This project seeks to explore the subject of nation and nationalism in the context of rhetoric and the philosophy of communication. By exploring ancient tropes of nation through rhetorical figures such as Isocrates in Ancient Greece and Cicero in the Roman Republic; through Kant, the Enlightenment and modernity; and, through postmodern interpretations, I attempt to reconceptualize the nation as a communicative construct while pointing to what may lie ahead for the future. By applying Anderson's (2006) concept of "imagined communities" as an interpretative framework, the nation appears to be a more fluid, contingent space for communication that is grounded in ancient and Enlightenment ideals, but is perhaps reconfiguring in the face of postmodern complexity as advanced by scholars such as Appadurai (1996) and Smith (1979, 1983, 1995, 1998, 2008, 2010). The transition from antiquity and modernity to postmodernity is characterized by what I call a theory of "dialogic nationalism," which has roots in Martin Buber's understanding of dialogue (1988, 1996, 2002) and his writings on nationalism (2005). Dialogic nationalism may serve as an alternative hermeneutic for the nation within the postmodern moment. The experience of international students in the United States and the complex issue of immigration around the world are also explored as practical applications for dialogic nationalism. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Communication and Rhetorical Studies / PhD; / Dissertation;

This study is a quantitative content analysis of activist groups' use of dialogic tools on Web sites. The study was done in order to understand how activist groups use the Web to communicate with their publics in comparison to for-profit corporations. The Web is considered a powerful tool for activists and allows them to communicate better with their publics. Use of the Web should allow activist groups to level the field with corporations by enabling them to get their message out and interact better with their public. Dialogic communication is a necessity for activist groups. By measuring the use of dialogic communication by activists in comparison with corporations, this study uncovers how well activist groups are using the World Wide Web for purposes of dialogic communication with their publics.

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Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2016-09-22T12:27:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Sara Batista.pdf: 1294511 bytes, checksum: b5690089a49a641c2f261d320bcf916a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-22T12:27:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Simone Sara Batista.pdf: 1294511 bytes, checksum: b5690089a49a641c2f261d320bcf916a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-14 / The main objective of this research was to reflect upon the communication standards of former spouses in divorce and in litigation. The theoretical framework was that of social constructionism. The focus of the methodological approach was centered on the analysis of discoursive practices. Due to this, the specific objectives presuppose the understanding of the implications of direct communication between former spouses in dispute and the comprehension of the social representations that they express by means of dialogue in relation to divorce proceedings and child custody. So that, the communication affects and is affected by the litigation. The field of this empirical research was the project Families’ Educative Justice developed by the Psychological Clinics of PUC-GO. The individuals who took part of the subproject were chosen by means of randomical way: former spouses whose age varied from 30 to 50 years old, with sons and daughters from five to 20 years old. Besides this researcher, a group of educators was composed by professors, psychologists and post-graduated students. During six meetings, the data which were collected by this researcher revealed the social phenomenum of communication between former couples when it was occurring. With the participants’ agreement, these sessions were recorded by audio broadcasting and fully transcribed in order to register the data of this research. The conclusions were that the divorce, within the marital context, is influenced by various marital ways of living, as well as the past experiences of the former couple before the divorce and the infinity of economic, social and cultural circumstances. / O objetivo principal desta dissertação foi o de refletir acerca do tema da comunicação entre ex-cônjuges no divórcio e no litígio, de acordo com o referencial teórico do construcionismo social e da metodologia qualitativa de análise de práticas discursivas. Procurou-se compreender as formas de se falar do litígio e da guarda de filhos, identificar os repertórios utilizados pelos ex-cônjuges sobre o divórcio e o litígio, e evidenciar como a comunicação influencia e é influenciada pelo litígio. O campo de pesquisa empírica foi o projeto Justiça Educativa de Famílias (JEF), desenvolvido na Clínica-Escola de Psicologia da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, cujos instrumentos foram o diálogo e a reflexão sobre o divórcio e o litígio.Os sujeitos deste subprojeto foram escolhidos de forma randômica: quatro ex-cônjuges com idades variando de 30 a 50 anos e com filhos de cinco a 20 anos. Durante seis sessões, os dados coletados por esta pesquisadora, juntamente com uma equipe formada por educadores (professores, mestrandos, doutorandos e psicólogos), revelaram o fenômeno social da comunicação entre os ex-cônjuges nas sessões, com suas implicações para o diálogo educativo sobre o divórcio, o litígio e a guarda de filhos. Essas sessões, com o consentimento dos participantes, foram gravadas em áudio e transcritas na íntegra, para incorporar o banco de dados do campo da pesquisa. Este estudo chegou à conclusão de que a comunicação sobre o divórcio, no contexto conjugal, ocorre sob a influência de diversas vivências, bem como das experiências dos ex-cônjuges anteriores ao divórcio e da infinidade de circunstâncias econômicas, sociais e culturais a ele associadas.

Dialogical communication is considered to be the most ethical way of practicing public relations. Especially social medias’ potential for engaging in dialogue is mostly not exploited to its full potential. This study aims to shed light on new technology-based firms’ use of dialogical communication on Twitter. The focus hereby is on the formal side of dialogue and not on its content. Moreover possible explanations for the presence or absence of dialogue are taken into consideration. To be able to classify the results they are discussed in the context of the Fortune 500 companies’ use of Twitter. In order to do so a content analysis of both the Twitter profiles and tweets of 89 new technology-based firms was undertaken. The results showed that the Fortune 500 companies were communicating more dialogically than the new technology-based firms did. Bigger companies engaged in dialogue more often. The performance was furthermore improved by listening rather than posting. An implication is that a profound knowledge of communication is necessary in order to use the social medium successfully. A pure knowledge of technology was not found to be beneficial for this public relations practice.

