Dinah Tetteh | Arkansas State University (original) (raw)

Book Chapters by Dinah Tetteh

Digital Materialities - with Dinah Tetteh and Anca Birzescu Forthcoming in MATTER, Macmillan Inte... more Digital Materialities
- with Dinah Tetteh and Anca Birzescu
Forthcoming in MATTER, Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Gender edited by Stacy Alaimo
____

This chapter examines how the digital (wireless, Internet, computer, and mostly screen-based technologies) and the material (three-dimensional objects we touch, feel, and smell every day) come together in what can be termed digital materialities. Matter is often defined as the substance of physical objects with which we interact. An assumption is made about what physical matter is and about the nature of touching and feeling in defining such matter [three dimensionality of physical matter and the invisibility of the screen and technology for digital access as material]. The digital is defined as that with which we interact onscreen—the visual, the discursive, the coded interface (although, in actuality, these digital interfaces are also produced through material infrastructures). This complexity of the relationship between the digital and material therefore is reduced to a mutually exclusive binary between the " digital " (assumed to be non-physical and located in the audiovisual) and the " material. " The examples given here approach the idea of materiality as based in the act of doing – of everyday practice both in relation to digital space and analogue physical place. Thus materiality in this chapter is defined as more than the substance of the physical objects around us that we touch and feel. Materiality is far more complex than the division between tactile physical matter and digital code or visual image and written discourse suggests. Dividing the " digital " from the " material " into discrete, mutually exclusive categories is fairly difficult when we think about our everyday activities. Thus the examples used in this chapter draw on two different definitions of materiality. The first example engages the issue of tactility and the digitizing of physical objects;

The 1970s brought forth strong movements for the financial empowerment of women and women’s labor... more The 1970s brought forth strong movements for the financial empowerment of women and women’s labor rights protections in rural, developing world regions such as India. For instance, 1972 is when the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was registered as a trade union in India. Its main goals were full employment and self-reliance for women from the unorganized sectors. In the 70s, several developing world countries saw the rise of microfinance interventions. Eventually what started as a public policy strategy and intervention for rural finance in the newly independent India of the 1950s has shaped subsequent patterns for rural credit and microcredit in most of the developing world. For instance, the Bank Dagang Bali (BDB) was established in Bali, Indonesia in September of 1970 and the Grameen Bank was established in Bangladesh in 1974. Around the same time, the U.S.-based NGO Accion began to give loans in Brazil. The founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus became a legend and is well known for his belief that women make better borrowers than men because they find ways to repay the loans. As a result, we see a development model that has emerged which focuses on women’s self-empowerment through micro-entrepreneurialism and the promise of microfinance.
Simultaneously, in global settings, a model of “Development 2.0” which uses Web 2.0 tools and practices to mobilize connectivity, action at a distance, and relational, interpersonal investments through digital and mobile tools. The resulting model of microfinance therefore occurs through Web 2.0 and mobile phone based technologies and also works to connect women and girls from the Global North (including immigrants) and women and girls from the Global South through movements such as The Girl Effect. What we see here is a paradigm based in a neoliberal market economy framework that mobilizes women’s labor from the Global North and from the Global South in the service of a global digital financial capitalism. This essay maps out a literature review that connects the idea of Development 2.0 with the economic and political visibility of the girl child and of the woman as the one who empowers while also still needing to be empowered.

The Internet and other ICT4D tools, including the mobile phone, thus appear to provide platforms ... more The Internet and other ICT4D tools, including the mobile phone, thus appear to provide platforms for a seeming level playing field (resonating with market-economy assumptions and policy-making) for the young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, developed and developing. Yet the very tools that provide access also function to entice/lure the subaltern into providing free labor in play-like forms (digital leisure) such as commenting, liking, retweeting, and sharing news and images about specific brand names and products through promise of economic access and empowerment.

