Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one …

(Un)Matched: Racialized Narratives Of U.S.-Based Japanese Men, Masculinity, And Heterosexuality In Online Dating Apps, Keisuke Kimura

Communication ETDs

In this study, I documented and examined U.S.-based Japanese men’s narratives about their day-to-day experiences in and across online dating contexts. Through the analysis of narratives, I critiqued how multilayered differences (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and more) working with dominant social structures affect their everyday experiences within the spectrum of power, privilege, and marginalization in the transnational space. Specifically, the overarching purposes and goals of this study were to better understand U.S.-based Japanese men’s online dating experiences and to critique the relationalities of how Japanese men’s narratives (i.e., micro-level context) and their beliefs/attitudes within and between cultural communities …

Developing Ethical Training Curriculum For University Short-Term Missions, Elizabeth P. Sutphin

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

This thesis addresses common problems associated with short-term mission (STM) trips and the gaps in existing training materials for these trips. The research throughout this project is designed to inspire community-specific training materials for college students participating in domestic STM trips through their universities. The final chapter of this thesis includes the framework for a sample curriculum to promote sustainable STM work — providing cross-cultural communication techniques and relationship-building tools to avoid harming the communities students seek to serve.

Winter 2022

Conversations

Dean's Letter; Remembering Jill O'Brien (1947-2021); Mastering the Art of Professional Communication: A new online master's program helps communications professionals advance their careers; Inclusive Journalism for a Diverse Society: Faculty member Judith McCray aims to deepen the bench of diverse journalists; An Alumna with an Ear for News: Rachel Hinton; Interorganizational Networks for Social Impact: A conversation with Assistant Professor Kate Cooper

Online Discussion Forum And Pre-Migration Information Seeking: An Affordance Perspective, Daniel Gulanowski, Luciara Nardon, Michael J. Hine

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Potential immigrants increasingly rely on online technologies to access needed information as they have limited access to offline sources of information at the pre-arrival stage. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of online discussion forums in facilitating potential immigrants’ access to relevant information about the host country labor market. This paper draws on extant literature on computer-mediated communication and a qualitative content analysis of 363 forum discussions to explore the phenomenon of increased use of online forums by prospective immigrants to Canada to access relevant labor market information. We draw on existing concepts of technology affordances …

More Than Just Sticks And Stones: Effects Of Interpersonal Interactions On Liminality And The Negotiation Of Identity, Conlon Muhr

Masters Theses

The following study contains the detailed findings of my lived experiences studied in an autoethnographic method with a focus on the effects of interpersonal communication on identity negotiation during liminality. This study is conducted to expand upon the large and dense web of communication studies. During the use of the autoethnographic process, I provide in-depth insight into my lived experiences during liminality. The main goal of the study is to explore how interpersonal interaction affects liminality and the formation of identity. Liminality support, rejection, complication, and acceptance are the emergent themes found by combining liminality with interpersonal communication.

Difficult Dialogues At Laguardia Community College, Cuny, Ian Mcdermott, Caterina Almendral, Jacqueline A. Brashears

Open Educational Resources

This document summarizes the process of leading a difficult dialogues workshop. Supplemental files are attached, which include a script and slides. We recommend following the script to ensure the workshop is organized and follows the methods outlined below. These materials have served as the basis for an ongoing series of workshops at LaGuardia Community College in a variety of contexts, from faculty and staff discussing gender identity to student interactions at the College. Most recently and frequently, the workshop has been held for Student Success Mentors to help them navigate their relationships with the students they supervise and the professors …

The Program To Reduce Implicit Bias In Carroll Hospital Center Using The Implicit Association Test, Katherine E. Traynor

Capstone Showcase

Natural brain processes make all individuals susceptible to unconscious bias; however, stressful, fearful, or anger-evoking situations as well as the negative influence of media and social surroundings increase the risk of holding obstructive bias, and there is a greater risk of being negatively impacted by this phenomenon when belonging to a minority population (Rose & Flores, 2020). As a result, high rates of infant mortality (10.2 deaths per 1,000 live births for the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 4.1 in the White population) and cardiovascular related diseases (190.0 cases per 1,000 in the Non-Hispanic Black population compared to 161.3 in …

