International and Intercultural Communication Commons^™

Amjambo Africa! (June 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

Welcome to Amjambo Africa! Welcome to Amjambo Africa! We are Maine’s free newspaper for and about New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amjambo Africa! is here to help New Mainers thrive and to help Maine welcome and benefit from our new neighbors.

Amjambo Africa! will serve as a conduit of information for newcomers as they navigate life in Maine.

Amjambo Africa! will include background articles about Africa so those from Maine can understand why newcomers have arrived here.

Amjambo Africa! will profile successful New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa in order to give hope to those newly arrived as well as make …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Com 3076 (International Communication), Allison Hahn

Open Educational Resources

This course examines issues related to the internationalization of media and communication. Topics include a comparison of information rich and information poor countries, an analysis of global media, trends in communication technology, the role of English as a world language, U.S. influences on world cultures, and international perceptions of the United States.

Learning Culture: Cultural Relationship In Masked Lanterns, Yuxuan Ding

Graduate School of Art Theses

Culture shock, or culture conflict, is the unfamiliarity or disorientation an individual experiences after encountering a culture different than their own. To better understand the people around us who share a different culture and the way of life it creates, we need to first respect and understand their culture. In general, Chinese culture stresses that individuals must see themselves as part of a larger group for the benefit of society, while American culture stresses the importance of individualism.

Based on my experiences in graphic design, I decided to further my studies in a studio art context to understand how the …

Currents Of Consumption: How National Narratives Of Japanese Cuisine Collide With Localized Forms Of Sushi In Northern California, John Ostermiller

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper examines how national narratives of Japanese cuisine collide with the expectations, preferences, and perceptions of American consumers (particularly Northern California). The global economy has benefited the circulation of positive images of Japan managed by the Japanese government, but the commercialization of Japanese cuisine is also at odds with government efforts. In Japan, sushi is often synonymous with nigirizushi: sliced seafood and a daub of wasabi atop vinegared rice. As part of Japan’s washoku tradition, this singular image of sushi (allegedly) reflects the deepest essence of Japanese cultural sensibilities tied to simplicity, perfection, and nature. But in America, consumers’ …

Amjambo Africa! (May 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

Welcome to Amjambo Africa! Welcome to Amjambo Africa! We are Maine’s free newspaper for and about New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amjambo Africa! is here to help New Mainers thrive and to help Maine welcome and benefit from our new neighbors.

Amjambo Africa! will serve as a conduit of information for newcomers as they navigate life in Maine.

Amjambo Africa! will include background articles about Africa so those from Maine can understand why newcomers have arrived here.

Amjambo Africa! will profile successful New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa in order to give hope to those newly arrived as well as make …

Amjambo Africa! (April 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

Welcome to Amjambo Africa! Welcome to Amjambo Africa! We are Maine’s free newspaper for and about New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amjambo Africa! is here to help New Mainers thrive and to help Maine welcome and benefit from our new neighbors.

Amjambo Africa! will serve as a conduit of information for newcomers as they navigate life in Maine.

Amjambo Africa! will include background articles about Africa so those from Maine can understand why newcomers have arrived here.

Amjambo Africa! will profile successful New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa in order to give hope to those newly arrived as well as make …

Reflections Of A “Pitiyanqui”: My History With Latcrit, Roberto L. Corrada

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

One of our longtime LatCrit leaders in progressive and emancipatory pedagogy, Roberto Corrada (Denver), reflects on LatCrit’s role in awakening and developing his interest in critical scholarship and critical, community-based, pedagogy. In doing so, he also puts on display how our programmatic work, again, twines the personal with the collective, and the human with the intellectual. He reminds us, again, that our work is rooted in difference, and in learning from it.

Cultural Diplomacy And Trade: Making Connections, North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative

FIMS Publications

The North American Cultural Diplomacy Initiative’s (NACDI) approach to cultural diplomacy is based on: an expansive and nuanced approach to the term culture; a belief in the necessity of relational, rather than transactional engagement; and an interest in understanding the significance of non-state actors in the current network environment of diplomacy. Rather than seeing the multifaceted nature of cultural diplomacy as a challenge, NACDI points to complexity as a reason to advance nuanced discussions, including the recognition of a wide range of actors and activities, and well-developed indicators that have specific qualitative and quantitative measurements. The report, Cultural Diplomacy and …

