Department of Communication Studies
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These digital collections include theses, dissertations, and faculty publications from the Department of Communication Studies. Due to departmental name changes, materials from the following historical departments are also included here: Speech and Theatre Arts; Speech Communication.
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Browsing Department of Communication Studies by Author "Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor"
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Item Open Access Constituting the un-American atheist: Eisenhower's theistnormativity and the negation of American atheists(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Lee, Kristina M., author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Prasch, Allison, committee member; Cloud, Doug, committee memberDuring the Cold War, President Eisenhower used civil religion and what Philip Wander calls prophetic dualism to construct an image of the American people. In doing so he excluded atheists from his description of the American citizenry. In order to understand how atheists fit into the national imagination inspired by President Eisenhower, this thesis explores how Eisenhower talked explicitly and implicitly, through rhetorical omission, about atheists. I argue that President Eisenhower framed atheists as un-American during his presidency, which contributed to a negative perception of atheists that is still prevalent in modern American society. This thesis also calls on scholars to be more mindful of how the theist-normativity promoted in American society marginalizes American atheists, both historically and today.Item Open Access Intersectional activism: Wangari Maathai's rhetorical revolution for peace, democracy, and the environment(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Anderson, Versha J., author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Carcasson, Martin, committee member; Davis, Sandra, committee memberThis thesis examines Wangari Maathai's intersectional activism. By assessing her use of metaphor, narrative, and appeals to transcendence, I explore the ways in which her rhetorical integration of the themes of peace, democracy, and the environment function as intersectional activism. This capability is exemplified in Maathai's rhetoric through her merger of the rhetorical strategies to highlight the power of the African people in taking charge of their choices regarding environmental stewardship. Also, this merger focuses on the issues at hand but illustrates their impact on both the people and the landscape in a creative manner that adapts to the voices Maathai represents. Through these rhetorical strategies, Maathai develops persuasive and strategic communication demonstrative of intersectional activism and rhetoric of peace.Item Open Access More than a nigger: how nigger/a constitutes masculinity(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Hayes, Garrett, author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Khrebtan-Hoerhager, Julia, committee member; Scott, Malcolm, committee memberWords maintain a particular power over us constituting personalities, beliefs, actions, and reactions. We are a reflection of the words we both use to subject others and by which are subjected. These words often reinforce ideologies that create a consciousness for social interactions. “Nigger” and “nigga,” words derived from an abhorrent history, are consequential to the reality, perceptions, and experiences of those who deploy the word and those who are subjected by the word. This thesis examines the ways in which “nigger/a” constitutes masculinity for both the addresser and the addressed when deployed by individuals who identify as Black and individuals who do not identify as Black in film, stand-up comedy, and hip-hop. Analysis of these three discursive genres illustrates how “nigger/a” is a fragmented text with the capacity to constitute masculinity in diverse and sometimes competing ways. Through this thesis I hope to expand on the preceding research and understandings of the term and promote a responsible deployment of the word and the acknowledgment of both its history and its capacity.Item Open Access "No topic is taboo": PETA's post-feminist pivot to human-centric imagery(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Brown, Victoria L., author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Carolan, Michael, committee memberIn this thesis I argue that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) perpetuate exclusionary and hurtful images in their "Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom Out of Me" (BWVAKTBOOM) campaign. This campaign focuses on a young couple whose amorous activities leave the young woman, Jessica, with severe injuries. This campaign uses the manipulation of presence and absence to create controversy surrounding Jessica's agency. PETA uses this controversy to help forward a post-feminist ideology. This post-feminist message allows PETA to denigrate women to reassert masculine power and identity. I argue PETA chose to do this because of the "crisis of masculinity" that permeates popular media. The campaign reasserts masculine power through the reproduction of hypermasculinity, heteronormativity, and whiteness. The BWVAKTBOOM campaign reproduces hurtful, hegemonic images to reassert (vegan) masculine identity.Item Open Access Remembering the 1936-37 UAW-GM sit-down strike: stratification of a UAW member's identity in Sitdowners Memorial Park(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Keel, Aaron, author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Dickinson, Greg, committee member; Kirkland, Kenneth J., committee memberIn 1937, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) won recognition from General