Research Papers
One of the biggest parts of my graduate school experience has been writing research papers. These have been carefully constructed, deconstructed, and then reconstructed over and over again until I was satisfied with them. You may notice a pattern in my topics and yes, I am a massive sports fan.
“Student-athlete”:
The evolution of the ideograph in traditional media
In this paper, I analyzed the use of the word “student-athlete” in the New York Times from 1958 to 2008 to see how the rhetorical use of the word changed over time. I read over 425 news articles using the word “student-athlete” and coded them based on their usage. A really fascinating transition occurred and took forms of different “eras” of student-athletes from academics to criminals to amateurs.
Rhetorical Criticism of the NFL’s Apologia
In this paper, I wrote about the apologia, rhetoric used to defend oneself from moral wrongdoings, employed by the National Football League in response to a New York Times’ article connected their handling of the concussion crisis and research to the tobacco industry and their research.
Oakland Raiders’ handling of Antonio Brown
Like I said, there’s a pattern. In this sports-related research paper, my group analyzed the response from the Oakland Raiders on the eccentric and outlandish wide receiver Antonio Brown. My group used Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory to look at their response and to determine whether they made the best moves to work with their publics.