Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

Lady Gaga: Performer, Persona, And Political Advocate, Cassidy Burns

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

"The Falling Man" As Viewed In The Lens Of The "Public Sphere", Laura Reinacher

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

The (Not So) New Normal: A Queer Critique Of Lgbt Characters And Themes In Primetime Network Television Situational Comedies, Robert Dallas Byrd Jr.

Dissertations

This analysis of primetime situational comedies feature LGBTQ characters argues that through heteronormative and homonormative constructions of sexuality, race, gender, and class, many LGBTQ people are rendered invisible in the mainstream. Through discourse analysis, the study describes how these programs work to normalize gay and lesbian identity, which then resembles the dominant heterosexuality, aiding in the advancement of white, middle class gays, who privatize sexuality and mimic dominant conventions of gender, race, sexuality, and class in the public sphere. This research is important in understanding the American public’s most recent shifts in public opinion on issues of marriage equality and …

Facilitating Holistic Spiritual Formation At The Northside Church Of Christ In Laredo, Texas, Kirk R. Cowell

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This thesis describes a project to facilitate holistic spiritual formation at the Northside Church of Christ in Laredo, Texas. A program consisting of seven weekly sessions of intergenerational religious experiences was enacted at the church in hopes of catalyzing growth in the cognitive, relational, affective, and behavioral domains. These sessions were constructed on a foundation consisting of the experiences of the non-class Churches of Christ—a group of congregations that has historically rejected the Bible class model—and informed by the intergenerational formation literature. Evaluation of this project showed relational and affective growth greater than what the congregation had experienced with the …

Signs Of Wildness: Codes Of The “Primitive” In Masculine Commodity Culture, Matthew P. Ferrari

Doctoral Dissertations

This project broadly examines articulations of the “primitive” emerging from various sites of popular cultural production, considering their operation within the wider “semioscape”– defined by Thurlow and Aiello (2007) as “the globalizing circulation of symbols, sign-systems, and meaning-making practices.” Taking my lead from Kurusawa (2002, 2004), Torgovnik (1991, 1998), Chow (1995), and Di Leonardo (1998), who have demonstrated the importance of the “primitive” as an interpretive discourse, I add to this body of thought by extending its scope into the realm of popular media and cultural production, examining cases within film, television, advertising, sports, and associated lifestyle commodities. I pose …

The Colonial Legacies Of “Fiesta Island”: A Critical Study Of Live-Music Events Production In Puerto Rico, Anilyn Diaz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the historical relationship between the state and national culture in Puerto Rico as seen through the case of the entertainment industry, specifically live-music events production. The dissertation is located within two bodies of literature: critical post-colonial cultural studies of cultural industries and cultural policy, and cultural approaches to scholarship on collective action and state-civil society relationships in neoliberal contexts. The research design includes archival work and analysis of organizational material, supported by a cultural ethnography approach to semi-structured informant interviews and group interviews. The interviews focus on the historical development, cultural legacies, and practices of the entertainment …

Jiahd In The Global Village: Al-Qaeda's Digital Radicalization And Recruitment Campaign, Katie Cannata

Honors College Theses

Following America’s “War on Terror,” al-Qaeda and its affiliates became highly decentralized in terms of organizational and media operations. Though mass media outlets continue to play a significant role in drawing attention to al-Qaeda’s transnational campaign, Salafi Jihadists have recently begun to rely on new media for purposes of legitimization and promotion. The Internet serves as a suitable platform for these groups’ media objectives since it is inherently anonymous and absent of censorship. Most importantly, the Internet facilitates al-Qaeda in reaching a global audience, which is made evident by the growing amount of Salafi Jihadist media that is translated or …

後Cepa 時期香港電影懷舊想像中的「本土」身份書寫, Dan Shen

Theses & Dissertations

2003 年中國內地與香港簽訂《內地與香港關於建立更緊密經貿關係的安排》(Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, 簡稱CEPA)。其中關於電影的條款放寬了香港電影進入內地的條件，加之龐大的市場需求，香港電影工業的跨境活動變得日益頻繁, 並開啟了新一輪的中港「合拍片」潮流。電影產業及其市場環境的轉變背後是更為深層的中港經濟、政治與文化的融合。香港從「九七」前後至今在新的政治空間及身份脈絡中不斷尋求「本土」位置顯得日益困難。電影作為流行文化文本和社會實踐曲折地表述「本土」、「自我」、「身份」，其中「懷舊」（nostalgia）便是近十年香港電影文化想像中一個顯著的憶述工具和路徑，亦即通過處理「過去」、歷史、集體記憶等來書寫「現在」的某種情感、經驗、欲望。