What technologies of power, literacy, and culture play into the “inter-nets” that weave the onlin... more What technologies of power, literacy, and culture play into the “inter-nets” that weave the online and offline through the rural and urban, through the private and the public, through the nation-state and scattered hegemonies? When, how, and why do these “inter-nets” contribute to the production of “trans” flows of capital. What kind of communicative and technical labor shapes and structures these so-called “flows”? When is the subaltern brought online and for what purpose? These are inter-related questions even when they seem not to be. In the present book chapter, we will show how these questions link up in the production of the “digital subaltern 2.0” through digital finance and social media tools

Papers by Dinah Tetteh

Health communication, Mar 25, 2024

The Journal of Perinatal Education

Since early 2020, the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changing situa... more Since early 2020, the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changing situation led to unforeseeable challenges and questions for many people, including pregnant women. Through a textual analysis of personal narratives told via pregnancy and/or laboring vlogs during COVID-19, this present study aims to understand how women from China who live in another country during pregnancy have utilized YouTube vlogs to share their experiences. Through this analysis, we identify various challenges that these women experienced during their pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic exaggerated the normal difficulties of these issues and also created additional problems for these women, including regular pregnancy tests, choice of birthing locations, and the support and caring that were normal during this time period.

This panel considers the cultural, national, and international contexts that feminists operate wi... more This panel considers the cultural, national, and international contexts that feminists operate within, and how these complicate the expression of their goals. Looking at feminist projects in Ireland, Nigeria, and Poland, the presenters explore the complicated dynamics that occur between feminists and other local actors, and how feminists engage with and are affected by national and international discourses that attempt to align with or discredit feminism. Mary Maxfield: “History Retweeting Itself: Imperial Feminist Appropriations of ‘Bring Back Our Girls’”: Racist and imperialist narratives continue to underpin U.S. representations of the African continent and of people of color. This essay considers that history of transnational representation and exploitation in the context of feminist collaboration. By examining this thread of feminist history, and placing a current campaign -- the Nigerian “Bring Back Our Girls” movement -- in its context, the project challenges perceptions of digital campaigns as technologically determined or ‘outside history.’ It draws on textual and historical analysis to consider variations within “Bring Back Our Girls”– the online campaign to locate and return 276 abducted high school students – between “Western” and “Third World” activists, and ultimately reconsiders that discourse in light of anti-racist and anti-imperialist critiques. Erin Mulligan: “Dismantling the Capitalist-Meat-Patriarchy: Intersectionality in Feminist and Vegan Activism”: This paper looks at the activist work of the Vegan Information Project, a vegan activist group based out of Dublin Ireland. VIP\u27s activism is examined to reveal the various ways vegan activism incorporates feminist thought. This includes intersectionality, the feminist care ethic, and ecofeminism. Conversely, VIP is also reveals some of the ways veganism can be understood as a feminist action by itself. This includes the rejection of meat as a symbol of patriarchy and the value placed on caring, cooperation, and community. This paper puts feminism and veganism in conversation in order to better understand their connections. Dinah Tetteh: “Feminism, Breast Cancer Support, and the Cause for Women’s Health: The Case of the Polish Amazons”: The Amazons is a self-help support group in Poland aimed at providing emotional and practical support for women affected by breast cancer. It draws on the experience of breast cancer survivors to help those currently dealing with the disease; through its activities, the group has been instrumental in helping improve the quality of life of women who have undergone mastectomy. The Amazons, however, does not identify as feminist or as working to empower women. I draw from the work of feminist scholars including Alice Echols, Simone de Beauvoir, Robin Morgan, and the history of the feminist movement in the United States to draw parallels between issues that led to challenges faced by the early feminist movement in the U.S. and the limitations of the operations of the Amazons. I argue that the Amazons is reinforcing traditional gender norms and views of women by failing to take up issues that affect the totality of women’s lives in Poland. I note further that the Amazons may be projecting a distorted notion of the lived experience and reality of breast cancer, projecting a normative experience and narrative of the disease, and thus may be hampering the cause for women’s issues and health in Poland. I also discuss ways that the Amazons can learn from and collaborate with their counterparts in the U.S

˜The œqualitative report, Apr 1, 2024

This dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used feminist ethnographic ... more This dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used feminist ethnographic methods of in-depth interviews and focus groups to collect data from 28 ovarian cancer survivors in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. The concepts of social support, uncertainty in illness, and intersectionality are used to understand women’s experiences of the disease and their quality of life post-treatment. My grounded theory analysis shows the ovarian cancer experience as a process involving three phases including (not)making sense, owning the experience, and becoming a survivor. The phases are neither linear nor distinct, and each presents unique challenges to survivors, helping shape how they make meaning and communicate about their experiences. I identify managing uncertainty as the core variable in the ovarian cancer experience; uncertainty is high at diagnosis, plateaus during treatment, heightens again at the end of treatment, and remains in the backgrounds of women’s lives...

