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2025

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Articles 181 - 210 of 245

Full-Text Articles in Critical and Cultural Studies

Gatekeeping Girlhood: Tiktok As An Agent Of Gender And Racial Socialization, Kennedy Elyza Davis Apr 2025

Gatekeeping Girlhood: Tiktok As An Agent Of Gender And Racial Socialization, Kennedy Elyza Davis

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis uses qualitative methods to study and analyze how TikTok users and the platform’s algorithm work together to redefine girlhood. By examining individual posts and the origins of the trends that they belong to, I will show why some users reject this new definition, as others have embraced it, and what this means for the future of girlhood. This research will complicate the question of what it means to be a girl on the Internet and the challenges that accompany this experience. Ultimately, I expand on the study of gender roles and the impact of social media as an …


It Ends With Us: How Social Media Algorithms Shape Recommendations In Online Reading Communities, Alana Nicole Whitley Apr 2025

It Ends With Us: How Social Media Algorithms Shape Recommendations In Online Reading Communities, Alana Nicole Whitley

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

My thesis explores social media algorithms and their influence on recommendations of authors for people who engage with reading communities online. During a three-week research period, I examined algorithmic behaviors in online book communities using an alias. Findings revealed that BookTube, BookTok, and Bookstagram facilitate book discovery but offer weak algorithmic recommendations and suggestions. While social media algorithms excel at providing opportunities for creators and authors, they fail to promote trending and diverse books. These insights indicate that algorithms shape literary consumption by limiting readers’ choices. This research contributes to discussions of online reading communities and the role of algorithmic …


Communication During Perimmigration: A Life-Line Interview Method Study, Giada Roberta Rossi Apr 2025

Communication During Perimmigration: A Life-Line Interview Method Study, Giada Roberta Rossi

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis examines the communication challenges faced by migrants and their impact on acculturation using a new approach. The study analyzed autobiographical memories of immigrants’ communication to explore both positive and negative experiences over time. The study extends previous intercultural communication research by using the Life-Line Interview Method (LIM) (Assink & Schroots, 2010) to collect autobiographical narratives from twelve participants about their communication journeys. The findings reveal consistencies with past intercultural communication research insofar as uncertainty and identity problems were pervasive, but also positively extends past research arguing that supportive environments, characterized by culturally responsive educators and peer networks, play …


Cultural Relativism In Global Pr Ethics: A Thematic Analysis Of Pr Ethics Codes And Development Of A Cultural Assessment Tool, Amaia Ham Mar 2025

Cultural Relativism In Global Pr Ethics: A Thematic Analysis Of Pr Ethics Codes And Development Of A Cultural Assessment Tool, Amaia Ham

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

As public relations becomes increasingly more global, it is valuable to learn whether the regulations and codes proposed by international organizations address cultural differences. Presently, there is a division within international public relations research on whether ethical codes can be universal or require a relativist framework. This study contributes to the conversation in two phases. Phase One consists of a thematic analysis of a leading global public relations network, the International Public Relations Association, to study its ability to balance collectivist and individualistic values within the code of ethics it provides to its global members. Additionally, codes from four associations …


Revealing The Indonesian Crazy Rich Prisoner On Social Media: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Krisna Megantari, Heru Nugroho, Dian Arymami Mar 2025

Revealing The Indonesian Crazy Rich Prisoner On Social Media: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Krisna Megantari, Heru Nugroho, Dian Arymami

The Qualitative Report

Although flexing is commonly perceived as a negative connotation in society, this phenomenon on digital media industry is fantastically entertaining. This study aims to reveal how the media shapes the phenomenon of Indonesian crazy rich prisoners. Using a multimodal discourse analysis on the YouTube video screenshots were analyzed qualitatively. In dissecting this, three terms are used: representational meaning, interactive meaning, and compositional meaning (Van Leeuwen & Jewitt, 2004). Findings shed some light on three symbolic language themes: hedonism, spectacle society, and homo digitalis. The present study theoretically and practically contributes to the dimensions of the digital media industry, where media …


Beyond The Institution Of Motherhood: Shifting The Paradigm, Gabrielle Wilson Mar 2025

Beyond The Institution Of Motherhood: Shifting The Paradigm, Gabrielle Wilson

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

This paper explores declining birth rates as a global act of resistance and reclamation by women and birthing individuals against hyper-masculinized institutions, using South Korea's 4B movement as a case study. The 4B movement, which rejects marriage, childbirth, romance, and heterosexual relationships, represents a paradigm shift challenging entrenched gender norms, state control, and systemic inequities. It exemplifies a global phenomenon as similar movements gain traction in the U.S., Japan, and beyond, amidst rising conservatism and declining fertility rates. Framing this analysis with intersectionality, Feminist IR theory, and Kuhn’s paradigm shift model, the paper argues that this resistance signifies a transformative …


