Virtual Honors Library
communication department
For Communication department honors theses produced beginning in 2011, please access eScholarship@BC.
For honors theses produced through 2010, please see below.
Jason D. Ander '07
Thesis Title: "Who Are You Calling a %&@*#?: How Depictions of Intolerance in Hollywood are Presented and Perceived"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Elizabeth Barnet '07
Thesis Title: "Dissecting the Medical Drama: A Generic Analysis of Grey's Anatomy and House, M.D."
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Tula Batanchiev '09
Thesis Title: "Entertainment or Oppression: Media Depiction of Domestic Abuse"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Jennifer C. Bun '07
Thesis Title: "The Effects of Romance Novel Readership on Relationship Beliefs, Romantic Ideals, and Relational Satisfaction"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Jonathan Bowman
Christina N. Cerutti '10
Thesis Title: “One Click to Suicide: First Amendment Case Law and its Applicability to Cyberspace”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Lisa M. Cook '08
Thesis Title: "The State of the Press: An Investigation of Contemporary Romanian and Bulgarian Journalism"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Elfriede Fürsich
Krystle Corredor-Diamond '08
Thesis Title: "Selling Luxury to the Hispanic Market: Automotive Advertisements and the Achievement of the American Dream"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Patrick B. Corcoran '09
Thesis Title: "More Than a Man, Becoming a God; The Rhetorical Evolution of Michael Jordan"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Laura Correnti '10
Thesis Title: “What a President Says Matters: An Analysis of Presidential Responses in Times of Economic Crisis”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Kendall W. Davenport '08
Thesis Title: "Gender and Aging: An Investigation of Television's Infatuation with Youth and Beauty"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Lisa M. Cuklanz
Lindsey A. Day '07
Thesis Title: "Fighting the American Narrative: Malcolm X, the Press, and the Origin of the 'Divided Metaphor'"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Charles E. Morris III
Lisa De Gray '09
Thesis Title: "A Monster and a Test Case: Media Framing in the Hissène Habré War Crimes Case"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Charles E. Morris III
Amanda N. Denes '07
Scholar of the College Thesis Title: "The Rise and Repercussions of Bisexual Chic: Examining Female-female Sexual Activity in the Heterosexual Dating Context"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Pamela J. Lannutti
Caitlin M. Domke '07
Thesis Title: "The Lady or the Tramp: A Critique of Television's Stereotypes of Women in News and Entertainment"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Brenden P. Dougherty '10
Thesis Title: “Poisoning the Learning Environment: Creating More Space for Student Speech”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Victoria Ekstrom '06
Thesis Title: "Constructing the Candidate: Images, Experts and Campaign Advertising"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Jessica R. Fazekas '06
Thesis Title: "Gendered Heroism: An Analysis of the 2006 Winter Olympics Games"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Mary Elizabeth Findlay '07
Thesis Title: "Real Men are Hairy Buffoons: Fratire's Parody of Hegemonic Masculinity and Its Implications for Both Genders"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Kelleen Patricia Forlizzi '07
Thesis Title: "The Mommy Myth: Perfect Mother or Maternal Monster; Press Coverage of Women Who Kill Their Children"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
J. Paschall Freeman '08
Thesis Title: "Framing Community: A Genre-based Examination of Xanga, LiveJournal, MySpace, and Facebook"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Elizabeth A. Glatzer '10
Thesis Title: “Sitcoms in a League of Their Own: A Critical Analysis of Situational Feminism in The Golden Girls and Sex and the City”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Kia Guarino '09
Thesis Title: "American Presidents and Humanitarian Crises: The Rhetorical Marginalization of Genocide in Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Colin P. Gunn-Graffy '07
Thesis Title: "When in Rome, Beijing or Brussells: Cultural Considerations of International Business Communication"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Donald Fishman
Cooley Ann Horner '09
Scholar of the College