A Content Analysis Of Jihadist Magazines: Theoretical Perspectives, Catalina M. Udani

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During its violent spread across the Middle East, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) amassed both a local and international following in large part due to its usage of emergent media distribution. Beginning in 2014, ISIS’s Ministry of Media published an English-language magazine, Dabiq, disseminating its issues through online platforms. Dabiq and its successor Rumiyah both serve as propagandistic recruitment material for ISIS’s international community as well as broadcasting the message of the jihadist movement to ISIS’s enemies. This study analyzed ISIS’s publications using a qualitative content analysis in order to identify jihadist recruitment strategies through the perspectives …

Media In Crisis: Journalistic Norms In Natural Disaster Coverage, Lindsey Hall

Honors Theses and Capstones

Nearing the end of 2017, the United States and the Caribbean were struck with back-to-back natural disasters that left the country in shock and turmoil. Among the three hurricanes that struck sequentially, Hurricane Harvey landed in Texas approximately on August 25th, 2017 and Hurricane Maria hit the Caribbean and Puerto Rico around September 20th, 2017. These disasters were a test for the new presidential cabinet of how they would handle their first natural disaster. Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Harvey caused similar levels of destruction, with Maria being a category five storm and Harvey a category four. However, the media reacted …

Effects Of Crisis News On Intercultural Tolerance: An International Comparative Study, Anthony Eseke

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

Human beings are “cultural animals who know and see and hear the world through socially constructed filters.” [1]. Fundamental to these filters are identities. Through the frames of identity, people often negotiate the dialectics of the ‘self’ with/against ‘the other’. The media in their reportage of conflicts and crisis produce and reinforce these dialectics. However, to what extent and directions do these reports influence social tolerance in the audience? This study therefore examined the effects of crisis/conflict news on otherness. The study defined otherness as the appraisal attitudes of tolerance, apathy, or intolerance towards other bodies based on identity categories. …

Gender's Role In Spanish-Language Journalism- An Examination Of How Gender Plays In Hard Vs. Soft News, Victoria R. Elajami

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The inequality of women in the workforce has been an ongoing issue. The 19th amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920. Since then, women have continued to fight for their equality in its entirety. Specifically, in the 21st-century women continue to fight for equality in the work place. Studies have shown that the amount of women in the workplace has exponentially increased. In fact, “they caught up with men in the rates of higher-education graduation, they increased their training and representation in formerly male-dominated professional fields and they entered many previously male dominated occupations” (Vokić, 2017). However the …

The Relationship Between Memorable Messages And Identity Construction, Raphaela P. Barros Campbell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A qualitative analysis is reported here, in which 22 international students were interviewed about their overall experiences studying abroad, as well as memorable messages received and the context in which those were communicated. Scholars like Larson and Gill (2017) and Alvesson (2010) have focused on the role communication plays in constructing identity. With that in mind, Knapp et al.’s (1981) concept of memorable messages informs how specific messages influence individuals’ sense of who they are. This study expands knowledge on the relationship between memorable messages and international students’ identity construction, focusing on the impact of messages exchanged before and during …

Raça, Jinshu, Race: Whiteness, Japanese-Ness, And Resistance In Sūkyō Mahikari In The Brazilian Amazon, Moana Luri De Almeida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presented an analysis of how leaders and adherents of a Japanese religion called Sūkyō Mahikari understand and interpret jinshu (race) and hito(person) in a particular way, and how this ideology is practiced in the city of Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon. The teachings of Sūkyō Mahikari classify humanity into five races (yellow, white, red, blue/green, black/purple) and five religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism). In this classification, the original humans - hito, the kingly race ōbito, and the God-given supra-religion sūkyō - deteriorated into ningen (people), the other races, and shūkyō (religions) along an …

The Use Of Zingari/Nomadi/Rom In Italian Crime Discourse, Theresa Catalano

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study examines the use of the metonymies zingari/nomadi/rom [Gypsies/Nomads/Roma] in Italian media discourse, in order to critically reflect on their relation to the perception of Roma. The author analyses the frequency of these terms in general discourse and crime discourse, as well as the way they are used in context. The findings reveal that nomadi and rom are used to directly and indirectly index Roma, and have a sig­nificant impact on their ethnicization and criminalization. In addition, the episodic framing of crime events, combined with the use of these metony­mies, erases the Italian government’s responsibility for the conditions of …