本論文以後CEPA 時期的香港電影為研究對象，檢閱以合拍片為主導的電影工業體制下，和香港近十年來文化政治脈絡中，不同類型、風格、主題，以及不同生產方式、製作規模、市場面向的香港電影懷舊想像與「本土」身份的互構關係。以及後CEPA 時代香港電影的懷舊想像與此前懷舊電影相比下的延續與新變。

Hidden Agenda? Cultural Policy In Hong Kong’S Urban Redevelopment, Tobias Zuser

Theses & Dissertations

For many years industrial buildings in Hong Kong have formed some of the city’s most vibrant cultural clusters by providing local artists with low-cost space to pursue their creative work. However, recent efforts by the government also targeted these areas for commercial revitalization. By 2020 the industrial part of Kwun Tong, a densely populated district in Kowloon East, will not only have been transformed into the city’s second Central Business District, but also seen the majority of the current cultural workers leaving due to the rapid valorisation of land. Nevertheless, these ongoing struggles over spatial power have also opened up …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Flying With The Storks: Communication, Culture, And Dialoguing Knowledge(S) In Prenatal Care, Liliana Herakova

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 6 million women in the U.S. become pregnant every year. Over 4 million give birth. Over 1 million babies annually are born with low birth weights or prematurely - phenomena, statistically linked to both lack of "adequate" prenatal care and to worsened health outcomes (www.americanpregnancy.org). Additionally, maternity "care" in the U.S. has been called a "human rights failure" (Bingham, Strauss, Coeytaux, 2011, p. 189), referring to the trend of increasing maternal mortality, despite the fact that child-birth related expenses in the U.S. are the highest healthcare expense in the country and are also much higher compared to other "industrialized" …

The Cable Network In An Era Of Digital Media: Bravo And The Constraints Of Consumer Citizenship, Alison D. Brzenchek

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation takes a historiographical approach to the evolution of cable television over thirty years. Case analysis of archival data is used to trace the trajectory of the Bravo cable network from 1980 through 2010. My dissertation is a vital contribution to critical cultural studies, feminist studies, citizenship studies, and media history because it historicizes the role branding, commodification, and convergence played in Bravo’s evolution from a highbrow arts programmer guided by bourgeois consumer citizenship, to a affluent lifestyle network guided by nouveau riche consumer citizenship. My combination of production studies and political economic analysis gives visibility to the interpenetrating …

Framing Urban Change: Gentrification Discourses In The Media Coverage Of The Gülbol Eviction In Berlin, Eric Daniel Gedenk

Masters Theses

This thesis examines gentrification discourses in Berlin by highlighting an extraordinarily large protest sparked by the eviction of the Gülbol family—long-time residents of Berlin who immigrated to Germany from Turkey. Media outlets chose to frame the event in very different ways. I analyze articles from various media sources in an attempt to discover how these sources chose to frame this event, then analyze how these frames are applied to the general gentrification discourse in Berlin. Non-traditional, or “advocacy” media outlets used technology to break away from mass media frames on the subject and frame the event as governmental oppression and …

Building Bridges, And Reducing Anger: Liberal-Conservative Dialogue In The United States, Jeremy M. Moses

Capstone Collection

In the United States today, liberal and conservative citizens are becoming increasingly polarized in their attitudes of hostility toward one another. This has resulted in a socio-political climate in which liberals and conservatives routinely demonize each other, and political differences are unhelpfully framed as matters of good versus evil. Open and honest dialogue between liberals and conservatives has the potential to improve this situation, but a myriad of cultural, psychological, and societal challenges create significant barriers to liberal-conservative dialogue. This paper explores these barriers in detail through a synthesis of research in moral psychology, cognitive psychology, and sociology. It explains …

"Do You Bant?" William Banting And Bantingism: A Cultural History Of A Victorian Anti-Fat Aesthetic, Jaime Michelle Miller

English Theses & Dissertations

In the second half of the nineteenth century, a retired Victorian undertaker named William Banting (1796-1878) dramatically altered attitudes toward fat by initiating the profoundly consequential idea of the diet as a saleable commodity capable of marking identity within particular social and racial contexts and connecting obesity with degeneracy, illness, and evil. His work Letter on Corpulence Addressed to the General Public self-published in 1863 describes how, with physician William Harvey, Banting reduced his weight by nearly fifty pounds by following a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. Banting and his dieting phenomenon transformed the English cultural consciousness of fatness, and created a …