Thesis Title: "'Touched Already By A Glory That Leaves No Man Ever Quite the Same': Charisma in Modern Campaign Rhetoric"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Christopher J. Hunker '07
Thesis Title: "Revisiting Campbell v. Acuff-Rose: Extending Fair Use Protection to Satire"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Nathan G. Ingham '07
Thesis Title: "Sorry Excuse for an Entertainer: The Proliferation of Public Apologies by Celebrities"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Donald Fishman
Susie Kelly '08
Thesis Title: "A Heroic Monomyth: Howard Schultz's Narrative Construction of Starbucks"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Erin Victoria Klewin '07
Thesis Title: "Living Happily Ever After? The Reinforcement of Stereotypical Gender Roles on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Emily Koruda '10
Thesis Title: “‘Any One of the Prisoners Would Have Been Willing to Die for His Country’: A Rhetorical Analysis of Prisoners of War Survival Narratives”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Melissa F. Koski '07
Thesis Title: "The Representations of Ethnicity on NYPD Blue and Law & Order: An Analysis of the Portrayal of New York City on Crime and Police Drama"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Jennifer M. Lambert '07
Thesis Title: "The Obesity Crisis: Origins, Scope, and Responses"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Donald Fishman
Mary Elizabeth Lauer '10
Thesis Title: “Dog Fighting and the First Amendment: An Analysis Using the Categorical Approach”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Emily Ann Legros '10
Thesis Title: “Unsubs and Profilers: Reality or Fiction? Depiction of Criminal Profiling in the Television Series Criminal Minds”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Phillip J. Lipari '07
Thesis Title: "Video Games as an Artistic Medium According to Kantian Aesthetic Theory"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Kenneth Lachlan
Brady R. Littlefield '07
Thesis Title: "Out of Neverland and into a Wedding Band: The Peter Pan Fantasy and its Influence on the Abandonment of Single Life in the Television Series Queer As Folk"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Michelle E. Losordo '10
Thesis Title: “An Ex of a Friend is My Friend?: An Exploration of the Effects of Pre-Marital Romantic Relationship Termination on Social Networks”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Pamela J. Lannutti
Evin Brooks Luongo '09
Thesis Title: "The Myth of Colorblind Reporting: The Rhetoric of Racial Stereotyping in News Coverage of Athletes Accused of Crimes"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Megan Maginnis '10
Thesis Title: “From Polarization to Accommodation: The Rhetorical Progress towards Peace in Northern Ireland”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Blair Marsh '10
Thesis Title: “The Emperor and the Little King: The Narrative Construction of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Megan L. Marzec '09
Thesis Title: "From Silent Spring to An Inconvenient Truth: Framing Environmental Arguments for the Public Sphere"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Victoria A. Matese '08
Thesis Title: "The School as a 'High Risk Area': Crisis Communication in the Wake of the Columbine and Virginia Tech Tragedies"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Donald A. Fishman
Elizabeth K. Maynard '07
Thesis Title: "Mrs. President? The Image Construction of Senator Clinton as a Feminine Presidential Contender"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Toni Mione '10
Thesis Title: “From Betamax to YouTube: Communication Technology and Copyright Law”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Erin E. Morley '07
Thesis Title: "Beyond the Schoolhouse Gates: Student Speech Rights from a Communitarian Perspective"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Erin C. Mulhall '07
Thesis Title: "To Blog or Not to Blog: When Traditional Campaign Rhetoric Meets Technology Early Analysis and Discussion of Candidate Blogs for the 2008 Presidential Elections"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Charles E. Morris III
Kellen E. O’Gara '10
Thesis Title: “An Apocalypse of Change: The Reconstruction of the American Identity in Post-9/11 Cinema”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Michael E. Palma '06
Thesis Title: "From Ozzie and Harriet to Raymond and Debra: An Analysis of the Changing Portrayals of American Sitcom Parents from the 1950's to the Present"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Alicia M. Parmentier '09
