Graduate theses: An index of graduate work in speech,XXVIII

With an 1890 book called The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, Alfred Thayer Mahan had a profound and far‐reaching impact upon subsequent world events. In large measure, Mahan's effectiveness was derived from his style in discourse. Evidence for this assumption is found in the reactions of Mahan's readers, in their correspondence to him or about him. Analysis and synthesis of those situationally bound responses to discourse account for a rhetorical function of style in language as para‐message conducing to ethos.     

Critical Explorations of Human Rights: Recent and Selected Works

Abstract

The author provides an overview of recent critical works on human rights that constitute important contributions to the literature and ties together key threads from the discourse. Monographs, edited collections, and select articles on human rights are examined that draw primarily on critical legal theory and feminist approaches, among others, such as radical democracy and radical cause lawyering. Also explored are intersections between the critical human rights scholarship surveyed and recent works on ecological feminism and environmental human rights. The author argues that such collected works are invaluable contributions for those seeking transformative approaches to law and social change through the critical human rights lens.     

“Touching the sentiments of everyone”;: Nationalism and state broadcasting in thirties Mexico

This paper provides a historical perspective on the intersection of media, popular culture, and nationalism through a study of the broadcasting policies and programs of one of Mexico's earliest government radio stations. This study analyzes the musical programs that formed the centerpiece of government radio programming in order to evaluate the racial and class ideologies imbedded in the nationalist discourse of state broadcasters. By viewing these government programs through the lens of a broader literature on nationalism in the Third World and among diasporic communities, it is possible to identify a fundamental tension in Mexico's official nationalism between a search for the roots of an “authentic”; ethnic identity, and a need to position Mexican culture within the constellation of Western “civilization.”; Finally, this paper investigates audience reactions to state broadcasts in order to explore the meaning of early broadcast nationalism for Mexico's radio listeners.     

Carl Becker and the epigrammatic force of style in history

Among historians in America, Carl Becker attained fame for style in discourse. Although his stylistic prowess was evinced in scholarly works which brought him eminence in his profession, epigrammatic style also was prominent in his writing of popular history, first in a polemic essay called “Kansas” which led to his role as propagandist in World War One, and then—and of particular interest to those interested in mass persuasion—an eminently successful high school textbook, Modern History. The objective of historiography herein is to establish causal relationships between epigrammatic style in those popular works and resultant, rhetorical effects upon Becker's readers mainly in the general public over a span of several decades. Primary source evidence of effectiveness is in letters to Becker, and other correspondence, that indicate which concepts and precise sentences in Modern History were salient and persuasive for a mass readership largely because of the epigrammatic style with which they were phrased.     

Diversity’s discontents: in search of an archive of the oppressed

ABSTRACT

Australian and US-based archivists have recently begun to confront their complicity in a documentary landscape that excludes and erases the voices and views of minority, oppressed and poor communities. Archival professional organisations in both countries attempt to confront this issue by focusing on the homogeneity of the profession, specifically through using the discourse of diversity. Thus, this keynote address, delivered at the 2017 conference of the Australian Society of Archivists in Melbourne, explores the following question: how, if at all, does diversity form part of the solution for dismantling the white supremacy of archives? It begins this inquiry by recounting the author’s participation and experience with diversity projects of the Society of American Archivists, before speculating how archivists might transition away from the language of diversity and towards the language of liberation through the concept of an archive of the oppressed. The central argument of the address is that dismantling white supremacy in archives requires archivists abandon the neoliberal discourse of diversity and adopt an archive of the oppressed, or a cooperative approach in which oppressed peoples are positioned as subjects in our own liberation.     

It's HBO: Passionate engagement,TV branding,and tourism in the postbroadcast Era

This paper contends with how postbroadcast television branding subsumes viewers’ affective interactivities with place to produce brand value. Focusing on the HBO series Treme, I argue that Treme engendered HBO's postbroadcast brand mutation by producing “passionate engagement,” where viewers were invited to interact with the show by touring New Orleans, thus adding place to online interactivity and multiscreen engagement as a means of constructing an “authentic” brand identity. The desire for viewers to connect to New Orleans’ culture is thus transformed into a vehicle for profit making for HBO and an assurance to shareholders that the brand still holds value.     

