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Articles 1 - 30 of 48
Full-Text Articles in Critical and Cultural Studies
The Struggle For Work-Life Balance: Quiet Quitting As A Hyper-Individualized Tool Of Neoliberal Resistance, Hanna Cashion
The Struggle For Work-Life Balance: Quiet Quitting As A Hyper-Individualized Tool Of Neoliberal Resistance, Hanna Cashion
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This thesis provides a critical/cultural analysis of the quiet quitting trend which took social media by storm in 2022. Quiet quitting became a popular contemporary method to resisting three hurdles of the American workforce: economic turbulence, overwhelming labor standards, and decreasing mental wellness – in hopes of achieving more work-life balance. The analysis applies Marxist theory to contemporary neoliberalism through three case studies of individuals who share their quiet quitting experience. The first chapter covers the case of a K-12 educator who prompts the analysis of out-of-pocket classroom expenses, teacher unions, and the implications for collective action in neoliberal times. …
Storytelling For Social Change: Using Victim Narratives From Social Media To Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students, Grace Carmack
Storytelling For Social Change: Using Victim Narratives From Social Media To Disrupt Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Students, Grace Carmack
Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses
This study employed a narrative intervention experiment aimed at challenging college students' acceptance of rape myths (RMA). Rape myths are erroneous beliefs that shift blame for sexual violence (SV) from perpetrators to victims and encompass stereotypical misconceptions about women. Three authentic narratives, shared anonymously on social media by college victims of sexual violence, were selected for their varying levels of graphic detail and situational context. The study's objective was not only to interrogate RMA among college students but also to discover which of the three narratives was most effective in reducing RMA among readers, utilizing the Transportation Theory as a …
Exploring The Governmental Intervention, Journalistic Approach, And Theories Involved In Reducing Poverty Journalistic For A Special Project – Feature Story On Non-Profit Organization Called Circles In Northwest Arkansas, Trevor Wilson Spencer
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Over the 60 years since President Johnson declared the War on Poverty, with close to 40 million people currently in poverty nationwide as of 2022, government measures of the issue, like the Federal Poverty Level and Supplementary Poverty Measure, have continued to be significant determiners for who is constituted as poor. Yet, framing of the poor by sociologists has shifted to a more multi-dimensional approach to who constitutes as poor and how to help them. This means that the definition of poverty is beginning to include a larger set of deprivation unaccounted for in a nation where the definition of …
Decolonizing Neo-Liberalism, Empowering The Local: A Global South Reading Of Noir In The 2000s., Jean-Hugues Bita’A Menye
Decolonizing Neo-Liberalism, Empowering The Local: A Global South Reading Of Noir In The 2000s., Jean-Hugues Bita’A Menye
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This research aims at providing a Global South reading of noir in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It relies on the premise that noir, a sub-genre of crime fiction born in France during World War II, offered new avenues of literary creation and political criticism. Based on a selection of authors from the U.S., Mexico, Algeria, and Cameroon, the dissertation explores how authors from underrepresented or formerly-colonized communities discuss the impact of neoliberal thinking in their communities. With an emphasis on race and gender dynamics, nation building and terrorism, police corruption and brutality, or the growth of organized, each …
The Use Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Esol Classes, Beth A. O. Haddinger
The Use Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Esol Classes, Beth A. O. Haddinger
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation is organized into five distinct chapters addressing multiple aspects of learning and engagement as it relates to English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom. First, the problem of practice is identified and explored. We, as educators, must look closely at instructional and systemic issues, actionable elements, broader strategies of improvement, and leverage, which refers to the ability of a program to motivate students and to generate a sense of practical value in academics. The next aspect of this dissertation proposal reviews the existing research literature. This literature review focuses on the specific learning needs of ELL students. Specifically …
The Needs That Instagram Satisfies For People Seeking News & How This Displaces Time Spent With Traditional Media, Madeleine Dunn
The Needs That Instagram Satisfies For People Seeking News & How This Displaces Time Spent With Traditional Media, Madeleine Dunn
