Communication Commons^™

The Rhetoric Of ‘Military Readiness’: Public Discourse, Whales And Navy Sonar, Terence Check

Strategic Communication Studies Faculty Publications

On November 12, 2008, the Supreme Court decided a significant case involving the use of mid-frequency active sonar in the waters off the coast of Southern California. In the decision, Winter v. NRDC, the High Court ruled that the Navy‘s need to conduct military training using active sonar outweighed the interests of environmentalists, who had contended that sonar results in devastating effects on marine mammals. This paper examines the public and legal discourse related to the case, arguing that the Navy invoked an ideograph of that valorized military technology and expertise at the expense of the natural environment. The paper …

Stupider And Worse?, Nick Smith

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Provenance Aware Linked Sensor Data, Harshal Kamlesh Patni, Satya S. Sahoo, Cory Andrew Henson, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Provenance, from the French word “provenir”, describes the lineage or history of a data entity. Provenance is critical information in the sensors domain to identify a sensor and analyze the observation data over time and geographical space. In this paper, we present a framework to model and query the provenance information associated with the sensor data exposed as part of the Web of Data using the Linked Open Data conventions. This is accomplished by developing an ontology-driven provenance management infrastructure that includes a representation model and query infrastructure. This provenance infrastructure, called Sensor Provenance Management System (PMS), is …

Getting Code Near The Data: A Study Of Generating Customized Data Intensive Scientific Workflows With Domain Specific Language, Ashwin Manjunatha, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu, Paul E. Anderson, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The amount of data produced in modern biological experiments such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis far exceeds the processing capability of a single machine. The present state-of-the-art is taking the ”data to code”, the philosophy followed by many of the current service oriented workflow systems. However this is not feasible in some cases such as NMR data analysis, primarily due to the large scale of data.

The objective of this research is to bring ”code to data”, preferred in the cases when the data is extremely large. We present a DSL based approach to develop customized data intensive scientific …

Loqus: Linked Open Data Sparql Querying System, Prateek Jain, Kunal Verma, Peter Z. Yeh, Pascal Hitzler, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

The LOD cloud is gathering a lot of momentum, with the number of contributors growing manifold. Many prominent data providers have submitted and linked their data to other dataset with the help of manual mappings. The potential of the LOD cloud is enormous ranging from challenging AI issues such as open domain question answering to automated knowledge discovery. We believe that there is not enough technology support available to effectively query the LOD cloud. To this effect, we present a system called Linked Open Data SPARQL Querying System (LOQUS), which automatically maps users queries written in terms of a conceptual …

Computing For The Human Experience: Semantics-Empowered Sensors, Services, And Social Computing On The Ubiquitous Web, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

People are on the verge of an era in which the human experience can be enriched in ways they couldn't have imagined two decades ago. Rather than depending on a single technology, people progressed with several whose semantics-empowered convergence and integration will enable us to capture, understand, and reapply human knowledge and intellect. Such capabilities will consequently elevate our technological ability to deal with the abstractions, concepts, and actions that characterize human experiences. This will herald computing for human experience (CHE). The CHE vision is built on a suite of technologies that serves, assists, and cooperates with humans to nondestructively …

Theorizing Ambivalence In Ang Lee's Transnational Cinema: The Discourse Of Chinese Identity Between The Local And The Global, Chih-Yun Chiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using ambivalence as a theoretical framework, this study examines Ang Lee's cinematic discourse of Chinese identity, which is co-constructed with the audiences from different cultural communities. I focus on Ang Lee's transnational films Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Lust, Caution as my two case studies. By analyzing the audience discourse from Taiwan, Mainland China, and overseas Chinese communities, I am able to conceptualize their reactions as communicative moments that co-construct the meaning of the film text. I suggest that ambivalence is a self-representational strategy for the ethnic "Other," who is historically denied access to representation, to contest and subvert the …

Theorizing The Transcendent Persona: Amelia Earhart’S Vision In The Fun Of It, Robin Jensen, Erin Doss, Claudia Janssen, Sherrema Bower

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In this article, we define and theorize the ‘‘transcendent persona,’’ a discursive strategy in which a rhetor draws from a boundary-breaking accomplishment and utilizes the symbolic capital of that feat to persuasively delineate unconventional ways of communicating and behaving in society. Aviator Amelia Earhart’s autobiography The Fun of It (1932) functions as an instructive representative anecdote of this concept and demonstrates that the transcendent persona’s persuasive force hinges on one’s ability to balance distance from audiences with similarities to them. Striking such a balance creates a platform for rhetors to promote transformative visions of society. Earhart utilized the transcendent persona …

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 …

Blues Tourism In The Mississippi Delta: The Functions Of Blues Festivals, Stephen King

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Reflective Journeys Toward Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Tonia Renee Durden, Diane M. Truscott

