Browsing by Author "Palmer-Mehta, Valerie"
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Item Encountering the Rare Book(Oakland University, 2018-09-06) Eis, Andrea; Spunaugle, Emily; Daniel, Dominique; Greer, Katie; Roth, Brad; Barry, Meaghan; Walwema, Josephine; Hartsock, Katie; Payette, Jessica; Navin, Mark; Barlow, Gania; Spagnuolo, Anna; Campoy-Cubillo, Adolfo; Hahn, Stacey; Miller, Karen; Rigstad, Mark; Cassano, Graham; Peiser, Meghan; Reger, Jo; Lewis, Mary; Donahue, Timothy; Palmer-Mehta, ValerieExcerpt from essay by Andrea Eis: The palpability of book form, as a corporeal container for human thought, is distinctive from the reading of a book. The encounter with a book’s content happens in a reader’s mind; with a tangible book, that encounter is physical as well—it becomes matter for the senses. To hold a book that was printed in 1605, to touch a page that may not have been touched in hundreds of years, is a visceral experience that cannot be replicated in the digital realm.Item Laughing at Bombs: An Ideological Analysis of the 1957 U.S. Civil Defense Film "A Day Called X"Cameron, Devin James; Palmer-Mehta, ValerieAfter the second world war, numerous civil defense efforts were undertaken by the United States to respond to Soviet threats of nuclear attack. One such effort was the 1957 civil defense film, A Day Called X. This film was produced as a dramatized portrayal of an evacuation drill in Portland, Oregon, a drill that actually occurred as “Project Greenlight” in 1955. Developed by the CBS Office of Civil Defense Mobilization, in partnership with the Portland Civil Defense program, this short film was broadcast around the country as a demonstration of the potential successes of civil defense efforts nationwide. Using ideological criticism, a form of rhetorical criticism, I seek to identify the discursive construction of American exceptionalism and farce within the film. I argue that the rhetorical construction of an American town’s calm, organized response to impending nuclear attack in A Day Called X is farcical in that it provides an unfair, untrue, and idealized picture of a hypothetical American response to the situation. This divergence from likely reality in this fictional representation will be shown to constitute a work of farce. This farce is amplified by the underlying theme of American exceptionalism. In the course of my analysis, I demonstrate that this assertion of superiority bolsters the absurdity of the representation and constitutes what I term “apocalyptic exceptionalism.”Item Multiplicity, Connection and Divergence: African Art from the John F. Korachis Collection(Oakland University, 2011-09-10) Eis, Andrea; Lashbrook, Debra; Goody, Dick; Korachis, John F.; Dulio, David; Barclay, Lizabeth A.; Goldberg, Andrew F.X.; Benson, Linda; Reger, Jo; Jhashi, Tamara; Cardiff, Gladys; Rosenthall, Sam; Palmer-Mehta, Valerie; Wren, Patricia A.; Schneeweis, Adina; Bee, Mary; Oakley, Barbara; Evans, Susan; Gilson, Annette; VanderKaay, Cody; Gallien, Louis B., Jr.; Kitchens, Marshall; Guessous, Laila; Corso, John; Pfeiffer, Kathleen; Chapman, Jeffrey S.; Gibbs, Christina; Miller, Karen; Hay, Kellie; Shackelford, Todd K.Excerpt from the collector's statement: This exhibition and catalogue provide a rare opportunity to view and possibly come to understand the enlightening, creative, complex and culturally sophisticated characteristics of African art. Perhaps it may even answer the most commonly asked question as to why I have been motivated to collect this art form. The collection includes a variety of masks, numerous styles of sculptural figures, furnishings and forms of pottery.Item A Neo-Aristotelian Criticism of Persuasive Strategies Employed By U.S. News Journalists in the Current Crisis of CredibilityRoush, Madison; Palmer-Mehta, ValerieThrough studying the persuasive strategies used currently in news reporting, one can see how contemporary journalists attempt to build credibility with their audiences. Using Neo-Aristotelian criticism, a form of rhetorical criticism, I conducted research through the week of October 4th through October 8th of 2021. This strategy was employed to analyze the persuasive strategies used by U.S. news journalists, Tucker Carlson and Jake Tapper, to address and overcome the current crisis of trust in the media. This project provides new insight into how persuasive strategies are used to cultivate credibility by current American journalists in the media today, whether it be through words or images. Through analyzing both the embodied strategies of producing credibility as well as the discursive strategies employed in the stories they cover, a picture can be generated on their ethos-promoting strategies. My analysis found that Tucker Carlson, who has consistently high viewership, presents himself as an equal to his audience, and reports on topics that are directly related to the problems of the ‘common man’ satisfying the audience’s need for orientation. In contrast, Jake Tapper, who has lost significant viewership, presents his arguments in a way that is more authoritative, but lacks resonance with viewers' need for orientation as his stories frequently relate to national issues on a governmental level instead of the direct effect to the audience, lowering relevance. Tapper also emphasizes the importance of what is right and wrong through emotionally charged language which could dissuade viewers from deeming him as credible because he uses emotion to bolster his credibility more than other tactics. The benefit from this research includes helping reporters report more effectively as well as ethically to get the best response from their audience.Item A "suitably dead" woman: Grieving Andrea Dworkin(Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 2016-10-14) Palmer-Mehta, ValerieThis article investigates the discursive register through which lives become grievable by focusing on a case study of the discourses surrounding the death of radical feminist, Andrea Dworkin. I argue that Dworkin becomes embroiled in an interlocking nexus of illicit subject positions that set the terms of her grievability and obstruct recognition of her as a rational being by framing her (1) as the quintessential emotional and irrational woman who is not worthy of the respect typically offered to the dead and (2) in relation to her wild, unruly, and excessive body, which is conflated with her feral work.