Research In Indigenous Historiographies: Oral History As Evidence For Federal Recognition Of Indian Tribes, Colette Haworth Mar 2025

Research In Indigenous Historiographies: Oral History As Evidence For Federal Recognition Of Indian Tribes, Colette Haworth

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

Significant to the field of cultural studies is the identification of cultural artifacts, which enable scholars to analyze the complexities of societies, comprehend cultural dynamics, and investigate the ways in which individuals and communities construct meaning and identity in cultural contexts. Oral history, an intangible cultural artifact, has been an important cultural identifier, particularly for marginalized individuals and communities. The development of critical oral history (COH) methodology has alleviated some of the criticism toward oral history as a valid methodology. In fact, some scholars contend that COH has moved beyond the realm of academic research to “provide a policy relevant …


A Canvas Decolonized: An Exploration Of Haiti’S Colonial History Through Haitian Artists Philemon Obin, Jean Appolon, Sheilby Mecena, Flex Morisseau–Leroy, And Claes Gabriel, Dominique Dempsey Mar 2025

A Canvas Decolonized: An Exploration Of Haiti’S Colonial History Through Haitian Artists Philemon Obin, Jean Appolon, Sheilby Mecena, Flex Morisseau–Leroy, And Claes Gabriel, Dominique Dempsey

Graduate Research Conference (GSIS)

A Canvas Decolonized examines the complex realities faced by Haiti through the lens of its vibrant artistic heritage, highlighting the role of art in interpreting, preserving, and challenging narratives about the nation's history and identity. By exploring the works of Haitian muralists, photographers, painters, and poets including Jean Appolon, Flex Morisseau Leroy, Claes Gabriel, and Edwidge Danticat this study illuminates how these artists engage with themes of colonization, immigration, generational trauma, and cultural displacement. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Frantz Fanon and Benedict Anderson, the paper argues that Haitian art provides a powerful medium to analyze and contextualize the …


Digital Inequalities And U.S. Undergraduate Outcomes Over The First Two Years Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Vikki Katz, Amy B. Jordan, Katherine Ognyanova Mar 2025

Digital Inequalities And U.S. Undergraduate Outcomes Over The First Two Years Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Vikki Katz, Amy B. Jordan, Katherine Ognyanova

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated major and rapid changes to undergraduate student learning conditions, but the longer-term consequences of those changes have yet to be fully understood. We assess how digital inequality—defined as challenges in accessing or maintaining a broadband internet connection and functional digital devices—affected undergraduates’ advancement toward on-time graduation over the first two years of the pandemic (2020-2022). We utilize survey data from a representative sample of 1,106 undergraduates at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, a public, 4-year university located in New Jersey, USA. Respondents were undergraduates who had been enrolled in full-time student status throughout the first two years …


Tekotok’S Digital Satire And Public Sentiment In Response To The Realities Of Work In Indonesia, Ahmad Farid Fanani Mar 2025

Tekotok’S Digital Satire And Public Sentiment In Response To The Realities Of Work In Indonesia, Ahmad Farid Fanani

Jurnal Politik

Inequities within Indonesia's labor system remain a prominent issue, particularly in terms of fair access and protection for all segments of the workforce. As digital media continues to evolve, critiques of labor policy are increasingly expressed through new mediums, including satirical animations. This study aims to explore how the satirical animated videos from the YouTube channel Tekotok represent critiques of labor policy using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and public sentiment analysis. A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining Fairclough’s three-dimensional model for narrative analysis with the IndoBERT model to classify sentiment in 875 YouTube comments. The results demonstrate that Tekotok’s animations …


Cripistemology And Creative Practice: Disability, Aesthetics, Digital Art, Generative Ai, Talan Memmott Phd Feb 2025

Cripistemology And Creative Practice: Disability, Aesthetics, Digital Art, Generative Ai, Talan Memmott Phd

CLASP Lecture Series

Dr. Memmott’s presentation will showcase “Introducing Lary”—an ongoing AI project that explores the re-invention of the self following life-changing cancer surgery and treatment. This talk profiles the artist’s experience with a laryngeal cancer diagnosis and the medical interventions that follow. Utilizing a variety of AI platforms for both video and image production along with journal entries and medical reports as text prompts, the resulting work is a set of distinctive media that range, in Dr. Memmott’s words, “from the mythic to the horrific; the historical to the speculative.” Though at times the resulting media may emphasize the emergent body horror …


