Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons^™

From Books To The Web: A Comparative Analysis Of Holocaust Denial In The Internet Age, Elise Nickerson

Honors Scholar Theses

An analysis of print Holocaust denial literature as it compares to internet Holocaust denial, with a focus on how the transition from print literature to the internet has affected Holocaust denial.

Black And White On Black: Whiteness And Masculinity In The Works Of Three Australian Writers - Thomas Keneally, Colin Thiele, And Patrick White., Matthew Israel Byrge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

White depictions of Aborigines in literature have generally been culturally biased. In this study I explore four depictions of Indigenous Australians by white Australian writers. Thomas Keneally's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1972) depicts a half-caste Aborigine's attempt to enter white society in a racially-antipathetic world that precipitates his ruin. Children's author Colin Thiele develops friendships between white and Aboriginal children in frightening and dangerous landscapes in both Storm Boy (1963) and Fire in the Stone (1973). Nobel laureate Patrick White sets A Fringe of Leaves (1976) in a world in which Ellen Roxburgh's quest for freedom comes only through …

International Resource Network (Irn) Presents Seminars In The City, Naveed Alam

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

One of the major achievements of the IRN this year was our collaboration with CLAGS's ongoing Seminars in the City series. The Seminars in the City series is part of CLAGS's mission to make scholarly research in Queer Studies accessible to the general public.

Discovering The Vision In Beth Moore's "Breaking Free" Message: Applying Bormann's Fantasy Theme Analysis To Evaluate The Message, April Nicole Pressley

Masters Theses

Beth Moore, Christian speaker and author, has become a prominent figure in Christian circles. She ministers to over a million people a year with her messages. Breaking Free is her "life message." This project analyzes 6 of 11 messages from Breaking Free. Using Bormann's Fantasy Theme Analysis, seven fantasies emerged from the messages, which yielded a rhetorical vision that describes what Beth Moore believes a woman should be like after hearing her message. After that analysis, the fantasies where compared to evangelical Christian doctrine. That analysis determined that Moore's underlying message is valid and acceptable to the Christian audience she …

Responses Of Young Adult Grandchildren To Grandparents’ Painful Self-Disclosures, Craig Frowler, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined grandchildren’s relational and communicative responses to grandparents’ painful self-disclosures (PSDs). From the perspective of young adult grandchildren (N = 297), dis-comfort with PSDs is more significant in differentiating positive and negative aspects of the grandparent-grandchild relationship than simply the occurrence of such disclosures. Furthermore, results reveal that the family communication environment and communicative responsiveness of the grandchild are important factors in predicting discomfort with PSDs as well as grandchildren’s communication with grandparents.

Feminist Criticism: The Importance Of Sharing The Native Female Journey, Michelle Newfield

Communication Studies

The female Native American perspective is grossly neglected in mainstream media. Sadly, stereotypical images romanticize Native American women in a light that disallows them to be taken seriously in a modernized world. The fact is that the majority of women with American Indian ancestry do not live on reservations; they make up a considerable part of the general population.

There is an unfortunate “invisibility of Native women in comparison to men,” and “Native women are often represented by popular culture within the Plains Indian context, the generic Indian. Omnipresent is the ‘squaw’ who is portrayed as servant, concubine, beast of …

Glbt Center Symposium Planning Meeting Minutes February 10th 2010, Joseph A. Santiago, Morgan Cottrell

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This post contains the GLBT Center Symposium meeting minutes of February 10^th 2010. In attendance: Marcus, Kevin, Kevin, Joe, Morgan, Riley, Andrew; Monday night will begin with Marriage Equality, not the Gender Project. Gender project is on Tuesday with Christa, and Jay from YPI. Also Brian Gilly (University of Vermont) will arrive and stay at Al Lot’s. Wednesday, first full day of programs, Brian Gilly is available to do multiple presentations including his featured address. At 11pm he will meet with Equity Council Commission. 12 pm is the women studies program and Brian will do another program on Aids …

