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

Do Book Consumers Discriminate Against Black, Female, Or Young Authors?, Dana B. Weinberg, Adam Kapelner

Publications and Research

The publishing industry shows marked evidence of both gender and racial discrimination. A rational explanation for this difference in treatment of both female and Black authors might relate to the taste-based preferences of book consumers, who might be less willing to pay for books by such authors. We ran a randomized experiment to test for the presence of discriminatory preferences by consumers based on authors’ race, gender and/or age. We collected ratings of 25,201 book surveys across 9,072 subjects on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, making this study the largest experimental study of the book market to date. Subjects were presented with …

Lgbtq+ Congregants Navigating Identity In The Context Of "Welcoming But Not Affirming" Evangelical, Pentecostal, And Non-Denominational Religious Institutions: A Queer Narrative Analysis, Sarah E. Rasmussen

University Honors Theses

Welcoming but not affirming Evangelical, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches invite LGBTQ+ people to attend their church, but do not affirm their identity as a gender and/or sexual minority. Because of this, they restrict LGBTQ+ attendees from participating in leadership, paid staff positions, and ministry work. LGBTQ+ attendees are often not aware of these restrictive policies initially. The current study aims to examine how LGBTQ+ people navigate their faith and identity within welcoming but not affirming church spaces through narrative analysis. Fifteen participants engaged in an interview, where they were asked about their experience within welcoming but not affirming church spaces. …

Amjambo Africa! (June 2022), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue Education ..................................3

Moonglade .............................4/5

Publisher’s editorial ..................7

Financial literacy: what is Credit .................8-13

In 7 languages Market Basket ..................14/15

Tips&Info ................................16

Lead in soil ..............................17

All about the Workforce ..18/19

Community Happenings .20/21

photos from community events

News from Africa .............22/36

Health&Wellness ...............24-31

Bridging the healthcare gap

In 7 languages

Columns .......................32/33/39

Nonprofit Organizations

Ask the D.A.

Let’s Talk/ELL

New Voices columns ........34/35

The Queer Dictionary, Mia Lew

Graphic Communication

With the government continually obstructing queer education in public schools, it becomes harder and harder for queer people to understand themselves than in turn, have the tools to explain what they are going through to others. This is a problem but in turn an opportunity. While there are queer literature and children’s books out there, they typically only encompass one story or one view on queerness. Thus, this project's main goal is to encompass queerness as a whole by using as many LGBTQ+ words as possible, people's stories under each word, historical graphics, highlights on the internationality of queerness, pronoun …

Don’T Be Like Me: A Letter To My Daughters, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

It is often stated that parenting is "the toughest job you'll ever love." And it certainly doesn't come with an instruction manual. However, though we will falter, because of our love for our children, most of us learn a lot on the journey. This growth helps us to develop the skills and understanding needed, as parents, to be able to effectively guide, support, and nurture our children. Such knowledge, though beneficial for all families, is critical within neurodiverse households.

So what do you do when you just don't have it? What do you do when you have as much (if …

A Comparative Content Analysis Of How Print Media Framed The Heroin Epidemic And The Opioid Crisis, Quincy Hodges

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined how the news media covered the Opioid Crisis of the 21st century compared to how the news media covered the Heroin Epidemic of the 1970s. A content analysis of six U.S. newspapers – the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Columbus Dispatch, The Detroit Free Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune indicated that the print news media covered the Heroin Epidemic and the Opioid Crisis drastically different. The news media framed the Opioid Crisis as a public health issue, focusing coverage on rogue doctors and health professionals, and how unethical pharmaceutical companies took …

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

Jeopardy! In Crisis: What Is Corporate Culture Issues Affecting The Entertainment Industry?, Evan Nemeroff

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cultural issues like sexism, racism, and social movements have impacted the entertainment industry, specifically the game show sector. This research identified how these prevalent matters in our society have affected celebrities by looking into the type of people who lead game shows, revealing if certain demographics such as race and gender influenced whether particular individuals were chosen to host a program. Included within this research are studies that portray how the game show industry has been biased explicitly towards one gender for several decades. Further research looks into a scandal that Sony faced when it had to name a successor …

Reporting On Athletes And Mental Health: An Evolution In Language And Lexicon From 1970 To 2019, Vivian Ferris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the spring and summer of 2021, several athletes made headlines for seemingly prioritizing mental health over the status quo of sports society. For example, in May 2021, during the French Open, professional U.S. tennis player Naomi Osaka announced she would not appear at press conferences, despite threats of fines, citing on social media it was for her mental health. The controversy surrounding Osaka and others led to further questions. Looking through the lens of agenda setting and framing theories, the purpose of this study is to better understand the frequency, variety, and evolution of language in journalistic coverage of …

Witnessing With Cameras Off: Feminist Pedagogy And The Zoom Classroom, Kristin Comeforo

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

What’S The Word On The Street?: Witnessing/Performing Theory, Desirée D. Rowe

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Cycles Of Domination And Resistance: A Performance Autoethnography Of A Black Woman At A Pwi, Savannah Brown