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and unders... more Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and understanding of the disease is limited. Metaphors used to discuss the ovaries and ovarian cancer may have a role to play in the limited public discourse about the disease. In this article, I offer a critical analysis of the limited visibility for ovarian cancer in the public sphere using Angelina Jolie’s case as an example. Jolie announced in 2013 that she had had double mastectomy and may in the future remove her ovaries because of an inherited faulty BRCA1 gene and a family history of cancer. I argue that presentation of Jolie’s decision as coming from an informed woman who understood her medical choices, coupled with public perception of the breast as a symbol of sexuality, made the public to be more receptive of the decision. I contend further, however, that making her plan for preventative treatment of ovarian cancer secondary to that of breast cancer even though her risk of dying from o...

Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare, 2022

This study examined openness and topic avoidance in interpersonal communication about ovarian can... more This study examined openness and topic avoidance in interpersonal communication about ovarian cancer. Guided by the uncertainty management theory, the researchers analyzed qualitative data from 28 ovarian cancer patients/survivors and found openness and topic avoidance to be complex communication behaviors which are connected to patients/survivors’ uncertainty. Participants appraised uncertainty about disease prognosis and effectiveness of treatments as a threat; thus, they avoided topics such as treatment side effects and fears about death and disease recurrence to manage such uncertainty. Furthermore, findings showed that communication about ovarian cancer is layered with degrees of openness and avoidance relative to respective audiences and changing illness trajectories. Overall, the findings indicate connections between interpersonal communication about ovarian cancer and uncertainty management practices, suggesting that intervention efforts should help cancer patients/survivors...

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 2021

This study examined mediatized death and emotion, specifically parasocial grieving, toward high-p... more This study examined mediatized death and emotion, specifically parasocial grieving, toward high-profile celebrity Stephen Hawking’s death from a global perspective. A thematic analysis of public tweets explored how social media mourners expressed parasocial grieving following Hawking’s death and how that shaped mediatized global flows of emotion in terms of digital affect culture. Findings showed varied forms of mediatized emotional responses associated with parasocial grievings, such as sadness, shock, confusion, love, and longing. Mourners also adopted varied coping mechanisms, including individualized tributes, reminiscing, memorializing, and advocacy. Findings suggested that Hawking’s mourners performed parasocial death rituals on Twitter as a legitimate public space of mourning. Findings contribute to parasocial grieving scholarship and mediatization of death and emotion.

Feminist Media Studies, 2021

This study examines how the ovarian cancer narrative of Canadian model and body-positive advocate... more This study examines how the ovarian cancer narrative of Canadian model and body-positive advocate, Elly Mayday, disrupted and also intervened in discourses about ovarian cancer, celebrity cancer ex...

Health Communication, 2019

ABSTRACT Advancements in health information technology (HealthIT) and the electronic exchanges of... more ABSTRACT Advancements in health information technology (HealthIT) and the electronic exchanges of health information have “revolutionized” health systems in the US. However, adopting technological developments into the healthcare system has the potential to benefit populations with more resources, further exacerbating health status disparities. Efficacious utilization of HealthIT requires eHealth literacy. Although eHealth literacy is comprised of six factors, new research indicates that the components related to technology literacy may be more impactful in eHealth literacy among certain populations (e.g., older populations who shoulder a greater illness-management burden). Recognizing the importance of technology literacy in eHealth literacy across the lifespan, we investigate generational differences in New Communication Technology (NCT) use and eHealth literacy, especially considering how NCT adoption theory might systematically inform scholars’ understanding of eHealth literacy. Participants included 525 adults primarily in the Midwestern United States. We found significant differences between generational groups across all variables. We found that UTAUT determinants such as performance expectancy and effort expectancy explained 38% of the variance in eHealth literacy, controlling for age, sex, level of education, and prior online health information seeking. Finally, we engaged with early critiques of UTAUT, finding that when applying UTAUT in voluntary (vs. mandatory) contexts, scholars should reconsider variables previously dismissed, such as attitude. In doing this, we extend UTAUT in three ways: new contexts (voluntary NCT adoption), endogenous theoretical mechanisms (eHealth literacy), and exogenous variables (attitude; lifespan). These findings underscore a need for a targeted approach to improve eHealth literacy and health self-management across generations.

