Thesis advisor: Bonnie Jefferon / Kanye West is a musical artist whose shocking public statements often remain in the news for weeks on end. Throughout the past six years of his extremely successful career, at least three of these public acts have received tireless media coverage both for their perceived offensiveness, and for their direct connection to larger societal issues. This project examines three statements: (1) West’s 2005 claim during Hurricane Katrina that “[President] George Bush doesn’t care about Black people;” (2) the moment in 2009 when West stormed the MTV Video Music Awards stage during singer Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech and grabbed her microphone, stating that he would let her finish, “but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time;” and (3) West’s 2010 appearance on NBC’s Today Show and the series of angry messages he posted to his Twitter page claiming that the interviewer, Matt Lauer, tried to “force” his answers. These statements are analyzed to determine whether West may have unwittingly employed the rhetorical method Theodore Windt describes as the diatribe. The paper concludes that West’s statements in 2005 and 2010 meet the criteria for the diatribe, using a shocking act or message to catalyze important discussion of major problems existing in society. However, West’s 2009 incident fails to meet the criteria, and cannot be categorized as a diatribe, but instead as simply an offensive act that provided no greater benefit to society. The process of these analyses may serve as a way to examine future celebrity statements to determine whether certain individuals are striving to elevate society or, through their offenses, may be adding to a cultural downfall. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

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In my thesis, I explored the work of the artist Kanye West as a rejected voice of Generation Y. Why was he rejected? Could he, in fact, be the voice? By examining readings of several of his songs and music videos over the span of his career as well as his public interactions, I attempt to properly place West in American culture. As a result of my research, I found West to be an extremely influential artist and an intriguing representation of the 2000s.

The study was conducted in Phitshane-Molopo in Botswana. Phitshane-Molopo is located about 115 kilometers south of the main village of Kanye in which the Rural Industries Innovation Centre operates. The study constitutes the first attempt at evaluating audience reach and reception of the RIIC media messages. In this study, a sample of 50 representatives of households (the rationale is covered in chapter 1) was taken, for which a questionnaire was administered, including conducting in-depth interviews with key informants. The study found that RIlC media are not reaching the audience in keeping with the corporate goals and assumptions on the basis of which the communication strategy was established. The audience has claimed that the print media relayed to them through the extension officer channel do not reach them. The study also found that the audience possessed adequate literacy skills and the majority of them could read materials produced in Setswana. Only a few individuals preferred media text produced in the English language. The study therefore deplores RIIC's proclivity towards producing its media texts only in the English language. This has tended to marginalise members of the audience who cannot read in English. It is thus hoped that this study would provide a learning experience for RIIC to consider producing its communication media in relation to the needs of the audience. The study also found that the impact of the RIIC radio programme is very poor, with only a low of 2% of the sample population having listened to this programme. The problem stems from the poor Radio Botswana transmission system. The audience said that for the larger part of the day, they can't get Radio Botswana on air. As a result, they have shifted their interest to the South African radio stations such as Radio Tswana and Radio Mmabatho, which are constantly on air. The study concludes that the RIIC communication strategy is failing in the study area because the paradigm in which it is located is somewhat flawed, as a result of which it does not effectively impact upon reach and reception. At the core of this failure rate are implementation problems and the lack of evaluation that would have picked up the - problems earlier, for which solutions would have been found. Consequently, th~$tudy recommends the need to explore the suitability and effectiveness of the indigenous media for possible syncretization with conventional media as recommended in the need based integrative model (Nwosu and Megwa: 1993). Indigenous media are ideally suited to rural communication needs because they are consistent with the socio-cultural expectations of the audience. RIIC therefore stands to benefit from these media because the bulk of its audience resides in rural areas.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det utifrån det musikaliskainnehållet går att förstå och förklara viktiga aspekter som gör en låt till enlistetta. Valet av låtar, som utgör undersökningsmaterialet, baserades på att dessaskall ha legat etta på Billboard Hot-100, och att dessa skulle vara från olikatidsperioder: hela vägen från 80-talet och fram tills 2021. I denna studiebehandlas en tidsram på över 50 år. Från 80-talet valdes Olivia Newton-John -Physical, från 90-talet valdes Whitney Houston - I will always love you, från 00-talet valdes Kanye West- Golddigger, från 10-talet valdes Drake - God’s Planoch slutligen från 20-talet valdes BTS - Butter. En gemensam faktor dessa låtarhar, utöver att ha legat på första platsen på Billboard Hot-100, är att samtliga avlåtarna har legat etta på toppen i över tio veckor och de utvalda låtarna är fem avde endast 40 låtar som någonsin har åstadkommit det. Det finns otaliga analysersom kan utföras för att försöka att räkna ut framgången som låtarna har haft, menanalysen i denna studie fokuserar på de undersökta låtarnas uppbyggnad ochinnehåll. Studiens resultat visar att vissa övergripande mönster kan urskiljas. Entendens som iakttagits är att låtar som blir hits har någon säregen kvalitet somgör att de låter delvis likt tidigare låtar som har släppts men ändå jämförelsevisannorlunda. En annan viktig aspekt är att textinnehållet, för att en låt ska nåframgång och bli en listetta, bör fokusera på ämnet kärlek.

