Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2009, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture

In conversations concerning American television abroad, conflict arises regarding the impact of American culture on countries without a strong means of autonomous media production. These discussions are usually confined to developing nations; however, Americanization still remains relevant to those nations who have a developed media industry. This thesis further examines the dynamic relationship between two media powerhouses, the United States and Great Britain. The purpose of this project is to explore how British television works with American television and popular culture in ways that do not interrupt the cultural education television provides. Beginning with a short history of the importation of programs between both countries, the thesis elaborates on the significance of television and comedy to culture. This history of media importation helps to set up how particular programs play with Americanness in ways that help to reassert a sense of Britishness. Using Andy Medhurst's A National Joke, this project examines how television comedy is able to communicate, reassert, and redefine British identities. The shows chosen, Peep Show (2003- ) and Goodness Gracious Me (1998-2001) are two comedies that play such a role in renegotiating and redefining Britishness, by deconstructing the notion of identity as well as emphasizing Britishness through the representation of Americanness. Between Peep Show's utilization of an American character as a means to differentiate British from American and Goodness Gracious Me's use of familiar American formats to emphasize the impact of American television on British culture, both pinpoint the issues relevant to discussing contemporary British identity and through the lens of comedy provide a space for these issues to be deconstructed and challenged.

Committee: Simon Morgan-Russell PhD (Committee Chair); Becca Cragin PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: Mass Media

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Popular Culture

One of the most powerful arenas where the construction of ideal femininity gets constructed is through the depiction of women on television. My thesis investigates one of the most popular television shows in the 21st century, Desperate Housewives. It explores how the female protagonists are depicted through the ways they attempt to maintain power within their suburban worlds. My thesis discusses how certain power is allotted within the narrative of the show. I investigate the implication that power is a good thing, and also offer analysis with some of the problems of gaining power. We not only see constrained power, but also see women in positions of status. Power within family dynamics, romantic love/marriage, and domestic and professional activities are central to my thesis. I focus on beauty and image through consumption, the struggles for women balancing their domestic and professional worlds, and alternative depictions of femininity through the repression of emotion. I use textual analysis to examine dialogue, plot and narrative, character development, genre, and aesthetics/formal elements within production, which include costumes, make-up, cinematography, editing, acting, lighting, and sound. My thesis draws on feminist scholarship within media studies and popular culture studies; specifically elements of sociological and psychological theory within the context of gender.

Committee: Becca Cragin (Committee Chair); Marilyn Motz (Committee Member); Sandra Faulkner (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Personal Relationships; Sociology; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2020, American Culture Studies

This study looks at twentieth-century representations of fictional female U.S. presidents in film, television, and literature. Examining how these portrayals either reinforce or subvert existing ideas about gender may give some insight into why the U.S. has not had a female president yet, as well as how each wave of feminism may have its own corresponding backlash. This project employs a textual analysis method and uses a feminist methodology. After analyzing the primary texts under consideration, it becomes clear that the majority of twentieth-century fictional representations of female U.S. presidents reify hegemonic gender roles and do not portray the presidents as being fully capable and worthy of respect. It is only toward the middle of the 1990s and later that any real change is seen in these characters. The media framing of real-life women running for president is somewhat in line with how female presidents are portrayed in fictional texts. These women are not depicted as being fully capable to serve the office of the U.S. presidency, and it takes quite a few decades before content creators are willing to deviate from this norm. This study has broader implications, too, insofar as the U.S. presidency is symbolic of systems of power more generally, and thus the texts herein can offer insight into how women are received in many positions of political and economic leadership.

Committee: Kimberly Coates PhD (Advisor); Emily Pence Brown PhD (Other); Cynthia Baron PhD (Committee Member); Andrew Schocket PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; American Literature; American Studies; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; History; Literature; Mass Media; Performing Arts; Political Science; Womens Studies

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2019, History

Throughout the first twenty years of television's history, the programs that aired simultaneously reflected and shaped American society based upon sets of values and ideals, specifically regarding gender roles. While the representation of women deviated from the traditional femininity of the idyllic housewife to career-oriented individuals, the portrayal of men increasingly reinforced traditional or hegemonic; masculine traits and core values via the depiction of strong, manly protagonists. Even as masculinity shifted against the backdrop of the Cold War from rugged individualism to gentle yet stern breadwinners for families, television series continued to reaffirm the desire of men to acquire their manhood by fitting into the ever- changing mold. The three television programs of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), and Star Trek (1966-1969) each demonstrate different facets of masculinity in different contexts. The Twilight Zone uses the genre of horror to visually present men's fears of never obtaining manhood via the punishment of unmanly men. The Dick Van Dyke Show employs situational comedy as a means of reestablishing men within the home as the heads of the household. Star Trek, through the genre of science-fiction, displays traditional masculinity and its values holding firm in a futuristic society.

