Tag: COMM

Maddy John

Capstone: Love, Premam, Kaadhal the Podcast

For my senior capstone, I decided to start a podcast about intercultural communication with my husband Shijo. We promoted the podcast through social media like Facebook and Instagram. In every episode, we would discuss a communication concept or theory and how it related to our experiences as a couple. Through our recording sessions, we learned about aspects of each other’s culture we had never expected. We went through a lot of trial and error, and it was challenging at times, but overall we found the experience very rewarding. In this presentation I’ll be discussing the successes and shortcomings of our podcast and the things we learned in the process of making it.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

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Noon – 12:30 PM

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Kaylyn LeRoy

Women in Leadership in Public Relations

This project is based on women who are in positions of leadership in the public relations field and how they got to be where they are today. Although the world of PR and advertising certainly includes women, when you get up into the chain of command, women only make up 30% of leadership roles. This study is focused on women who are in the 30% and how they got to be where they are today.

COMM 499, Capstone

Kelsay Rychener

L203

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12:30 – 1 PM

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Alyssa Perovich

Light & Honey Ministries: Strategic Plan 

Light & Honey Ministries is a web-based ministry outreach focused on using biblical backing to address current issues that young women face today. Our topics will range from friendship and community to grief and sin. From a background of leadership and vulnerability, I have been inspired to begin L&H to offer a bible study in a format that reaches an audience immersed in a media-centered society. Presented in a blog format, L&H will create content using the Word to teach lessons, lead discussions, and inspire further conversations. As Psalm 119:103-105 reflects, the Word is a light to our path and honey from our lips.   

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Kelsay Rychener

L203

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1:30 – 2 PM

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Sarah Reinecker

Public Relations campaign for Incline Basketball Academy 

The following presentation is an overview of a Public Relations Campaign for Incline Basketball Academy. This is a non-profit AAU basketball organization that is built on “character, love, and loyalty.” The objective was to assist their Director of Basketball Operations in promoting their organization in the community of Eugene, while planning and hosting a grand opening event for their new basketball arena, “The Five”. 

COMM 499, Capstone

Kelsay Rychener

Noon – 12:30

L204

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Brooklyn Rodriguez

Compassion and the Restoration of Worthiness 

Homelessness is a reality that deeply effects the city of Eugene. As a part of this community, what does it look like to engage with and relate to the unhoused? Many of us carry misconceptions that limit us from truly being able to do so, or, in other cases maybe the crisis feels so overwhelming that paralysis takes over and it feels too big to do anything at all. In this vital conversation, I want to guide people through challenging their own thoughts around homelessness. It is by the power of others experiences and stories that we often soften and find a deep care for the world around us. So, how do we look through the lens of seeing ALL as image bearers and treating the most vulnerable in our city with dignity, love, compassion, and care? 

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Kelsay Rychener

L203

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1 – 1:30 PM

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Jordan Strehlow

The Power Behind Smiling

A smile has the power to change lives. Multiple studies demonstrate how smiling will improve a persons physical as well as mental health and smiling consistently will bring the biggest results. The benefits that come from smiling are needed now more than ever because of all the isolation and depression brought on by COVID-19. Each person can make a difference in their own life as well as others by intentionally smiling at the right times. Smiling is a powerful tool and can improve a person’s life when done correctly.

COMM 312, Advanced Public Speaking

Doyle Srader

L204

12:30 – 1 PM

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Anthony Wurst

Convincing Convincability

What is the purpose of message delivery? When we make the effort to communicate a message, we are hoping to produce some sort of change in the recipient(s). In this presentation, we summarize three articles that discuss the results of studies involving the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion as they attempted to affect change in their targets. We then discuss a common theme that all three shared as they attempted to focus on ELM’s central route of message elaboration in their message targets. The theme will then be applied to the articles and we shall make an application of our findings using George Washington’s (1796) farewell address.

COMM 342, Survey of Communication Theory

Kelsay Rychener

Bucher Room

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2 – 2:30 PM

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Paige Amstutz, Annelise Helbling & Madison Hoke

Vocalic qualities of Disney villains

Animated Disney movies often try to remove the idea of race and bias from their character choices, but what about movies in which there are no human or live-action characters?  The following study explores whether the choices made by actors and directors show implicit bias against African American males through vocalics in nonhuman, animated Disney characters.  Researchers chose eleven Disney movies in which there were no human characters and analyzed the vocalics. Researchers measured pitch, rate of speech, and volume. The results were compared to past research in order to determine whether or not the vocalic qualities matched male African American speech.  The results were inconclusive as to whether implicit bias plays a role in vocalic choices made for Disney villains. However, the results determined that villains take on many vocalic characteristics of men and do not follow the average American vernacular speech.