Americanized Chinese Dishes As Heritage Food And Bridging Identities, Megu Itoh

Senior Independent Study Theses

Chinese food has become ingrained in the lives of everyday Americans. But while ordering Chinese takeout is now an ordinary occurrence, Chinese food culture still experiences the lasting consequences of discrimination in the United States. First viewed as the uncivilized other and later as the exotic other, the status of Chinese food has shifted overtime. Chinese food has also experienced changes in its actual form, adapting to the American palate by adjusting flavor and presentation. My research explores the ways in which this Americanized Chinese food has impacted the identities of Chinese restaurant workers, and continues to manifest change within …

Life Being An International Student In The United States: Acculturation, Culture Shock, And Identity Transformation, Lai Yan Vivyan Lam

Master's Theses

The population of international students at community colleges in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. International students play a big role in building the cultural diversity on campus by bringing over different cultures and sharing their global perspective to the local community. However, they often face challenges adapting into American culture due to cultural differences in education system, language, lifestyle, etc. By looking into the acculturation process of international students to analyze the culture shock and cultural identity changes they experienced, this paper intends to seek ways to help this group of students to ease their …

Creating Spaces Revisited: Students' Perspectives On International And Multi(Inter)Cultural Public Relations Education, Kiaya Young

Scholars Week

In a global market employees need the skills to be able to work in a multicultural market. International public relation skills are becoming a necessity. Public Relations practitioners are educated on various fundamental skills through their educational programs, but there has been a lack of international and multi(inter)cultural education. This paper is a restudy of Nilajana Bardhan’s 2003 study Creating Spaces for International and Multi(inter)cultural Perspectives in Undergraduate Public Reactions Education.

Men’S Rights Activists And The Ray Rice Domestic-Violence Case: Using Critical Communication Pedagogy To Counter Hegemonic Masculinity, David H. Kahl

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

Some groups in society communicate in ways that attempt to marginalize others. One such group is the Men’s Rights Activists (MRA) who use language to attempt to normalize the subjugation of women through its rejection of feminism. This activity is designed to engage students in a dialogue about MRA’s response to the domestic-violence incident involving Baltimore Ravens’ running back Ray Rice and his fiancé, Janay Palmer, in a hotel elevator. Specifically, the activity allows students to learn about MRA members and their hegemonic ideology, to examine/view the domestic-violence incident, and to use critical-communication pedagogy (CCP) as a means to examine …

Cultural Nuances For Immigrant Adolescents And Adolescents Of The Third Culture Experience: A Book Review Of Immigrant Youth In Cultural Transition: Acculturation, Identity, And Adaptation Across National Contexts, Jennifer L. Wilson

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Cross-cultural children include Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and the children and adolescents whose families have immigrated to a new society. The book Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition: Acculturation, Identity, and Adaptation Across National Contexts (Berry et al., 2012), was a multi-national and multicultural study that sought to explain how immigrant youth navigate among cultures, how they manage their multicultural experience as it relates to psychological and sociocultural adjustment, and how demographics, family variables, and cultural variables affect the immigration, acculturation, assimilation, and adaptation process for these adolescents. Many similar processes have been described in the TCK literature for TCK children, …

Experiencing Difficulties: English Language Issues Among Immersed Third Culture Kids, Marlene E. Schmidt

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are defined as children who have spent a significant part of their developmental years living in, or interacting with two or more cultural environments. The levels, abilities, and use of the heritage language of TCKs returning to their host country from being immersed in a second language environment can cause difficulties. This case study explored the experiences of immersed TCKs using English upon reentry to the United States. The participants are adult TCKs, have English as their heritage language, and were immersed in a second language environment as a child. This research found the following four …

Preparing The Expatriate Candidate For Global Success: A Best-Practice Analysis Of Cross-Culture Adaptation Training, Justin C. Velten

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Increased demand for global citizenry has led scholars and educators alike to seek ways to improve intercultural communication competence (ICC). Research has focused on the theoretical underpinnings of ICC and how to implement these theoretical factors into a practical educational model. Yet, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the implementation of ICC education in the ever-increasingly popular online context. This quasi-experimental study provides a look at how online expatriate candidate training might influence ICC. Results indicate that online expatriate candidate training provides an effective model for organizational practitioners with limited time and resources.