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis is a performance autoethnography that examines and unpacks my experiences as a Black woman who attends a predominantly white institution. Through narratives, letters, and photos, I reveal and analyze the ways in which I navigate both systems of domination and resistance between my interactions with spaces, people, discourses, and objects. As I use Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and performance studies as my theoretical underpinnings, I can understand how my Black, female body is situated and contested within the institution that I refer to as Everywhere University. While this project shows my experiences with concepts such as racism, whiteness, …

A More Equitable Film Pedagogy: Including Media Literacy In Higher Education Film Classrooms To Result In Better Media Practitioners, Alexis Romero Walker

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article explains the importance of including critical media literacy practices in skills-based classrooms in film education. Students continue to use methods of filmmaking that are inherently biased because they continue to be taught an age-old set of skills that do not engage in critical analysis. With the convergence of contemporary film theory in the classroom, educators can help students learn new methods of filmmaking that are representative for all communities and people. Through textual analysis of three films, this article shows why educators in higher education film programs must include critical media literacy in the skills course curriculum and …

A Content Analysis Of Queer Slang On Tik Tok, Kuri Benitez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Social media platforms’ concentration of diversity and interactions has accelerated the rate of cultural change on the Internet. With the rise of Tik Tok, a video-sharing social media platform, language used by marginalized groups is being incorporated into the platform’s slang due to the rapid rotation of trends. This study aims to provide data to a new field related to Tik Tok culture and the effects of trends on marginalized groups.

Using qualitative content analysis, this article studies an LGBTQ+-inspired Tik Tok trend to determine if the portmanteau of “-ussy”’s meaning has changed from its original use and if trends …

Documenting & Describing Experiences Of Marginalized Gender Identities In Healthcare, Laura Stepnowski

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Despite its importance to quality and length of life, health varies widely among the U.S. population depending on various sociodemographic factors, such as age, race, gender, and income. This research focuses on the perception of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. There is a long history of discrepancies in healthcare, but no time such as the present seems to be filled with such a nuanced perspective of quality of treatment for those with marginalized gender identities. This became evident through the focus groups conducted for this study. Findings show that participants used more collaborative language when discussing their positive …

(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 …

Amjambo Africa! (May 2022), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue Moonglade .............................2/3

Boys and Girls Club program .4

Color of Climate .......................5

Kwibuka..................................... 6

New Voices ................................7

Financial literacy ...........8-11/33

Market Basket ...................14/15

Karkangee drink

Coffee in Burundi

rice in Maine

Update from Augusta ............16

Revolution from Afar ............17

On being Black ......................18

Armenian genocide ...............18

Scots-Irish immigrants ..........19

Community happenings ..20/21

Photos from community events Tips & Info .............................. 22

Health&Wellness. ..............24-31

Sexually Transmitted disease

Tuberculosis

Ask the doctor In english & translation

Columns ..................................32

Professional Development .....33

Arts Section .......................34/35

land of Peace

ebenezer Akakpo

Maine Humanities Council

Moon in Full book release

Racism in …

Do You Believe What You Know?: A Quantitative Analysis Of Sexual Education, Sexual Consent, And Rape Myth Acceptance In College Student Attitudes And Actions, Julie Sisler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sexual education has long been a heavily debated topic, particularly in relation to appropriateness and effectiveness. The subject is further muddled by the difficulty of effectively addressing sexual consent and sexual assault in sexual education. The topics have garnered additional attention in today’s society, but remain ambiguous and complex. This quantitative thesis sought to examine the relationships between sexual education, sexual consent, and sexual assault, focusing specifically on college populations. Through surveying 445 college students using the Updated Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (IRMA), Sexual Consent Scale (SCS-R), and Affirmative Sexual Consent Situational Knowledge Scale, connections between attitudes and actions regarding …

The Future Is Female? Evaluating The Utility Of Female Professional Networking Organizations, Lily Arbuckle

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

In today’s competitive global market, harnessing the individual strengths of all organizational members is crucial for success. Organizations across all industries need diverse representation and contributions. However, women and other groups continue to be disadvantaged, lacking the same representation that majority and advantaged groups enjoy. The prevalence of gender bias in the workplace not only hinders professional success for women, but also the success of their organizations. To combat some of these issues, networking organizations are forming to help support women through mentorship and relationship building. Most studies in the academic sphere investigate female networking organizations at the professional level. …

College Student Utilizing Dating Apps During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarah Boll

Communication Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following study explores the effect of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the initiation and development of human relationships. During the early days of the pandemic, governments forced shutdowns of businesses and workplaces, and public health officials created social-distancing and facial covering mandates to protect the health of citizens. However, long periods of isolation can foster negative emotions and feelings, such as loneliness, anxiety, and depression. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, humans have an innate need for love and belonging, but the health risks of contracting the virus and social-distancing enforcements significantly threatened the “normal” methods of satisfying this …