Overcoming Panethnicity: Filipino-American Identity In A Globalized Culture, Brandon Napenias Oreiro

Global Honors Theses

Filipino-Americans have struggled to create a unique and visible social identity within the United States. Whether it be from their early colonial experiences in America to their more recent status as a ‘minority within a minority’, these groups of individuals are caught in a constantly expanding and increasingly complex identity crisis (Cordova, 1983; Revilla 1997; San Juan 1998). However, due to the effects of globalization and the increased application of technologies such as the internet, new avenues of self-representation have opened up, allowing for the creation of more individualistic and transnational identities that are currently challenging the conventional notions of …

Of Tribes, Wars, And Jungles: A Study Of U.S.College Students’ Perceptions Of Africa And Africans, Seseer P. Mou

Masters Theses

This study examined American college students’ perceptions of Africans. Knowledge Gap and Systems Theory were applied to creating and discussing the research questions. Systems Theory addresses processes and levels of information transfer (Westley & Maclean, 1965). It requires an understanding of the sources, channels, messages, and the people who receive information in a communication encounter. Knowledge Gap Theory, on the other hand, states that when information circulates in a system, gaps in knowledge are formed and these gaps increase as more information enters the system (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1970). The results showed that consumption of radio and newspaper news, …

Humble Me: Increasing Awareness Of Ethnocentrism And Of The Need For Ethnorelativism Through A Spoken Word Performance Event, Corinne H. Sherman

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Plur: Edmc As A Reflection Of A New Generation, Nichole Lorenz

Communication Studies

With such a broad amount of musical expression and cultural appeal, EDM has quickly become a captivating phenomenon in the United States in recent years. There is a significant trend going on with EDM culture and what it represents for youth today. For this reason, I want to dig further into the growing phenomenon of EDMC (Electronic Dance Music Culture) in the United States. I want to better understand what is going on beneath the surface façade of costumes and drug use. Why does this culture appeal to so many young people? In addition, I seek to find out whether …

Respect, Cho Chang, And Asian Representation: A Critical Analysis Of The White Gaze In Harry Potter, Kaitlin Pham

Communication Studies

Within the Harry Potter series, females who are in charge of their sexuality seem egotistical and provoking; thus, seen as manipulative to their male counterparts, and the readers. That being said, the values that Hermione Granger possess that push her above Cho Chang’s become ultra-defined, preaching to the audiences how Rowling believes the ultimate female should behave and think, and how Chang has no possibility of attaining these qualities. In this paper, I will analyze and discuss J.K. Rowling’s role in perpetuating the White Gaze with her depiction of Cho Chang in her series, and how Chang’s interpretation in the …

Manufacturing News: Exploring How Public Relations Content Is Presented As News From An Agenda-Setting Perspective, Katharine R. Gore

Journalism

This study, conducted in San Luis Obispo, California, analyzes and investigates the relationship between public relations professionals and journalists, the role of public relations in news and how often content developed by the public relations industry is later portrayed as news.

Public relations-developed content has a growing presence in news. This is due, in part to the fact that more people work in the public relations industry than do in journalism fields. There is also a symbiotic relationship between the two industries, which is confirmed by existing studies and scholarly texts.

An effort was made by the author to track …

Take Off Your Masc: The Hegemonic Gay Male's Gender Performance On Grindr, Duncan Shuckerow

Cultural Studies Capstone Papers

The hegemonic Grindr clone is a gay male Grindr user who enforces the privileging of traditional masculine gender performance and condemns effeminacy. Through this project’s own field work along with the website “douchebagsofgrindr,” the hegemonic Grindr clone is here within analyzed. Drawing upon the theory ofhegemony articulated by Gramsci, a historical analysis of the 1970s urban gay male clone, and contemporary analysis and research, the project argues that the hegemonic Grindr clones, while only a minority group of Grindr users, rules over the cyberspace as sexual gatekeepers. Hegemonic Grindr clones maintain their privileged status on the application through depicting and …

Drawing The Primetime Color Line: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Interracial Marriages In Television Sitcoms, Jodi Lynn Rightler-Mcdaniels

Doctoral Dissertations

Changes throughout history, particularly those surrounding race relations in the U.S., frequently have a direct effect on personal social experience and the current structure of society. Although public discourse often emphasizes the rhetoric of racial progression, subtle racism abounds – both in society and in media – masked under the façade of equality. This is especially true when examining race relations between Blacks and Whites, particularly those involved in intimate heterosexual interracial relationships, as they have traditionally been viewed as negative, dangerous, and threatening to the status quo.