COMM 430, Nonverbal Communication

Doyle Srader

L203

1:30 – 2 PM

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Flint Du Tell

Multiple Cluster of Ronald Reagan Speeches

Kenneth Burk invented Cluster criticism as a form of rhetorical criticism, where a speech is analized by identifying key terms such as, the God and Devil terms. This is done to determine just how the speaker views the world. This world view was named a terminist screen by Burk. Ronald Wilson Reagan is one of the most influential presidential speakers in modern history. Instead of applying the Cluster method of rhetorical criticism to just one of his speeches, like is standard practice, I applied it to multiple speeches of his. Included in my cluster, are his famous speeches, such as The Challenger disaster, Berlin Wall, Evil Empire,and his farewell speech after eight years of presidency. When I analyses these speeches and others, I was able to determine his terminist screen showed the most important thing to him was freedom. To counter this, the worst thing in the world to our fortieth President seemed to be communism, The soviet union, And the suppressive governmental and economic practices of the eastern bloc.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

Noon – 12:30 PM

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Daniel Gerlach & Evan Zuvich

2020 Bushnell debate championship

Topic: Face-to-face interaction is healthier than digital communication.

Affirmative: Evan Zuvich

Negative: Daniel Gerlach

The winner will be decided by audience vote, and will be crowned the 2020 Bushnell debate champion.

COMM 325, Argumentation and Debate

Doyle Srader

L203

2 – 3 PM

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Jesse Gerlach & Madeline Guiger

A Study on the Relation Between Model’s Postures and Dominance

Despite the prevalence of social science research on gender differences in dominance-submission cues, the topic remains understudied in the field of communication. In particular, there is very little research analyzing static images of men and women. Studies of communication through other media have supported the idea that depictions of men and women, even in recent years, are often presented in a stereotypical manner. The present study endeavored to examine differences in dominance-submission behavior according to gender in online magazine images. The hypothesis was that the images would depict men and women in a manner that is consistent with traditional gender roles. The hypothesis was tested via a content analysis of 66 images of men and women collected from two magazine websites. The data was then analyzed and interpreted through a measurement created by the researchers. The data showed support for the hypothesis. The implications of these findings and their potential impact on future research are discussed.

COMM 430, Nonverbal Communication

Doyle Srader

L203

1:30 – 2 PM

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Madison Hoke

Interaction between intermediate missionaries’ and their host culture, and the missionaries perceived level of reverse culture shock.  

The following research explored the relationship between intermediate missionaries and their immersion into a host culture and their level of perceived reverse culture shock upon their arrival back to their home culture.  The participants of the study were 22 intermediate missionaries from the organizations of Village Schools International and the Navigators.  Each participant had to of participated in a mission trip abroad that lasted from two months to five years.  Researchers created the Immersion in the Host Culture Scale, which was a six-part open ended questionnaire to determine the amount of immersion a missionary took part in during their mission.  Researchers also used the Reentry Shock Scale that consists of sixteen-point true false statements that help record a missionary’s perceived level of reverse culture shock.  Researchers determined cultural immersion from decoding for six different themes: Curiosity, involvement, cooking, desire, contentment, and relational.  The results of this study theorized that there is a positive relationship between the amount of cultural immersion and perceived re-entry shock with intermediate missionaries.  Unfortunately, the limitations of the study prevent researchers from drawing definitive conclusions about a possible cause of re-entry shock.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

12:30 – 1 PM

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Nicholas Rodriguez

Fly High: A Fantasy Theme Criticism of Kendrick Lamar

Fantasy theme analysis explores how a specific artifact calls a group into existence. I analyzed four songs from Kendrick Lamar using this method and found that the group he is calling into existence are people who have experienced housing discrimination. By breaking down the setting, character, and action themes within the songs FEAR, Ronald Reagan Era, Black Boy Fly, and Cut You Off (to grow closer), I was able to outline how Kendrick connects with an audience of people that reaches beyond Compton.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