To Eat Or Not To Eat: Body Neutrality In The Context Of Educator Eating Disorders, Victoria Mcdermott, Nike Jacob Feb 2025

To Eat Or Not To Eat: Body Neutrality In The Context Of Educator Eating Disorders, Victoria Mcdermott, Nike Jacob

Feminist Pedagogy

Academia, like many other industries, polices its members through explicit and implicit systems of oppression: thinness, patriarchy, accessibility, and whiteness. Previous research has argued that professors who meet the criteria of current beauty standards (e.g., thinness, attractiveness) experience higher student evaluations, more opportunities for promotion, and better overall academic success than those in diverse body shapes and sizes. As a result, decoupling one's sense of self-worth from these expectations based in power can prove challenging. The present critical reflection and commentary explores the perceptions of two academics with histories of eating disorders (e.g., anorexia and binge-eating disorder), disordered eating, and …


Still Accounting For My Teacher’S Body: The Objective Body/Body As Objective In The Classroom/Classzoom, Leda M. Cooks, Jennifer A. Zenovich Feb 2025

Still Accounting For My Teacher’S Body: The Objective Body/Body As Objective In The Classroom/Classzoom, Leda M. Cooks, Jennifer A. Zenovich

Feminist Pedagogy

This critical commentary reflects on Cooks’ 2007 article, “Accounting for my Teacher’s Body: What can I teach/What can we learn?” by reconsidering power and body relations in light of the concept and pedagogy of body neutrality in the classroom in the 2023 COVID-19 era. The digital and physical classroom are spaces where the (embodied) body is never neutral. By extension, the body is never neutral anywhere regardless of the mindful body neutrality practices suggested by Pellizzer and Wade (2023). In this commentary, we first discuss how the teacher in physical and digital space communicates ideals of competence in performance of …


Reenvisioning Identities That Precede Us: “Body Acknowledgement” As Social Justice Practice Within A Communication Ethics Course Redesign, Wendy Kz Anderson, Ollivia Webster, Nicole Yang, Cass Bryant, Taylor Herr Feb 2025

Reenvisioning Identities That Precede Us: “Body Acknowledgement” As Social Justice Practice Within A Communication Ethics Course Redesign, Wendy Kz Anderson, Ollivia Webster, Nicole Yang, Cass Bryant, Taylor Herr

Feminist Pedagogy

We infuse this conversation of “body neutrality” through social justice responsiveness (compassion, equity, and accountability of body/presence privilege) by specifically attending to intersections of race, gender, and body mindset built into our identities. In reimagining the term “body-neutrality” through identity engagement, we introduce the term “body acknowledgment” as an active interpretative state. As a co-authored pedagogical “co-conspiring” for racial justice (Houdek and Ore, 2021, p. 92), we (instructor, teaching assistants, and previous students) offered a course redesign centering social justice strategies to address the following question: How can dialogue about intersectional communication work toward redesigning learning with difference and develop …


Exploring The Role Of Body Neutrality Perspectives In Feminist Pedagogy, Sydney E. Brammer Feb 2025

Exploring The Role Of Body Neutrality Perspectives In Feminist Pedagogy, Sydney E. Brammer

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.


Queering ‘Common Sense’: Using Critical Discourse Analysis Of Lgbtq+ Book Bans In Florida Public Schools To Unmask Heteronormativity, Talia Zito, Nicole E. Morse Feb 2025

Queering ‘Common Sense’: Using Critical Discourse Analysis Of Lgbtq+ Book Bans In Florida Public Schools To Unmask Heteronormativity, Talia Zito, Nicole E. Morse

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

Historically, censorship of LGBTQ+ content in education has been rooted in socio-political efforts to marginalize non-heteronormative identities. However, even those who oppose censorship tend to frame their arguments around concepts like “age-appropriateness” and “protecting children.” Our Critical Discourse Analysis examines formal challenges to And Tango Makes Three in one Florida school district in 2022 to show how these concepts are deployed on both sides of the debate. The book, depicting a same-sex penguin couple raising a chick, faced objections under Florida’s HB 1557, a law designed to restrict discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Ultimately, the picture …


Book Review: Dangerous Innocence: White Men, Mass Culture, And The Southern Outsider's Appeal, 1960-2020, Chris Sharpe Feb 2025

Book Review: Dangerous Innocence: White Men, Mass Culture, And The Southern Outsider's Appeal, 1960-2020, Chris Sharpe

Georgia Library Quarterly

A book review of Dangerous Innocence: White Men, Mass Culture, and the Southern Outsider's Appeal, 1960-2020 written by William P. Murray.


