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 "Aoki, Eric, committee member"
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Item Open Access A queer perspective: gay themes in the film Interview with the Vampire(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Bendel, Jared A., author; Burgchardt, Carl R., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Sloane, Sarah, committee memberThere are a growing number of mainstream films and television shows which include gay characters or same-sex families as central figures: A Single Man, The Kids Are Alright, Will & Grace, Mad Men, Two and a Half Men, and Modern Family. This thesis sets out to determine if the film Interview with the Vampire, which preceded the above named films and television shows by more than five years, is a cite of queer cinema that focuses on gay themes while proposing a same-sex family. In coupling Seymour Chatman's rhetorical theory of narrative in fiction - literature and film with Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin's theory of Queer Cinema, the study focuses on locating and citing specific instances where gay themes of identity and identification along with the theme of the same-sex family emerge. The study utilizes the novel Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice as a critical touchstone and draws from Roland Barthes' concept of "Rhetoric of the Image" to evaluate the strength of the themes found within the adapted film Interview with the Vampire. The research finds several examples of the re-presentation of individual gay lives and uncovers evidence of a cinematic representation of a same-sex family. The researcher concludes that while the film Interview with the Vampire is certainly an example of queer cinema, it also presents a same-sex family unit that may be the first of its kind.Item Open Access A reason to believe: a rhetorical analysis of Mormon missionary films(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Anderson, Sky L., author; Burgchardt, Carl, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Kiefer, Kathleen, committee memberIn this analysis, I examine Mormon cinema and how it functions on a rhetorical level. I specifically focus on missionary films, or movies that are framed by LDS missionary narratives. Through an analysis of two LDS missionary films, namely Richard Dutcher's God's Army (2000) and Mitch Davis' The Other Side of Heaven (2001), I uncover two rhetorical approaches to fostering spirituality. In my first analysis, I argue that God's Army presents two pathways to spirituality: one which produces positive consequences for the characters, and the other which produces negative consequences. I call these pathways, respectively, ascending and descending spirituality, and I explore the rhetorical implications of this framing. In my second analysis, I contend that The Other Side of Heaven creates a rhetorical space wherein the audience may transform. Specifically, the film constructs a "Zion," or a heaven on earth, with three necessary components, which coincide perfectly with established LDS teachings: God, people, and place. These three elements invite the audience to accept that they are imperfect, yet they can improve if they so desire. Ultimately, by comparing my findings from both films, I argue that the films' rhetorical strategies are well constructed to potentially reinforce beliefs for Mormon audiences, and they also may invite non-Mormons to think more positively about LDS teachings.Item Open Access "Can we fix it?": Bob the Builder as a discursive resource for children(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Freed, Brianna, author; Broadfoot, Kirsten, advisor; Aoki, Eric, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee memberThis thesis examines the discourses and representations constructed in the popular children's television series Bob the Builder--a discursive resource that engages work as its central theme. Through a critical cultural lens, the study uses critical discourse analysis and visual semiotics to explore the constructions of work/er, organization, non-work activities, family, gender, and diversity as they are (re)presented in the show. The study found that Bob the Builder distinctly (re)presents values of the postmodern, postindustrial worker of Western, advanced corporate capitalism. Leisure and play are portrayed as activities which, ideally, do not affect work. Family is equally placed in the periphery as family members are either placed entirely outside the organization--as with Wendy's family--or as contributing members to its operation--as with Bob's family. Gender representations are problematized by Wendy's denied occupational identity as a builder equal to her male counterpart. Diversity in the show is problematic with minimal non-White ethnic representation and two overtly stereotypical representations of supporting characters. Directions for future research are offered in the conclusion.Item Open Access Convergent invention in space and place: a rhetorical and empirical analysis of Colorado State University's Morgan Library(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Weber, Victoria, author; Dunn, Thomas R., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Lederer, Naomi, committee memberThis thesis seeks to describe the ways in which contemporary academic library spaces facilitate rhetorical invention. To observe rhetorical invention in a real space, this thesis analyzes spatial practices in Colorado State University's Morgan Library. This thesis argues that Morgan Library is a representative space of convergent invention. The neologism convergent invention is defined as the cross-platform and multi-modal creation of a