Perceptions Of Communication With Gay And Lesbian Family Members: Predictors Of Relational Satisfaction And Implications For Outgroup Attitudes, Jordan Soliz, Elizabeth Ribarsky, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Stacy Tye-Williams

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study investigates perceptions of family communication among members with different sexual identities. Specifically, from the perspective of heterosexual family members (N = 129), the study takes an intergroup perspective to determine how accommodative and non-accommodative communication and attitudes toward homosexuality predict intergroup anxiety and relational satisfaction with gay or lesbian family members. Further, the manner in which family communication influences attitudes toward homosexuality is examined. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research on heterosexual-homosexual interaction, family communication, and intergroup communication, in general.

Ruang-Ruang Sosial Pekerja Ekonomi Bawah Tanah (Underground Economy), Erna Ermawati Chotim

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

No abstract provided.

Dialectic Tensions Experienced By Resettled Sudanese Refugees In Mediating Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An increasing number of global migrants are refugees who have fled religious, racial, ethnic, or other political persecution. As these refugee populations have grown, governmental and nonprofit organizations have emerged to help mediate the resettlement experience. The current study explores the dialectical tensions Sudanese refugees face in communicating with the organizations designed to make their resettlement successful. Sudanese refugees participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences communicating with mediating organizations. Four dialectical tensions emerged from participants’ stories about their communication in and with mediating organizations: (a) dissemination and dialogue, (b) emancipation and control, (c) empowerment and oppression, and (d) integration …

Discursive Struggles In Families Formed Through Visible Adoption: An Exploration Of Dialectical Unity, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Grounded in the interpretive paradigm and framed by relational dialectics theory, the present study addressed the question: What discourses interpenetrate to reflect dialectical unity as parents communicate about their child’s adoption? Interviews with 40 parents across 31 visibly adoptive families—families with an obvious lack of biological connection—highlighted four instances of dialectical unity resulting from the following discursive struggles: (a) pride and imperfection; (b) love, constraint, and sacrifice; (c) difference, pride, and enrichment; and (d) legitimacy, expansion, similarity, and difference. Each struggle contains seemingly disparate discourses that, in combination, contribute to how parents discursively make sense of adoption. Practical implications of …

Putting Privilege Into Practice Through "Intersectional Reflexivity:" Ruminations, Interventions, And Possibilities, Richard Jones

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Engaging in intersectional reflexivity requires one to acknowledge one :S intersecting identities, both marginalized and privileged, and then employ self-reflexivity, which moves one beyond self-reflection to the often uncomfortable level of self-implication. This complex process may move critically minded people, both scholars and citizens, beyond individualized politics and expand our accountability from self, to others and self, creating possibilities for coalitional activism targeted toward broad-based social change. Further, privileged scholars should advocate for coalition building in cautious and reflexive ways that complement rather than appropriate the intellectual labor of scholars of color, who have long called for more intersectionality and …

Putting Privilege Into Practice Through "Intersectional Reflexivity:" Ruminations, Interventions, And Possibilities, Richard G. Jones

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Engaging in intersectional reflexivity requires one to acknowledge one :S intersecting identities, both marginalized and privileged, and then employ self-reflexivity, which moves one beyond self-reflection to the often uncomfortable level of self-implication. This complex process may move critically minded people, both scholars and citizens, beyond individualized politics and expand our accountability from self, to others and self, creating possibilities for coalitional activism targeted toward broad-based social change. Further, privileged scholars should advocate for coalition building in cautious and reflexive ways that complement rather than appropriate the intellectual labor of scholars of color, who have long called for more intersectionality and …

Constructing Family: A Typology Of Voluntary Kin, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Betsy Wackernagel Bach, Leslie A. Baxter, Rebecca Diverniero, Joshua R. Hammonds, Angela M. Hosek, Erin K. Willer, Bianca M. Wolf

