posed the following challenge: The Speech and Debate community should shift our idea of “winning” from solely competition success, and trophy accumulation, towards a renewed sense of citizenship—primarily, by engaging social change, as an outcome, throughout the competition season. This challenge arose from a perceived malaise about gun control discourse. I argue competitive speech and debate provides a robust venue to engage current discussion on gun control and the community to embrace our …

2020 General Presidential Debates: The Coronavirus Clash, William L. Benoit, Kevin A. Stein

Speaker & Gavel

In the run up to the 2020 election on November 3, 2020, two presidential and one vice presidential debate were held (another planned presidential debate was cancelled because of coronavirus). The presidential debates used attacks more than acclaims – and more than previous debates (the vice presidential debate was fairly similar to previous VP debates). Biden and Trump discussed policy more than character (as did the VP debate and previous presidential and vice presidential debates). Unlike most previous encounters, conflicting with the theoretical prediction and in contrast to the vice presidential debate, the two Biden Trump debates in 2020 attacked …

A Note From The Editor, Todd T. Holm

Speaker & Gavel

A note from the editor of Speaker & Gavel, Todd Holm for volume 58, issue 1, 2022.

Volume 58, Issue 1, Summer 2022 Speaker & Gavel Front Matter

Speaker & Gavel

Front matter and table of contents for Volume 58, 2022 of Speaker & Gavel.

Volume 45, 2022 Communication And Theatre Association Of Minnesota Journal

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Complete digitized volume (volume 45) of Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.

Review Of Writing Like A Pr Pro: Why Writing Is Still Crucial In A Digital And Visual World, Christopher Ortega

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Writing like a PR pro: Why writing is still crucial in a digital and visual world (2017) by Mary Sterenberg found at https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/writelikeapro/

Review Of Small Group Communication: Forming And Sustaining Teams, Justin Walton

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Small group communication: Forming and sustaining teams (2021) by Jasmine Linabary and Moon Castro found at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/small-group-communication-forming-sustaining-teams.

Review Of Public Speaking: The Virtual Text, Tim Michaels

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Public speaking: The virtual text (2013), by Lisa Schreiber and Morgan Hartranft found at https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Public_Speaking_(The_Public_Speaking_Project).

Review Of Humans R Social Media, Alicen Rushevics

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Humans r social media by iVoices Media Lab and Diana Daly (2021) from the University of Arizona found at https://opentextbooks.library.arizona.edu/hrsm/.

Review Of Exploring Public Speaking, Sean Te Maulding

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Exploring public speaking (2019) by Barbara Tucker, Kristin Barton, Amy Burger, Jerry Drye, Cathy Hunsicker, Amy Mendes, and Matthew LeHew found at https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/communication-textbooks/1/.

Review Of Communication In The Real World, Kelsey Denton

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Review of Communication in the Real World (2016) by the University of Minnesota found at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/communication-in-the-real-world-an-introduction-to-communication-studies.

Request Strategies Used By English Language Learners: Student-Professor Email Communication, Padam Chauhan

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Recently, email communication between students and professors in the U.S. higher educational institutions where English is the medium of instruction has become increasingly popular. However, ESL students in these educational institutions encounter numerous challenges to write email to their professors because of their unfamiliarity with email etiquette in English, inadequate English language proficiency, and lack of understanding of socio-cultural norms and values. Also, writing emails to professors requires higher pragmatic competence and critical language awareness of how email correspondence takes place in academic setting. Email requests written by ESL students are often seen as inappropriate or informal by their professors, …

The Evolution Of Antiracist Pedagogical Work: Pushing Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion To Undermine Oppressive Structures In Our Communication Classrooms, Kristen P. Treinen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

In this paper, I explore the evolution of antiracist pedagogy. This paper helps to answer for communication educators: How did antiracist pedagogy emerge? Why did antiracist pedagogy emerge? Who does antiracist pedagogy serve? Exploring the historical context of multiculturalism, critical pedagogy, critical multiculturalism, antiracist pedagogy, and Whiteness studies provides a broad range of theoretical perspectives on multiculturalism as well as the how and why antiracist pedagogy emerged as a site for study. After reading this essay, educators should understand the need to push DEI to include antiracist work in our research, classrooms, and educational initiatives with our future educators, graduate …

Communication Apprehension In High School Students With Professional Practices, Jemma Wahl, Ben Walker

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Popularized by McCroskey (1970), the term “communication apprehension” is the broad term that refers to an individual’s “fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (McCroskey, 2001, p. 40). Research on high school students has been limited as well as testing on specific programs to decrease communication apprehension in high school students. With this in mind, the authors examined students at a high school program designed to train professional skills were surveyed before and after their training on presentations. Results indicated students associated less anxiety with public speaking after one semester of professional …