Feminist Media Studies, 2018

Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer; yet public knowledge abou... more Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer; yet public knowledge about the disease is limited. This essay critically examines the limited visibility of ovarian cancer using Angelina Jolie's medical announcements in 2013 and 2015 as examples. The essay also examines how Jolie's case reinforces and also challenges hegemonic notions of femininity, the woman's body and health, and how it explicates limitations in discourses of choice and risk. I argue that normative views about the female body play significant roles in shaping how and what we know about women's health.

Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2017

Objective: Several entities have been implementing measures to improve individuals' attitudes tow... more Objective: Several entities have been implementing measures to improve individuals' attitudes toward people with disability (PwD) with varying successes. This study aims to use the case of an intergroup interaction program (Intergroup Communication Intervention; ICI) to explore issues related to PwD-attitude change, especially how attitudes may change for better or for worse, as a part of the intergroup communication. The goal of the ICI is to positively affect college students' attitudes about out-group members through systematic, supported, longitudinal intergroup contact. Methods: This study employed a case study methodology to identify factors that impact college students' attitudes toward PwD. Twenty-four students from a Midwestern University partnered with PwDs at a local residential facility and wrote reflective notes about their experiences. The notes were analyzed using a qualitative evaluation methodology. Results: Findings showed that students' attitudes toward PwD changed during the relationship building process; specifically, when they focused on the capabilities of PwD instead of their disability and as they confronted their inherent biases about PwD. Students also described more PwD observed comfort with and disclosure to students more after consistent interactions. Conclusion: We suggest that intervention programs aimed at improving attitudes about PwD should be longitudinal and include opportunities for direct interaction between PwD and differently-abled individuals.

Digital Materialities - with Dinah Tetteh and Anca Birzescu Forthcoming in MATTER, Macmillan Inte... more Digital Materialities
- with Dinah Tetteh and Anca Birzescu
Forthcoming in MATTER, Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Gender edited by Stacy Alaimo
____

This chapter examines how the digital (wireless, Internet, computer, and mostly screen-based technologies) and the material (three-dimensional objects we touch, feel, and smell every day) come together in what can be termed digital materialities. Matter is often defined as the substance of physical objects with which we interact. An assumption is made about what physical matter is and about the nature of touching and feeling in defining such matter [three dimensionality of physical matter and the invisibility of the screen and technology for digital access as material]. The digital is defined as that with which we interact onscreen—the visual, the discursive, the coded interface (although, in actuality, these digital interfaces are also produced through material infrastructures). This complexity of the relationship between the digital and material therefore is reduced to a mutually exclusive binary between the " digital " (assumed to be non-physical and located in the audiovisual) and the " material. " The examples given here approach the idea of materiality as based in the act of doing – of everyday practice both in relation to digital space and analogue physical place. Thus materiality in this chapter is defined as more than the substance of the physical objects around us that we touch and feel. Materiality is far more complex than the division between tactile physical matter and digital code or visual image and written discourse suggests. Dividing the " digital " from the " material " into discrete, mutually exclusive categories is fairly difficult when we think about our everyday activities. Thus the examples used in this chapter draw on two different definitions of materiality. The first example engages the issue of tactility and the digitizing of physical objects;

