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

“Geeks And She-Eks”: The Relationship Between Younger Women’S Experiences In Popular Geek Culture And Their Interest In Stem Fields, Madeleine D. Butcher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is conflicting evidence about whether women’s participation in recreational, popular geek culture (e.g., gaming, fandom, science fiction consumption) can help close the gender gap in STEM fields. On one hand, these leisure activities can give women skills and experience that they can employ in STEM activities and culture. However, research also suggests that experiencing sexism while participating in geek culture activities can lower women’s motivation to participate in STEM. This thesis proposed that womens’ engagement in geek culture correlated with STEM efficacy and an interest in the STEM field. However, the type of experiences women have in geek culture …

Truth As A Victim: The Challenge Of Anti-Trafficking Education In The Age Of Q, Bond Benton, Daniela Peterka-Benton

College of Communication and Media Scholarship and Creative Works

The QAnon conspiracy threatens anti-trafficking education because of its broad dissemination and focus on a range of myths about trafficking. These myths are rooted in historic and ongoing misinformation about abductions, exploitation, and community threats. This article examines the extent of QAnon’s co-optation of human trafficking discourses and evaluates its connection to trafficking myths, particularly related to gender, race, class, and agency. From this perspective, the article considers how anti-trafficking education can respond to these myths and build a pedagogy in the age of Q.

Theorizing #Girlboss Culture: Mediated Neoliberal Feminisms From Influencers To Multi-Level Marketing Schemes, Frankie Mastrangelo

Theses and Dissertations

I define girlboss feminism as emergent, mediated formations of neoliberal feminism that equate feminist empowerment with financial success, market competition, individualized work-life balance, and curated digital and physical presences driven by self-monetization. I look toward how the mediation of girlboss feminism utilizes branded and affective engagements with representational politics, discourses of authenticity and rebellion, as well as meritocratic aspiration to promote cultural interest in conceptualizing feminism in ways that are divorced from collective, intersectional struggle. I question the stakes involved in reducing feminist interrogations and commitments to discourses of representation, visibility, and meritocracy. I argue that while girlboss feminism may …

≥I++ Wayward Self, Space, And Language, Mystie Do, Thu Tm Do

Theses and Dissertations

Having crossed different geographical and cultural borders, I can’t seem to position myself beyond society’s forced binaries of race, sexuality, and materiality. My personal diasporic experience drives me to bring together various presences, putting them next to one another, engaging them in dialogues. My works often share multiple space–time possibilities: a digital space, a physical site, a virtual alternity. Occupying these parallel worlds are varied ratios of mixtures of natural ecosystems, my own system of abstraction, and existing technological systems that allow us a level of individual engagement not previously available. I want to invite people to fluctuate between these …

Gender Differences In Fear And Risk Perception During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Abdelaziz Alsharawy, Ross Spoon, Alec Smith, Sheryl Ball

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many people to suffer from emotional distress. Previous studies suggest that women process and express affective experiences, such as fear, with a greater intensity compared to men. We administered an online survey to a sample of participants in the United States that measures fear of COVID-19, perceptions about health and financial risks, and preventative measures taken. Despite the empirical fact that men are more likely to experience adverse health consequences from COVID-19, women report greater fear and more negative expectations about health-related consequences of COVID-19 than men. However, women are more optimistic than men regarding …

Television Viewing And Latino Stereotypes, Gustavo Rivera

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of a modern lifetime, television viewing accounts for a significant amount of information taken in by viewers. Within that consumption lies a potential problem. Viewers may learn erroneous messages about people and the world. Since television has characterized Latinos in ways that have emphasized cultural stereotypes, viewers may learn to perceive them in a corresponding manner. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 403 students from five universities and two community colleges located in Northern California. The respondents completed a seventy-one item questionnaire. Five key variables were utilized to measure relationships between them. The key variables …

Feminist Praxis Of Comparative Rhetoric, Mari Lee Mifsud

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Why is a feminist praxis necessary for a comparative study of rhetoric? What would a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric do? mean? be? What can we come to know with a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric? Offering first a critique of the idea of a comparative approach through feminist theories challenging binary epistemology and metaphorical meaning making, this essay proceeds to theorize a feminist praxis of comparative rhetoric. This feminist praxis engages the study of histories and theories of rhetoric across cultures by analyzing along intersectional lines of power exposing injustices and exploring potential for equity, decolonizing knowledge, and deconstructing …

