Bessie Lawton

Questioning Race: Ancestry DNA and Dialog on Race

Human genetics and racial identity converge pointedly in the family narrative. Until recently, genetics, racial identity, and family narrative were all rather malleable concepts in the public arena. All were presented in anecdotal form for the most part, and were often based on certain social conventions. The interjection of popularly available ancestry DNA data adds an additional piece of information to the discussion of genetics, race, and narrative. Using the framework of both narrative theory and theory of social construction, this work uses quantitative and qualitative data to explore how individuals react to ancestry DNA findings and to consider if and how this information will change narratives, behaviors, and perspectives. We also explore whether ones racial identification makes a difference in initial accuracy and if there is a difference among racial groupings in terms of change in census identification based on knowledge of their DNA profile.

The YouTube Indian: Portrayals of Native Americans on a Viral Video Site

Mainstream media messages contain limited, distorted and negative images of Native Americans, thus promoting continued ethnic marginalization. Community-oriented online venues like the viral video sites have opened up new platforms for depiction. This study employed a quantitative content analysis to examine a sample of YouTube videos relating to Native Americans. The findings reveal a number of promising patterns, suggesting that messages broadcast by viral video sites may depart from the rigid stereotypical depictions of Native Americans in traditional media.

Talking About the YouTube Indians: Images of Native Americans and Viewer Comments on a Viral Video Site

This study explored the effects of YouTube videos relating to Native Americans on viewer comments posted under the videos. An analysis of user comments as a function of different aspects of racial depictions shows that although users respond favorably to some traditional portrayals of Native Americans, they also respond favorably to Native depictions in contemporary, mainstream contexts and that the videos motivate the viewers to talk about racial discrimination. These findings point to new media outlets’ potential to influence established social perceptions of marginalized racial groups.

Interracial Couples’ Conflict Styles on Educational Issues

This study reports results of a quantitative survey of interracial couples’ conflict styles on one specific issue—education. Interracial couples answered a slightly revised version of Putnam-Wilsons Organizational Communication Conflict Instrument to assess conflict styles in dealing with education. The paper has three research questions: Do men and women score differently on self-reported use of conflict styles when dealing with educational issues? Does age or race predict self-reported conflict style for husbands when they deal with educational issues? and Does age or race predict self-reported conflict style for wives dealing with educational issues? A difference on control emerged between husbands and wives, with the latter showing more control-oriented behavior compared to the former. Wives’ age and race were not related to control, non-confrontation, or solution. Husbands who are Asian or Latino were more likely to exercise control. Older husbands’ responses reflected that they were more likely to display solution-oriented behaviors over control-oriented ones.

Shifting Winds: Using Ancestry DNA to Explore Multiracial Individuals’ Patterns of Articulating Racial Identity

ABSTRACT This study explored how genotype information affects identification narratives of multiracial individuals. Twenty-one multiracial individuals completed individual interviews before and after receiving a DNA analysis to clarify their genetically based racial ancestry. Based on results, this article proposes patterns of articulating racial identity by multiracial individuals. Four patterns extend evolving research in multiracial identification, namely (1) the individual articulates a monoracial identity; (2) the individual articulates one identity, but this can shift in response to various conditions; (3) the individual articulates an extraracial identity, opting out of traditional categories applied to race; and (4) the person distinguishes traditional categories of race from culture and owns the two identities in different ways. Implications of these findings are discussed. First, adding new ancestry DNA information further muddles the neat categories of race, consistent with the view of race as socially constructed. Second, results emphasize the fluidity of identification for multiracial individuals. Third, DNA information challenges the neat percentages people tend to associate with their backgrounds. Particularly for younger multiracial individuals, there was less of a sense that race was a real thing and more that culture played a big part in how they saw themselves.

Untethering Education: Creating a Pilot Hybrid Class to Enhance Learning in Intercultural Communication

Improvements in educational technology in the past couple of decades have led institutions of higher learning to encourage and implement various types of distance education courses. This article reports on the conversion process of a face-to-face Intercultural Communication class at a mid-Atlantic university in the USA. First, the impetus for its creation is described, followed by the process of creating this course. Then a description of the course is presented, followed by the assessment design and results comparing the hybrid course to its face-to-face version offered in the past in terms of cognitive, behavioural, and attitudinal measures. The assessment results show that students enrolled in the hybrid course performed as well or better on knowledge questions. Students in the hybrid course outperformed face-to-face students in terms of attendance, but performed similarly for other behavioral measures. Overall, students in the hybrid course had positive attitudes toward the course.