Tag: Oral Session 1C

Picture This: The Role of Digital Storytelling in Motivating Action for Refugee Relief

Presenter(s): Mitra Lebuhn Lebuhn − International Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Graboyes, Stephen Wooten

Oral Session 1C

Research Area: Humanitarian Communication, International Studies, Psychology, Social Science

Funding: Presidential Scholarship, Summit Scholarship, SIT study abroad scholarship

It is often assumed that powerful photographs and film footage have the ability to move viewers in the developed population to action. Frank Fournier, the photographer who captured the face of 13-year-old Omayra Sanchez in her last hours of life, said, “I believe the photo helped raise money from around the world in aid and helped highlight the irresponsibility and lack of courage of the country’s leaders (BBC, 2005).” His statement encompasses the common perspective that imagery can motivate action, but there is a lack in data regarding this transition from emotion to action. This study is concerned with the effectiveness of various digital storytelling appeals (shock effect, positive images, and post-humanitarian communication) in encouraging agency in refugee relief efforts. Refugees are perhaps more distant from the donor population than any other victimized group, and have struggled through periods of severe anti-refugee sentiments that have made the collection of aid and process of reintegration challenging. The extreme discourse between populations and the ever-growing number of displaced persons makes refugees the ideal population to study. This study asks what in a digital story, particularly the imagery, motivates developed populations to not only react emotionally towards refugee issues but also make contributive action for refugee relief efforts? Through literature and interviews regarding image-evoked empathy, identity, and group influenced responding, and the analysis of photographs and digital storytelling platforms that unpack various imagery appeals, it is evident that image use for humanitarian campaigns has evolved to it’s most effective form yet. This study explores how advancements in technology have brought forth digital storytelling, which combined with the implementation of the post- humanitarian communication appeal generates evocative and accessible campaigns that fit the framework necessary to motivate action for refugees relief more effectively and ethically than has been done in the past.

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Reports About Mass Atrocities: Rwanda, Bosnia, Syria, And Myanmar

Presenter(s): Eleanor Estreich − English, Economics

Faculty Mentor(s): David Frank

Oral Session 1C

Research Area: Humanities – Rhetorical Analysis

Speaking from Beirut in February 2018, the United Nations’ regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis, Panos Moumtzis, said that “’Humanitarian diplomacy is failing…We are not able to reach the conscience or the ears of politicians, of decision makers, of people in power’” (NYTimes). Moumtzis also “wondered what level of violence it would take to shock the world into action” (NYTimes). The prevalence of mass atrocities should demand our attention, yet moving decision makers to pay attention or act on mass atrocities remains a significant problem. This problem is magnified by the sheer number of victims in modern wars, and pervasive psychological barriers that often prevent decision makers from being able to comprehend the meaning of distant human lives underlying statistical description. Given these issues, this thesis formulates a response to a broad request by Charles J. Brown, a practitioner in Washington D.C., to study messaging strategies in reports about atrocities. Reports are a widely used communicative practice for the US government and other institutions, so this thesis considers reports that present data and information about atrocities to decision makers, rather than a broad journalistic readership. In order to reach the conscience of those in power, and strive to elicit better decision-making processes about atrocities, rhetorical analysis is used to identify more effective ways of selecting and presenting input data about atrocities for decision makers. Building from the research of Paul Slovic, who identifies the role of dual-process theories of thinking in our psychological responses to atrocities, this analysis also focuses on how the psychological underpinnings of reports should guide writing recommendations. The first chapter uses qualitative rhetorical analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of three reports issued about Rwanda and Bosnia. The second chapter interrogates US discourse around al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria, which was comprised of argumentation for and against military intervention. The purpose of the second chapter is to identify how the larger discourse might direct argument invention in the report-writing process. Preliminary findings suggest that reports fail to capture the attention of decision makers when they use inconsistent scaling mechanisms for representing statistical deaths, and that risk is usually framed in terms of intervention (rather than nonintervention), to the detriment of the decision-making processes that follow.
*Nytimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/world/middleeast/syria-bombing-damascus-united-nations. html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

Brand Activism: Working Toward Progressive Representations of Social Movements in Advertising

Presenter(s): Rachel Benner – Media Studies, Advertising

Faculty Mentor(s): Kim Sheehan

Oral Session 1C

Research Area: Social Science

Advertising agencies frequently use the cultural energy of social movements to connect brands to new audiences and promote their products. Recent “brand activism” efforts in the industry tie marketing messages to specific issues of social justice. A large body of academic critique about the general intersection of social movements and marketing exists, but insights from these studies are largely ignored by people in the advertising industry. This thesis addresses that disconnect. After exploring studies of social movements’ framing in advertising messages, this project assesses the strengths and weaknesses of those frames with a theoretical model. In-depth interviews with advertising professionals then shape a best practices guide for creating pro-social advertising: a way for advertising to best address critical discourse around social movements and brands leading to industry differentiation, increased brand trust, and progressive allyship with social movements.