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This paper examines how the current climate of mainstream media is changing, and how this may affect journalistic norms and practices. There are many outlets for consumers to receive news, including traditional media, such as television news, newspapers, magazines, etc. There is also social media. The future of mainstream media outlets, like television stations, newspapers, magazines and radio stations, seems to depend on the growing use of social media sites for the use of getting news. This research will focus on Instagram as an alternative to traditional media, and why people prefer to use this outlet to get their news. …
Standing On The Edge Of A Dream, Parto Ahmadpour Mobarake
Standing On The Edge Of A Dream, Parto Ahmadpour Mobarake
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Standing On the Edge of a Dream delves into the intricate tapestry of lived experiences shaped by relocation, emphasizing the nuanced space that exists between reality and imagination. As an individual who has undergone the transformative journey of immigration, I recognize that the concept of relocation is like standing on the edge of a dream. This notion becomes a living structure, intricately woven with threads from our past, present, and future. My artistic exploration extends beyond my artworks, yet it remains deeply rooted in my personal narratives. The artworks in the exhibition continue to draw inspiration from personal memories and …
The Student-Teacher Romance Film Genre: Hollywood's Historical Representation Of Abuse Of Power, Darby Gilliland
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 …
A Quantitative Examination Of The Influence Of Social And Structural Communication Variables On The Social Connectedness Of People Experiencing Homelessness, Shawn Michael Evans
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 …
Environmental Communication: Changing The Attitude-Behavioral Gap In Science Communication Utilizing Strategic Messaging, Carrie Helgeson Nelms
Environmental Communication: Changing The Attitude-Behavioral Gap In Science Communication Utilizing Strategic Messaging, Carrie Helgeson Nelms
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
National Polls in the United States consistently find the public’s beliefs and attitudes about climate change and other environmental issues significantly diverge from those held by the science community. A communication gap between the findings on the causes and effects of environmental issues and the public’s inability to interpret or refuse to accept these findings are possible causes of this divergence. This communication gap constitutes a threat to society because of inaction to environmental problems and points to needed changes in scientific messaging that better informs and motivates behavioral change. The present research employed a strategic message design to affect …
The Effects Of Consumer Loan Application Formats And Advertised Terms On Consumer Borrowing Decisions, Alicia M. Johnson
The Effects Of Consumer Loan Application Formats And Advertised Terms On Consumer Borrowing Decisions, Alicia M. Johnson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Consumers continue to demonstrate a willingness to accrue more debt. They are also more accepting of increased repayment risk via the acceptance of longer loan terms. Extant research on consumer borrowing consists primarily of experiments designed to assess consumer choices and understand how consumers evaluate loan attributes in relation to one another within consumer borrowing contexts (Kamleitner, Hoelzl, and Kirchler 2012; Ranyard et al., 2006). Thus, prior research examines consumer responses to loan information rather than the generation of loan parameters at the time of financing. With important implications for consumers, marketers of financial products, academic researchers, and federal regulators, …
The International Perception Of The Irish Republican Army And Chechen Insurgency, Henry Forteith
The International Perception Of The Irish Republican Army And Chechen Insurgency, Henry Forteith
International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses
This purpose of this project is to examine how the labels used to describe the Irish Republican Army and Chechen insurgency changed after certain acts of violence. This paper begins by describing the history of imperial subjugation of Ireland and Chechnya, as well as examining the similarities between the actions and motivations of the IRA and Chechen insurgency. Then, to study the change in language to describe these groups, two searches were conducted into the New York Times and International Newsstream databases. The first search examined articles about the IRA and Chechen insurgency published between 1998 and 2009, while the …
Black Occularity, The White Gaze, And Color-Blindness In Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton, Daniella Ruiz Cantu
Black Occularity, The White Gaze, And Color-Blindness In Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton, Daniella Ruiz Cantu
Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses
The white gaze, or the assumption that the default reader or observer of a piece of media is white, affects the way that people of color are shown on television. This research project uses the hit Netflix show Bridgerton to study the way that modern-day representations of people of color both challenge whiteness and white supremacy, while also reinforcing the white gaze. This is done through the examination of works by George Yancy, Laraine Wallowits, Frantz Fanon, Laura Mulvey, Kristen J. Warner, and Cheryl I. Harris on the white gaze, the male gaze, narrative conventions of soap operas and telenovelas, …
