This study examines experiences of racial microaggressions as related to an audience through the art of Storytelling. Integrating Performance Ethnography and Critical Race Theory, it examines how storytelling may serve to illuminate the concept of racial microaggressions. After examining the current body of work on Racism, Storytelling and Microaggression, the author moves through the stories of experiences with racial microaggression from four individuals, gathered and performed as a storytelling event, before a live audience. The communicative management methods individuals use when talking about race and racial microaggressions are explored in presentation of the audience discussion which followed the performance. The author concludes storytelling has merit as a tool for the illumination of racial microaggressions, yet the potency with which racism is ingrained in the psyche of white people in U.S. indicates significant structure must be applied to public discussions of race to support the utilization of storytelling in this manner.

The present study utilizes the relational turbulence model (RTM) to illuminate stepparent experiences of relational uncertainty and partner interference within the context of the stepparent-biological parent marriage. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 6 stepparents revealed four primary themes pertaining to how stepparents experienced relational uncertainty: (a) enactment of parenting, (b) competing expectations, (c) shifts in attitude and behavior by spouse, and (d) differences between marriage partners. Interference from partners was experienced by stepparents in relation to the enactment of parenting and the maintaining of the marriage as an intimate relationship.

Suspended in the State Capitol at Sacramento is a portrait of a man under whose name appears the following inscription, "The man whose matchless oratory saved California to the Union". The same name identifies a statue standing in the Congressional Hall of Fame, placed there by the State of California in memory of one of two Californians "most illustrious for their historic renown". The life and speeches of a man who achieved such renown and who earned such an immortal epitaph to his eloquence should be worthy of study by a speech student. The purpose of this thesis is to present such a study of the speech attributes of Thomas Starr King. The study is in two parts: first, a Background Synopsis, or biographical precis, which highlights Starr King's speech training, intrinsic worth, speeches, setting and success; and secondly, a Speech Commentary on Starr King's speech preparation, presentation, arrangement, argument and style. Starr King's vari-form speeches and permeating personality defy isolated period treatment. Therefore, while a California viewpoint is maintained, this study brings Starr King's whole life accomplishments into range.

This study investigated the various sources of information utilized by a sample of the Oregon adult population to gain information and ideas about the wildlife resource. The results were compared to those of a study of college and university students and their sources of information that gave them anti-hunting attitudes. The basic question posed was: What sources of information are most commonly utilized by a sample of Oregon’s population in obtaining ideas and information concerning the wildlife resource and do the proportions of various sources utilized compare with those indicated by college students as sources of anti-hunting sentiments? Additional questions asked of the subjects revealed less anti-hunting sentiment than in many portions of the United States and further hinted at simple bias in the direction of pro-hunting attitudes.

Nonverbal communication is especially significant in the area of intercultural communication. Familiar signals often signify and convey different and unexpected messages, usually out-of-awareness, and then unfamiliar stimuli cause confusion and uneasiness. This is a report of Thai NVC, which intends (1) to describe selected Thai nonverbal behavior, (2) to relate these to appropriate time and context, (3) to explain a cultural component that makes the behaviors acceptable and/or mandatory, and (4) to report how Thai nonverbal behaviors may affect intercultural and cross-cultural communication. Selected Thai nonverbal messages are described: (1) nonverbal signals: the sign language of wai, the kinesthetic behaviors of eye movement, and hand movements which include receiving, pointing, indicating farewell, rejection, negation, disagreement, beckoning, applause, counting, bad odor signal, insulting signal, and angry and friendly signals, (2) nonverbal action: the action of feet and khwan, postures which include sitting, walking and standing, (3) object language: four religious ceremonies of lod khrc kaaw pun, dam hua, wai khruu, and wi sa kha bu chaa; the use of artifacts: phra cee dii, phra phud tharubb, khryan raan ta krud, (dta gkroot) and jan, colors (clothing) which includes yellow, khaki, blue, red, daily color, black and white, the material orientation to directions such as staircase positions; cooking art which includes breakfast and eating, (4) paralanguage: the Thai linguistic parallel to paralanguage, especially vocal intensity (loudness and softness), (5) personal and social distance which includes proxemic behaviors of infancy, late childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and male and female public positions, and male and female sleeping positions (6) olfaction: artificial scents and natural body odors, and finally (7) skin sensitivity: touch and temperature. The method used to gather data was through participant observation. The descriptions of these illustrative Thai NVC behaviors are drawn from the writer's personal firsthand knowledge of Thai life, from Thai informants, his field work experiences as a research assistant to a Cornell University anthropologist in Thailand, from his experience as an interpreter-translator for the U.S. Army there, and his observations of Thai nonverbal behaviors among Thai migrants and student s in many natural settings in ·the United States of America. The approach of “Participant Observation” is a social and cultural anthropological technique best described by Bruyn. The study shows that Thais are rigidly taught behaviors early in life, which portray nonverbal messages. These become a part of Thai cultural communication norms. Thus, Thais communicate through explicit and unquestioned sets of norms, using proper, desirable, and appropriate behavior for them. Since these cultural norms are taught early in life, they are out-of-awareness and deeply ingrained. Evidence is given that Thai NVC behavior is culturally interpreted. In intercultural and cross-cultural communication, this should be taken into consideration to prevent erroneous interpretation.