The Secret Sauce Of Online Community Of Practice During Covid-19 Pandemic: Nonviolent Communication, Yonty Friesem, Elizaveta Friesem

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The challenges of work-family balance while being asked to move to remote instruction and engage students creatively have affected us all globally on multiple levels - from our professional identity, to our own health, mortality and purpose in life. The idea behind Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is that as Rosenberg (2015/1999) put it, it is a language that celebrates life. Applying these practices in a community building initiative of the Media Education Lab during the COVID-19 pandemic supported our community not only for their professional needs, but also and most importantly in their social and emotional resiliency to keep positive their …

Exploring The Possibilities Of And Prospects For The Interpersonal And Family Communication Classroom, Mick Brewer

Title III Professional Development Reports

This blog post offers a brief review of some of the discussions had at the 2021 107th annual National Communication Association annual conference.

“Don’T Touch My Hair”: An Examination Of The Exercise Of Privilege And Power Through Interracial Hair-Centered Communication Interactions, Zakiya Collier

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

The black body, including skin color and hair texture, has served as markers of Otherness separating Black people from people of other racial groups. Because of this, the black body especially that of the female, is frequently subjected to the interrogation by non-black people. This study examines the effects of that interrogation as it relates to black women’s hair. Two critical questions are explored: 1) What role does white privilege play in the questioning and touching of Black hair? and 2) Do these questions signify the innocent quest of information for understanding and coexistence or are they assertions of power …

Toward A New Community Of Care: Best Practices For Educators And Administrators During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cody M. Clemens, Tomeka M. Robinson

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The onset of COVID-19 left people feeling unsettled, confused, and afraid of what tomorrow may hold. As university professors specializing in health communication, we too were left with these same feelings. As health communication scholars, we focus on issues surrounding illness, risk, crisis, care, health inequities, and wellness. COVID-19 is a health crisis, yes, but it has also changed the way we operate not only in higher education but in daily life. We begin this essay with an overview of COVID-19 and its impact on students, educators, and administrators. Then, we suggest four best practices to foster a community of …

We Speak English Here: An Exploratory Study Of Language Barrier Effects In Agriculture, Camryn Clift

Honors College Theses

This thesis investigates the effects of the language barrier between English-speaking H-2A managers and their Spanish-speaking H-2A employees on Kentucky farms with special attention to the insights that can be gleaned from farm managers concerning the intersection of communication, language barriers, and the unique social and cultural environment created by the microcosm of the H-2A program. The project includes a literature review evaluating the currently documented effects of language barriers in various industries as they relate to the language barriers found within agriculture. IRB-approved interviews with farm managers provide original data to evaluate these potential effects, whether positive or negative. …

Unveiling Race And Japanese Identity Through Kokusai Kekkon, Manami Matsuoka

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Kokusai kekkon, marriage among Japanese and non-Japanese nationals, are common, yet sometimes it comes with difficulties. The study aims to uncover Japanese people’s hidden perceptions of gaikokujins, foreigners, and Japanese identity shaped in relation to gaikokujins based on race and ethnicity within cross-national marriage. 18 Japanese spouses of U.S. Americans were interviewed for the study. The study employed thematic analysis to disclose Japanese beliefs and worldviews through interpreting Japanese interviewees’ experiences and their families’ discourses regarding marriage with U.S. Americans. The study found that whiteness and the sense of inferiority to the West and superiority toward the East influence Japanese …

Is Care In The Air?: A Crisis Ethics Case Study Of American Airlines’ Communication During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lily V. Hicks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research proposes a qualitative case study of American Airlines’ communication during the first month of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Data from the airline’s press releases along with its tweets and a sample of organizational responses to those tweets are offered for proposed analysis using the lenses of Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the Applied Model of Care Considerations, and the body of crisis literature on audience coping and emotions during crises. This in-depth look at a unique communication phenomenon will be a fundamental step in examining how airline communication exhibits ethics or lack thereof and is related to people’s emotions …

Umuwi: Coming Home: Decolonizing Filipinx-American Identity, Theresa Joyce Esmejarda Arocena