rhetorical text which accounts for external factors on the creator(s). To describe the functions of the contemporary library, this thesis uses Michel de Certeau's theories of strategies and tactics to articulate usage patterns. Strategies are analyzed through a rhetorical criticism of Morgan Library to show how the library materially articulates its vision of convergent invention. Users' tactics to accept or reject Morgan Library's messages about convergent invention are explicated through the results of survey data and behavior observations. In the conclusion this thesis provides some implications for convergent invention and the future of libraries, both academic and otherwise.Item Open Access Dancing in the desert: electronic dance music festivals, carnivalesque rhetorics of disorientation, and performative participant observation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Herring, Kristen D., author; Vasby Anderson, Karrin, advisor; Gibson, Katie, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Pippen, John, committee memberElectronic dance music (EDM) creates communities whose members negotiate and renegotiate the politics of public performances of identity. In this dissertation, I ask "How do EDM festivals function as temporary communities that rhetorically construct the performance of gender and sexuality?" I argue that EDM uses a rhetorical strategy I call disorientation. I detail the ways disorientation helps EDM festival attendees, known as "ravers" or "festies," inhabit liminal spaces and transgress the patriarchal, heteronormative, white supremacist, and capitalist expressions of gender and sexuality that are dominant in the outside world via rhetorics of the carnivalesque. I also develop an approach to rhetorical field methods I call Performative Participant Observation. I demonstrate Performative Participant Observation in this dissertation and argue that similar methods would be useful for scholars interested in studying ephemeral and public performances of gender and sexuality as well as performances of the carnival.Item Open Access Dancing in/out/around/about the closet: narrating autoethnographic agency from [a] marginalized voice(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Hummel, Gregory Sean, author; Griffin, Cindy L., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Brantmeier, Edward J., committee memberThe purposes of this study were threefold: (1) to understand the significance of autoethnography with the communication studies field; (2) to question the relationship between/within theoretical frameworks on identity, voice, and agency; and (3) to theorize on the affects of coming out through the lenses of identity, voice, and agency from an autoethnographic perspective. In short, the study finds autoethnographic perspectives to be a fruitful endeavor for communication scholars seeking to understand a more holistic picture of the human condition, while calling for more research to enhance theoretical conceptualizations of identity, voice, and agency. Furthermore, this study suggests that autoethnographic perspectives can offer voice to otherwise silenced identities, while also providing re/presentations for individuals who lack representation in and/or outside of the academy. Finally, this study urges individuals who avow to being an ally for marginalized individuals/groups to actively voice their support in order to create more comfortable/safe spaces within and/or outside of the classroom.Item Open Access Dynamic disorders: narratives of eating disorders and the father-daughter relationship(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Mouton, Ashton, author; Broadfoot, Kirsten, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Canetto, Silvia, committee memberEating disorders affect women all over the world, particularly adolescents, at a rate which has grown in the last several decades. As obesity becomes one of the most battled health risks, those seriously underweight are ignored, praised, and/or forgotten, and as the fear of obesity grows, so does the incidence and prevalence of eating disorders. Previous research on eating disorders has focused on the family system and/or the mother-daughter dyad for their etiological significance, but relatively little attention has been given to the father's place in the family system or the father-daughter dyad in this context. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model as a lens, this thesis expands the literature of eating disorders by asking questions about the father-daughter relationship and the father's role(s) in the development, maintenance, and recovery of their daughter's eating disorder experiences. Narrative interviews, which record daughters' perceived experiences of the father-daughter relationship in the context of their eating disorders, were collected from women who self-identify as having an eating disorder. Analysis of the daughters' narrative accounts reveals six themes that define the father-daughter relationship and daughters' experiences of their eating disorders. Throughout the narratives, daughters communicatively construct their relationships with their fathers through the dialectical tensions of closeness/distance and openness/closedness. Interestingly, daughters do not communicatively construct their relationships with their fathers based on interactions about food, weight, or appearance but rather around issues of quality interactions, support, and closeness, as daughters construct the father-daughter relationship as an evolving emotional experience. Eating disorders, then, are perceived as relational artifacts of the father-daughter relationship, marking certain relational turning points. Within the