Techniques And Forces And The Communicative Constitution Of Organization: A Deleuzian Approach To Organizational (In)Stability And Power, Jennifer J. Mease (Also Peeksmease)

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This article introduces five principles of Deleuzian ontology and the conceptual framework of techniques and forces into emerging CCO scholarship addressing (dis)organization and power. By introducing Deleuzian concepts of (1) the virtual, (2) mutual (in)stability of meaning and materiality, (3) forces (and techniques), (4) communication, and (5) power, this essay builds a relational ontology that centers communication, speaks across existing theories of CCO, and offers a more detailed emphasis on power. In doing so, it enhances the explanatory power of CCO in general, as a set of theories useful for describing how organizational constitution and power play out in an …

An Analysis Of Soccer Referee Demographics And Motivational Factors In The Western Kentucky Soccer Officials Association, Daniel Hasko

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Through a lens of the Knowledge Gap Theory of Mass Communication and the consideration of Media Framing Theory, this research examined the demographics of soccer referees in the Western Kentucky Soccer Officials Association, in addition to the leading motivations for beginning, continuing, and leaving their officiating vocation. With the knowledge of the aforementioned, this paper aimed to lay the groundwork for a strategic communication plan in the officiating community that addresses the alarming trend that is a lack of certified referees in youth athletics. The data was collected through online surveys that were distributed to active referees in the Western …

Uses Unaddressed: How Social Technologies Tacitly Allow Gender-Based Violence, Brooke J. Marston

Honors Theses and Capstones

Growing technological capabilities have enhanced and intensified the potential for surveillance in many areas of life. Particularly, the placement of advanced technology in the hands of everyday people has produced ample opportunities for interpersonal monitoring. This growing capacity to surveil others we know without sophisticated techniques has concerning implications for acts of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence, which often hinge on surveillance, isolation, and control. Often, technology is used to the advantage of abusers in achieving such ends, and the wealth of personal information that is often available online leaves users vulnerable to acts of gender-based violence such as …

Cultivation Theory: Media Effects Toward Consumer Evaluations Of The Criminal Courts, Lindsey Dale Elliott

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

A substantial body of literature connects media effects to consumer perceptions of the criminal justice system. Research on the topic of cultivation theory has highlighted that an increased fear of crime within the general populace, due to an exaggeration of violence and criminal activity in the mass media, has spurred increased support for punitive policing, harsher sentencing, and positive feelings toward capital punishment. However, no research exists to explicate the cultivation of consumer perceptions toward the criminal courts. This study examines the impact of media consumption through television, the internet, and social media on consumer evaluations of the criminal courts. …

Blaming The Victim: Representation The Victim Of Rape In M.F.A Film, Titik Indriyana, Choirul Ulil Albab

Informasi

The media in representing rape victims is still gender biased, such as blaming the victim. This study aims to find out how female victims of rape are shown in the M.F.A film by using semiotics to analyze the structure and ideology contained in the text. The theory used by researchers to analyze texts (M.F.A.) is the concept of radical feminism. The results of the research show in the M.F.A. film, women are shown as sexual objects of men. Women are represented as having to accept anything, including their fate when raped by men. They are not given the strength to …

Framing Analysis Of Government Crisis Communication In Terrorist Attacks (Case In New Zealand And Sri Lanka), Narayana Mahendra Prastya, Mutia Dewi

Informasi

This article aims to analyze the frame of the government official statement in Mosque Christhurch Attack in New Zealand (March 2019) and Easter Sunday Attack in Sri Lanka (April 2019). The two cases were chosen because they place Muslim in contradictory positions: as victim in New Zealand and as perpetrator in Sri Lanka. This study uses framing analysis method to examine the official statement uploaded in the official websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, within seven days after the incident. The data gathered from the text analysis …

Utilization Of Social Media In Ethnic Identity Political Communication : Case Study Of Sundanese Ethnic Political Communication Regent Dedi Mulyadi In Political Development In Purwakarta Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia, 2008-2018, Asep Gunawan, Siti Karlinah Abdurachman, Cece Sobarna, Evie Ariadne Shinta Dewi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The reality of ethnic identity becomes an interesting phenomenon when used in political communication practices, especially in democratic government systems, because it can be a differentiator for its users in forming a political image or identity. Using a qualitative research method with a case study approach, this research succeeded in revealing that the attributes of political communication by Regent Dedi Mulyadi through verbal and nonverbal messages and his political communication strategy were the practice of managing impressions to form a certain political identity. To achieve this goal, the use of social media is an important political communication strategy. The construction …

