Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

Dear Maliha,, Na-Eela Djemil

Capstones

Dear Maliha is a short documentary film exploring the complexities of spiritual abuse through Maliha Fairooz. Spiritual abuse is a form of abuse that uses spiritual or religious beliefs to control or manipulate others. In some cases, spiritual abuse can be used to describe a religious leader who abuses their platform. But in Maliha’s story, we explore the concept of parental spiritual abuse. However, we learn more about this through Maliha Fairooz and the creative use of her journal.

For Maliha journaling is a form of therapy she uses to process her feelings and days. She also uses it as …

Engaging Black Girls And Women From The Capital Region, Neimra Coulibaly

Capstones

Black girls and women sit at the intersecting identities of being Black and women in an anti-Black, patriarchal, misogynistic society. There are certain experiences that Black women in the United States endure due to historically negative perceptions of Black women.

When I decided to be a part of the engagement journalism program at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, I decided to cover the community of Black girls and women from Schenectady, New York, and the rest of the Capital Region or what I call the (518)

For the past year and a half, I have covered the …

Using Photovoice To Navigate Social-Ecological Change In Coastal Maine: A Case Study On Visibility, Visuality, And Visual Literacy, Kevin P. Duffy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Media representations of the environment support specific cultures of viewing that can create expectations about how to observe social-ecological interactions in everyday life. While public perceptions may appear, in some cases, to reflect these normative representations, more critical and participatory approaches to environmental research and management have begun to complicate these representations as they are negotiated through intrapersonal, interpersonal, and group communication. Working from a visual cultural approach that interrogates issues of visibility, visuality, and visual literacy, this dissertation theorizes how coastal residents represent their own observations and experiences of environmental change through photography and what impact their views have …

A Postfeminist Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Red Bull Sponsored Female Action Sports Athletes’ Digital Media Representation, Charli Celine Kerns

Doctoral Dissertations

This study applies a multimodal discourse analysis to social media content produced by Red Bull Media House. The aim of the research is to determine what postfeminist sensibilities discourses are used and how in the framing of the female action sports athletes the energy drink company sponsors. Specifically, Instagram posts, YouTube videos, and the biographical web pages about the 23 athletes were analyzed using multimodal discourse analysis. The findings revealed that while action sports have the potential to disrupt dominant discourses around femininity in sports contexts, ultimately Red Bull repackaged the discourses into different narratives.

Women In Direct Combat Arms: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study Of U.S. Army Active-Duty Military Intelligence And Cyber Command Women Perspectives And Current Career Opportunities And Policies In The Military Combat Fields, Brenda Young

Theses & Dissertations

Effective January 1, 2016, the Department of Defense implemented a new policy pertaining to a full work role gender integration for service women in all U.S. military fields and positions. Active-duty women struggled to participate, adapt, and be completely integrated into the full institutional direct combat arms positions and careers. Research on such gender participation to date has focused specifically on physical fitness standards, unit morale and cohesion, successful entry into training pipeline for direct combat arms fields, and outcomes measured by current attrition rates. A constructivist qualitative grounded theory research study was needed to understand how current active-duty women …

The Influence Of Social Media On The Tourism Industry: A Content Analysis Of Culinary Tourism Brands Via Instagram, Angela White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The tourism industry in the United States is constantly changing and being influenced by social media, specifically Instagram. Culinary brands use Instagram to advertise their restaurants and dishes in a creative, visual way. As a result, Instagram is now being used as a tool by tourists and both potential and current customers to share their dining experiences and find these locations based on the visual appeal. This study provides a content analysis of Instagram account information and photo composition within eight popular culinary tourism destinations by examining the strategies used by the accounts. 50 randomly selected photos were used from …

Theological Practices For Sustaining Community Renewal At Speedway Church Of Christ, Kent A. Ellett

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This project assembled a group of potential small-group facilitators for the purpose of drafting a small-group discussion guide to be used at the Speedway (Indiana) Church of Christ. The guide was intended to aid the discernment of missional practices which sustain the renewal of the wider community. Focusing on the Gospel of John, the intervention attempted to recover a temple Christology, construing the incarnation, ministry, death, and the lifting up of Jesus within the larger story of the temple’s ongoing re-creation of the world. In bestowing his glory upon the church, Jesus sends the church into all the world, as …