1 – 1:30 PM

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Paige Amstutz & Annelise Helbling

Verbal Aggressiveness and Humor

The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between verbal aggressiveness and humor. The hypothesis was that individuals who utilize a greater level of humor while communicating are less verbally aggressive and individuals that use less humor are more verbally aggressive. This study consisted of seventy-five people participating in a survey that was made up of two questionnaires. The questionnaires measured humor and verbal aggression. The participants’ sense of humor was measured as it related to the situation, level of detail, prior planning, and number of different humor behavior types. Verbal aggression was measured based on how individuals influenced others to do what they wanted. After we applied a Pearson correlation test, a minimal negative correlation resulted. However, the study did not support the hypothesis to a significant extent.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Mary Grace Blaser & Tanner Dean

Non-Religiousness and Compassion: Correlation of the Religiousness Commitment Inventory and the Lovingkindness-Compassion Scale

Mental health has become a more prevalent topic in societal discussions. People are constantly searching for ways to improve their mental health. Religious commitment and lovingkindness-compassion both have a positive correlation to mental health. We wanted to ask the question, is there a correlation between religious commitment and lovingkindness-compassion? We thought that one did not have to have high religious commitment to have lovingkindness-compassion and vice versa. To test this hypothesis, we created a Google form that listed all the statements used in the religious commitment inventory and lovingkindness-compassion scale in which participants rated how true or untrue the statements were to them. After performing a Pearson test on the participant’s scores, the results showed that there is no correlation between religious commitment and lovingkindness-compassion.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Katia Burke & Maddy Guiger

Collectivism in Connection to Child-Parent Communication Apprehension

Previous research has examined the correlation between collectivism and communication apprehension. This research has suggested a link between individuals who score higher in collectivism and the experience of communication apprehension. The present study sought to build upon this research and explore if a similar correlation exists between collectivism and child-parent communication apprehension. The hypothesis for this study was that participants who scored higher in collectivism would also score high in child-parent communication apprehension. This hypothesis was tested via a survey which collected participants’ measures on the Auckland Individualism Collectivism Scale and the Child-Parent Communication Apprehension Scale. The data was then coded and compared through a Pearson correlation test. The data showed a weak correlation between collectivism and child-parent communication apprehension. The significance of these findings and implications for future research are discussed.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Tanner Dean

One or Many: Many Short Messages as More Persuasive Over One Fully Explained Message

Loneliness is a silent struggle of many people. Most people are fearful of talking to others, think they do better on their own, or sometimes are just silent when in public spaces. What if there was a way to convince people to go up to strangers? Could loneliness be combated with persuasive appeals? People processes appeals centrally and peripherally, but which one is more effective? Central route processing of messages is taxing. Most people think that they are quite efficient at determining the validity of information. Most of the time people don’t have the mental capacity to think over every bit of information of every argument that is presented to them. That is why people often default to peripheral route processing of information. Many small appeals can be more effective at persuading someone in the long term over a single long detailed message.

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

11:30 AM – Noon

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Tanner Dean

The Polysemy of “Political”: Shared Senses and Network as a Framework for Dealing with Lexical Ambiguity

Political discourse seems to be fraught with competing definitions for what is and is not “political.” These competing definitions can lead to people checking out from these conversations because there seems to be no overlap of these definitions. Polysemy allows for the examining of the shared network people use for creating these definitions. Etymology and the senses attached to these words are polysemous and connect to these shared networks. These shared networks then allow for people to understand that even though these definitions are different they can have an overarching overlap which can pull people back into conversations regarding “politics” and the “political” instead of leading to confusion over difference. Polysemy has the possibility to enrich our understanding of everyday political discourse.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

1 – 1:30 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Flint Du Tell

Changenge the world by making bu bed

What has been dubbed the “If you want to change the world, make your bed” speech, was given as a commencement address to the 2014 graduating class of the University of Texas as Austen by Admiral Wiliam McRaven. It is a Rhetorical vision composed of ten different life lessons he learned in Navy Seal book camp. Life lesson he believes the graduates and anybody else, could use to help them follow the university’s modo, “what starts here changes the world.  