Past research has shown that dialogic communication has essential characteristics that foster two-way communication between organizations and their stakeholders. This study investigates how public relations firms incorporate the principles of dialogic communication on their websites. The top and bottom 50 websites from the Holmes report on Top 250 Global PR agency rankings were content analyzed. Kent and Taylor’s (1998, 2003) five principles of dialogic communication were applied to find out if public relations firms incorporate the principle of dialogic communication effectively on their websites, provide relevant information for stakeholders and prospective clients, and if there are differences between PR rankings in terms of website usability and the dialogic loop. Findings reveal that bottom 50 PR websites are not as dialogic as the top 50 PR websites. In addition, the study revealed that both top and bottom to a considerable extent incorporated the principles of dialogic communication.

The North-West University (NWU) is an example of an organization that has a social responsibity towards the community and the environment within which it finds itself (Van Schalkwyk, 2013). One of the social responsibility programmes of the NWU-Pukke is known as the Students’ Rag Community Service (SRCS). The SRCS is a registered NPO (non-profit organization) which is run by the students of the NWU Potchefstroom Campus and which has been in existence since 1992 in its present form. In this study it is argued that the SRCS developmental projects could be offered in a more effective and sustainable manner by implementing the basic principles of the participatory approach, viz. Participation, dialogue, empowerment and cultural identity in order to support the local communities in their developmental processes. For the present study the focus was solely on one of the SRCS projects, the Pick a leader-leadership development project. This project has the aim of providing in the developmental needs of ten to fifteen Grade 11 learners in three schools in the North West Province (Potchefstrom and the surrounding communities in Ikageng). Thus project participants (learners) are instructed in basic skills about starting their own businesses (entrepreneurship); how to develop their leadership skills and to apply these skills, and how to be able to use basic life skills in their everyday lives. Various theoreticians have explained how NPO’s without participatory communication are seldom successful in terms of developmental initiatives. The learners can only develop if the relevant roleplayers of the project take ownership of the project by also being able to communicate in a participatory manner about their specific needs with both the NPO and the project volunteers. The NWU-Pukke volunteers, who manage this particular project, therefore have the responsibility to communicate in a participatory manner with the relevant learners, their teachers and then also the different principals to make the project succeed and to contribute to the realization of the developmental needs of the learners. The general research aim of the study had been to determine the nature of the communication among interest groups in the Pick a leader-leadership development programme of the SRCS. Qualitiative research methods, viz. Semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and participant observation, were used in this study for purposes of making making a thorough investigation into the nature of the communication among those involved in the Pick a leader leadership development programme. The purpose of this was to determine perspectives about the project held by the persons involved (but especially those of the learners) and to interpret these in line with the normative theoretical principles of the participatory approach to developmental communication. It was ultimately found that the communication in the Pick a leader-leadership development programme was mostly one-way. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The North-West University (NWU) is an example of an organization that has a social responsibity towards the community and the environment within which it finds itself (Van Schalkwyk, 2013). One of the social responsibility programmes of the NWU-Pukke is known as the Students’ Rag Community Service (SRCS). The SRCS is a registered NPO (non-profit organization) which is run by the students of the NWU Potchefstroom Campus and which has been in existence since 1992 in its present form. In this study it is argued that the SRCS developmental projects could be offered in a more effective and sustainable manner by implementing the basic principles of the participatory approach, viz. Participation, dialogue, empowerment and cultural identity in order to support the local communities in their developmental processes. For the present study the focus was solely on one of the SRCS projects, the Pick a leader-leadership development project. This project has the aim of providing in the developmental needs of ten to fifteen Grade 11 learners in three schools in the North West Province (Potchefstrom and the surrounding communities in Ikageng). Thus project participants (learners) are instructed in basic skills about starting their own businesses (entrepreneurship); how to develop their leadership skills and to apply these skills, and how to be able to use basic life skills in their everyday lives. Various theoreticians have explained how NPO’s without participatory communication are seldom successful in terms of developmental initiatives. The learners can only develop if the relevant roleplayers of the project take ownership of the project by also being able to communicate in a participatory manner about their specific needs with both the NPO and the project volunteers. The NWU-Pukke volunteers, who manage this particular project, therefore have the responsibility to communicate in a participatory manner with the relevant learners, their teachers and then also the different principals to make the project succeed and to contribute to the realization of the developmental needs of the learners. The general research aim of the study had been to determine the nature of the communication among interest groups in the Pick a leader-leadership development programme of the SRCS. Qualitiative research methods, viz. Semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and participant observation, were used in this study for purposes of making making a thorough investigation into the nature of the communication among those involved in the Pick a leader leadership development programme. The purpose of this was to determine perspectives about the project held by the persons involved (but especially those of the learners) and to interpret these in line with the normative theoretical principles of the participatory approach to developmental communication. It was ultimately found that the communication in the Pick a leader-leadership development programme was mostly one-way. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014