Welcoming Families With Children To Csusb: Making An Intergenerational Difference, Leslie Leach

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Coming back to school after a gap in your education can be a daunting task. For students with children (SWC), the undertaking has different challenges than their classmates. Providing resources geared towards their success plays a significant role in the student's ability to complete their education. It also allows the SWC to feel a sense of belonging within their institution of higher learning. This project analyzes other California State Universities' family housing programs to advocate a similar program at California State University, San Bernardino. Using the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and Organizational Identity (OI), I can illustrate how resources …

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) …

Re-Framing Gender: An Analysis Of Journalism’S Social Media Characterization Of Female Presidential Candidates During The 2020 Presidential Election, Taylor Kiernan

Dissertations

The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without those who supported me both academically and personally throughout this process.

I would like to thank my dissertation chair and mentor, Dr. Christopher Campbell whose expertise and guidance made this research possible. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Dr. David Davies, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins, Dr. Laura Stengrim, and Dr. Fei Xue, for their guidance and advice during the research process, as well as their expertise in the classroom which molded my abilities as a researcher during my time at The University of Southern Mississippi.

I …

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 …

“Living Under Different Skies”: Misrepresenting Egyptian Education During The British Occupation In The North American Press, Shaymaa Zantout

Major Papers

During the British occupation from 1882 to 1922, Egypt saw the rise of colonial educational reforms, American missionary projects, and foreign-subsidized schools. Consequently, newspapers in North America reported extensively on these colonial educational excursions. In the view of correspondents, the so-called “enlightenment” of Egyptians was dependent on their adoption of Western moral ideals and instructional models. The main criticisms levelled at Egyptian education centred on what was viewed as the “incompetence” of native instructors and schools, namely Muslim ones, as well as the need for the modern education of young women. Moreover, Christian or Western schooling was posited as the …

Subject Formation In Hong Kong’S “Alternative Communities”, 2010-2020, Chor See Chan

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

This research explores the history and development of the concept “community” in Hong Kong from the late colonial period to date, aiming to show the complex understanding of this ambiguous term. Responding to the (colonial) government’s invention of community as a means of control, there have been different types of bottom-up intervention that have sought to re-define the meaning of that concept. My research focuses on one of these attempts that emerged in the 2010s during the new social movements in Hong Kong. This attempt has been to create what I call “alternative communities”, in which members intentionally build communities …

Towards Satu Bangsa : A Reevaluation Of The Race-Based Narrative And Its Impact On Chinese Communities In Malaysia, Chun Lean Lim

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

Pakatan Harapan has terminated Barisan Nasional’s 61-year rule in Malaysia through the ballot box in the 2018 14th General Election (GE14) of Malaysia. The regime change did not happen overnight; it resulted from (a) the democratization progress in Malaysia over decades, (b) the exposure of corruption and crime related to top tier government officials, and (c) the changing political landscape of Malay political parties. Criticism from the people and its coalition and party overwhelmed Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional. On the other hand, Pakatan Harapan successfully incorporated all the opposition voices to vote against Najib’s regime, but the opposition front, …

Tracing The Roots Of Disjunction : Dutertismo And The Discourse Of Liberal Democracy In The Philippines, Kristine Marie Tayo Reynaldo

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

This dissertation examines Dutertismo as an event in the context of what it put forwards as the problem-spaces of Philippine postcolonial modernity: nationalism, democracy, and development. Specifically, it investigates the substance of the contemporary disjunction between the discourse of liberal democracy, which often frames critiques of Dutertismo, and Philippine social experience. Its objective is to examine the underlying causes of the democratic "crisis" that Dutertismo represents, both material/structural and discursive/ideological.

