<p> This study explores the lived experience of civilian nontherapists who voluntarily bear witness to veterans' first-person narratives of war in the United States. Mythology and anthropology demonstrate that listening to warriors' war stories was a common practice in many ancient and aboriginal societies. A growing body of contemporary study suggests today's veterans are best served by returning to civilian societies who listen to veterans and know their experiences. This research sought to document and understand the experience of civilian witnessing, its impact on witnesses, and whether or not the experience was valuable or perspective changing for the witnesses. The research deepens the understanding of the relationship between war veterans and civilian society and the communal holding of war memories. </p><p> Ethnographic, autoethnographic, and hermeneutic phenomenological methodological approaches were used, with the research process and data being viewed through the lenses of depth psychology and liberation psychology. Subjects for ethnographic study and opportunities for autoethnographic study were found through Soldier's Heart, a small nonprofit organization that regularly brings together civilians and veterans in retreat settings and in journeys that take veterans and civilian to places where wars were fought. Data were gathered through observation, conversation, formal interview, and the experiences of the researcher. </p><p> Bearing witness to the first-person narratives of veterans was a powerful and valuable experience for the witnesses represented in this study. Witnesses described the experience as a journey in which they moved from not listening to listening, from listening to hearing, from hearing to recognition, and from recognition to bearing witness. Witnesses reported gaining new insights about war, veterans, themselves, psyche, society and the importance of community. Witnesses reported new or deeper connections to veterans. For most witnesses, the experience challenged contemporary beliefs and practices about the relationship between veterans and civilians, and it brought new perspectives on the role nontherapists may play in veteran homecoming. While witnesses reported that the experience was at times difficult and painful, all found the experience personally valuable and saw the need for more civilians to become involved in listening to veterans. Keywords: witness, witnessing, bearing witness, veterans, narratives, storytelling, civilians.</p>

<p> Utilizing Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad, I argue that the rhetoric of Alaskan reality television produces a new strain of the American frontier myth wherein agents struggle to live within an omnipotent scene. After tracing the evolution of the pentadic elements in literature and film embodying the eastern and western variations of the myth, I analyze <i>Deadliest Catch, Flying Wild Alaska</i>, and <i>Gold Rush</i> and thereby discover that the discourse does not revive older versions, but instead formulates a contemporary iteration that diminishes tension between the dialectical values of individualism and community. As the United States faces daunting exigencies concerning the economy, technology, and the environment in the new millennium, the myth of the Alaskan frontier offers ways for people to cope with their anxieties. This thesis concludes with a discussion of implications and ideas for future research.</p>

<p> Open and sincere communication produces an atmosphere that allows family members to articulate love and respect for one another. Results make it obvious that family communication is an important untapped resource when discussing increasing rates of HIV/AIDS infections. This study examines family communication, African Americans and HIV/AIDS prevention.</p><p> With 32% of the reported cases of AIDS are African Americans and only 12 % of American population is African American. It is essential to find new preventative measure to suppress HIV rates in African American communities. By assessing the communication orientation(s) that work best when providing sex education to teenagers it can establish a foundation for further research on communication about sex education, HIV and STD prevention. With the findings of what communication style(s) work best it can alter the stigmas of homosexuality tied to HIV in the African American community, delineating the discouragement of homosexual sex education lowering the rate of HIV and STD transmission. </p><p> Using semi-structured interviewing with open-ended questions made interviews more informal and easy for participants to divulge specific information. Participants were African American men and women, between the age of 18-25, residing in Southern Maryland and had a younger sibling. With the use of spiral of silence theory the study found that mass opinion given by the black church of abstinence and the lack of education on HIV/AIDS prevention due to biblical text has created a moral divide for those within the congregation that would like to speak out for preventative provisions.</p>