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Communication & Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal, Volume 49, Issue 2, 2026

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Volume 49, Issue 2 (2026) of the Communication & Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.

Ctamj Forum On Mshsl Activities: One Act, Tony Hartmann, Allee Nickolauson, Grif Sadow

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The CTAM Journal seeks to raise up voices from notable interest groups. Occasionally, individuals are asked to share their thoughts on issues that pertain to the target readership of CTAMJ.

For this special forum, three coaches share their voices on Minnesota State High School One Act: Tony Hartmann (Belle Plaine), Allee Nickolauson (Fergus Falls), and Grif Sadow (Stillwater).

Overcoming The Blank Page: In Class Ai Brainstorming For Public Speaking Topics, Jacquelyn K. Seymour

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This activity introduces students to their speech assignment, allows for a discussion on the ethical uses of AI, and allows for class-wide use of AI to select speech topics (Slade et al., 2025). Ideally, every student will leave class with a topic for their speech to begin the process of research and writing rather than be stuck on selecting a topic.

The Public Speaking Survival Kit: A Personalized And Holistic Approach To Managing Speech Anxiety, Sydney Kamm

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Speech anxiety is a common stressor for students in public speaking classes (McCroskey, 1977) and is a particular worry for Gen Z students (Wahed & Palmer-Wackerly, 2026), yet it is often treated superficially in curricula and textbooks. When instruction centers on generic advice, students are left unequipped to manage anxiety that directly affects performance. Although delivery is graded, many “poor delivery” habits—fidgeting, filler words, lack of eye contact—stem from unmanaged anxiety (Bodie, 2010). This activity addresses that gap through a holistic approach that integrates cognitive, behavioral, and physiological dimensions. Informed by my experience with a neurological condition that causes physical …

Welcoming Generation Alpha Through The Lens Of Connectivism: Featuring Ai's Rhetorical Agency, Lin Allen, Shea-Tinn Yeh

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

As students pack for college do they leave space in their carry on for agency—self-empowerment through the strategic use of artificial intelligence?  And in what ways do educators address the need to define and shape their learning experience?  Preparing to welcome the first wave of Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha) by endowing them with agency, this theoretical framework draws upon the eight principles of connectivism. Gen Alpha, digital natives by necessity, demands a new learning archetype incorporating artificial intelligence (AI). However, the contested capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) reveal a disparate, disconnected approach to responding to the ubiquity of GenAI …

Debating Without Format: A Portrait, A Proposal, A Possibility, Stephen M. Llano

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This essay distinguishes "Debate" — competitive, tournament-driven, and governed by fixed procedural rules — from "debate," rhetoric's older practice of persuading an audience. Drawing on the dual etymology of "format" (to shape, and to arrange data for machine processing) and on Goodhart's law, the essay argues that competitive format has displaced audience assent as debate's real aim, training students to satisfy a judge's rules rather than move real listeners. As an alternative, it proposes a co-curricular model rooted in the university rather than the tournament circuit, treating rules as adaptable paradigms rather than algorithms to execute. Drawing on Perelman and …

How To Publish Open Access For Little To No Cost, Sue Ann Gardner, Melissa Gomis

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Slides of a presentation about how to publish your scholarly works for little to no cost. Part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Open Access Week training series for 2026.

How to Publish Open Access for Little to No Cost, Thursday, October 22, 2026, 12:00-1:00 pm, Online

Increase the visibility and impact of your research without paying high publication fees. Open access publishing helps your scholarship reach readers around the world, but article processing charges (APCs) can be costly. The University Libraries can help you take advantage of publisher agreements and other resources that may cover most—or even all—of your publishing …

Understanding Students’ Perceptions Of Sustainability And Social Media Utility For Sustainability Communication: Evidence From Malaysia And Thailand, Mohamad Saifudin Mohamad Saleh, Miao Huang, Ali Mehellou, Teerada Chongkolrattanaporn

Higher Learning Research Communications

Social media has become an increasingly prominent platform for information dissemination among university students. This exploratory qualitative study explored Malaysian and Thai communication university students’ perspectives on the importance of social media and students’ role in learning about sustainability communication. A face-to-face focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with 18 seniors who were majoring in communication at the School of Communication of Universiti Sains Malaysia and the faculty of Communication Arts of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The results showed that most respondents understood the concept of sustainability communication and its importance to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Respondents also discussed the …

De La Mano Invisible Al Free Marketplace Of Ideas: Ideología Y Desencanto Político En El Fin Del Fin De La Historia, Sylvia Chaves O’Flynn

CUNY Mexican Studies Institute

No abstract provided.

The Life Of A Showgirl As A Cultural Artifact: What's Hidden By The Lipstick And Lace?, Crystal F. Haryanto

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper develops a collage-based framework to holistically assess Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated first release after the Eras Tour concluded. The Life of a Showgirl, with sparkling promotional materials leading up to its October 2025 drop and polarizing critical reception following it, represents an entertainer’s lifestyle while still concealing what was alluded to behind the Eras Tour curtain. Rather than engage in a direct response to Showgirl, I critically evaluate positive and negative commentary from listeners regarding the album, and I thematically analyze lyrical concepts throughout Swift’s discography to contextualize Showgirl within the arc of her work. I …

From Linguistic Domination To Counter-Power: The Weaponisation And Reappropriation Of Language In Shakespeare's Drama, Md. Abu Bakkar

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

Studies of language and power in Shakespeare usually treat colonial, psychological, political, and familial domination as separate problems belonging to separate plays. This article asks what happens when the target of linguistic domination takes up, repeats, or withholds the discourse through which domination is exercised. It proposes linguistic counter-power as a comparative analytical concept: a change in who can define, command, or be believed within the dramatic world that outlasts and exceeds the speaker’s own act of resistance. The concept is distinguished from discursive resistance, linguistic agency, counter-discourse, and resignification, and is operationalised through three tests: uptake, durability, and structural …

Lindenwood Digest, October 21, 2026, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

• Event & Date: The Lindenwood University Employee Digest was published on October 21, 2026, and documented upcoming events including the Mosaic Group Exhibition Reception on October 22, 2026.