Zombie-Auras: Genai And Hybrid Text Production, Joshua Nieubuurt Feb 2025

Zombie-Auras: Genai And Hybrid Text Production, Joshua Nieubuurt

English Faculty Publications

This paper explores the iterative evolutions of textual production and their impact on the “aura” of texts, as conceptualized by Walter Benjamin. The study identifies three key phases of textual production: the natural, the mechanized, and the digitized, each progressively displacing the “cult value” of texts. This cult value is lost through increased ease of creation, reproduction, dissemination, and dislocation of creators and audiences in time and space. The advent of Generative AI (GenAI) marks the latest evolution, transforming the “aura” into a memetic “zombie” form—familiar yet opaque, evoking both the sublime and fear. By examining Benjamin’s notion of “aura” …


Racial Powers, Talhah Mustafa Feb 2025

Racial Powers, Talhah Mustafa

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation will be divided into three papers that in some way considers the concept of racial powers. The concept of racial power is under-researched and presupposed in the Philosophy of Race literature. Many arguments in this field seem premature without a general understanding of racial powers. The first paper fills that gap by introducing and defending the view that racial powers are possessed in virtue of one’s race or perceived race.

In the second paper, I consider Chike Jeffers’ cultural constructionist account of race. The nature of race is complex, requiring nuanced consideration. Chike Jeffers’ cultural constructionist may seem …


Evolving Design Critique For A Changing Industry, Sejin Hwang, Amy Ai, Leo Bang, Yuchen Chen, Kathryn Chen, Tiffany Chang, Stephen Jiang, Chloe Jo, Eileen Lee, Nicole Lu, Ray Liu, Kevin Wei, Elaine Zhang, Ellano Zhou Feb 2025

Evolving Design Critique For A Changing Industry, Sejin Hwang, Amy Ai, Leo Bang, Yuchen Chen, Kathryn Chen, Tiffany Chang, Stephen Jiang, Chloe Jo, Eileen Lee, Nicole Lu, Ray Liu, Kevin Wei, Elaine Zhang, Ellano Zhou

Student Work

This class serves as an exploratory practice in response to existing studies evaluating critique environments in the design industry. Previous studies identified three key limitations in the critique process: (1) a lack of experience for novice designers working with non-designers when reviewing their work, (2) an ineffective final review structure, and (3) a need for a more constructive and engaging feedback-sharing environment.1 To address these challenges, the course was designed to “critique” critique activities and develop strategic solutions to transform the way design work is reviewed, analyzed, and critiqued. The course was part of a pilot fall semester program called …


Celebrating Achievements As Digital Rituals Among Indonesian Youth On Social Media, B.J. Sujibto, Malikatun Natiqoh, Kafhaya Nuzulanisa, Saras Wati Widodo Jan 2025

Celebrating Achievements As Digital Rituals Among Indonesian Youth On Social Media, B.J. Sujibto, Malikatun Natiqoh, Kafhaya Nuzulanisa, Saras Wati Widodo

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

Youth and social media are increasingly intertwined, as their socio-cultural trajectories accelerate digital connectedness and intensify the contestation of diverse identities. Posting on social media has thus become a ritualized practice. This article explores how Indonesian university students construct identities by sharing achievement stories and success narratives on Instagram. Using qualitative data, it examines the experiences of students who have excelled in academic competitions. The study identifies two key typologies behind such posts. Firstly, personal determinism, aimed at self- reward and self-branding. Secondly, social motivation, focused on inspiring peers and building supportive networks to achieve academic success. These typologies reflect …


Access, Community Capacity, And Socio-Economic Impacts On The Implementation Of Social Forestry Programs In The Perum Perhutani Kph Telawa Working Area, Esa Jati Manunggal Sukma Adhi, Trisni Utami Jan 2025

Access, Community Capacity, And Socio-Economic Impacts On The Implementation Of Social Forestry Programs In The Perum Perhutani Kph Telawa Working Area, Esa Jati Manunggal Sukma Adhi, Trisni Utami

