The purpose of this research is to identify best practices for public relations professionals when engaging with a Millennial performing arts audience, focusing on Hon and Grunig's relationship management theory (1999) and Kent and Taylor’s theory of dialogic communication (2014) to build interactivity in a digital space. Performing arts organizations have successfully engaged with previous generations, but are facing new challenges when communicating with millennial audiences. Changing demographics have led to a stagnation and decline of performing arts attendance as the millennial generation has come of age. This massive population has new priorities for spending and consumption of entertainment, and social media is their preferred channel of communication as opposed to print and broadcast media. The researcher distributed a survey to patrons of the Orlando Shakespeare theatre to identify their perspectives of current public relations practices. Results from 148 respondents indicated that the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre maintains strong relationships with Millennials (N=6) and non-Millennials alike, as made evident by their practice of Baumgarth's cultural consumer behaviors (2014). However, a larger sample of Millennial patrons is necessary to determine best practices for the specific population. The primary product of this research is the creation of a theory-driven survey that can be used to effectively measure the depth of a performing arts organization's relationship with its patrons, and a case study exemplifying a successful organization.

The purpose of this study was to examine various aspects of Millennials' attitudes related to their beliefs about the United States and in the context of their personal, career, and family goals and ethnic identity. Another purpose of this study was to determine if selected personality variables would predict attitudes toward the United States. It was found that Millennials who held positive attitudes toward the United States in terms of being a viable country for them also had relatively clear and developed personal, career, and family goals. Moreover, three personality variables—resiliency, optimism, and (inversely) cynicism significantly contributed to Millennials' views of the United States. Last, ethnic identity—strong feelings of attachment and loyalty to one's ethnicity—correlated in various ways with both attitudes toward the United States and the belief that the United States is oppressive toward minorities. Those observed correlations varied depending on the specific ethnicity (non-Hispanic Whites who strongly identified with their ethnicity were less likely to consider the United States a discriminatory country toward minorities, whereas Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans who identified strongly with their ethnicity were more likely to view the United States as oppressive toward minorities. More research is recommended to clarify and elucidate some of the obtained findings in this study.

According to the Pew Research Center, the modern wave of political polarization began in 1994, and is the strongest today than it has ever been during the 23-year period. (2007) Polarization in the US party system is evidenced by several factors including: growing consistent partisan views, partisan antipathy, ideological bubbles, growing difference in preferences, a shrinking political center, and the lack of political compromise. (Pew Research Center 2014) The question I attempt to answer in this thesis is on the factors associated with political polarization within the millennial generation. One of the most pressing issues to this generation is what is known as the Student Loan Crisis, which is the $1.45 Trillion dollars Americans owe to private and federal lenders to attend college. (StudentLoanHero.com). In this thesis, I argue that economic inequality, via the student loan crisis, contributes to political polarization within the millennial generation. My analysis takes place at the level of the individual. I conduct a statistical analysis using the 2016 American National Election Survey Dataset, to test whether political polarization, operationalized as ideological and partisan polarization, is associated with polarization on economic issues that I link to wealth inequality in the millennial generation, controlling for polarization on social issues, interest in politics, and income. The main finding is that party/ideological polarization is positive and significantly related to polarization on economic issues in the millennial generation; whether or not the Student Loan Crisis underlies this link requires further study.

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Youth today are participating in political and civic life in new and emerging ways -- some positive and some negative -- but there is scant evidence that these new forms of engagement spawn enduring forms of participation to enhance democratization at all levels in society. How, then, do we educate for democracy and for what type of democracy, especially in a society that struggles with persistent inequality and injustice? Universities clearly have an important role—and, some insist, an obligation—in guiding the so-called millennial generation into civic pathways that can produce meaningful advancement of democracy. Adopting a participatory democratic theoretical framework, this work presents a case-history study of and survey data from a civic education program at Drexel University, in Philadelphia, PA, an institution that strives to be the “most civically engaged university” in the U.S, according to its President. In addition, and arguably equally important, this study examines the assumptions and conceptions students bring to the table when they are first exposed to civic education in college. How do students conceptualize democracy and civic and political engagement now and in the future? On what foundation are we building concepts of civic education for democracy when we design curricula? Do students view democracy in participatory democratic ways and does Drexel educate students for a participatory democracy, albeit implicitly? The study finds both the students and the program embrace participatory democratic norms, strengthening normative theoretical arguments that participatory democratic theory is increasingly relevant, useful and salient to understand and nourish democracy in the U.S. today. / Political Science