Culture, Spirituality, Self-Acceptance, And Relationships Among Latino Students, Emily Hervey

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

While some research has been done on acculturation within the Latino population and the significance of spirituality has been included in a number of studies, there is very little research exploring the influence of these two factors in the formation of identity and relationships to others. This is particularly salient in lives of university students, as it is a time of finding their own niche in society and making decisions that shape their future. This study explores the influence of culture and spirituality on the acceptance of self and relation to others among Latino university students. The findings supported the …

Center For Social Equity + Inclusion Action Plan, Center For Social Equity & Inclusion, Rosanne Somerson, Rene Watkins Payne

Center for Social Equity & Inclusion Action Plan

Art and design have far-reaching capacities for generating shared language and connecting people and communities. The creative forms we study at RISD are powerful means for conveying ideas and shaping experiences across habituated boundaries. Today we see those forms resonate more than ever before in the multilingual, culturally heterogeneous, digitally interconnected spaces around the globe. In fact, the democratization of communications media has made it possible for long marginalized voices to join and substantively transform our public discourses. The resulting body of critical knowledge has focused attention on interlocking systems of privilege and disenfranchisement entrenched throughout our social institutions, including …

Bridges Out Of Poverty As An Anti-Poverty Strategy In Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Katlyn M. Uhler

Capstone Collection

This paper explores the initial results of the Bridges Out of Poverty (“Bridges”) community framework as implemented by the organization Kennett Area Community Service in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The aim of this research is to provide perspective on Bridges Out of Poverty’s contribution to the understanding of poverty in the United States and its potential as an antipoverty intervention. It does so first through an exploration of the historical and current discussion on poverty and anti-poverty interventions in the United States, followed by research on the Bridges model itself and its implementation in Kennett Square. This latter research includes content …

Humanature Relations In Oman: Connections, Disconnections And Globalization, Maryam A. Alhinai

Communication ETDs

In this dissertation, I explore agricultural practices as a window into ecocultural communication. Using agricultural practices of villagers in Village G, Oman, as a case study, I explore the ways in which villagers and government officials conceptualize humanature relations and the forces that enhance and/or impede these relations. My specific goals for this study were: (1) to build an interpretive understanding of ecocultural orientations of villagers and officials in Oman and how they conceptualize their humanature relations; (2) to critically examine ideologies and uncover structural forces that enable/constrain humanature relations; and (3) to co-create community engagement work that honors the …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

Media, Borders, And Citizenship: Internationalization And Social Justice In An Undergraduate Communication Program At A Public University In New England, Kristi Mientka

Capstone Collection

Higher education in the U.S. is becoming increasingly internationalized, a process which is necessitated by the global economy and the increase in communication and mobility across borders. The process of internationalization has many effects on institutions, programs, faculty, and students. It also has many purposes, among them to improve students’ future employability and to foster understanding of social issues. The communication discipline, which encompasses a variety of studies ranging from media production to interpersonal communication, has seen the effects of internationalization. Those effects are evident in evolving curriculum and pedagogy that reflect the shifting dynamics of the media landscape and …

Exploring Perceptions Of Goodness Among The Malaysian And Chinese University Students: A Focus Group Study, Madiha Hashmi, Moniza Waheed, Ezhar Tamam, Steven E. Krauss Dr., Abdul Muati Ahmad

The Qualitative Report

The notion of goodness is implicitly central to the discourse relating to person perception. To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the notion of goodness and how it’s perceived and discerned in others. Utilizing focus group interviews, this paper explores how people perceive and interpret goodness in collectivist cultures of Malaysia and China. Findings revealed that Malaysian and Chinese participants had somewhat similar notions about goodness. “Concern for others’ welfare” was found to have the most resonance across the two nationalities as a key element in discerning goodness in others. Another category emerging from the findings was …

We Don't Hope That Helps: Satirical Facebook Pages As Counter-Institutional Resistance, Gavin Lawrence Kirkwood

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Through the examination of a satirical Facebook page called Hope that Helps (HTH) this study filled a gap in communication research on humor and resistance within online communities. The qualitative content analysis of the HTH page showcased satire’s role in acts of resistance. Using jokes, impersonation, and ridicule HTH resisted large corporations, government institutions, messages from public figures, and entitled American consumers. HTH also used humor to resist social constructs including Whiteness, transphobia, and American nationalism. Along with page creators, HTH followers were active participants in the humor and resistance acts on the page. HTH served as a space for …