The 1970s brought forth strong movements for the financial empowerment of women and women’s labor... more The 1970s brought forth strong movements for the financial empowerment of women and women’s labor rights protections in rural, developing world regions such as India. For instance, 1972 is when the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was registered as a trade union in India. Its main goals were full employment and self-reliance for women from the unorganized sectors. In the 70s, several developing world countries saw the rise of microfinance interventions. Eventually what started as a public policy strategy and intervention for rural finance in the newly independent India of the 1950s has shaped subsequent patterns for rural credit and microcredit in most of the developing world. For instance, the Bank Dagang Bali (BDB) was established in Bali, Indonesia in September of 1970 and the Grameen Bank was established in Bangladesh in 1974. Around the same time, the U.S.-based NGO Accion began to give loans in Brazil. The founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus became a legend and is well known for his belief that women make better borrowers than men because they find ways to repay the loans. As a result, we see a development model that has emerged which focuses on women’s self-empowerment through micro-entrepreneurialism and the promise of microfinance.
Simultaneously, in global settings, a model of “Development 2.0” which uses Web 2.0 tools and practices to mobilize connectivity, action at a distance, and relational, interpersonal investments through digital and mobile tools. The resulting model of microfinance therefore occurs through Web 2.0 and mobile phone based technologies and also works to connect women and girls from the Global North (including immigrants) and women and girls from the Global South through movements such as The Girl Effect. What we see here is a paradigm based in a neoliberal market economy framework that mobilizes women’s labor from the Global North and from the Global South in the service of a global digital financial capitalism. This essay maps out a literature review that connects the idea of Development 2.0 with the economic and political visibility of the girl child and of the woman as the one who empowers while also still needing to be empowered.

The Internet and other ICT4D tools, including the mobile phone, thus appear to provide platforms ... more The Internet and other ICT4D tools, including the mobile phone, thus appear to provide platforms for a seeming level playing field (resonating with market-economy assumptions and policy-making) for the young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, developed and developing. Yet the very tools that provide access also function to entice/lure the subaltern into providing free labor in play-like forms (digital leisure) such as commenting, liking, retweeting, and sharing news and images about specific brand names and products through promise of economic access and empowerment.

What technologies of power, literacy, and culture play into the “inter-nets” that weave the onlin... more What technologies of power, literacy, and culture play into the “inter-nets” that weave the online and offline through the rural and urban, through the private and the public, through the nation-state and scattered hegemonies? When, how, and why do these “inter-nets” contribute to the production of “trans” flows of capital. What kind of communicative and technical labor shapes and structures these so-called “flows”? When is the subaltern brought online and for what purpose? These are inter-related questions even when they seem not to be. In the present book chapter, we will show how these questions link up in the production of the “digital subaltern 2.0” through digital finance and social media tools

Health communication, Mar 25, 2024

The Journal of Perinatal Education

Since early 2020, the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changing situa... more Since early 2020, the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid changing situation led to unforeseeable challenges and questions for many people, including pregnant women. Through a textual analysis of personal narratives told via pregnancy and/or laboring vlogs during COVID-19, this present study aims to understand how women from China who live in another country during pregnancy have utilized YouTube vlogs to share their experiences. Through this analysis, we identify various challenges that these women experienced during their pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic exaggerated the normal difficulties of these issues and also created additional problems for these women, including regular pregnancy tests, choice of birthing locations, and the support and caring that were normal during this time period.