narratives, fathers potentially enable the development of the eating disorder through actions and inactions nonrelated to daughters' food intake, appearance, or behavior and potentially further enable the performance of the eating disorder through their silence and passive reactions to their daughters' disorders. However, fathers have the potential to aid in the recovery process with care, support, and expressed closeness, and when fathers do actively participate in their daughters' recovery, the relationship and the recovery process can both benefit from their active participation. These findings highlight the need for further research on fathers (and other father-figures) in this context. Future studies should examine and compare narratives of both fathers and daughters in this context to gain a more complete picture of the father-daughter relationship experience. In addition, future studies should inquire about the family's influence on eating disorders but also the eating disorder's influence on family interactions. Finally, future research should conduct studies with relational dialectics and relational turning points as their main focus in families with eating disorders.Item Open Access Examining mindfulness-based training effects upon uncertainty reduction in initial interaction between strangers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Whitt, Joseph M., author; Crowley, John, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Rickard, Kathryn, committee memberThis research project is meant to supplement the extant literature on initial interaction between strangers. The central inquiries of this study examine whether individuals can reduce relational automaticity found in initial interactions and, in turn, embody more openness toward strangers. The study investigates the growing field of mindfulness practice, known for reducing behavioral automaticity and boosting pro-social effects, and determines how it impacts the relational outcomes in initial interaction. To accomplish this, it compares the performance of two experimental groups in initial interaction, one group that is exposed to a mindfulness treatment and one control. By analyzing the participants' uncertainty reduction strategies, this research aims to determine whether mindfulness plays a moderating role for uncertainty reduction in initial interaction.Item Open Access Examining social exchange measures as moderators of politeness techniques in face-threatening acts between romantic partners(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Allred, Ryan J., author; Crowley, John P., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, committee memberMuch has been written concerning face and the process individuals engage in to manage both their own and other’s face in a variety of contexts (Goffman, 1967). Despite ample research on the management of one’s own face (Brown & Levinson, 1987), still little is known concerning the motives behind helping others to create and manage face. This study utilizes measures from Social Exchange Theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959) as moderators for face-saving techniques presented in Politeness Theory. Particularly, romantic relationships were examined to determine how relationship satisfaction and stability levels influence decision-making processes when individuals approach their partners with a face-threatening act. Satisfaction was shown to be associated with concern for face whereas stability, commitment, and equity were not. Additionally, satisfaction and stability levels are correlated with the techniques individuals use to reduce uncertainty concerning their partners’ face needs. Future research is suggested to further understand effective techniques to reduce uncertainty surrounding face-threatening acts.Item Open Access Hong Kong's Umbrella and Hard Hat revolutions: toward a theory of the ideology of protest strategies(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Gilmore, Andrew, author; Dickinson, Greg, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Diffrient, David Scott, committee member; Mao, KuoRay, committee memberIn this study, I analyzed Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Revolution and 2019 Hard Hat Revolution to answer two research questions: (1) What ideologies characterize the protest strategies of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and Hard Hat Revolution? and (2) What protest mechanisms communicate the ideologies of the protest strategies of Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and Hard Hat Revolution? Using participant interviews, mass media, social media, and my own embodied experiences, I analyzed three major protest mechanisms of the two revolutions—metaphors of the home, the use of public transportation infrastructure, and the portrayal of political leaders. My analysis led me to uncover two distinct theoretical protest ideologies that characterize the Umbrella and Hard Hat Revolutions—One World, One Dream (Umbrella Revolution) and Our World, Our Dream (Hard Hat Revolution)—and the tenets that undergird these two ideologies. My development of the two ideologies revealed that the two major differences in ideological approaches and their communication mechanisms derived from different audiences—the target audience for the Umbrella Revolution was potential external allies, while the target audience for the Hard Hat Revolution was the Hong Kong police force and the Hong Kong and Beijing governments.Item Open Access Introducing a critical approach to studies of uncertainty: engaging uncertainty with Hispanic adults in Colorado during the COVID-19 health crisis(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Calderón González, Jesús