The COFAC Colloquium #31 will take place on Friday, April 14 in the Center for the Arts, room 2032 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm. Light refreshments will be available.
Cynthia Cooper, Department of Mass Communication & Communication Studies
A Decade of Cyberhate: An Analysis of Anti-LGBTQ Groups and their Website Messages
For years, the Christian Identity, KKK, and Aryan Nation movements promoted the belief that whites are the Bible’s chosen people, and are therefore the superior race. Recently more mainstream Christian conservative and Alt-Right organizations have espoused an equally singular animosity toward LGBTQ citizens. As LGBTQ rights have advanced socially and politically, many groups have increased their calls to action from mere contempt through speech (protected by the First Amendment) to overt threats and promotion of violence. The Internet is a most important tool in any group’s arsenal of hate: it’s comparatively cheap, visually stimulating, capable of vast archives of information, and provides a cloak of anonymity for members. My research uses textual analysis to evaluate GodHatesFags.com, Abiding Truth Ministries, Society to Remove All Immoral Godless Trash (STRAIGHT), Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality, Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (HOME), and Mass Resistance and compares these findings with website messages of five prominent anti-LGBTQ organizations studied in 2003. [3:00-3:40]
David White, Department of Theatre Arts
Writing Theatre Research Papers in 140 Characters or Less
How can I more effectively teach students how to write research papers and have them remember those skills from their first semester to their last semester? How can we offer the same skills to transfer students who may transfer out of the class in which these skills are taught? During my sabbatical project, I tackled these questions by developing a blog and distribution network for supplemental materials on “Writing Research Papers in Theatre.” These materials can be used in a course as assignments to prepare students for writing a research paper; or students can explore the materials independently if they transferred out of the course in which skills are taught. Based upon online “Twitter courses” that present information in a concise format (aka a tweet or a proverb) each supplemental lesson was created to be memorable and encourage the student to consider the idea presented and then click on a link to learn more. The linked materials draw from flipped classroom strategies utilizing videos, vodcast, animations, and essays that I created. During this presentation I will discuss the strategies, resources, and tools I utilized to create and distribute these supplemental materials. [3:50-4:30]