• Geographic Grounding: The Boyle Family Gallery is located inside the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.

• Key Honorees/Awards: The Q2 Moments program formally recognized Compliance and Business Analyst Holly Allgood, Research and Evaluation Analyst Dr. Aaron Shilling, and Certified Officer of Public Safety and Security Chelsea Feathers.

• Institutional Context: Lindenwood University engaged in the national Council of Independent Colleges AI Ready initiative and expanded its …

Lessons From Media Narratives About Displaced Students In Higher Education, Lisa Ruth Brunner

Critical Internationalization Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Urasawa’S Monster And The Aesthetics Of Uncertainty, Simon Lindblom

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This essay examines the anime Monster (Urasawa, 2001) through the lens of Aesthetic action (Klinger, 2024) and ethical praxis. Set in a nostalgically rendered pre-accelerationist Europe, the anime cultivates an atmosphere of uncertainty that prompts viewers to engage in complex moral issues. By exploring the anime's aesthetic strategies, this analysis reveals how Monster functions as a political device, exposing the dark undercurrents of historical trauma and the systemic exclusion of marginalised groups. The essay argues that Monster's deliberate cultivation of indeterminacy, particularly through its morally ambiguous characters and unresolved dilemmas, embodies a Determinate Performance of Indeterminacy (Klinger, 2024). This …

Research On Deconstruction Method Of Health Product Marketing Narrative Process From A Data-Driven Perspective, Yinuo Liu, Can Lu, Jianlin Yang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Against the backdrop of the platform economy, traditional misinformation detection tools are insufficient to identify "halt-true and halt-false" health information, which poses challenges to the public's health information literacy. Thus, systematic deconstruction of the narrative techniques and dissemination mechanisms of health marketing information is of critical academic and practical significance. [Method/process] From a data-driven perspective, this study constructs an integrated analytical framework characterized by the tri-layered interaction of "narrative construction, resource organization, and cognitive impact". Drawing on information ecology theory and framing theory, it further employs deep learning, semantic similarity analysis, and other methods to empirically deconstruct the data …

The Declaration Of Sentiments: A Womanist Perspective, Emmalee Layton

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper examines the Declaration of Sentiments, an influential document in the creation of the early feminist movement, through a womanist lens. This paper aims to address whether the formulation of the Declaration of Sentiments had Black women’s liberation in mind, and how feminist movements must approach misogyny and racialization as co-constitutive in order to create liberatory strategies for Black women. This paper examines specific grievances that are outlined within the Declaration of Sentiments which are then put into historical context to signal whether the Declaration of Sentiments addresses the nuances of misogynoir and effectively strategizes for Black women’s liberation …

“All The World Is A (Debate) Stage”: College Debates As A Form Of Civic Engagement, Sara S. Whipple, Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl, Kim Connolly

eJournal of Public Affairs

Political division and self-censorship in the United States have risen considerably in recent years. One means of countering such divides and siloed dialogue is through civil discourse that exposes people to diverse viewpoints. In an effort to bridge partisan divides, the Braver Angels Organization developed a debate format centered on these principles. Virginia Military Institute is one college campus that has adopted such debates as a form of civic engagement. In this paper we describe the development of the VMI College Debates and Discourse Program which has become a leading community of practice in civil discourse and engagement across college …

Persuasive Strategies To Increase Student Voting: A Communication-Based Framework For Civic Engagement At The Higher Education Institutions, Daniel Sherrick Apambila

eJournal of Public Affairs

The decline in civic engagement among college students poses a significant threat to democratic society, with youth electoral participation dropping from 50% in 2020 to 42% in 2024. This study presents a comprehensive communication-based framework designed to increase student voting participation at Illinois State University through theoretically grounded persuasive strategies. Drawing from established persuasion theories including Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion, the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and repetitive frequency effects, this research addresses structural, informational, and motivational barriers that prevent student electoral participation.

The proposed strategic framework encompasses three interconnected approaches: (1) behavioral positioning and target segmentation …

2026 Persimmon Creek - Full Journal, Beth Keefauver, Wayne C. Robbins

Persimmon Creek

Dear Readers: Literary journals are a common component of colleges and universities spanning across many continents. As many students experience the drastic transition from childhood to independence, emotions can feel overwhelming, and life can quickly become flooded with anxiety. Writing is an outlet for many; a place humanity turns to as a form of secure therapy.

In William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, Berowne muses, “Never durst poet touch a pen to write until his ink were temper’d with Love’s sighs” (Act 4, Scene 3).

Without emotion, writing has no depth. The words on the page might seem eloquent, but the …

Meet Phoenix, Feng Jiang

Persimmon Creek

One act play