“Dutertismo,” a populist political movement and discourse, is characterized by its subversion of the inherited norms and mores of Philippine society, and consolidation of popular support for a charismatic leader …

Using Visual Storytelling To Design Solutions-Based Approaches To Homelessness, Peggy Peattie

Dissertations

Despite millions of dollars spent over several decades on assistance programs, the nation’s homeless population has increased for the last four years in a row. The number of people reporting as homeless for the first time doubled in San Diego between June 2019 and June 2020. Trying to impose a one-size-fits-all model of care on a population comprised of unique individuals has resulted in many homeless opting for the street rather than subjugating themselves to rules they feel do not treat them with respect and dignity. Yet, the perspectives of homeless individuals are excluded from decision-making dialogue around policies and …

"You All Look Like @Wolfiecindy:" The Homogeny Of Facial Self-Presentation Among Female Instagram Users, Kelly Mcginty

Theses & Dissertations

The emergence of a single facial aesthetic among professionally beautiful women on Instagram has popularized and idealized a specific look (i.e., Instagram Face) within a generation of young women and has normalized nonsurgical interventions and the use of photo editing in order to achieve it. It is the face of Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, and many other women who are considered attractive and who have large followings on the social platform. Through data collected by a quantitative content analysis, this thesis investigates how these women all look astoundingly the same, with uniformly high and contoured …

Is Being Respectable Enough?: A Critical Investigation Of Code-Switching And The Lived Experiences Of Black Leaders Who Work At Nonprofits In Bridgertown, Ramona Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current literature on Black nonprofit leaders is scarce, causing little to be known about the experiences that they have encountered when navigating their roles and responsibilities. Even less literature is available on these Black leaders and their usage of code-switching strategies when attempting to navigate those same nonprofits. Based on themes uncovered during the literature review this study employs an in-depth narrative inquiry qualitative methodology. While using theories such as critical race theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 200; Ladson-Billings,1998), the politics of respectability (Higginbotham, 1993) and the theory of capital (Bourdieu, 1985; 1996) the researcher examines the leadership experiences of …

Exploring Latinx Alumni Donor Motivations At Hispanic Serving Institutions, Monica Alejandre

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Higher education is a funding priority every state should invest in. However, the great recession of 2008 left a catastrophic impact on how public universities in the United States are funded thus mobilizing higher education institutions to seek external support. This focus has led to public universities developing advancement programs to cultivate and solicit alumni support. With the average alumni giving rate at 10% across the nation and 2.8% more specifically for HSIs, and more Latinx students graduating with their bachelor’s degrees, it is important for universities to understand philanthropic motivations among their Latinx alumni population.

This study explored Latinx …

"Ain’T I A Woman?”: The Intersectional Representation Of Black Women Professional Leaders Above The Concrete Ceiling In Scandal And How To Get Away With Murder, Jessica Love

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the politics of re-presentation of the two Black leading characters in Shonda Rhimes’s televised series, Scandal (Olivia Pope) and How to Get Away with Murder (Annalise Keating). This textual analysis explores how the characters are re-represented as leaders at the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality using Kimberlé Crenshaw’s (1989) theory of intersectionality. This study also imposes Patricia Hill Collins’s (2005) matrix of domination to explicate how the hegemonic structure of the concrete ceiling conditions their identities and exertion of power in the workplace. To do this, the researcher investigated cultural workplace expectations tied to notions …

Decolonial Lessons From Historical African American Community Leaders: Reconstructing African American Identity As Resistance In Praxis, Rhejean King-Johnson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study analyzes the communication praxis for the purposes of decolonization of four community leaders, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells and Malcolm X in efforts to reconstruct African American (AA) identity by exposing the inhumane speech, behavior and thought of white supremacy. Their work employs specific communication strategies such as descriptive narrative, allegory, two-ness, anaphora, and metaphors to address the oppressive white-centric representation of AA identity and provide a decolonial shift in U.S. Eurocentric ideology. Through a close reading and textual analysis of representative works such as, Frederick Douglass’s book, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” (2005), …

Prüfung: A Deconstruction Of Assessment Across Three Languages, Thomas Erich Benz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research aims at deconstructing and questioning certainties about assessment as an educational institution on its most fundamental levels. To achieve that, I am utilizing theoretical frameworks inspired by concepts on the existence of cultural and social capital, by artifact mediated cognition, and by a recently proposed discipline on pedagogy of assessment. The research operates with the application of narrative synthesis and network text analysis of material, on which they have not previously been used. As such, I aim to contribute to a methodological application of both methods on exam data, understood as the totality of curricular documents which govern …