Thesis Title: "Constructed Reality: The Narrative Conceptualization of National Disaster News Coverage"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Anisha Patel '10
Thesis Title: “The Ideology of Madness in Media: A Textual Analysis of International Newspaper Coverage of Mental Illness”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Elfriede Fürsich
Elizabeth A. Pawelczyk '07
Thesis Title: "Frederick v. Morse: Protecting Student Speech Beyond the Schoolhouse Gates"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Jonathan W. Phelps '07
Thesis Title: "The Rajah, Slammin' Sammy, Bic Mac, and Barry Bombs: An Analysis of Hegemonic Masculinity in the Press Coverage of Four Home Run Hitters"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Ximena A. Ramirez '07
Thesis Title: "Thin is In: Examining Media Endorsed Ideals of Attractiveness and Their Effects on College Aged Women"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Jonathan Bowman
Clare C. Robbins '07
Thesis Title: "Knowledge, Expertise, and Credibility in the Courtroom: Perceptions of Attorneys' Dynamic Nonverbal Cues"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Jonathan Bowman
Madeleine K. Rodriguez '09
Thesis Title: "Reexamining Section 230 of the CDA and Online Anonymous Speech: Defamation on the Internet and the Websites that Facilitate It"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Margaret Rulli '10
Thesis Title: “‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night’: The Evolution of Humor as Rhetorical Statement in the 35 years of Saturday Night Live”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Paige K. Salvia '09
Thesis Title: "The Power of the Pyramid: A Framework for Regulating Crime-Facilitating Web Sites"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Sydney S. Sanchez '10
Thesis Title: “Can Web Sites Incite? Extending Physical Standards into the Virtual World”
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Kathryn C. Saylor '07
Thesis Title: "Their Words Were Silenced: A Case Study of the Media and the Rwandan Genocide"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Donald Fishman
Jennifer Schiffner '07
Scholar of the College Thesis Title: "The Transcendent Bettie Page: The Art of Retro Erotica and Metaphorical Abeyance Structures in the Feminist Movement of the 1950s"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Charles E. Morris III
Thomas R. Simmons '07
Thesis Title: "Maintaining the Order of White America: The Rhetorical Sacrifice of Malcolm X"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Helin E. Siris '08
Thesis Title: "Teenage Mutants: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Norms Established in MTV's Dramalities, My Super Sweet 16, Laguna Beach and The Hills"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Kelly T. Skrodzki '09
Thesis Title: "Busted Tees: Expressive T-Shirts and a Reexamination of the Tinker Framework"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Dale A. Herbeck
Christopher D. Stanley '06
Thesis Title: "24-Hour Cable News: The Mainstreaming of Politicization"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William Stanwood
Kelly Marie Sutter '08
Thesis Title: "'Nazi Gods' and 'Jewish Devils': The Dehumanizing Rhetoric of Nazi Propaganda"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Molly C. Tormey '09
Thesis Title: "Divided They Fall: An Analysis of the Destructive Effect of Propaganda on Women's Embodiment in War"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Lisa M. Cuklanz
Michael M. Tuntevski '10
Thesis Title: “‘God Hates Fags’ and You, Too: A Rhetorical Analysis of the
Westboro Baptist Church’s Anti-Gay Diatribe”
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie S. Jefferson
Patrick Viklund '09
Thesis Title: "Brains versus Brawn: An Analysis of Stereotyping and Racial Bias in National Football League Broadcasts"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. William E. Stanwood
Kimberly Rose Walsh '08
Thesis Title: "Polly Pocket's Problem, Dora's Dilemma, and Cookie Monster's Crisis: A Rhetorical Analysis of Mattel's Response to the Toy Recalls"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Richard F. Wisgirda '08
Thesis Title: "Red Sox, Yankee, Astro or 'Dodger': Roger Clemens Response to the Accusation of Steroid Use"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferson
Lauren Brett Zaccone '08
Thesis Title: "From the Tennis Courts to the Streets: An Examination of the Ideology Subordinating Women Athletes"
PDF document
Adviser: Dr. Bonnie Jefferso