This panel considers the cultural, national, and international contexts that feminists operate wi... more This panel considers the cultural, national, and international contexts that feminists operate within, and how these complicate the expression of their goals. Looking at feminist projects in Ireland, Nigeria, and Poland, the presenters explore the complicated dynamics that occur between feminists and other local actors, and how feminists engage with and are affected by national and international discourses that attempt to align with or discredit feminism. Mary Maxfield: “History Retweeting Itself: Imperial Feminist Appropriations of ‘Bring Back Our Girls’”: Racist and imperialist narratives continue to underpin U.S. representations of the African continent and of people of color. This essay considers that history of transnational representation and exploitation in the context of feminist collaboration. By examining this thread of feminist history, and placing a current campaign -- the Nigerian “Bring Back Our Girls” movement -- in its context, the project challenges perceptions of digital campaigns as technologically determined or ‘outside history.’ It draws on textual and historical analysis to consider variations within “Bring Back Our Girls”– the online campaign to locate and return 276 abducted high school students – between “Western” and “Third World” activists, and ultimately reconsiders that discourse in light of anti-racist and anti-imperialist critiques. Erin Mulligan: “Dismantling the Capitalist-Meat-Patriarchy: Intersectionality in Feminist and Vegan Activism”: This paper looks at the activist work of the Vegan Information Project, a vegan activist group based out of Dublin Ireland. VIP\u27s activism is examined to reveal the various ways vegan activism incorporates feminist thought. This includes intersectionality, the feminist care ethic, and ecofeminism. Conversely, VIP is also reveals some of the ways veganism can be understood as a feminist action by itself. This includes the rejection of meat as a symbol of patriarchy and the value placed on caring, cooperation, and community. This paper puts feminism and veganism in conversation in order to better understand their connections. Dinah Tetteh: “Feminism, Breast Cancer Support, and the Cause for Women’s Health: The Case of the Polish Amazons”: The Amazons is a self-help support group in Poland aimed at providing emotional and practical support for women affected by breast cancer. It draws on the experience of breast cancer survivors to help those currently dealing with the disease; through its activities, the group has been instrumental in helping improve the quality of life of women who have undergone mastectomy. The Amazons, however, does not identify as feminist or as working to empower women. I draw from the work of feminist scholars including Alice Echols, Simone de Beauvoir, Robin Morgan, and the history of the feminist movement in the United States to draw parallels between issues that led to challenges faced by the early feminist movement in the U.S. and the limitations of the operations of the Amazons. I argue that the Amazons is reinforcing traditional gender norms and views of women by failing to take up issues that affect the totality of women’s lives in Poland. I note further that the Amazons may be projecting a distorted notion of the lived experience and reality of breast cancer, projecting a normative experience and narrative of the disease, and thus may be hampering the cause for women’s issues and health in Poland. I also discuss ways that the Amazons can learn from and collaborate with their counterparts in the U.S

˜The œqualitative report, Apr 1, 2024

This dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used feminist ethnographic ... more This dissertation explores the lived experiences of ovarian cancer. I used feminist ethnographic methods of in-depth interviews and focus groups to collect data from 28 ovarian cancer survivors in Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan. The concepts of social support, uncertainty in illness, and intersectionality are used to understand women’s experiences of the disease and their quality of life post-treatment. My grounded theory analysis shows the ovarian cancer experience as a process involving three phases including (not)making sense, owning the experience, and becoming a survivor. The phases are neither linear nor distinct, and each presents unique challenges to survivors, helping shape how they make meaning and communicate about their experiences. I identify managing uncertainty as the core variable in the ovarian cancer experience; uncertainty is high at diagnosis, plateaus during treatment, heightens again at the end of treatment, and remains in the backgrounds of women’s lives...

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and unders... more Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and understanding of the disease is limited. Metaphors used to discuss the ovaries and ovarian cancer may have a role to play in the limited public discourse about the disease. In this article, I offer a critical analysis of the limited visibility for ovarian cancer in the public sphere using Angelina Jolie’s case as an example. Jolie announced in 2013 that she had had double mastectomy and may in the future remove her ovaries because of an inherited faulty BRCA1 gene and a family history of cancer. I argue that presentation of Jolie’s decision as coming from an informed woman who understood her medical choices, coupled with public perception of the breast as a symbol of sexuality, made the public to be more receptive of the decision. I contend further, however, that making her plan for preventative treatment of ovarian cancer secondary to that of breast cancer even though her risk of dying from o...

Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare, 2022

This study examined openness and topic avoidance in interpersonal communication about ovarian can... more This study examined openness and topic avoidance in interpersonal communication about ovarian cancer. Guided by the uncertainty management theory, the researchers analyzed qualitative data from 28 ovarian cancer patients/survivors and found openness and topic avoidance to be complex communication behaviors which are connected to patients/survivors’ uncertainty. Participants appraised uncertainty about disease prognosis and effectiveness of treatments as a threat; thus, they avoided topics such as treatment side effects and fears about death and disease recurrence to manage such uncertainty. Furthermore, findings showed that communication about ovarian cancer is layered with degrees of openness and avoidance relative to respective audiences and changing illness trajectories. Overall, the findings indicate connections between interpersonal communication about ovarian cancer and uncertainty management practices, suggesting that intervention efforts should help cancer patients/survivors...