If one wants to change the world, they must take action.  So, it only makes sense if Admiral McRaven is going to give advice on how to change the world, he would tell you what actions to take. Although his speech contains some vivid character and setting themes, a fantasy themed analyses of this speech reveals in most of these settings and character themes are overshadowed by the actions someone could take to help them change the world. In accordance with a fantasy themed analysis,  Admiral McRaven calls into existences the group of people who want to change the world.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Flint Du Tell

Talking to strangers while social distancing

A pandemic is probably the worst time to try and encourage people to talk to strangers. This is this turned out to be the assigned task for the term project in Doyle Srader’s Communication 450 persuasion class in 2020. The plan was to conduct a scientific study to determine if scientific based facts given to a group of test subjects who are low conversationalists,  and see if the new scientific information encouraged them to be more outgoing and talk with strangers. The same goal was also sought for a second group of test subjects but with Biblical based facts. . At the end of the study, the Test subjects would be questioned to see if the new information encouraged them to be more of a conversationalist to strangers. I would then take the data and determine if the scientific or Biblical information was more persuasive in encouraging people to be more outgoing.  The Carona Virus pandemic swept across the world, so in the middle of the experiment, I started to receive negative feedback from my participants about being in close enough contact with strangers to have a conversation with them. They were very skeptical about doing this in  the middle of government and every media outlet advising them to stay home and “social distance” I was sup to try and convince people to be more sociable and talk to strangers. I would then remind them, this experiment was designed to test your willingness to talk to strangers, rather than if you actually do it or nlt. So, an added element to the experiment was convincing my test subjects there were not going to be in any danger by continuing with my experiment. Do to this and other complications, this experiment is still underway. Results will be available when it is finished.

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

11:30 AM – Noon

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Daniel Gerlach & Maya Jenkins

Do Individualistic People Experience Lower Communication Apprehension Than Collectivists? An Advanced Interpersonal Research Study

A great deal of research has been conducted regarding communicator apprehension (CA) and individualism/collectivism as separate topics. However, little research has been done to analyze connections they have with each other. Based on prior research regarding CA and individualism/collectivism, we hypothesize that participants who identify as individualistic will also report lesser amounts of CA. We propose that the opposite is also true: participants who report identifying as collective will report higher CA. Results of the study found that there was little to no correlation.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Jesse Gerlach

Bushnell Apparel Analysis

The following examination is based on the visual analytical tool designed and described by Paul Martin Lester in his book Visual Communications: Images With Messages. This tool thoroughly deconstructs each component of a visual text so that its content and context are effectively comprehended and synthesized. This analysis was done on the 2020 Bushnell University attire. The first portion of the research was to analyze the apparel with the aforementioned analytical tool. It was concluded by the researcher that the products of Bushnell University are primarily informative in nature, in that they are designed to communicate a simple message of a group membership. Additionally, the minimalist style of the products, including the logo of the beacon and name, adds to the emphasis on the community rather than to extraneous details that a more complex design might include. In this way, given the intended function of the merchandise, it was concluded that the message communicated by the apparel’s design was effective. The second portion was, based upon the results of the instrument, to offer additional apparel designs that address the critiques of the original designs as well as provide a more diverse range of options for the university. Two possible applications to increase product diversity are the use of nontraditional text placements and nontraditional textile styles. For the nontraditional text placements, the university’s mission statement could be both plain-texted on the back and inverse-texted on the back. For nontraditional textile styles, a long sleeve, extra long, curved hem, shirt is an excellent example of more modern styles that could be adopted for product diversity.

Keywords: Bushnell University, Apparel, Designs,

COMM 407, Special Topics: Visual Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Jesse Gerlach & Madison Hoke

A Study on the Relation Between Nonverbal Knowledge and Touch Avoidance

The following study looked to compare the relationship between an individual’s knowledge of nonverbal cues and their level of touch avoidance.  The study was conducted online with a total of 33 participants.  Participants were asked to complete the Test of Nonverbal Cue Knowledge (TONCK) and Touch Avoidant Measure (TAM).  For the Touch Avoidant Measure, both section one and two were included, testing an individual’s level of touch avoidance in same-sex and opposite-sex social interactions. Prior to conducting the study, the experimenters examined the past research done in each of these areas.  The studies found that Touch Avoidance is more common with individuals who suffer from Social Anxiety (SA). In particular, SA was discovered to be most prominent with women who were being approached by men they did not originally know. Therefore, the researchers wanted to focus on touch avoidance within the same-sex and opposite-sex spectrum. This was designed so that a thorough understanding of which instances people may feel Touch Avoidant, and whether or not their knowledge of nonverbals is attributed to that avoidance may be reached. The results of the research found that there was little to no correlation between an individual’s knowledge of nonverbal cues, and their level of touch avoidance with both people of the same and opposite sex. Limitations of the study are centered around both the small participant number and the absence of male and female categories for the results. Future research can, therefore, look into both other variables relating to Touch Avoidance and the implications of gender as they relate to Touch Avoidance.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Maya Jenkins