Committee: Nishani Frazier (Advisor); Erik Jensen (Committee Member); Kerry Hegarty (Committee Member) Subjects: Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; History; Modern History; Motion Pictures

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2016, English

In the same vein as Jack Halberstam's analysis in Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Horror, my thesis explores the representation of deviant embodiment and identification(s) in horror spanning from twentieth-century works of Gothic literature to contemporary serialized television, specifically American Horror Story: Freakshow (2014) and Supernatural (2005-present). By employing theoretical frameworks such as posthumanist, feminist film, queer, and disability theories, I argue that the horror genre depends upon the de-subjectification of non-normative bodies (non-white, female, queer, disabled, transgender) to sustain the normative “human” subject (white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied, cisgender). Through an archive of horror's monsters, I aim to elucidate that horror and American culture both engage in a parasitical relationship that feeds upon and (re)produces anxieties surrounding non-conformant embodiment. Though the genre still manages to punish non-normative bodies on screen, my study demonstrates how bringing visibility to the disposability of these bodies acts to “queer,” or rupture, the understanding of monstrosity as it relates to those subjects considered less than human. Positing less than human “monsters” as queer-posthuman not only deconstructs humanist ideologies within horror and outside of it, but also encourages a reenvisioning of new possibilities of existence apart from normative constructions of “human.”

Committee: Katie Johnson Dr (Committee Chair); Erin Edwards Dr. (Committee Member); Madelyn Detloff Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; American Studies; Gender Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2016, History

M*A*S*H is an iconic, eleven season (1972-1983), American television series that was produced on the tail end of the Vietnam War during a period of upheaval for the American public. Set in Korea during the Korean War, M*A*S*H was a satire on the war in Vietnam. As a result, M*A*S*H presents numerous Asian (Korean) characters throughout the series, but often in limited, stereotypical roles. Despite producing America's most watched final season episode; "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen," and being granted several Emmy nominations and awards, M*A*S*H has all but evaded lengthy academic study. This thesis primarily uses newspapers, both local and national, to understand how Asian stereotypes are presented in M*A*S*H with relationship to American society. Through the analysis of seven Asian-centered character roles, including; farmer/villager, houseboy/housekeeper, prostitute, war bride, peddler/hustler, orphan, and enemy, I explore the foundations of these stereotypes as well as how they were being utilized to reassure Americans of their own communal, Cold War, beliefs in a time of distress. I explore how these roles change and adapt over the course of the series and what may be motivating these changes, such as the Asian-American, Civil Rights and women's rights movements, and changing Cold War ideologies and objectives.

Committee: Michael Brooks Dr. (Advisor); Kristen Rudisill Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Asian American Studies; Asian Studies; Folklore; Mass Communications; Military History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, English

In an age of infinite storytelling possibilities in traditional mediums as well as those heretofore unimagined, Latino narratives are exemplary for their use of intermediality. Intermediality is a way of understanding the relationships between two or more media either within a single text or artifact and/or in two or more texts or artifacts presented in different media. Intermedial storytelling transgresses media boundaries in order to engage both targeted and more diffuse audiences. The twenty-first century has seen the movement of a significant presence of Latinos into the cultural mainstream. Dynamic changes in demographics throughout the United States have served as a catalyst for the creation and development of works by and about Latinos, who have steadily gained recognition for their diverse roles as authors, artists, and ardent consumers of American culture. This demographic growth brings with it the opportunity and the need to study the rich and evolving traditions of Latino narrative, and to situate those traditions in the broader context afforded by Latino cultural production, including Latino contributions to visual culture. Manifold Imaginaries explores intermedial storytelling in literary works, television programs, and graphic narratives by and about Latinos. My analysis uses a working definition of “intermediality” that includes the mention and use of other media within a single text, as well as the ways stories are told and interpreted across media to engage audiences in strategic and transgressive ways that suggest diverse storytelling impulses and representations of Latinos. Thus in the first chapter I posit that Ana Castillo's novel So Far From God can be read as a Latin American telenovela and that, as such, the novel attempts strategic empathetic engagement with audiences familiar with the genre. In a different example, from my second chapter, I examine the 2013 FX television series The Bridge and consider how the show's “e-boo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Frederick Luis Aldama PhD (Advisor); David Herman PhD (Committee Member); Jared Gardner PhD (Committee Member); Robyn Warhol PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; Comparative; Ethnic Studies; Gender Studies; Latin American Studies; Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Popular Culture