This research expected pit bull coverage to become more violent and more negative in the wake of the Vick trial, so a content analysis was conducted of "pit bull" mentions in the year 2006 and in 2009. The first year was intended to provide a comparison for this study, documenting the pit bull's mediated depiction before the Vick trial. Mentions from 2009 were intended to represent the aftermath of this trial, pinpointing its effects on the breed's mediated depiction. Tonal mentions of the breed were almost 17 percentage points more negative in 2009 than in 2006. Violent mentions increased by a more than 20 percentage points during this period. Topical selections also shifted, and 2009 coverage chose to focus more on pit bull attacks than in 2006. This research proposes a theory of collateral fallout for mediated subjects, and pit bulls, as a brand, have suffered from this fallout.

A content analysis was conducted to analyze how media frame roller derby. The research included an analysis of newspaper articles published all around the world in 20 different nations from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2011, and different languages were considered. The research did not support previous studies concerning women athletes and the sport. Overall tone toward roller derby was mainly neutral, and the description of roller derby was not defined as sexist or using violent terms. Women journalists who wrote articles were slightly more sexist and used violent terms than men. Exploratory research showed that the previous findings did not change no matter the date of publication of the article or when roller derby was implemented in the nation. Results were not statistically significant. Also, the movie Whip It did not change people's point of view on roller derby even after the movie came out.

Recent studies have shown that a number of researchers have turned to the concept of the interpretive community to explain how audiences interpret the media within the context of their everyday experiences (Biocca, 1989; Gunter, 1989; Lindlof, 1989, 1992; Radway, 1984; Schrøder, 1994). D. A. Stout (1993) conducted a study that discovered three interpretive communities among LDS women who watch television, establishing that interpretive communities do exist among religious media audiences.In 1994, K. Schrøder showed that the interpretive community can be further understood by taking a "social semiotic" approach to analyzing interpretive community members' social interaction with other communities. This study explored the nature of the interpretive community by using qualitative methodology and a social semiotic approach to analyze the social interaction patterns of Stout's (1993) interpretive communities of LDS women who watch television.

Hanbok is the traditional fashion of South Korea, and literally translates to “Korean clothing.” Once worn every day, today hanbok is reserved for special occasions and holidays; however new “modern” versions of the attire are becoming more and more popular for everyday wear. This new iteration of the traditional clothing created a new vernacular of Korean nationalism and “Koreanness” through the incorporation of modern fashion trends and traditional Korean aesthetics. Modern hanbok represents the unique relationship between nationalism, globalization, and fashion, and can be seen as an example of cultural hybridization. Looking at modern hanbok through the lens of Hallyu, or the Korean wave, provides insight into how constructions of Korean nationalism and notions of “Koreanness” are created, maintained, and change over time. In order to examine how modern hanbok operates as a new form of Korean nationalism and “Koreanness,” this thesis explores the hanbok tourism industry and the K-Pop industry in conversation with one another. Together these analyses highlight how globalization and nationalism interact with one another in different ways, and showcases Korea’s efforts to create and maintain a national imaginary while negotiating their growing economic, cultural, and political power in the world.

Empirically based on a series of focus groups with college-age women, this thesis examines how the affordances of anonymity and audience specificity facilitate both intimate personal expression and political participation on the Tumblr platform. In dialogue with literature on self disclosure and privacy, I seek to broaden our understanding of the mediated contexts that provide space for women’s voices online. The privacy afforded by Tumblr’s registration policies allows users more flexibility in terms of self-presentation than sites such as Facebook, which are necessarily linked to one’s offline identity through “real name only” policies. The use of pseudonyms contributes to a larger culture of anonymity on the platform, emboldening users to express themselves more freely and with less consequence. Specifically, Tumblr norms encourage the communication of emotions other than happiness or significant “life events” – instead providing a space for girls to express culturally devalued emotions such as sadness and anger. These kinds of intimate and cathartic expressions were made to an (imagined) audience of close friends and strangers in which parents and acquaintances were importantly absent. The reduced pressure of explanation, a limited (often like-minded) audience and the lowered-stakes of anonymity, are all also key features that encouraged feminist expression online. For focus group participants, the possibility of back-and-forth Facebook debates with relatives or former classmates kept them quiet. They described these interactions as exhausting, not as true conversations but as times when they needed to give long explanatory defenses as to why their concerns were issues at all. While debate is often assumed to be as a positive, constructive element of political discourse, this research calls into question the ways in which these ideals contribute to the silencing of women online and ask us to rethink what it means to say that “the personal is political.”