Capstone: Generosity Feeds

In September of 2019, I chose to take part of an organization committed to addressing childhood food insecurity. I saw Generosity Feeds as a great way to practice what I had learned in my COMM 450 Persuasion class. I saw an opportunity to be a persuader and to practice organizing events. I created a strategic plan composed of persuasive strategies consisting of four conditions: potential donors, volunteers, broadcasting, and a one-on-one condition. In each of these conditions, persuasive strategies were implemented that would have ideally influenced the likelihood that people were to donate, volunteer, and buy into the message of Generosity Feeds. In this presentation, I will be reflecting on the work that I got to complete for this project before it was cancelled.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

2:30 – 3 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Bradley Keller

Keeping Secrets and its Relation to Humanity and God

Secret keeping and topic avoidance is detrimental to a person’s mental and physical health. Through research that has shown that keeping secrets and avoiding topics reduces relational satisfaction and causes physiological stress, this capstone aimed to encourage a community to consider how they are living into that. This capstone was a service learning event that took place on March 11th at Northwest Christian University’s Night Chapel. This event wanted to take this idea of topic avoidance and secret keeping further and consider how this is affecting our relationship with God. From looking at scripture, and taking from theologians such as C.S. Lewis and Timothy Keller, this event explained how we can return to a glorifying relationship with God. This service learning event effectively encouraged a community to consider getting rid of the secrets they are keeping out of fear and guide their hearts towards Christ’s sacrifice as an invitation back into the God’s glorifying relationship.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

2 – 2:30 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Bradley Keller & Ben Womack

Attachment Style Dimensions and Receiver Apprehension

The purpose of this study was to explore whether there was a relationship between attachment style dimensions and receiver apprehension. There were three hypotheses for this study. The first hypothesis was that people who are associated with a preoccupation attachment style dimension would have the lowest receiver apprehension score. The second was that people who are associated with fearful avoidance attachment style dimensions or relationships as secondary attachment style dimensions would have the highest receiver apprehension score. The third was that people who are associated with a general avoidance attachment style dimension or lack of confidence attachment style dimension would have a moderate receiver apprehension score. Thirty-two people participated in a survey. The survey consisted of two questionnaires, one measuring attachment style dimensions, and the other measuring receiver apprehension. However, the statistical significance of the study was found to be insignificant.

COMM 413, Advanced Interpersonal Communication

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Kaylyn LeRoy

What’s More Persuasive: Social Media or Texting?

The idea behind this study was to see if it was possible to use a set of persuasive messages to try and get people to talk to strangers more often. The study consisted of 2 groups of people who were receiving the same persuasive message, the only difference is that some people received it over a Snapchat video and some received it over a text message. My hypothesis was that sending video messages over Snapchat would be more persuasive than text messaging due to the person being able to see my face and the expressions that I was making when I sent the message. The participants willingness to comply with talking to strangers was measured by an entry level survey on how willing they were and an exit level survey on how willing they were, with the hope that they would become more willing after hearing a series of persuasive messages on why it would be good for them to talk to strangers. After all of the persuasive messages were sent and the exit level survey was completed, the hypothesis of video messages being more persuasive was proven to be true by just a bit more than the participants that received text messages.