Television representations are often socially and culturally rooted with real issues, hence …

Dialectic Of Enlightenment: Fragments From The Past For Contemporary Communication Studies, Saša Kampič

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The book Dialectic of Enlightenment is relevant to the study of communication in society. Originally written in the 1940s, its twenty-first century reissue is re-edited and newly translated with the subtitle “Philosophical Fragments.” The book is explored in the thesis as a contribution to a reinterpretation of the study of communication in society. As a defining work of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, it shows that reason guides practice and the culture of the social world through distorted, illusionary operations, operations that are reductive, instrumental practices supported by conceptions of them. Reason-in-practice is an instrumental logic inherited from the …

Telling Tales As Oral Performance: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Storytelling In Ireland, Scotland And Southern Appalachia, Annalee Tull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I sought to link, through this paper, cultural performances of identity through storytelling in Ireland, Scotland, and southern Appalachia. I evaluated storytelling practices, whether it was a public or private performance, using symbolic interactionism, dramatist theory, narrative paradigm, and performance theory. The author studied abroad in Ireland and Scotland through the East Tennessee State University Appalachian, Scottish, and Irish Studies Program and experienced an array of stories. She then evaluated her own experiences with storytelling from growing up in southern Appalachia and visited the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. The research is rooted in grounded theory from ethnographies, with …

Resourcing The Postmodern Pastor: An Examination Of Young Pastors’ Attitudes And The Implications For Denominational Publishers, Bonnie J. Perry

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study explored the influence of postmodernity on the changing attitudes of young pastors regarding spirituality and discipleship in their adult congregants. The purpose of this study was to educate and equip Christian publishers to resource young pastors who are ministering in a postmodern culture. The study focused on Church of the Nazarene pastors 35 years old or younger in the calendar year 2012, exploring their attitudes toward Christian faith, spirituality, and discipleship. At certain junctures in the study, the young pastors’ attitudes were compared to those of pastors who were 36 years or older in order to determine what …

Developing An Intentional Mentoring Model For Disciple Formation At The Mayfair Church Of Christ, Jason Bybee

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project to lead a team in the development of an intentional mentoring model for disciple formation at the Mayfair Church of Christ. This intervention involved the team members in a series of sessions during September and October 2013. Project sessions were designed to provide participants an intentional mentoring experience through exposure to four core practices: exploration of the biblical text, appreciative inquiry exercises, communal sharing, and prayer. Sessions were informed by (1) an understanding of discipleship as following behind Jesus and walking alongside our fellow sojourners, (2) the nature of …

Studying Communication: Deepening My Understanding And Insights, Katie Sepa

Communication Studies

This paper shows the great impact that studying communication can have on an individual. It provides descriptive insights that are highly applicable to daily life. It also aims to spread that knowledge onto others, as the lessons revealed are quite valuable.

重讀八、九十年代的「恐怖喜劇」: 殭屍電影與香港後殖民, Yee Man, Mandy Liu

Theses & Dissertations

八十年代是香港電影工業的「黃金時期」，電影的類型也可說是「百花齊放」，當中包括了一批以「殭屍vs. 道士」為結構的電影，並廣受歡迎，直到九十年代初衰落。本論文就是以這批電影為研究對象，先借助電影研究中的類型研究的框架，從體裁說明這批電影本身就能自成一個類型／次類型──「恐怖喜劇」，繼而集中分析殭屍和道士這兩個主要角色，並指出這批電影其實是呼應著香港後殖民處境複雜的中港關係。

本研究提出電影中的殭屍和道士都是來自中國的「他者」，而且帶有不同程度的「怪物 性」，因此形成了不同的「自我」與「他者」的權力結構和張力。本文借用了後殖民研究的「我──他」框架以及怪物研究的「怪物性」概念，進一步解讀殭屍和道士的獨特性。最後，本文提出整個類型其實是以香港為本位，透過「馴化」殭屍和「吸納」道士來處理不同「中國他者」所引起的情緒與張力，並在流行文化中實現了中港融和的幻想。

Japanese American Cultural Identity: The Role Of Wwii, Internment, And The 3/11 Disaster In Japan, Carrie L. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the nature of Japanese American cultural identity through an examination of the historical contexts of WWII, internment, and the 3/11 disasters in Japan. Interview data was analyzed using both interpretive and critical paradigms. I then utilized the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the corresponding concept of identity gaps, and critical-cultural hybridity. It was found that Japanese Americans construct, enact, and relate to their identities in markedly different ways despite belonging to the same cultural group. In turn, I am proposing further revision to CTI's communal frame to exemplify the shared and contested elements of a collective. This …