Communication & Media Studies | Senior Theses

This study investigates Filipinx-American identity using contextual understandings of decolonization as a conceptual framework. We will explore some of the long-term consequences of colonization on identity in the Filipinx-American community, including labeling theory’s current psychologies within the community, the formation of certain ideologies, and the attempts to reconcile transgenerational trauma and dismantle negative ideologies within the community. Seven participants were selected through non-probability sampling and were interviewed individually over Zoom video conferencing. Participant interviews revealed five interconnected themes regarding how identity is formed and sustained. Given the complexity of identity, more research is needed to explain other nuances of the …

Importance And Challenges Of International Service-Learning, Parul Chaube

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Service-learning is an important component of a college education as it helps students demonstrate a positive impact on their community using their classroom knowledge. Through business writing, a Purdue English course, we were able to learn about how to market effectively to a college audience and were able to implement these learnings in our partnership with Code for Nepal. Code for Nepal is an organization that works to improve the digital literacy of women and other minority groups within Nepal. Their most impactful work was creating a document encompassing key information regarding food, water, and shelter after the 2015 earthquake. …

Does Expectation Influence Relationship? A Mixed Methods Investigation Of Parental Expectation And Parent-Child Relationship Among Chinese Family Groups 期望是否會影響關係？華裔家庭中父母的期望對親子關係的影響之研究, Sharon Chiang, Sharon Chiang, Sharon Chiang

Education Dissertations

Abstract

Parental expectation, particularly among Chinese family groups, is understood to be formative upon their children’s identity, behavior in family relationships, educational success and decisions in career choices. China's long history of traditionalism in its social values, heavily based on Confucian philosophy of the family, bears this out. Significant social changes have happened in recent years due to political shifts, modernization, capitalization, immigration, and government population control policies. However, expectation is an element on which both academic study and educational research are rather limited. Current study has touched on the topic of parental expectation and raised some awareness, but the …

Communication Competence Training Within Minority-Owned Small Businesses, Shirleena Racine Baggett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Business ownership is imperative in correcting economic issues for demographic groups subjugated to discrimination, inequality, poverty, and other harmful disadvantages. This project supports the idea that building communication competence within minority-owned small businesses and nonprofit organizations, will significantly increase achievement of long-term sustainability and success. The solution is not only creating communication training tailored for minority entrepreneurs, but to allow access in feasible and tangible ways. This study begins by defining communication and explaining its function to assist in moving past the narrative of communication interaction as “talking and listening,” but instead a concept rooted in logic, theoretical analysis, and …

A Needs Analysis Of Oral Communicative Skills In Mandarin By Malaysian Hotel Attendants, Chih Khuan Wong

Student Works (2020-2029)

Tourism is an important industry in Malaysia, contributing to one-sixth of the national gross domestic product for the past 10 years. Tourists from China made up the third largest group among the foreign visitors in Malaysia. Almost 25% of their expenditure is spent on accommodation, thus the management of many Malaysian hotels are promoting training on communicative Mandarin that focuses on hospitality language to their frontliners, i.e. the service attendants. Therefore, there is a need to identify the challenges faced by hotel service attendants when serving Chinese-speaking guests. The objectives of this research is (1) to identify the Mandarin communication …

Student Research Journal, Volume 10, Issue 1, Student Reseach Journal

School of Information Student Research Journal

No abstract provided.

“So, Literally,…Basically,...It’S Like…”: A Study Into The Generational And Sociological Impact Of American Language Culture, Richard Moreno

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Language is unique to the human species. It serves to communicate thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. Within the context of this capstone I outline the theory that language is much more than this. Words can also serve to bond or reject, based on the level of acceptance within social groups towards the speaker. In seeking to discover what effects specific language utterances have on social interaction and the processes involved in developing cohesiveness collective identity in these groups, I found that they do have a definite impact and this is based mainly within generational parameters. Using a mixed method approach of …

Managing Cosplay Performance: The Forms And Expectations Of Convention Roleplay, Isaac V. Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Costume play (i.e. cosplay) is a performance of fandom rife with rituals and communication practices. Cosplay roleplaying performances are cultural practices that reveal how cosplayers interact with one another and among non-cosplaying members of their fandoms. This study examines the expectations that cosplayers hold for roleplay, the forms of roleplay, and the ways in which roleplay can become an instigator of harassment. Through the lens of Face-Negotiation Theory, the author discusses how roleplay functions to maintain or threaten the public images of cosplayers and their audiences, and what strategies cosplayers implement to avoid the loss of face.