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

11:30 AM – Noon

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Alyssa Perovich

Neo-Aristotelian Criticism of Aly Raisman’s Court Speech in the Larry Nassar Case

During the trial of Doctor Larry Nassar, dozens of women came forward and filed civil lawsuits against Nassar. Aly Raisman was among the 150 women to come forward with compelling testimonies and victim impact statements to help determine Nassar’s sentencing. A Neo-Aristotelian criticism is applied to the speech to analyze organization, style, delivery, memory, and success. Aly identified her abuser as Larry Nassar, and used language such as “sick” and “manipulative” to describe him. She used imagery phrases, spoke in a formal format, and made a case for the #MeToo movement. Aly’s speech is analyzed to prove the connection between her method and the sentencing of Doctor Larry Nassar.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Nicholas Rodriguez

Really Real

In African American communities, there are a disproportionate amount of people that are affected by generational poverty. Now while many of these people choose to embrace this lifestyle and the things that it has to offer, there are others who try their best to rise above it and make a better life for themselves than what their parents had. Kendrick Lamar’s song “Poe Mans Dreams” is written from the perspective of a man who came from the hood and has since escaped that lifestyle and sees the wrong in his old ways. It is easy to listen to this song and see the surface level messages, but Kendrick makes use of several terms that have a very prominent connotation and uses them to convey something else. Using Kenneth Burke’s Cluster Criticism to analyze the song, it is unveiled that Lamar is trying to persuade African Americans to not accept the circumstances that they were born into and to seek a better life.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Abby Spencer

Exploring the impact of Identity in the Role of Firefighting

Symbolic interactionism shapes an individual’s way of thinking and identity. Our self-concept is part of our own experience and also part of what we think others believe about us. Through this process, labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the impact of identity regarding the role of firefighting.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

1:30 – 2 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Ben Womack

Research Based or Affectionate messages

The purpose of this study was to find out if research based or affectionate messages were more persuasive? The hypothesis for this study was that messages that cite research from experts would be more persuasive than messages with expressions of affection and references to shared experiences. Nineteen people participated in the study. The study consisted of an entry survey, a series of persuasive messages sent to the participants, and an exit survey. The entry survey determined the participants willingness to interact with strangers. Then over a six week span a series of research-based messages were sent to a group and a series of affectionate messages were sent to another group persuading them to interact with strangers. The exit survey reassessed their willingness to interact with strangers. The Research conducted in the study showed that messages with expressions of affection and references to shared experiences were more persuasive than messages that cite research from experts.

COMM 450, Persuasion

Doyle Srader

11:30 AM – Noon

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

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Scholar Lunch

Come to L203 at noon. If you’re one of the first to arrive, you can have free pizza. The meal’s entertainment consists of five minute talks by representatives from majors and minors across campus. Speakers will take a single idea they learned from their major or minor coursework, explain it, explain why it’s useful or beautiful, and explain why they personally love it. Scheduled speakers:

  • Cameron Binaley, History
  • Grayson Rose Carmack, Psychology
  • Tanner Dean, English
  • Miranda Gutierrez, Spanish
  • Bradley Keller, Communication
  • Joshua McCluskey, Biology

L203

Noon – 1 PM

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Mary Grace Blaser, Katia Burke & Shivonne Robinson

Can people recognize organizational status through vocal qualities alone? 

When outsiders of an organization witness two people within the organization having an interaction, the outsider most likely will guess their status within the organization through the nonverbals that they observe including vocal qualities, clothing, visible signs of age, and hair color. It is a question of interest which of these channels provides the most reliable cues. This study focused on the vocal qualities in interactions and asked if people can accurately guess relative organizational status from a vocal recording alone and which vocal qualities convey an impression of authority. We hypothesized that lower frequency correlates to dominance, regardless of male or female, and that rate of speech will have a weak relationship to dominance. To test this hypothesis, we collected sound clips of colleagues and subordinates having a conversation. Results showed that the participants were very inaccurate in recognizing when one person worked for the other. They were, however, very accurate in recognizing when people were colleagues.  

COMM 430, Nonverbal Communication 

Doyle Srader 

L203, poster #15 

10 AM – Noon 

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Daniel Gerlach

“The Subtle Eccentric” Public Relations Application in the Field 

Upon learning how to manage crises, implement social research and corporate ethics, build the reputations of clients and organizations, understand global social media trends, and develop a company’s mission, goals, and strategic communication plans, I got to apply my knowledge directly in the field to my brother’s clothing design company, The Subtle Eccentric. This process led to some groundbreaking results and helped the new enterprise start off on the right foot.   

COMM 310, Foundations of Public Relations 

Kelsay Rychener 

L203, poster #7 

10 AM – Noon 

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Daniel Gerlach

Competitive versus. Collaborative Listening 

In order to discover which is more powerful, speaking or listening, Daniel Gerlach and Doyle Srader are implimenting two studies to determine people’s perceptions of listening and speaking and determine in debate which is the more strategic behavior, attempting to counteract the general belief that listening is weaker than speaking and that listening can be considered as competitive just as much as it can be collaborative.   