A., author; Parks, Elizabeth S., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Ishiwata, Eric, committee memberExisting scholarship on the communicative experience of uncertainty revolves primarily around understanding intrapersonal and interpersonal processes for engaging with uncertainty. After its beginning with Berger and Calabrese's (1975) work on Uncertainty Reduction Theory, multiple advances in conceptualizing how the study of uncertainty is approached have been theoretically developed such as that of Babrow's (2001) development of Problematic Integration theory and Afifi and Weiner's (2004) introduction of the Theory for Motivated Information Management. These theories primarily look inward at how individuals process information at an intrapersonal level when deciding whether and how to engage uncertainty in their lives. In sum, existing theories of uncertainty are adept at exploring how uncertainty is processed; however, they offer very few insights into the factors that determine what kinds and how uncertainty comes to be experienced by particular individuals. This thesis aims to expand our understanding of the experience of uncertainty by shifting our attention into the sociocultural sphere, specifically looking into how introducing the critical/cultural concepts of culture, subjectivity, and power into studies of uncertainty has the potential of enhancing awareness of the multilayered and interconnected nature of uncertainty. This research engages the study of uncertainty and health communication through the lens of the Hispanic community in Morgan County, CO, to answer the research question: What uncertainties have Hispanic adults in Morgan County encountered during the COVID-19 health crisis and how have these uncertainties been communicatively engaged by this specific community? Using a mixed methods approach through an online survey and virtual focus groups, I adopt a critical perspective to interpersonal communication in the study of uncertainty as a needed step in arriving at more holistic understandings of its experience. In collecting survey data, I utilized two scales: Diener et al. (2010) Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences, and Grimmelikhuijsen and Knies (2017) scale for Citizen Trust in Government Organizations. I used these instruments alongside a set of qualitative prompts that served the purpose of gaining general insights about the overall perspectives of the Hispanic community in Morgan County regarding the COVID-19 health crisis. Focus group discussions involved collecting more detailed data about participant experiences throughout the duration of the COVID-19 health crisis. A thematic analysis of the data collected was conducted through the application of the hermeneutic circle as presented by Dibley et al. (2020) complemented by Tracy's (2018) phronetic approach to data analysis. Both of these approaches prioritize engaging with data in deep and structured manners that allow for the research question to guide analysis. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: 1) uncertainty about employment and financial stability, 2) fear of infection based on sociocultural factors, 3) disagreements about social behavioral expectations, 4) concern for children's well-being, and 5) acceptance of risk of infection in uncertainty management strategies. Each of these themes carry with them sociocultural factors outside of the individual that can only begin to be understood through a critical perspective on uncertainty that pays specific attention to how culture, subjectivity, and power impact how Hispanic adults faced uncertainties emerging from the COVID-19 health crisis. Results point not only to how individuals engage with uncertainty once they experience it, but also give insight into sociocultural sources of uncertainty that may be overlooked when utilizing existing theoretical approaches to uncertainty. They also show how Hispanic adults in Morgan County engaged diverse strategies for addressing uncertainty in a manner that resisted behavioral expectations set by public health guidelines in order to reduce intrapersonal, interpersonal, and sociocultural uncertainty related to the COVID-19 health crisis.Item Open Access Job hunting in the digital age: how socialization messages are communicated to information seekers through corporate websites(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) White, Hillary, author; Williams, Elizabeth, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee memberThis thesis examines organizational socialization. It seeks to understand how socialization messages about performance proficiency, people, organizational politics, language, goals and values, and history are communicated on corporate websites. Specifically, this study uses Chao and colleagues' (1994) typology to explore how messages about job performance, people, politics, language, organizational goals and values, and history are communicated on organization's websites. Through a grounded theory analysis of 10 of the 2013 "Best Corporate Websites" several similarities are identified in the way socialization messages are communicated to potential employees through websites. Organizations use similar language and format in order to present information relevant to job and information seekers. This research has implications for both individuals who seek information online about organizations and organizations that want to encourage organizational socialization of employees prior to entry into the organization. Using similar strategies may help organizations clearly and convincingly communicate messages to the desired audience.