Inquiry-based civil discourse education

Course: Civil discourse, argumentation, debate, persuasion, political communication

Objectives: This unit activity will help students build an understanding of civil discourse and its function in society. Students will: (1) increase their capacity to examine arguments critically, (2) enhance their own ability to self-reflect critically, and (3) improve their ability to engage in civil discourse. This activity will employ inquiry-based learning strategies to apply students’ understanding of civil discourse in a dialogue with the broader campus community by partnering with campus media to develop and publish original opinion-editorial pieces.     

Russian,Japanese, and Latin Oh My! Using Technology to Catalog Non-English Language Titles

Abstract

Nearly every library where the dominant language is English also has materials that are written in other languages. These materials can present unique challenges for catalogers. Many non-English language materials are located in the array of collections of the Special Collection Department of Mississippi State University (MSU). To properly process and catalog these materials, the cataloger used online tools which provided a greater understanding of the materials, allowing a higher cataloging standard. The author discusses the various tools and methods that were used to catalog these materials.     

The Community Collaboration Stakeholder Project

Courses: Small Group Communication, or courses on social justice, collaboration, dialogue, and/or leadership

Objectives: In this semester-long project, students apply the communication skills of dialogue, appreciative inquiry, consensus decision-making, brainstorming, and principled negotiation in an authentic simulation of interorganizational collaboration     

An experimental investigation of rhetorical clarity∗

Francis Bacon succinctly described a number of methods of communication and he alluded to others. He also characterized his method of scientific investigation (the New Induction). Hence it is possible to state Bacon's underlying conception of method. It is a conception far less rigid than that held by contemporaneous logicians, classical or Ramean, and it allowed him to specify more methods of dispositio than the rhetoricians recognized. Furthermore, Bacon applied his notion of method deliberately by naming the method or using the language of method in over a score of his communications in a variety of cirstances, in works major and minor, including the 1597 essays.     

Stay woke: The Black Lives Matter movement as a practical tool to develop critical voice

Courses: This unit activity is suited for upper-level college courses on persuasion, intercultural communication, diversity, leadership, social justice, civil discourse, argumentation, debate, and political communication.

Objectives: After completing this unit, learners should be able to: improve their capacity to examine arguments; enhance their ability to self-reflect; improve their ability to engage in civil discourse; take a position on a social justice issue based on research and recursive communications; and make connections to learners and social activists who share their perspectives.     

Writing as an Information Literacy Tool: Bringing Writing in the Disciplines to an Online Library Class

ABSTRACT

The Writing in the Discipline (WID) concepts lend themselves to execution in an online realm, where written communication is the primary means of contact between students and instructors. The author instituted WID in an online section of a 1-credit research class and found the WID framework also made it easier for students to demonstrate information literacy. WID provides space within a course for students to become accustomed to the discourse of a discipline, writing to understand before being asked to formally communicate. This article explains the concepts behind WID and outlines how it was executed within an urban community college online class.     

Locating knowledge

ABSTRACT

This paper arose from a discussion of the richness of languages used to describe different landscapes of Australia and how the landscape provides the affordances for the language created from this land. More importantly, each language embodies its place and associated world view. This paper looks at how information technology (IT) is supporting knowledge-sharing through approaches used in Indigenous community IT practice and projects to enhance multimedia repositories of knowledge. The origin of any archive is important, in terms of access and control of the use of this material, but also it is important in teaching, to provide the context and connectedness when presenting the material. A collection of knowledge resources can be used to recreate online flexible learning environments around engineering on country and traditional knowledge practices. IT can provide an interactive interface for people wishing to learn the material, through games or worksheet-style activities. Various case studies and their analysis illustrate the way IT can be used to share this knowledge in a legitimate manner across landscapes and cultures. In particular the aim is to understand how authentic this approach can be in view of concerns over appropriation or co-option of Aboriginal knowledge.     