Six Feet Apart: Relational Turbulence Theory And Coping With Covid-19 Within Long-Distance Relationships, Mia Waymack
Six Feet Apart: Relational Turbulence Theory And Coping With Covid-19 Within Long-Distance Relationships, Mia Waymack
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Among research that currently exists, no studies thus far combine elements of COVID-19, long-distance relationships, and Relational Turbulence Theory to explain how each of these elements impacts the others, if at all. Previous research does exist on each of these elements individually, although research regarding the long-term effects of COVID-19 on relationships is minimal considering the pandemic is ongoing. Long-distance relationships have been studied using Relational Turbulence Theory in previous studies within military relationships but have not been studied in connection with either COVID-19 or among college students. This study was conducted by way of qualitative, one-on-one interviews to determine …
Media Erasure: A 1904 Lynching In St. Charles, Arkansas, Mary Hennigan
Media Erasure: A 1904 Lynching In St. Charles, Arkansas, Mary Hennigan
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
As Americans grew increasingly interested in historic racial violence following the Black Lives Matter movement in 2021, select news publications chose to publish apologetic editorials and articles that addressed their failure of inclusive reporting for the last century (Lancaster, 2021; Fannin, 2020). In the theme of acknowledging past mistakes, the Printing Hate project emerged to investigate the power white-owned papers had in influencing lynching incidents in the county (Capital News Service, 2021). The present study examines one Arkansas lynching in 1904 St. Charles. The incident includes the death of 13 Black men. Findings from a content analysis of 70 original …
The Role Of Sex: An Analysis Of U.S. Attitudes Toward Climate Change, Chloe Riggs
The Role Of Sex: An Analysis Of U.S. Attitudes Toward Climate Change, Chloe Riggs
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This study analyzes the intersection of sex, environmental risk perception of climate change, and feminism. More specifically, with a sample size of 8,280 respondents from the American National Election Studies (ANES) 2020 Times Series Study, this research examines the relationship between pro-environmental attitudes and sympathy for feminism, controlling for sex, as well as if a measure of sympathy for feminism influences pro-environmental attitudes, controlling for demographic (age, education, race, sex, and income) and political preference (political ideology and party affiliation) variables. Previous literature strongly supports a sex gap in risk perception, a pattern known as the White Male Effect (WME) …
The Passion Of Ken Williams: The Double Life Of A Mayor, The Newspaper That Brought Him Down, And The Story Of Journalism In America, Michael Adkison
The Passion Of Ken Williams: The Double Life Of A Mayor, The Newspaper That Brought Him Down, And The Story Of Journalism In America, Michael Adkison
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In November 2007, a team of reporters from the Benton County Daily Record published an expose revealing that Ken Williams, the mayor of Centerton, Arkansas, had been living a double life. In his former life as Don LaRose, he was a preacher in the Northeast, who one day vanished without a trace. His wild saga includes Satanists, truth serums, and a supposed murder. The Benton County Daily Record confronted the former reverend several times before he finally confessed to his double life. The next morning, he resigned as mayor, saying that the decisions he made were for the protection of …
Live The Local: Exploring The Relationship Between Local News Media And Cities Undergoing Downtown Revitalization, Allison Wise
Live The Local: Exploring The Relationship Between Local News Media And Cities Undergoing Downtown Revitalization, Allison Wise
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The rise in suburban development has caused many downtowns across the United States to lose residents, businesses, attractions and community engagement. City officials and planners work to create policies, designs and urban development that help to revitalize downtowns. However, how do we bring people into our downtowns to live, work and play? That is where local news coverage can have an impact. The question arises: What can city officials, event organizers, business leaders do to foster a vibrant downtown? News outlets (e.g., television, print, digital) and their corresponding social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, can act as " …
Ancestral Pursuits: A Multicultural Celebration Of Identity & Race, Charlotte Cates Castro
Ancestral Pursuits: A Multicultural Celebration Of Identity & Race, Charlotte Cates Castro