Her Story: Ecuadorian Women In New York City, Benjamin Chambers

Capstones

My Capstone Project is an 80-photo reportage about women of Ecuadorian origin living in New York City, including text and video elements. The project is broken down into a general introduction; four photo stories each with captions and story text; and two videos. The project is entitled:

HER STORY: ECUADORIAN WOMEN IN NEW YORK CITY

https://www.chambersphotojournalist.com/capstone/

Pirate Radio Proves Invaluable To Immigrant Communities During The Pandemic — But The Fcc Isn’T Having It, May Olvera

Capstones

In January 2020, congress passed the PIRATE Act into law, expanding the legal consequences for operating pirate radio tenfold. Although the FCC claims that the reason they are cracking down on pirate stations — that is, stations broadcasting on regulated airwaves without an FCC license — is that they could interfere with emergency messaging, the pandemic has proven otherwise; there is no evidence of pirates interfering with official safety warnings. In fact, most pirate stations are run by immigrants speaking in their native tongue and they have been able to provide vulnerable and underserved communities with the information they need …

Lady Problems: A Study On The Effect Of Perceived Femininity When Evaluating Female Presidential Candidates, Mackenzie O. Marquess

Communication Theses

There is currently an observable gender gap associated with political leadership. Though many have tried, no woman has successfully campaigned for the presidency. Historically, media coverage of female candidates is vastly different from coverage of their male counterparts and it is well established that the media has significant control over public perception of candidates. This study examines media coverage of female candidates in an attempt to understand the rhetoric that consistently positions women as unelectable regardless of their experience or political prowess. This study analyzes post-debate commentary from the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 election beginning on June …

Intercultural Communication, Shannon Ahrndt

Open Educational Resources Collection

Intercultural Communication examines culture as a variable in interpersonal and collective communication. It explores the opportunities and problems arising from similarities and differences in communication patterns, processes, and codes among various cultural groups. It explores cultural universals, social categorization, stereotyping and discrimination, with a focus on topics including race, ethnicity, social class, religion, gender and sexuality as they relate to communication.

Minor revisions made January 2024, uploaded 7/26/2024.

Minor revisions made October 2026, uploaded 10/12/2026.

Examining And Evaluating Multilevel Communication Within A Mixed-Methods, Community-Based Participatory Research Project In A Rural, Minority–Majority U.S. Town, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Maria S. Reyes, Sahra H. Ali, Kimberly Gocchi Carrasco, Patrick Habecker, Kristen Houska, Virginia Chaidez, Jordan Soliz, Julie A. Tippens, Kathryn Holland, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Kali Patterson, Kirk Dombrowski

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been shown to improve health and social well-being by including diverse, marginalized community voices within academic–community partnerships. Although CBPR has gained in popularity, an explicit examination and evaluation of communication processes and outcomes throughout an entire CBPR project is lacking. Here, we analyze interviews with 10 stakeholders (i.e. 4 academic and 6 community partners) about their experiences in a three-phase, mixed-methods project exploring Hispanic and Somali community members’ perceptions of healthcare needs and access in a rural U.S. community. Results reflect that CBPR endeavors include communication challenges, successes, and ongoing tensions not simply between the …

Proving Our Maternal And Scholarly Worth: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Textual And Visual Storying Of Motherscholar Identity Work During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth Spradley, Sarah S. Leblanc, Heather Olson-Beal, Lauren Burrow, Chrissy Cross

Faculty Publications

Pivoting to remote work as female academics and to schooling our children from home as mothers in March 2020 marked a dramatic shift in how we enact our MotherScholar identities. This collaborative autoethnographic study employs a modification of interactive interviewing and photovoice to produce verbal and visual text of COVID-19 MotherScholar identity work for analysis. Thematic analysis results in themes of maternal interruptions, professional interruptions, maternal recognition, and professional recognition. Of note, our MotherScholar interactivity functioned as identity work as we sought and granted legitimacy to one another’s’ COVID-19 MotherScholar identities. Of particular concern to us is how institutions of …