School of Communication and Multimedia Studies

We have an opportunity not only to interact with 3D content but also to
immerse ourselves in it via Virtual Reality (VR). This work is deeply inspired by
my experience as a Ukrainian witnessing the recent turmoil in my homeland. I
wanted people around the globe to experience the horrors that are unfolding.
The Voice of the People, explores narrative storytelling through VR. Ultimately,
the viewer will be able to put on a VR headset and become deeply immersed in
the story. With this technology, the user intimately experiences the war and
devastation created by Russian occupation first hand. The end of World War II is
a critical time in my country’s history. Included in the 3D environment are video
segments of those affected by the current Russian occupation; historical themes
underscore the narrative and help the viewer understand the recurring
aggression by Russia that is part of Ukraine’s history.

Games, movies, television, and interactive media make use of World-Building.
World-Building essentially creates an elaborate invented universe in order to give a story
context. In other words it generates a back-story designed to enhance the cathartic
experience and promote engagement by the reader, viewer or participant. Some
examples of World-Building include Halo, World of WarCraft and Game of Thrones.
Stories need context to be fully understood and experienced. One describes a
situation, the environment, sensations, smells, sounds and sensory perception to give the
audience a fuller, richer experience. World-Building provides context through history,
textures, laws, physics and motivations.
The written portion of this thesis describes the process of generating a fantasy world.
The visual portion uses a character-driven narrative to examine larger themes such as
psychological transformation and pursuing one’s dream against the odds.

Issues of sexual assault have become pervasive across all social strata in
American society. Citizens need to start having conversations regarding these issues. To
combat the issue of sexual assault, children need to be educated regarding the
multifaceted aspects of sex through sex education in order to understand consent and
resources they have available to them. Utilizing grounded theory methodology, this thesis
analyzes sex education literature provided to Palm Beach County Middle School
students. Using Burke’s theory of terministic screens and Foucauldian theories of power
and control; an understanding of the ideological underpinnings of this literature and
discourse were acquired. After analysis, suggestions for disclosure and sex education
programs are provided.

Historically, Surrealism is defined as a literary and artistic movement which developed from Dadaism in the early twentieth century. Many artistic and literary historians assess that the lifespan of Surrealism did not persist beyond the 1960’s – that in fact, after notable surrealist such as René Magritte, Man Ray, Max Ernst and Salvador Dali challenged the limited cultural assumption of rationalism, the pursuit to explore and visualize the subconscious faded from artistic ambition. However, the purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative notion that suggests that digital interactive mediums – such as contemporary games and virtual technologies – have revitalized Surrealism, enabling game developers to build upon the initial philosophies made popular by the avant-garde movement.

This purpose of this study is to investigate the apologetic rhetoric of professional
athletes’ off-field scandals. The three case studies used were Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant,
and Michael Phelps. A genre analysis was conducted to determine the success or failure
of the speech by examining the image repair strategies used during the rhetoric.
Further research revealed that the audiences’ perception plays a large role in
determining if the rhetoric was successful or not. Two factors that aid the audience are
the medium in which the public address was given, and the time it took to deliver the
speech once the off-field scandal took place.
The findings determined that Tiger Woods apologia was not successful, while
Kobe Bryant’s was successful. The rhetoric of Michael Phelps’ speech lacked in delivery
and strategies chosen. To have a successful apologia, one should have a clear use of
strategies as well as a timely public address.

This thesis makes three claims new to the critical literature onWalt Disney’s
1940 film Fantasia. Setting the scene by placing a spotlight on the long-serving
Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski, it contextualizes his pervasive
influence, as well as contributions by others that shaped Fantasia and defined the film’s
stylistic elements. Inspired by recent critical debates on post-silent era filmmaking and
theories of authorship, it makes a case for Fantasia being the culmination of a “sound
film” and notes that its displays of individual artistic talent makes it a noteworthy
example of distributed authorship. Fantasia remains a unique experiment in Disney’s
filmmaking in that it acquired its eventual form only because of decisions taken during
production since no absolute “blue-print” for the finished film existed at the time it went
into production, when a large selection of musical numbers were assigned to teams of
animators.

Despite efforts to mitigate texting and driving in the United States, accidents as a
result of distracted driving continue to increase, especially within the 16-24 age group.
Considering the traits of the members of this age group, as well as the attributes of the
various means that are utilized to mitigate such behavior, I hypothesize that the
employment of filmed narratives in public service announcements is more effective than
any other established approach. Testing the validity of this hypothesis, contributing to a
lack of research, three methods of analysis were employed in this project: a textual
analysis of a filmed narrative; an audience analysis of the comments accompanying the
filmed narrative; and a video session followed by a self-administered questionnaire. The
results of this study indicate that while the filmed narrative is more effective than the
spoken narrative, more intensive analyses are necessary for further speculation.

Community cookbooks operate through a rhetoric of place as ways of thinking
about belonging and influencing communal identities. They reveal much about a
community, including the sharing of memories and tradition, geographical identification,
and representation of socio-cultural hierarchies and habits. For that reason, this paper
advances the claim that the discourse and visuality in community cookbooks, specifically
the cookbooks 200 Years of Charleston Cooking, Charleston Receipts, and Charleston
Receipts Repeats published during the height of a renaissance in Southern literature,
influenced the identity of “Southerness” which, taken in conjunction with place, space,
and time has resulted in a unification of the changing American South. Using Carolyn
Miller’s notions of genre criticism on the basis of genres as social movements,
community cookbooks qualify for the genre label of domestic literature in terms of
content and rhetorical influence. To prove my claim, the use of images, recipes, and
folklore within the pages are analyzed with five a posteriori themes that discuss relations
between a sense of place and its foodways.

Jason Parsley is the executive editor of the South Florida Gay News. He was born in Louisville Kentucky and currently lives Boynton Beach with his partner Aydin Koymen.

F. Jouseph Sliba was born in Colombia on July 9, 1979. He grew up in Long Island and New York City, NY and moved to several cities around the country before settling down in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2009. Mr. Sliba graduated with a BA in Fashion Merchandising in May 2005 and worked for 10 years in the fashion retail industry. Now he is perusing a Masters in College Student Affairs and works in higher education helping college students with financial aid and administrative issues. Mr. Sliba also volunteers at a few LGBTQ non-profit organizations that enrich the lives and culture of the LGBTQ youth in South Florida. Mr. Sliba is passionate about working out at Crossfit, eating healthy and creating a balanced lifestyle.