This thesis analyzes the highly popular Old Spice commercials as a contemporary cultural guide on masculinity; it addresses a number of issues related to the construction of masculinities in contemporary American culture. Both Old Spice campaigns under analysis offer great insight into cultural ideals related to the construction of hegemonic masculinity. Through a detailed textual analysis of the commercials in these campaigns, I unravel those ideals and analyze how masculinity is constructed through the protagonists' appearances and bodies, sexuality, behaviors, as well as their character patterns and mannerisms. I argue that while both Old Spice campaigns suggest that hegemonic masculinity is the only acceptable form of masculinity, hegemonic masculinity is perpetuated in two very different ways. In the Smell Like A Man, Man campaign, satire is used as a means to disguise the blunt promotion of hegemonic masculinity. The Smell is Power campaign, on the other hand, uses a very blunt approach: its overt character clearly encourages the viewer to directly align with hegemonic notions of masculinity. Both campaigns are thus representative of a certain ambiguity that is so often to be found in postmodern texts. The analysis in my thesis therefore analyzes how both campaigns serve as prime examples of how paradoxical American beliefs about masculinity are in contemporary, postmodern America.

Committee: Becca Cragin (Advisor); Marilyn Motz (Committee Member); Rebecca Kinney (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Communication; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Marketing; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Womens Studies

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Arts and Sciences: English and Comparative Literature

My dissertation, Tiny Lives, consists of a collection of poems of the same title and a critical essay, ““This Is the Place That You All Made Together”: Traversing the Fantasy of the Global Village in Lost.” The poetry collection is composed of four sections. The first three sections— “Tiny Lives,” “Word Problems,” and “In the Church of Loneliness”—form a single book-length manuscript. The fourth section, “Thirteen Coiled Loops in a Borrowed Rope,” represents, in a still very much raw form, my current work and experimentation towards a new manuscript that takes as its subject the history of my native city, Mobile, Alabama. Each section of the poetry manuscript develops around a central theme. “Tiny Lives” examines both the smallness of individual and animal lives. “Word Problems” is concerned with the limitations of language (and thus poetry) as well as the limitations of “small math” and science as discourses to adequately and completely represent subjective experience. “In the Church of Loneliness” operates out of my poetic philosophy of loneliness as a prime mover, that the desire to connect with others is fundamental both to motivation and identity. Finally, as a coda, “Thirteen Coiled Loops in a Borrowed Rope” represents my recent experiments with documentary poetry rooted in Alabama history; I hope that it will ultimately grow into its own book-length manuscript. The critical portion of my dissertation analyzes how the final season of the television program Lost functions as an ideological fantasy of a global village that covers over the fundamental antagonisms of late capitalism, namely the divide between the First and Third worlds. I ground my discussion in the work of Frederic Jameson and Slavoj Zizek.

Committee: John Drury MFA (Committee Chair); Beth Ash PhD (Committee Member); Donald Bogen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2010, History (Arts and Sciences)

The American public's perception of the Soviet Union during the early Cold War period played a significant role in contributing to average Americans' understanding of their new national nemesis. However, while films, television, and popular magazines all helped to frame understanding of the Soviet threat, the portrait of the enemy they displayed was not a simplistic narrative of enemy demonization. Popular media both warned against and mocked the Soviet communist leadership. They portrayed the Soviet military and forces of scientific and technological production as both a leviathan of epic proportions and a lie built upon thievery and espionage. In focusing on the threat posed by Soviet agents working undercover within the United States, visual media outlined the danger posed but also mitigated the threat with images of the covert agents rounded up time after time by a triumphant F.B.I. The Soviet people themselves received a sympathetic treatment by popular media, which cast them as the exploited victims of the regime. The portrait of the Soviet enemy painted for American consumers of popular media in this era was far from simplistic.