Let’S Get Personal: The Influence Of Personality Type Assessments On Team Communication And Structure, Kylee Baldwin, Selena Moua, Taylor Perryman, Alyssa Hayden

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

The balance of understanding and discussing personality types is a potential advantage to the effectiveness of a team’s work ethic and communication. Working in a team with members of different personality types that know how to work well with other personality types will achieve team effectiveness more efficiently than a team with a lack of understanding on their own and others’ personality types. It is predicted that the Truity's Type Finder Personality Test on personality types will have a strong, positive impact on overall team performance and team effectiveness. In addition, it can also be predicted that the team that …

Effective Teaching Techniques And Strategies, Jaime Garcia

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Abstract: This Course ensured that faculty learned about—and implemented—the approaches that improve engagement and persistence and promote deeper learning. This 25-module online course concentrated on teaching practices effective in face-to-face instruction. Comprehensive in scope and organized around five units of study, faculty members learned together in cohorts and implement approaches to:

• design an effective course and class
• establish a productive learning environment
• use active learning techniques
• promote higher order thinking, and assess in ways that inform instruction and promote deeper levels of learning

Each interdisciplinary cohort is facilitated by a celebrated CSUSB faculty member. Our local facilitators are 2019 Outstanding …

2020 Icrcc Proceedings Table Of Contents, Conference Organizers

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

These proceedings are a representative sample of the presentations given by professional practitioners and academic scholars at the 2020 International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference (ICRCC) held March 9-11, 2020. The ICRCC is an annual event that takes place the second week in March in beautiful sunny Orlando, Florida. The conference hosts are faculty and staff from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The goal of the ICRCC is to bring together prominent professional practitioners and academic scholars that work directly with crisis and risk communication on a daily basis. We define crisis and risk broadly to include, for …

To Be Or Not To Be: An Exploratory Study Of Intercultural Differences In Mexican American And Caucasian American Romantic Relationships, Jessica Helen Vierra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Intercultural romantic relationships have increasingly become more common in the United States between Mexican American and Caucasian American males and females. Predominantly, this study investigates how Mexican Americans and Caucasian Americans in intercultural romantic relationships visualize conflict in their relationship. The research question: What are the intercultural communication differences in romantic relationships between Mexican Americans and Caucasian Americans? Research findings support cultural differences being related to power, cultural gender differences, language barriers, child care, and religion. Although there is a vast amount of research focused on intercultural relationships, it seems there are few studies that have investigated intercultural communication differences …

Discursive Leadership: Exploring The "Black Box" Challenge In Transcultural Leadership Studies, Christopher Patrick Brown

Dissertations

The increasingly globalized U.S. workforce includes significant numbers of adult immigrants integrating into the North American professional sphere. As such, it is important to have concrete ways to study and interpret different cultures’ thinking about teamwork, and their models of enacting shared leadership and communication in a multicultural context. Since 2006, hundreds of millions in federal grant funding has been invested in university-based language and culture programs focused on training government personnel and heritage populations in the languages and cultures of the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia. Little is known about the performative strengths and challenges of the …

Multifaith Families And Their Narratives Within Society, Josh Friedberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to nudge the conversation about interfaith families in a direction that examines the family post–interfaith dialogue. The term multifaith better represents this new aim because it encompasses all interactions and does not limit the family to the constraints of the moniker interfaith. I apply Walter Fisher’s concepts of coherence and fidelity, in coordination with family communication literature, to structure this project and to study the various aspects of a multifaith family and narrative. I also use three typologies of multifaith family (Passive/Passive, Passive/Active, and Active/Active) to better understand the variations of this family. The …

Pastoral Leadership In A Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study, Ed Volfe

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Pastoral Leadership in a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study

Christ Redeemer was a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural church where the majority of the members were Filipinos. The church experienced way too many conflicts that distracted everyone in the congregation from the real calling to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”[1] The ethos of Christ Redeemer seemed to be driven by conflict, regardless of whether the leadership provided came from a Filipino or a non-Filipino pastor. The congregation fed conflict upon conflict, creating a cycle of tension with little engagement in critical issues in the …