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

Despite increasing interest in social forestry, limited research has explored the interplay between community capacity and access within Indonesia’s Social Forestry Utilization Permit (IPHPS) scheme. This study examines the relationship between community capacity, access, and socio-economic impacts to inform effective policy implementation. Employing a qualitative case study approach, it focuses on a community granted an IPHPS Decree within the Perum Perhutani Forest Management Unit (KPH) Telawa. The findings identify three key dimensions of community capacity: technical capacity (local knowledge and skills), networking capacity (social capital and relationships), and cultural capacity (local wisdom and practices). While legal access to forest permits …


Seeing Through Solid Words: Using Gebser’S Concept Of Transparency To Understand A Gnostic Poem Expressing Integral Consciousness, Lisa Maroski Jan 2025

Seeing Through Solid Words: Using Gebser’S Concept Of Transparency To Understand A Gnostic Poem Expressing Integral Consciousness, Lisa Maroski

Journal of Conscious Evolution

It is difficult to express integral consciousness using ordinary language because of the inherent tendency of language to separate and distinguish. Jean Gebser, in The Ever-Present Origin, suggested concepts such as transparency and diaphaneity as ways to access integral consciousness, and the Gnostic text The Thunder, Perfect Mind (TPM) is written from the perspective of a being with integral consciousness. I use Jean Gebser’s concepts of transparency and diaphaneity to explicate TPM, an enigmatic, paradoxical poem in the Nag Hammadi Library. Because TPM is written from the perspective of an integral being, one who is All-of-It (i.e., paradoxical completeness rather …


Not My Daughter: The Symbolic American Child And Cinematic Potential, Jacob Campbell Jan 2025

Not My Daughter: The Symbolic American Child And Cinematic Potential, Jacob Campbell

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.


My More-Than-Brother: Homoeroticism In David Diop's At Night All Blood Is Black, Joel Papp Jan 2025

My More-Than-Brother: Homoeroticism In David Diop's At Night All Blood Is Black, Joel Papp

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.


Neighbors Within & Strangers Without: Kafka, Zizek, And Neighbors Without A Roof, Mackintosh Bennett Jan 2025

Neighbors Within & Strangers Without: Kafka, Zizek, And Neighbors Without A Roof, Mackintosh Bennett

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.


Lesbian Period Dramas: The Significance And Limitations Of Historicizing Queer Narratives, Abigail Dollries Jan 2025

Lesbian Period Dramas: The Significance And Limitations Of Historicizing Queer Narratives, Abigail Dollries

CLAMANTIS: The MALS Journal

No abstract provided.


‘We Wish To Keep A Wall Of Reserve’: Modesty Practice And Discourse Within Old Order Amish And Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities, Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar Jan 2025

‘We Wish To Keep A Wall Of Reserve’: Modesty Practice And Discourse Within Old Order Amish And Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities, Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This study advances our understanding of modesty practices within religious groups by examining mixed-gender groups among Old Order Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. Through ethnographic participant observation and semi-structured interviews, my research addresses three questions central to understanding modesty practices: How do members of these religious bodies define and enforce acceptable practices of modesty and body management in mixed-gender settings? What mechanisms transmit written and unwritten rules within these groups? And how do religious leaders and texts shape modesty discourse and practices? Drawing on Hobsbawm’s differentiation between old and invented traditions, this comparative analysis reveals …


Vaccines And Publics: A Variety Of Engagement Experiences, David H. Lee Jan 2025

Vaccines And Publics: A Variety Of Engagement Experiences, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

This chapter is about some of the sites and scenes where members of the public are exposed to (and engage in) vaccination discourse. To preview, after a brief introduction, we begin with messaging models of communication, followed by the move from messaging to engagement. Next, case examples of public engagement with vaccines are introduced, from pandemic influenza preparedness in the U.S., to polio eradication initiatives in India, and then to COVID-19 public engagement events in England. Settings of public engagement are noted, including online, in churches and museums. Then, there’s a section about communication and public participation, seen as either …


Resilience And Reality: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of People Living With Hiv In Texas During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Qualitative Study., Ahmed F. Alanazi Jan 2025

Resilience And Reality: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of People Living With Hiv In Texas During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Qualitative Study., Ahmed F. Alanazi

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This study investigated the lived experiences of individuals living with HIV (PLWH) in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area of Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. The research examined the intersection of health, social dynamics, and psychological resilience among PLWH, who faced compounded vulnerabilities due to systemic inequities and the dual public health crises of HIV and COVID-19. Through semi-structured interviews with ten participants from diverse backgrounds, the study captured the profound impacts of disrupted healthcare systems, heightened stigma, and social isolation on this marginalized population. The findings reveal that the pandemic exacerbated existing inequities …