Committee: Katherine Jellison Ph.D (Advisor); Chester Pach Ph.D (Committee Member); Steven Miner Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; History

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2010, Journalism (Communication)

Leon Bibb became Ohio's first black primetime anchor in 1976 when he was promoted at WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio. He was also one of the first ten black primetime anchors in the country. Almost a decade later, he broke new ground again as the first black primetime anchor in Ohio's largest television market when Cleveland's WKYC-TV promoted him to the anchor desk in 1985. With this promotion, he became the seventh black primetime anchor in a top 20 market in the country. Bibb entered the journalism field during an era when there were very few blacks in the newsroom. A true trailblazer, Bibb opened the doors for many of Ohio's black television journalists, and he continues to keep those doors open as a veteran television news anchor for WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio. An iconic figure in Northeast Ohio, Bibb's deep, low voice and exemplary storytelling abilities have set him apart from his peers in the business. An award-winning anchor, Leon Bibb sets an example for journalists by adapting to the ever-changing field of broadcast journalism. This thesis examines his life and career, his struggles and successes, and uncovers unique anecdotes to insightfully reveal the personality and unique history of one of Cleveland's most beloved broadcast journalists.

Committee: Mary Rogus M.B.A. (Committee Chair); Patrick Washburn Ph.D. (Committee Member); Aimee Edmondson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; American History; Black History; Journalism; Mass Media

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

This thesis utilizes quantitative content analysis to explore themes of teenage sexuality, sexual experimentation, and pregnancy in the ABC Family television program, the Secret Life of the American Teenager (Secret Life). The program, Secret Life, follows the events surrounding the life of a 15-year old girl who discovers she is pregnant just before her first year of high school. The project was guided by previous media research that has utilized Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory and Gerbner's Cultivation Theory to explore the role of mediated portrayals in the lives of viewers. While this thesis is not an effects study, it was designed with future studies with audience involvement in mind. The results of this content analysis indicate that there is a significant proportion of sexually-themed content present throughout episodes of Secret Life – with 40% of the sample coded as containing sexual themes. The program reflects many real-life research projects about the ways in which teenagers communicate about sexuality with others (e.g., peers, parents, medical professionals) as well as provides insight into one version of reality in the growing teen pregnancy genre (which includes MTV programs such as 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom).

Committee: Jeffrey T. Child PhD (Advisor); Paul Haridakis PhD (Committee Member); Catherine Goodall PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2011, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture

With the election of the United States' first black president Barack Obama, scholars have begun to examine the myriad of ways Obama has been represented in popular culture. However, before Obama's election, a black American president had already appeared in popular culture, especially in comedic and sci-fi/disaster films and television series. Thus far, scholars have tread lightly on fictional black presidents in popular culture; however, those who have tend to suggest that these presidents—and the apparent unimportance of their race in these films—are evidence of the post-racial nature of these texts. However, this dissertation argues the contrary. This study's contention is that, though the black president appears in films and televisions series in which his presidency is presented as evidence of a post-racial America, he actually fails to transcend race. Instead, these black cinematic presidents reaffirm race's primacy in American culture through consistent portrayals and continued involvement in comedies and disasters. In order to support these assertions, this study first constructs a critical history of the fears of a black presidency, tracing those fears from this nation's formative years to the present. This history is followed by textual analyses of those films and television series featuring a black president, with an emphasis on showing how the narratives and codes within these films reflect those historic fears.

Committee: Angela Nelson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Michael Butterworth Ph.D. (Committee Member); Susana Peña Ph.D. (Committee Member); Ashutosh Sohoni Ph.D. (Other); Maisha Wester Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; American Studies; Film Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2013, Film (Fine Arts)

This thesis deals with the construction of American Indian identity in what I define as Native American cinema. It takes into account issues relating to the representation of American Indians in Hollywood film and television, as well as the idea that Native American cinema functions as a counter cinema in relation to Hollywood. This work examines notions of American Indian identity through the films of Chris Eyre, Sherman Alexie, Kent Mackenzie, Michael Linn, and others.

Committee: Ofer Eliaz Dr. (Committee Chair); Louis Schwartz Dr. (Committee Member); Katherine Jellison Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Film Studies