Reconciling Hall with discourse,written in the shadows of ‘“Confederate” and Rainbow Flags

ABSTRACT

This essay addresses Stuart Hall and discourse theory, focusing on his essay “Signification, representation, ideology.” Reflecting upon recent events involving representation and identity—US legalization of gay marriage, murders at a gay nightclub, removal of the “Rebel Flag” from the South Carolina state capitol, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign—I attempt to destabilize the counterproductive dualism of material/discourse in Hall’s critique of poststructural discourse theory. Finding amenability between Hall and Foucaultian discourse theory, I describe Hall’s utility for discourse scholars, such as his perspectives on ideological practices and generation of new discourses as an interventionist act.     

ETV's financial dilemma

Cagney and Lacey marks a change in the traditional law‐and‐order, police‐detective genre because character, rather than crime, activities are the dominant elements of the series. Character dramatization is achieved through five discourse patterns that interact in individual episodes and continue across episodes and seasons. The integration of discourse patterns results in a narrative that is serial in nature and cumulative in effect. This essay traces these discourse patterns and demonstrates how the series evolved into a hybrid program form that explored, in an innovative way, television's dramatic narrative potential.     

Celebrity-bashing or #MeToo contribution? New York Times Online readers debate the boundaries of hashtag feminism

ABSTRACT

In January 2018, a feminist blog, babe, detailed an anonymous woman’s date with comedian Aziz Ansari, ending with her accusation that he had sexually assaulted her by escalating his sexual advances despite her verbal and nonverbal objections. Online reaction to the babe article was swift and plentiful, including a New York Times editorial written by conservative provocateur Bari Weiss entitled, “Aziz Ansari is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader.” Weiss’ piece drew 2953 online responses before the comment section closed the next day, with wide-ranging views addressing the respective behaviors and motivations of Ansari, “Grace,” and Weiss. The responses provide an opportunity to explore how commenters negotiate the boundaries of the #MeToo movement in the venue that had ignited the movement’s resurgence with the story of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s longstanding sexual abuse of women working in the film industry. This study applies quantitative and qualitative analysis to comment discourse and elicits three major themes: (1) expectations for seeking or conveying consent, (2) criteria for publicizing the private, and (3) demarcations between insensitivity and abuse. Justifications frequently offered for the positions articulated were based on references to personal experience, cultural expectations, the #MeToo movement, and feminism.     

“Be All That You Can Be”

Abstract

Library school provides librarians with a good background in library science, but to be a professional reference librarian, continuous improvement must be sought. Professionalism can include developing basic employee skills, supporting library standards, participating in university and library functions; presenting papers; and publishing. Being sensitive to communication skills can impact how a librarian is perceived by library users. Image does play a role in the effectiveness of the library professional.

Professional reference librarians must market themselves by being visible on campus, in the community, and on the Internet. Being a professional librarian is an opportunity for personal growth and educating the public about a very exciting discipline.     

Entertainment,the Personal,and the Political: Therapeutic Rhetoric and Popular CultureControversies

This article examines the phenomenon of resistance to popular culture criticism in U.S. discourse by analyzing the controversy surrounding two popular culture artifacts: a series of Taco Bell advertisements featuring a Spanish- speaking Chihuahua, and a Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area radio program that mocked a young Hmong rape victim who committed infanticide. Dismissal of popular culture criticism in reaction to these controversies reflects the genre of therapeutic rhetoric, or discourse that surrounds the U.S. propensity to understand and discuss social problems through the terministic screen of individualism.     

The Scholar's anthology: Theories of human discourse,old and new

Studies of classical, medieval, and contemporary theories of human discourse illustrate timeless questions and problems facing scholars of rhetoric, literature, and criticism.