COMM 325, Argumentation and Debate 

Doyle Srader 

L203, poster #8 

10 AM – Noon 

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Brad Keller & Nick Rodriguez

Topic: NCU students get a better education than U of O students do. 

Affirmative: Brad Keller

Negative: Nick Rodriguez

The winner will be decided by audience vote, and will be crowned the 2019 NCU Debate Champion.

COMM 325, Argumentation and Debate 

Doyle Srader 

P103 

2 – 2:30 PM 

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Scholar Lunch

Come to L203 at noon. If you’re one of the first to arrive, you can have free pizza. The meal’s entertainment consists of five minute talks by representatives from majors and minors across campus. Speakers will take a single idea they learned from their major or minor coursework, explain it, explain why it’s useful or beautiful, and explain why they personally love it. Scheduled speakers:
Courtney Alldridge, Business
Angela Cusano, Communication
Tessa Galindo, Spanish
Andres Martinez, Accounting
Gabrielle Morales, English
Jordan Norris, Psychology
L203
Noon – 1 PM
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Angela Cusano

The Effect of Ministry Events on Perceived Self-Esteem
This project explores whether or not curated women’s ministry events have a positive effect on the attendees of the event. One main component of exploring this topic was the coordination and execution of the ministry event. For the event, I hosted an IF:Local on Northwest Christian University’s campus. This event was aimed toward women of all ages and consisted of simulcasted teachings, live worship, and a free lunch for all attendees. The event lasted from 9am to 3pm and allowed the women to come and go throughout the day. Though no legitimate study was performed to obtain statistically significant results, a survey was administered to all the attendees and collected in order to track any increase or decrease in the attendees’ reported self-esteem. The attendees were asked to take Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (1965) as they arrived and again as they left. This allowed for a change in reported self-esteem to be measured. The self-esteem of the attendees increased by 2.25 points. This represents that the event was a moderate success. Accordingly, It is possible that attendees may be positively affected by attending a curated ministry event.
COMM 499, Capstone
Doyle Srader
P003
1:30 – 2 PM
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Maya Jenkins & Katy Noel

Persuasion and Course Evaluations
A great deal of research has been conducted regarding the reasons that students are likely to complete quality course evaluations. However, little research has been done to analyze what persuasive strategies would produce the most participation and best quality course evaluations on a small campus like Northwest Christian University (NCU). Based on prior research regarding strategies used to promote participation in course evaluations, we propose a persuasive strategy for NCU with three conditions: classroom settings, broadcast, and one-on-one conditions.
Keywords: persuasion, course evaluations, NCU
COMM 450, Persuasion
Doyle Srader
P003
2:30 – 3 PM
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Katy Noel

Discipleship and Communication
Though research has been done studying the relationship between Christianity and communication, the focus has been primarily on conversion and less on discipleship. Discipleship in this context can be understood as a mentor/mentee relationship between a mature Christian and a developing Christian. I have interviewed people who have been discipled to see what communicative themes would arise as effective/ineffective pertaining to their discipleship experience. Preliminary findings show that consistency, mutual self-disclosure, effective use of technology, ability to initiate hard conversations, and time spent together are common communicative themes present in a fruitful discipleship relationship.
COMM 499, Capstone
Doyle Srader
P003
2 – 2:30 PM
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Jordan Norris

Do religious people have destiny beliefs in their relationships?
Implicit theories of relationships play an important role in determining the outcome of a relationship. There are two main beliefs people hold, destiny or growth. Destiny beliefs were defined as evaluating a potential partner on compatibility. Growth beliefs were defined as cultivated over time and viewing disagreements as a way to grow the relationship. The Santa Clara strength of religious faith measures the participants strength of religious faith. In the present study, participants are surveyed on their relational beliefs and their strength of religious faith. Based on the literature, the hypothesis is the participants who have strong religious faith will believe in more destiny beliefs in their relationships. The participants were surveyed on their strength of religious faith and their implicit theories of relationships. The results did not support the hypothesis as there was a weak correlation among both beliefs and religious faith. Research limitations and future research are discussed, including the need for more diverse ways to reach participants to best represent the population.
COMM 499, Capstone
Doyle Srader
P003
10:30 – 11 AM
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