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In this qualitative case study we used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory methodologically and theoretically to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers as they were learning about teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students. Data sources included a questionnaire, interview transcripts, course documents, and individual written records. Cross and within case analyses were conducted using a priori and open coding for all data utilizing the analytic strategy of relying on theoretical propositions. Findings suggested that participants’ reflected beyond the classroom on influences that impact the education of diverse students and there were program specific factors that encouraged critical reflectivity …

Secrets In Plain Sight: Institutional Covert Discrimination, Jacquelynn Suzette Mcdaniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While dominant national P-20 narratives circulate a discourse of the near achievement of racial equity post Brown v. Board of Education, there remains a large gap between the experiences of people of color and the official record of their inclusion and access. Organizational self-analysis of racial disparities in education often attribute undeniable discrimination to the micro-level performances of individuals; claiming micro-aggressions, lack of training, political/personal conflict, or ignorance. When these reasons cannot fully explain gross inequity; organizations turn to society's socio-economic disparities and mirrored racial realities within the country as instructive on the inevitable realities of racism within schools.

A …

Perceived Social Support From Using Computer-Mediated Communication, Host Language Proficiency And Host-Family Satisfaction In Student Sojourners' Cross-Cultural Transition, Honorio Tsutomu Komori

Theses Digitization Project

The present research examined perceived social support from using computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies and the impact of social support and CMC on internatinal students' psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. This study also examined the role of host-family social support and host language proficiency on student sojourner adaptation.

Columbia Chronicle (2010-2011) Media Kit, Columbia College Chicago

Columbia Chronicle

The Columbia Chronicle's 2010-2011 Media Kit. This issue is 20 pages.

A Speech-Language Pathologiest Perspective On The Referral And Assessment Of Bilingual Children Whose Primary Language Is Not English, Kathleen M. Schulte

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study presents the results from a survey issued to speech-language pathologists in the state of Kentucky regarding their perspectives on referral and assessment of bilingual speakers whose primary language is not English. The study was conducted to determine methods for decreasing the over-identification of bilingual students served for speech and language disorders. Literature review indicates an over-identification of non-English speakers in special education and related services programs nationwide. There are many possible reasons for this over-identification some of which include: lack of English instruction prior to testing in English, Speech-Language Pathologists’ preparation level, and shortage of appropriately normed assessment …

I Know What You Did Last Summer: The Ballot Initiative And Voter Turnout, Shayne Henry

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

“Know Thy Neighbor,” a public interest group established in 2005, has grabbed headlines in recent years for making public (or threatening to make public) the names of hundreds of thousands of registered voters who signed petitions qualifying anti-gay rights measures for state general election ballots in Massachusetts, Florida, Arkansas, Oregon, and Washington. These names, together with the mailing addresses, birthdates, and dates of signature for each signer, have long been public information in most states, but never before have they been put into a format (i.e., searchable, online databases) making them easy to access and analyze. In this pilot project, …

Provenance Context Entity (Pace): Scalable Provenance Tracking For Scientific Rdf Data, Satya S. Sahoo, Olivier Bodenreider, Pascal Hitzler, Amit P. Sheth, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Kno.e.sis Publications

The Resource Description Framework (RDF) format is being used by a large number of scientific applications to store and disseminate their datasets. The provenance information, describing the source or lineage of the datasets, is playing an increasingly significant role in ensuring data quality, computing trust value of the datasets, and ranking query results. Current provenance tracking approaches using the RDF reification vocabulary suffer from a number of known issues, including lack of formal semantics, use of blank nodes, and application-dependent interpretation of reified RDF triples. In this paper, we introduce a new approach called Provenance Context Entity (PaCE) that uses …

A Study In Hadoop Streaming With Matlab For Nmr Data Processing, Kalpa Gunaratna, Paul E. Anderson, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Applying Cloud computing techniques for analyzing large data sets has shown promise in many data-driven scientific applications. Our approach presented here is to use Cloud computing for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)data analysis which normally consists of large amounts of data. Biologists often use third party or commercial software for ease of use. Enabling the capability to use this kind of software in a Cloud will be highly advantageous in many ways. Scripting languages especially designed for clouds may not have the flexibility biologists need for their purposes. Although this is true, they are familiar with special software packages that allow …

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 …

Implementing Montana's Indian-Education-For-All Initiative In A K-5 Public School: Implications For Classroom Teaching, Education Policy, And Native Communities, Phyllis B. Ngai, Peter Koehn

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

The Montana legislature’s requirement that public schools implement programs that fulfill the inclusive Indian education intent found in the state constitution is groundbreaking in U.S. educational history. Supporters of the revived Indian Education for All (IEFA) law agree that including Native perspectives in the mainstream curriculum is long overdue. Advocates often frame IEFA as an initiative that will promote transformative understanding of local American Indian tribes. The data presented in this research report relate to a learner-focused assessment of the model K-5 IEFA program initiated at Lewis and Clark Elementary School in Montana. Did this public school-based IEFA program change …