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 2021

This study examined mediatized death and emotion, specifically parasocial grieving, toward high-p... more This study examined mediatized death and emotion, specifically parasocial grieving, toward high-profile celebrity Stephen Hawking’s death from a global perspective. A thematic analysis of public tweets explored how social media mourners expressed parasocial grieving following Hawking’s death and how that shaped mediatized global flows of emotion in terms of digital affect culture. Findings showed varied forms of mediatized emotional responses associated with parasocial grievings, such as sadness, shock, confusion, love, and longing. Mourners also adopted varied coping mechanisms, including individualized tributes, reminiscing, memorializing, and advocacy. Findings suggested that Hawking’s mourners performed parasocial death rituals on Twitter as a legitimate public space of mourning. Findings contribute to parasocial grieving scholarship and mediatization of death and emotion.

Feminist Media Studies, 2021

This study examines how the ovarian cancer narrative of Canadian model and body-positive advocate... more This study examines how the ovarian cancer narrative of Canadian model and body-positive advocate, Elly Mayday, disrupted and also intervened in discourses about ovarian cancer, celebrity cancer ex...

Health Communication, 2019

ABSTRACT Advancements in health information technology (HealthIT) and the electronic exchanges of... more ABSTRACT Advancements in health information technology (HealthIT) and the electronic exchanges of health information have “revolutionized” health systems in the US. However, adopting technological developments into the healthcare system has the potential to benefit populations with more resources, further exacerbating health status disparities. Efficacious utilization of HealthIT requires eHealth literacy. Although eHealth literacy is comprised of six factors, new research indicates that the components related to technology literacy may be more impactful in eHealth literacy among certain populations (e.g., older populations who shoulder a greater illness-management burden). Recognizing the importance of technology literacy in eHealth literacy across the lifespan, we investigate generational differences in New Communication Technology (NCT) use and eHealth literacy, especially considering how NCT adoption theory might systematically inform scholars’ understanding of eHealth literacy. Participants included 525 adults primarily in the Midwestern United States. We found significant differences between generational groups across all variables. We found that UTAUT determinants such as performance expectancy and effort expectancy explained 38% of the variance in eHealth literacy, controlling for age, sex, level of education, and prior online health information seeking. Finally, we engaged with early critiques of UTAUT, finding that when applying UTAUT in voluntary (vs. mandatory) contexts, scholars should reconsider variables previously dismissed, such as attitude. In doing this, we extend UTAUT in three ways: new contexts (voluntary NCT adoption), endogenous theoretical mechanisms (eHealth literacy), and exogenous variables (attitude; lifespan). These findings underscore a need for a targeted approach to improve eHealth literacy and health self-management across generations.

Feminist Media Studies, 2018

Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer; yet public knowledge abou... more Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer; yet public knowledge about the disease is limited. This essay critically examines the limited visibility of ovarian cancer using Angelina Jolie's medical announcements in 2013 and 2015 as examples. The essay also examines how Jolie's case reinforces and also challenges hegemonic notions of femininity, the woman's body and health, and how it explicates limitations in discourses of choice and risk. I argue that normative views about the female body play significant roles in shaping how and what we know about women's health.

Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2017

Objective: Several entities have been implementing measures to improve individuals' attitudes tow... more Objective: Several entities have been implementing measures to improve individuals' attitudes toward people with disability (PwD) with varying successes. This study aims to use the case of an intergroup interaction program (Intergroup Communication Intervention; ICI) to explore issues related to PwD-attitude change, especially how attitudes may change for better or for worse, as a part of the intergroup communication. The goal of the ICI is to positively affect college students' attitudes about out-group members through systematic, supported, longitudinal intergroup contact. Methods: This study employed a case study methodology to identify factors that impact college students' attitudes toward PwD. Twenty-four students from a Midwestern University partnered with PwDs at a local residential facility and wrote reflective notes about their experiences. The notes were analyzed using a qualitative evaluation methodology. Results: Findings showed that students' attitudes toward PwD changed during the relationship building process; specifically, when they focused on the capabilities of PwD instead of their disability and as they confronted their inherent biases about PwD. Students also described more PwD observed comfort with and disclosure to students more after consistent interactions. Conclusion: We suggest that intervention programs aimed at improving attitudes about PwD should be longitudinal and include opportunities for direct interaction between PwD and differently-abled individuals.