<p> SE Botswana, located in the NW part of the Kaapvaal Craton is a long lived tectonically stable environment dominated by brittle deformation for more than 2.6 Ga. </p> <p> Relative chronologies in the development of fractures are rationalized according to major unconformities that developed during the Proterozoic in areas around Moshaneng and Kanye in SE Botswana. Periods of brittle deformation are divided into pre-Transvaal Supergroup, post-Transvaal Supergroup/ pre-Waterberg Group and post-Waterberg Group times. Pre-Transvaal lineaments trend ENE and NE and were probably formed as fractures in a rifting environment Dikes are intruded along some of these lineaments. Post-Transvaal/ pre-Waterberg fractures consist of strike-slip faults that form a conjugate system of two major sets trending NE and NW. These fractures probably formed as a result of E-W compression. The displacement along the NE trending faults depicts reactivation along pre-existing fractures. Regional patterns of fault termination are discemable. Epidermal folds and thrusts were produced in the Transvaal Supergroup rocks. Rotational bulk strain is locally significant. PostWaterberg deformation was dominated by dip-slip faults, vertical displacements and drape folds. </p> <p> An orthogonal system of bedding-normal joints predominates in the layered rocks. Inversion of the relative magnitudes of a2 and a3 probably accounts for a two phase tensile failure of layered rocks during the formation of the joint system. A diagonal system of bedding normal joints is superimposed on the orthogonal system possibly because of pre-existing folds that perturb the remote stress field. Joint spacings have a negatively skewed normal frequency distribution. Systematic joints show that spacing of set1 <set2 <set3 <set4. </p> <p> Relics of joint patterns in chert breccia provide insight about post-Transvaal/ pre-Waterberg karstification residuum. The joint pattern accounts for the initial process of fragmentation that resulted in the formation of chert breccia. </p> <p> On the subcontinental scale, high strain tectonic belts provide a chronology of large scale stress fields that could explain the intracratonic brittle deformations. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this study I look at the music video Heaven and Hell by YE, formerly known as Kanye West. The video contains references to Christian religion and fine art. My aim with this essay has been to identify these references using a visual analysis with theory based on ideas of Erwin Panofsky. I did this by studying iconographic symbols, light and color as well as the connections these have in the music video. After this I used Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of cultural capital and taste to decode the meaning of these references. My findings point towards YE’s usage of references to Christianity and fine art as a way to invoke a sense of trust and high cultural capital.

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This written thesis unpacks the thoughts and motivations behind the decisions I have made in my artistic practice that have ultimately culminated in my M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition: Sub for More. By merging images of my own work as well as internet sourced images of the culture that drives my work, I have created a platform to begin to understand my experience during graduate school. This text examines and explores my belief in the inherent power in pop culture, my obsession with fame, celebrity, and my self-identity as a participant in current pop-culture.

This essay is one part of my Bachelor’s degree project, the other part being the dance performance OUR VISIONIS FROM HELL. / 34°10'26.6"N 118°39'50.4"W, which was presented in November 2022 at Stockholm University of the Arts. The work was inspired by certain events around the breakup between musician Kanye West and reality star Kim Kardashian. The text aims to further articulate, explain and discuss the topics of the piece, which were heartbreak, violence and pop culture in the arts, as well as referencing the American writers bell hooks and Susan Sontag and their approach to these issues. The essay also goes into the research, conversations and different thinking processes from and within the work. The text is written as a fictional letter to Kanye West and desires to question and criticize his behavior during the fall of 2022.