Motors (GM) through the historic sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan. This strike marked the beginning of the labor movement and the battle for worker's rights that is continuing into the present day. Sitdowners Memorial Park (SMP), located in Flint, remembers and commemorates the striker's great achievements in 1937. It is also a place where citizens encounter compelling narratives of the past, pay tribute to those who have come before them, build community, negotiate identity, and receive instruction for the present and future. In this thesis, I explore SMP as an experiential landscape. In exploring the park, I answer two questions. First, how does SMP construct a UAW member's identity? Second, how does SMP represent female gender roles and, more specifically, what kind of agency is attributed to women as members of the UAW in this counterpublic space? I argue that SMP enlists memories of the sit-down strike and its impacts on society to reinvigorate a dying community and offer visitors rhetorical resources justifying pro-union perspectives. In doing so, a counterpublic identity is created. In establishing a UAW member's identity as counterpublic, still fighting for recognition from the larger public, SMP also reinforces the worker/homemaker double bind that is prevalent as part of many women workers' historical and contemporary lived experience. This double bind can inhibit female workers' agency within the counterpublic space of the UAW where they can occupy a "counterprivate" space. Today, however, through the corrections and additions to the park over time, female workers are granted agency, but they are reminded that their participation in the public comes at a cost; the double bind continues to discipline them. Ultimately, SMP works to educate its visitors on the progress that the UAW has attained and the social significance of the sit-down strike. Through this education and remembering, SMP advocates that a visitor to the park must work to maintain what was won in 1937 and participate in a pro-union fight by carrying on the strikers' tradition of progressive politics.Item Open Access Shout amandla!: a rhetorical analysis of Helen Zille(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Sauter, Emily Susan, author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Burgchardt, Carl, committee member; Davis, Sandra, committee memberAs women have attained more prominent political positions, the study of gender, communication, and electoral politics has expanded over the last few decades. Public address scholarship in particular has covered speeches by many women, from Angelina Grimke to Hillary Clinton, from Sojourner Truth to Eleanor Roosevelt. However, as scholars in Communication Studies have begun concerning themselves with the rhetoric of political women, much of that attention has been focused on U.S. American women. This thesis expands that conversation by exploring the rhetoric of a woman politician acting outside the U.S. American context. This project examines the complex and varied rhetorical strategies employed by Helen Zille. The goal of this work is threefold: First, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of how women in developing nations impact and shape the political landscape through their rhetorical effort by examining the situation of a specific figure. I believe this case study offers important insight into the rhetoric of women leaders acting in the context of a developing, post-colonial nation. Second, this work examines how constitutive rhetoric functions in South Africa's complex political landscape. Third, this project responds to the need for more scholarship that examines rhetoric in non-U.S. contexts. More broadly, this project addresses the question of how Zille's rhetoric functions to overcome barriers of race, class, and gender as she works towards the 2014 presidential elections. This study will be guided by two major theories, Eugene White's theory of exigential flow and Maurice Charland's theory of constitutive rhetoric. In addition, in order to truly understand how Zille's rhetoric functions, I will explore the unique post-colonial mindset of South Africa that is a defining feature of Zille's rhetorical situation.Item Open Access The New Atheist Movement in the blogosphere: burlesque and carnivalesque as rhetorical strategies in visual productions(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Murti, Desideria Cempaka Wijaya, author; Anderson, Karrin Vasby, advisor; Chung, Hye Seung, committee member; Kasser, Jeff, committee memberThis thesis examines the visual production of the New Atheist Movement in the Blogosphere. I argue that the images of New Atheism use burlesque and carnivalesque as rhetorical strategies. In the public sphere, New Atheist movement use burlesque images to criticize the majority religion in the U.S. by critiquing the power dynamic between religion and humanity. The atheists also criticize the contemporary relevance of religious attitudes and offer an alternative perspective focusing on human empowerment, science, and technology. Meanwhile, the carnivalesque images function to uncover the problematic social discourse from the atheistic point of view and the alternative perspectives offered by atheism. The carnivalesque approach helps to smooth the promotion of the atheists' main premise, challenge the dominant premise, and desanctify hierarchy through laughter. The analysis on this paper is not only identifying burlesque and carnivalesque strategies of images in the blogosphere, but also to contribute to the understanding of how symbols function in religious discourse in the U.S. I conclude the project by examining that in atheists' (digital) enclaves, they build their subaltern identity and then expand into the broader public sphere, seeking points of connection between themselves and theists.