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Using critical historical rhetorical methods along with critical race and decolonial theory, this project situates ancestral pursuits as a communication-centered discursive formation by investigating the rhetorical strategies modern biotech and genealogy companies utilize to influence contemporary discourse around identity and belonging and narrate ethnicity and genealogy as acts of consumption. Through direct-to-consumer DNA testing and complimentary services, modern day biotech and genealogy companies like Ancestry and 23andMe market personalized insights into ancestry, genealogy, inherited traits, and health data that promise to connect users to their past, as well as to situate them in present-day society, through a deeper understanding of …
Memory And Rememory: Critically Cultivating An Appropriate Response Through A Storied Approach To Listening, Katie W. Powell
Memory And Rememory: Critically Cultivating An Appropriate Response Through A Storied Approach To Listening, Katie W. Powell
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation argues for a storied approach to listening from the perspective of a white Southern woman. To do this, I carefully followed the work of two community groups. One, the Washington County Community Remembrance Project, is working to install a marker venerating Aaron, Anthony, and Randall, three enslaved people who were lynched in our area in 1856. The other, the James H. Berry United Daughters of the Confederacy, is responsible for installing a Confederate statue on the Bentonville Square in 1908 that was removed in 2020. As illustrated by the use of archival research and embedded participation in interracial …
Rewriting Web 2.0 Discourses Of The Local For Socio-Spatial Literacy Theory, Erin Daugherty
Rewriting Web 2.0 Discourses Of The Local For Socio-Spatial Literacy Theory, Erin Daugherty
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation seeks to provide a framework for engaging with two spatial concepts that have been foundational to theorizing literacy across time but have often been taken for granted as passive backdrops to the social action of literacy practice: the notions of “the local” and “the global.” By interrogating the histories, both past and ongoing, of these two spatial concepts as they are interwoven into the sociocultural paradigm of literacy theory, research, and pedagogy, this project identifies new ways that literacy researchers and educators can attend to spatial concepts so as to promote and encourage literacy research and learning that …
Extreme Far-Right Murder-Suicide Attacks In The U.S. And Germany: A Comparative Storyline Analysis, Hayden Lucas
Extreme Far-Right Murder-Suicide Attacks In The U.S. And Germany: A Comparative Storyline Analysis, Hayden Lucas
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Despite increasing empirical research on suicide terrorism since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, prior studies have focused primarily on radical Islamic terrorism in non-Western contexts. As a result, less is known about how murder-suicide attacks committed by other ideological movements unfold, particularly the extreme far-right in North America and Europe. Researchers have begun to theorize the social and psychological processes believed to play a role in the radicalization of suicide terrorists. However, the observable, situational processes shaping radicalized individuals when planning, preparing for, and executing suicide terrorism remain underexplored. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify intervention points by …
The Jordanian Novel In Postmodern Context, Hamed Alalamat
The Jordanian Novel In Postmodern Context, Hamed Alalamat
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
As the Jordanian culture is gradually impacted by the globalization process of late capitalism, this study argues that many Jordanian novels exhibit a number of postmodern characteristics, such as blurring boundaries and disrupting hierarchies, the use of pastiche as a compositional technique, formal fragmentation, and the weakness of utopian imagination. Adopting Fredric Jameson’s theory of postmodernism as a framework, the study explores ten Jordanian novels written between 1986 and 2016 to demonstrate that the modernization process and the cultural changes in the Arab world, in general, and in the Jordanian society, in particular, have increased the density of postmodern features …
The Impact Of Media Algorithms On The Habermassian Public Sphere And Discourse, Kendal Heavner
The Impact Of Media Algorithms On The Habermassian Public Sphere And Discourse, Kendal Heavner
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Media algorithms are increasing in use among popular social networking sites (Geiger, 2009).Algorithms are used to sort a users’ social media feed based on relevance and interest rather than content publish time (Geiger, 2009). Widely accepted and recognized as influential in the media sector, algorithms create a highly personalized experience for the individual viewer. However, some scholars argue the specified curation of media based on a user’s personal preferences leads to a “filter bubble,” an online-based self-fulfilling prophecy in which users’ pre-existing opinions are continually reaffirmed. Because of this, this thesis will examine the intersection of algorithms and media theory. …
Climate Change Frames And Emotional Responses On Reddit, Isabel Iruani Villanueva
Climate Change Frames And Emotional Responses On Reddit, Isabel Iruani Villanueva