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study explored how participants discursively rendered voluntary kin relationships sensical and legitimate. Interpretive analyses of 110 interviews revealed four main types of voluntary kin: (i) substitute family, (ii) supplemental family, (iii) convenience family, and (iv) extended family. These types were rendered sensical and legitimated by drawing on the discourse of the traditional family. Except for the extended family, three of four voluntary kin family types were justified by an attributed deficit in the blood and legal family. Because voluntary kin relationships are not based on the traditional criteria of association by blood or law, members experience them as potentially …

Homophobia, Heterosexism, And Ambivalence In The Premier Issue Of Sports Illustrated Woman/Sport, Lisa M. Weidman

Faculty Publications

The arrival of a magazine dedicated solely to the world of women's sports was an exciting prospect for fans and proponents of women's sports. But the first issue of Sports Illustrated Women/Sport disappointed many who considered it did not put women's sports in the best possible light, who were worried and disappointed that its editors did not print the best stories or even focus on the most deserving athletes. Lisa Weidman decided to investigate further, using feminist theory and prior research findings to better understand the magazine's messages. Through a critical analysis of the magazine's editorial content - at the …

Challenging The Lion In Its Den: Dilemmas Of Gender And Media Activism In South Africa, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Media activism groups work to bring about change in the mainstream media, but their gains are often limited. Drawing on theories of the political function of news in a democracy, media sociology, and feminism, this article focuses on the specific experience of Gender Links, a Southern African gender and media organization founded in 2001. An analysis of institutional materials and 25 in-depth interviews shows that Gender Links is using a professional-technical approach to feminist media activism that is insufficient in bringing about deep and long-term change on an ideological level. It is suggested that Gender Links could benefit from more …

Intercultural Competence For The Nutrition Professional, Cynthia S. Klement

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Diversity training for nutrition care professionals is essential in order to provide patients with culture-specific strategies that allow them to succeed with their health program. Nutritionists are faced with the challenge of understanding the dietary preferences of their cross-cultural patients, as well as appreciating a patient's religious beliefs regarding dietary selections by identify foods that will or won't support a prescribed nutritional program. Knowledge of intercultural nonverbal and verbal behaviors is becoming increasingly necessary, as is who ultimately makes medical decisions for the patient.

Exploring The Media's Negative Effects On Body Dissatisfaction And Self Esteem Among Adolescent Girls, Aliscia Doriety

All Capstone Projects

Research has suggested that adolescent girls may be influenced by the media to such a degree that their body image and dissatisfaction tends to increase, as exposure to media increases. In the current study, 75 adolescent girls completed a questionnaire evaluating self-esteem and body image to determine if there were other factors that related to the media's overwhelmingly strong influence. The study concluded that there was a positive correlation between other variables such as, family, which had a stronger influence than media.

Democratic Or Gendered Domain: Communication And Learning Styles In The Online Classroom, Jennifer Ann Bruns

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) within cyberspace has become a recent pedagogical phenomenon. Cyberspace creates a domain for new learning environments. Using the online classroom has the potential to break down gender barriers and erect a more democratic space for students. Even with this limitless potential, there are competing conceptions regarding these new and promising classrooms--will online education conform to the same standards that shape a gendered society, or will these classrooms create a more equitable environment for both male and female students? Because of the rising numbers of online female students, gender bias becomes an increasingly important research topic. Yet the …

Gloria E. Anzaldúa’S Decolonizing Ritual De Conocimiento, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s work makes up one of the many Chican@ works that contribute another history, a history repressed by the national discourses on both sides of the border. Influenced by antecedents of U.S. Hispanic Literature who superposed “official” history with another history, Chicano activists had already enacted a retrieval of pre-conquest histories to revive their people’s historical consciousness. As Saldívar-Hull states in “Mestiza Consciousness and Politics: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/ La frontera,” the publication of Borderlands/ La Frontera distinguished itself from the Chicano movement’s as it unveiled the curtain that hid the Aztec goddesses and kept aspects of pre-conquest history …