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 Representations of immigration and the border fence: an evaluation of media frames in two U.S. newspapers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) RodrÃguez-Escobar, Manuel A., author; Dickinson, Greg, advisor; Sagás, Ernesto, committee member; Aoki, Eric, committee memberOn October 26, 2006, President George W. Bush enacted the Secure Fence Act in response to what many congressional members and U.S. citizens deemed a growing immigration problem. In the months immediately preceding and following the authorization of the bill, various discourses arose across the nation to engage in a growing debate on ways to solve the perceived dilemmas caused by immigration. This study evaluated and compared the dialogues engaged within two U.S. newspapers to determine how the news outlets described and discussed immigration. More specifically, this study first explored news reports found in the Washington Post, since this newspaper serves as the leading periodical in the Washington D.C. area, where the Secure Fence Act was debated amongst journalists, politicians, and lobbyists. Next, this project investigated newspaper articles found in the Brownsville Herald, which serves a targeted audience living along the U.S.-Mexico border. The goal of this investigation was to compare the two divergent discourses in order to identify the common themes and frames employed by media outlets to describe immigrants and immigration. This study incorporated theories of frame and metaphorical analysis to determine the common themes utilized by journalists, politicians, and lobbyists in their descriptions of immigrants and immigration. Additionally, this project surveyed articles that included the key terms "immigration" and "border fence" in order to narrow the sample on dialogues centered around the passage of the Secure Fence Act. Lastly, this examination explored articles published in the three months prior to and three months following the enactment of the Secure Fence Act to best gauge suggestions, responses, and reactions to the U.S. governments' response to the perceived immigration problem. The findings indicated that the two periodicals discussed immigration and offered representations of immigrants utilizing very different themes and metaphors, which raised concerns about whether the 109th Congress appropriately and effectively responded to the perceived immigration problem. The author suggests that frame and metaphorical analysis can be incorporated into future studies focused on understanding how a particular issue is represented within a variety of media outlets. The author's hope is that understanding the various sides and concerns of any particular issue can lead to a more productive dialogue on how to most effectively resolve the problems identified by various communities.Item Open Access The young, the old, and the in-between: constructing intergenerational identities and interactions in organizational contexts(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Reifschneider-Smith, Tiffany Lynn, author; Broadfoot, Kirsten J., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee memberProfessional organizations are currently facing a phenomenon that has not been experienced or seen before. As the economy remains fragile and the cost of living continues to rise, a greater number of students are entering the workforce while working to complete their college degrees, and the more seasoned professionals are working well past what has traditionally been called the "retirement years." Due to this increasing number of the young and old entering the workforce, four generations are now working side by side on a daily basis, and this is leaving many professional organizations to wonder "How do we manage, motivate, and communicate with four increasingly diverse age groups?" Interviews were conducted and participant observations took place within one professional Colorado organization to gain a better understanding of how multiple generations working within one company communicatively construct and perform their generational identities. Through the interview and observation data, six themes emerged illuminating both similar and diverse ways as to how the four generations prefer to communicate and interact in the workplace. In this study the meanings of these themes are discussed in order to shed light on the consequences, both positive and negative, of having four generations working together every day.Item Open Access When walls talk: consumption, gender, and identity in children's bedrooms(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Solverud, Jessica Ann, author; Dickinson, Greg, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Carolan, Michael, committee memberIn this thesis I assert that the discourses of both ideal and real depictions of children's bedrooms serve as vehicles for social doxa. The catalogs of Restoration Hardware Kids, Pottery Barn Kids, and The Land of Nod convey not just what an ideal boy's bedroom or girl's bedroom looks like, but what an ideal boy or girl looks and acts like. Thus, children's bedrooms operate as pedagogical sites of gender. Illuminated by Pierre Bourdieu's notion of habitus, furniture pieces and decorative accessories are revealed to facilitate disparate motions, lifestyles, and habits which construct disparate gender identities. In this thesis I argue that both ideal and real depictions of children's bedroom spaces function as pedagogical spaces, reflecting the doxic expectations of gender and facilitating accordant enactments of masculinity or femininity. The embodied relationship between the children and their material environment weaves the gender habitus of girlness or boyness into their performance of everyday life.