Communication Studies Undergraduate Theses

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    A Headline is Worth a Hundred Words: An Analysis of Syrian Opposition and Government Media
    (2023) Badaruddin, Helen; Jones, Charlotte; Kutufam, Doreen; Street, Alexander
    With about thirteen million displaced Syrians worldwide, the Syrian refugee crisis remains one of our most significant global challenges. In 2015, images of Alan Kurdi, a Kurdish-Syrian two-year-old refugee, lying dead on a beach went viral across the West and dramatically increased the media attention on the Syrian crisis. Despite extensive research on how media in receiving countries, like Canada and Turkey, discuss refugees, there is minimal research on the media representation of Syrian refugees in Syrian media. This study explores headlines from Syrian opposition and government sources and concentrates on how they frame refugees. The data highlighted the power of political alignment as a gatekeeping force as the sources framed refugee stories differently based on their ownership and political-lean. Using refugee headlines as a topic area allowed for an exploration of varying manifestations of nationalism that were shaped by issue-framing. The opposition source was more likely to tie nationalism to the value of the Syrian identity, while the government source was more likely to link it to the value of the Syrian homeland. This research has important implications for understanding how media in sending countries like Syria discusses their own refugees.
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    The Birth of Saints TV: Part I Starting from Nothing: Initial Planning of a Student-Produced TV Show August 1999-August 2000
    (2001-04-01) Search, Sarah; Brent Northup; Mark Smillie; Nancy Lee
    Carroll College and Sunbelt Communications joined together in 1997 to bring the NBC-affiliate KTVH to the Carroll College campus. The final contract between Carroll College and Sunbelt was signed on September 24, 1997. In August of 1999 the station held its grand opening and began broadcasting. The television station had the potential to provide Carroll with the opportunity to expand its Department of Communication Studies by offering broadcast media as a concentration within the major. The station also provided the college and the Catholic Church with increased opportunity for promotion through public service announcements. Faculty, staff and students have all shown support and enthusiasm for the station’s potential to enhance the college. Through research and planning, Department of Communication Studies head Brent Northup, along with students Blair Williams, Deedra Prevost and Sarah Search, organized and developed a production team of students. After much research and training, this team of students produced a pilot for the Saints TV show to present to the Carroll administration. In this thesis, I trace the history of the project beginning with the initial contact between Jim Rogers, owner of Sunbelt Communications, and Carroll College to the fall semester of 2000. During this time, research and planning for the program was completed. Deedra Prevost begins her thesis where mine ends, fall semester 2000. Prevost reveals the training of the crew, traces the production of the pilot, and reports on the community feedback concerning the pilot.
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    Gender Communication: An Impact in American Management
    (1992-04-01) Dacar, Debra; Harry Smith; Bethalee Wilson; C.W. Bill Huber
    Among recent studies in communication research, several experts have analyzed contrasting communication between men and women. Most research presents consistent and valuable information about the dichotomous communication between the two sexes. The clash of the two styles often leads to frustration in the business office, from the female manager who feels she isn't heard by subordinates, to the male executive who's confused when his orders spark resentment and anger. As a greater number of women enter into the business world, the gap between the genders becomes a significant battle that needs to be won. This paper will present an analysis of recent research which will explain the initial formation of the gender gap, followed by a detailed explanation of the differing communication components creating the gap. This thesis will then discuss the impact of gender-related communication barriers in corporate America. Suggestions directed to improvement in gender communication will conclude the thesis. The general intent of this thesis is to increase awareness of the communication gap between the sexes. It is important that both males and females understand the differing communication styles that affects them. With an increased awareness of the opposite approaches, it is suggested that both will be able to more effectively work together to understand the positive sides of each other. Men in corporate America can become more productive by accepting some of women's styles, rather than fighting them. Women can utilize their talents and learn how to relate to men's communication patterns. "We continue to resist the notion that by admitting the value of female attributes we are not denying the value of males. Instead, we are proposing we need both" (Rosener, 1991, p.149).
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    A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Poem And Peroration In Selected Addresses Of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1957-1963
    (1974-04-01) O'Malley, Margaret; Dennis Wiedmann; Harold Smith
    In 1910 a colorful Irishman ran for the mayor of Boston with the slogan, "The people, not the bosses, must rule. Bigger, Better, Busier Boston!" Fifty years later that man's grandson would be elected the first Catholic President of the United States. Although he had fought to discard some of his grandfather's more questionable campaign tactics, this candidate too spoke of a better world for all of the people. This man called the people to their responsibility to serve their country. This man reminded the world that it was time to take action to insure world peace. The man was John F. Kennedy. Kennedy lived in a time of great political change as his nation moved from isolationism to New Dealism and through the Second World War. Shortly after that war Kennedy was first elected to Congress from Boston's I Eleventh District. His first term and each subsequent one was marked by Kennedy's eagerness to speak for the common people of Boston. During his first term as a Senator, Kennedy organized a coalition of northeastern states that would pass legislation for the benefit of all 2 the people of New England. As a junior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kennedy turned some of his interest toward international problems. The Senator toured Europe, Africa, Asia and the Orient in order to gain a first hand evaluation of American foreign policy. If Kennedy disagreed with the policy he was never afraid to speak out. Once during his years in the Senate he even made a speech aimed at re-directing France's foreign policy.
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    A Clinical and Phenomenological Investigation of Early Infantile Autism
    (1978-04-01) Dieterle, Margaret; Harry Smith; John Ward; Bill Huber
    The enigma of early Infantile autism has interested and yet baffled students of human behavior since it was first described by Or, Leo Kanner in 1943. Its relationship to various conditions such as childhood schizophrenia, brain damage, primary mental retardation, and even normalcy has been probed, discussed, and debated over the years. In his first paper, Kanner differentiated autism from childhood schizophrenia, stating that "the autistic child failed to relate to people from the beginning of life while the childhood schizophrenic removed himself after a period of affective contact with people." 1 Later, Kanner (1948) he stated that infantile autism does not resemble any organic condition, that it is the earliest from of childhood schizophrenia. 2 Kanner, (1955) stated his belief that Intellectual impairment in these children results from “emotional determinants." 3 From this brief overview one is able to contemplate the difficulties and confusion encountered by the label "Infantile autism." In the span of ten years, one leading authority, cited, above revised his operational definition substantially. Thus, it is ny intent to integrate the newer knowledge of childhood autism as complete social aphasia with marked Central Nervous System disorganization. Autism comes from the Greek word "autos" meaning "self" and it is a "specific syndrome of organic brain disease characterized by basic inability to transform auditory experience into the meaningful patterns for understanding the surrounding world." 4 The resulting communication problems, behavior abnormalities, learning difficulties and emotional dilemmas lead to secondary handicaps with disturbed family relationships. All of these disorders have a common denominator based on man’s ability to be autistic. Each case of childhood autism poses an individual problem in which all factors derived from the neurological status, emotional reactions, and social needs roust be examined before an appropriate training and educational program can be designed. The search for a simplified procedure or a universally applicable formula is fruitless because no generalized approach applies to such an individualized syndrome. There is only one diagnosis but many forms of therapy. The problems of autistic children are always the same but the solutions differ with each child. It will be these two aspects then, the problems and the solutions, which I will direct myself in the following pages.