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Climate change remains a highly polarized topic in the United States. Research suggests that the divide in climate change beliefs is partly a result of news media’s representation of select aspects of the problem, or framing. Frames influence individuals’ attitudes, emotions, and behaviors towards climate change. Overwhelming representation of certain climate change frames has led to a lack of emotional connection to the issue, resulting in inaction or dismissal. Climate change researchers have investigated the presence and effects of frames on both news media and select social media sites, particularly Twitter. However, little research has investigated the climate change conversation …
Caring Against The Carceral: How Families Mediate The Social Death Of Incarceration, Jessica Claire
Caring Against The Carceral: How Families Mediate The Social Death Of Incarceration, Jessica Claire
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Incarceration, especially in the United States, is deeply related to issues of racism, poverty, and citizenship. These particular experiences are the result of a history of biopolitical control affecting Black and brown communities and have a quintessential origin in enslavement. Those who are incarcerated are isolated, dishonored, and powerless as a result of the criminalization of race and poverty. These observations led to questions surrounding the particular impact families may have on the experiences of those who are incarcerated. Families of Incarcerated Loved ones, or FOILs, mediate incarceration through intentional socialization which has the potential to counteract the realities of …
Racialized Reality: Crime News And Racial Stereotype Framing, Warrington Sebree
Racialized Reality: Crime News And Racial Stereotype Framing, Warrington Sebree
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Research shows that crime news is a primary mechanism for shaping public consciousness surrounding legal order, social morality, and threats present in their citizens communities. This research explores how news media influences negative attitudes towards criminal justice reform and Black identity. Utilizing Framing Theory, this study focuses on whether negative stereotypes in crime news triggers racial prejudice and bias towards African Americans. Participants of this study will consist of current students at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The findings suggest that knowing the race of a potential criminal assailant influences respondents’ attitudes towards presumptions of guilt, future criminality, and criminal …
Recovering From Substance Abuse In Arkansas: The Accessibility And Affordability Of Drug Treatment Programs, Whitney King
Recovering From Substance Abuse In Arkansas: The Accessibility And Affordability Of Drug Treatment Programs, Whitney King
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This thesis is going to examine how people recover from drug addiction and see if there are any similarities due to their socioeconomic statuses at the time of recovery. This research addresses the following questions: How accessible and affordable are drug addiction recovery programs and rehabilitation facilities in Arkansas for mid- to low-income individuals? What are the social costs for people who can’t obtain drug rehabilitation services? The goal of this research is to explore whether there is a lack of affordable recovery programs in the state of Arkansas. This project utilizes survey responses as well as in-depth interviews with …
Digital Marketing And The Culture Industry: The Ethics Of Big Data, Jonathan Michael Bowman
Digital Marketing And The Culture Industry: The Ethics Of Big Data, Jonathan Michael Bowman
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Instead of the steady march of the one percent growth in ecommerce as compared to total retail revenues in the last decade (to comprise about nine percent of the industry at the close of 2019), we have witnessed leaps now to over twenty percent in just the last year. Scott Galloway marks the pandemic as an accelerant not just of digital marketing posting a year of growth for each month of quarantine but as an accelerant of each major GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple) firm from market dominance to total dominance (Galloway 2020). Viewing these trends from the standpoint …
New Flesh Cinema: Japanese Cyberpunk-Body Horror And Cinema As Catharsis In The Age Of Technology, Sarah Henry
New Flesh Cinema: Japanese Cyberpunk-Body Horror And Cinema As Catharsis In The Age Of Technology, Sarah Henry
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
This thesis provides a critical analysis of a specific group of films that combine the subgenres of cyberpunk and body horror which I call New Flesh Cinema. Films of this subgenre counter fears and anxieties of technological advancements by re-imagining the rise of technology and its societal effects as a transitional process through the illustration of literal and visceral depictions of the necessary alterations people will have to undergo in order to transition successfully into the new world. To contradict apocalyptic fears of advancing technology, these films offer a vision of a “New Flesh.” I argue the films share three …