The official standard of a 40-hour work week has not changed for decades in the United States. A flexible work arrangement (a.k.a. telework, flexible schedule or telecommuting) is an alternative to the traditional 9am to 5pm, 40+hours work week in office. In truth, the working environment has changed as employees are expected to work more than 40 hours per week and must be accessible around the clock on weekends and after the end of the workday. Millennials and Baby Boomers (called the emerging populations) are pushing the agenda on flexible work arrangements and getting more flexible schedules. Technology makes this all possible. Millennials are described as the always-connected-to-the-internet generation (Choney, 2012), while any new technological process requires significant instruction and training, and presents a challenge for older workers (Charness, 2006). This grounded theory research (Glaser and Strauss, 1999) informs and updates academics, practitioners, companies, and employees on how technology is enabling flexible working arrangements (referred to as FWA) for the emerging populations. The paper draws on both unstructured interviews and a survey with key informants across age ranges who are business owners, corporate workers, and employees. It explores the tools that are critical to connecting to the office, the advantages and disadvantages of working outside the office, and gives guidelines for employers and workers to utilize when creating a best-in-class flexible environment. Keywords: flexible work arrangement, flexible schedule, millennials, baby boomers, telecommuting, work-life conflict, technology, best practices, emerging populations / Business Administration/Human Resource Management

This study examines the impact that the rebranding of Dunkin' Donuts to Dunkin' has on brand perception, specifically in Generation Z and Millennials through the lens of social identity theory. Factors studied include visual brand identification, brand loyalty, purchasing habits, and perception of brand equity. Forty-four (N=44) students participated in four focus groups looking at these variables. The findings showed that social identification with Dunkin' is formed through personal brand experience, although participants were resistant to self-categorization with Dunkin'. The findings also demonstrated that social identification decreased slightly through the visual rebranding, but did not create any reported impact on purchasing habits. It was also reported that the level of social identification was based off of perception of brand value and quality. Finally, participants demonstrated that there was an impact on social comparison through participants questioning Dunkin's values as an organization. Given that the sample was all Millennial and Generation Z consumers, this study also determined that company values are important to these cohorts. It also suggested that perceived modernization of a brand can positively impact brand equity, and that communication of rebranding changes to the public are an important step of a successful rebrand. Practical implications of this research are also discussed. / Master of Arts / This study examines the impact that the rebranding of Dunkin' Donuts to Dunkin' has on brand perceptions, specifically among Generation Z and Millennials through the lens of social identity theory. Social identity theory guides the understanding of how Generation Z and Millennials perceive Dunkin' through its rebranding. Factors studied include visual brand identification, brand loyalty, purchasing habits, and perception of brand equity. Forty-four (N=44) students participated in four focus groups looking at these variables. The findings showed that social identification with Dunkin' is formed through personal brand experience, although participants were resistant to self-categorization with Dunkin' Given that the sample was all Millennial and Generation Z consumers, this study also determined that company values are important to these cohorts. It also suggested that perceived modernization of a brand can positively impact brand equity, and communication of rebranding changes to the public are an important step of a successful rebrand. Practical implications of this research are also discussed.

This thesis aims to describe American Military Chaplains’ thoughts and concerns on secularism and religious pluralism in the Millennial generation. The goal is to analyze how a potential change in this generation affects the chaplain’s role. The method is in-depth semi-structured interviews with three chaplains from different service branches. The main finding is that they detect a substantial decrease in religiousness, which follows overall trends in society. Their experience is not that pluralism is gaining substantial ground, rather it is that a large portion of the troops are indifferent to religion. Even so, they do not experience a decrease in interest or need for their services, since counselling is an increasing part of their workload. The ambiguity of their role is mostly perceived as a challenge to balance their religious task with non-religious counselling/coaching and practical duties as an officer.

Given the large homogeneous workforce of predominately White, middle-class female K–12 educators combined with the rising population of diverse students in the United States and the disproportionate achievement gap of students of color compared to their White peers, I sought to discover how new millennial educators defined and used empathy to build their own cultural competencies as well as discover how these teachers used empathy to strengthen the teacherstudent relationships across cultural differences. Using the conceptual frameworks of Paulo Freire’s (1970) pedagogy and Wang et al.’s (2003) definition of ethno-cultural empathy, I conducted a critical narrative inquiry of five first-year teachers who did not share the racial or ethnic background of the majority of their students of color. From the participants’ stories, six major themes surfaced: (a) the role of empathy in the teacher-student relationships, (b) the struggle between empathy and sympathy, (c) their contrasting views on empathy and content, (d) the relationship between empathy and cultural competency, (e) the importance of empathy related to trauma, and (f) the personal limitations of empathy. I present a proposal for a new theoretical framework resulting from the symbiotic relationship of ethno-cultural empathy and critical pedagogy, called Critical Empathy, as well as recommendations for teacher formation institutions to prioritize an empathy formation that focuses on critical empathy development, self-awareness, administrative management, and self-care strategies.