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 " …

Aloha Media: Negotiating Kānaka Maoli Representation And Identity In Television, Film, And Music, Colby Y. Miyose

Doctoral Dissertations

In her work on research and Indigenous communities, Māori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) points out that academic research is a site of contestation, struggle, and negotiation between the West and Indigenous people, and lays the groundwork for Indigenous researchers to write from a cultural perspective that serves their home community. Hawaiian cultural protocols serve as guidelines for my research. This dissertation, then, is simultaneously a critique of settler colonialism in Hawaiʻi and on screen, and as Foucault (1980) puts it, “an insurrection of subjugated knowledges.” (p.81)—an act of decolonial, Indigenous, and anticolonial thought. In this dissertation I argue that …

North American Expatriates In Mexico: A Discourse Analysis Of Facebook Groups, Liliana Carolina Brock

University Honors Theses

North American expatriates in Mexico often live in enclaves or affluent communities at a fraction of what it would cost in the US or Canada. Despite living in Mexico for years, many expatriates are poorly integrated into Mexican culture and society. This integration is made more difficult because many are unable to speak Spanish fluently. Instead, expatriates rely on English language Facebook groups to help them navigate life in Mexico. While scholars have explored the intersections of communication and interculturalism in expatriate communities, comparatively few have explored how the internet and the presentation of self on social media (specifically Facebook) …

The Unheard Voices And Privilege Of A Killer: An Analysis Of Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Allison G. Jones, Emma L. Mabe

Communication Studies

This analysis of Conversations with a Killer explores representations of Bundy’s victims and the depiction of Bundy himself. This paper will focus on how the documentary is an example of white male privilege and gender inequality through its erasure of the victims’ identities and perpetuation of a celebrity-like narrative of Bundy.

Remaking Cinema: Black Hollywood Films, Filmmakers, And Finances, Kiana A. Carrington

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of my project was to create a dataset of black film that can be used for analysis of fiscal trends in black film. It includes the estimated budget, domestic and worldwide box office numbers for over 700 American black films. I defined black films as those that centered on African American stories and African American characters, or were made by Black filmmakers. I also included movies embraced by African American audiences that were made by non-Black filmmakers like Bad Boys, Django Unchained, and The Color Purple. I used a combination of Box Office Mojo, The Black Cinema Database, …

"Airbnb Go Home:" Tourism Frictions And Short-Term Rentals In New Orleans, Madeline R. Fussell

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the concerns and conflicts around short-term rental (STR) properties in New Orleans neighborhoods. Using data from collected from critical discourse analysis, semi-structured interviews and social media posts, this paper analyzes the ways the city of New Orleans, residents of the city, STR hosts, and platforms like Airbnb discuss issues of safety, displacement, rising costs of living, as well as responsible STR practices. To understand the complexities of the issues people, have with short-term rental properties, this project approaches STRs from a housing and gentrification lens to understand the role these properties play within in the daily atmospheres …

The 2020 Awakening: A Study On Exhibiting Topics Of Race And Identity In Mid-Sized Art Museums, Samantha Becker

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

After the many racial injustices that occurred in 2020, cultural institutions have been motivated to educate the public on historical and contemporary topics of race and identity. This project sought to analyze exemplary cases of exhibition production with topics of race and identity in mid-sized art museums. The goal was to provide a set of recommendations for exhibiting these topics to bolster community trust. Two museums were studied–the Montclair Art Museum and Newark Museum of Art–which revealed that the exhibitions at both institutions were relevant to contemporary issues, engaging to their respective communities, and educational for a wide range of …

Civil Religion And The Second Amendment, Shivaun Corry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The American approach to legal hermeneutics emerged from the covenant theology of the Puritans. American civil religion understands the Constitution to be based in natural laws: a secularized conception of God-given rights. To change the text would collapse the epistemological framework of the nation. When a nation sees its constitution as a sacred text, then the answer to contemporary problems cannot be to change that text; rather, it must be to return to the text with an even more fundamentalist hermeneutic. Both gun rights advocate Charlton Heston, and gun control advocate Barak Obama, argued their cases using a fundamentalist hermeneutic, …