Global Health Promotion, 2017

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries.... more Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries. In the sub-Saharan African region e-waste is considered a crisis with no end in sight yet; there is lack of structures and regulations to manage the problem. In this article, we discuss the potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addressing the health, environmental, and social impacts of e-waste in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw from environmental policy, environmental communication, global health policy, and health communication to argue that managing e-waste could be framed as ongoing HIA where all the steps of HIA are performed on a rolling basis with input from local communities. Further, we suggest that HIA should be infused into recycling legislation to help streamline the practice in order to make it safe for health and the environment and to maximize the economic benefits.

Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 2016

Individuals' attitudes about persons with disability (PwD) strongly affect differentlyabled perso... more Individuals' attitudes about persons with disability (PwD) strongly affect differentlyabled persons' quality of life and position in society. Some research offers support for the ability of systematic, supported, longitudinal contact between different groups of individuals to improve attitudes. College campuses, in particular, offer a potentially useful arena in which to facilitate this type of contact. This study explored contextual factors (eg, geographic region, biological sex) and predictors of disability-related attitudes among a college student population to determine strategies for course-based intervention design (eg, as community-engaged or service-learning initiatives). Surveying participants from universities in two regions of the United States, we found that self-esteem, audience-based communication apprehension, and contact with PwD explain more than 50% of the variance in disability-related attitudes. Further, we found that geographic location affects both self-esteem and audience-based communication apprehension (communicating/interacting with PwD). We discuss the implications for community engagement and/or service learning and highlight the importance of partnerships among relevant community stakeholders, including university faculty, students, and staff.

Women's Reproductive Health, 2017

ABSTRACTOvarian cancer and its treatments affect women's sexuality and sexual health. The dis... more ABSTRACTOvarian cancer and its treatments affect women's sexuality and sexual health. The disease affects a core element of womanhood and femininity—the ovaries. Scholars and others argue that the position of the ovaries in the interior of the female body and the prognosis of the disease contribute to limited public awareness. In the present study the author used a feminist lens to conduct interviews and focus-group discussions with 28 women affected with ovarian cancer. The results showed that ovarian cancer and its treatments affect women's understanding of their sexual self-concept. Their understanding is also influenced by life conditions at the time of diagnosis, the treatment regimen, and factors such as age and level of social support. Thus sexual self-concept in the context of ovarian cancer needs to be reconceptualized to account for how the disease presents itself.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and unders... more Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers; yet public discourse about and understanding of the disease is limited. Metaphors used to discuss the ovaries and ovarian cancer may have a role to play in the limited public discourse about the disease. In this article, I offer a critical analysis of the limited visibility for ovarian cancer in the public sphere using Angelina Jolie's case as an example. Jolie announced in 2013 that she had had double mastectomy and may in the future remove her ovaries because of an inherited faulty BRCA1 gene and a family history of cancer. I argue that presentation of Jolie's decision as coming from an informed woman who understood her medical choices, coupled with public perception of the breast as a symbol of sexuality, made the public to be more receptive of the decision. I contend further, however, that making her plan for preventative treatment of ovarian cancer secondary to that of breast cancer even though her risk of dying from ovarian cancer is higher, points to current public notions of ovarian cancer. The breasts are sexualized in American culture hence the "heavy" media presence of Jolie's mastectomy but an absence of public discourse about ovarian cancer. By using Angelina Jolie's situation as a case in point, I do not mean to suggest that her decision was right or wrong; neither am I advocating for removal of healthy ovaries. I am only using her case to highlight how current discussion (or non-discussion) of ovarian cancer does little to bring the severity of the disease to the public radar.

Tetteh, D., & Lengel, L. (2017). The urgent need for health impact assessment: Proposing a trans... more Tetteh, D., & Lengel, L. (2017). The urgent need for health impact assessment: Proposing a transdisciplinary approach to the e-waste crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Global Health Promotion. Epub ahead of print, available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28353403

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries. In the sub-Saharan African region e-waste is considered a crisis with no end in sight yet; there is lack of structures and regulations to manage the problem. In this article, we discuss the potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addressing the health, environmental, and social impacts of e-waste in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw from environmental policy, environmental communication, global health policy, and health communication to argue that managing e-waste could be framed as ongoing HIA where all the steps of HIA are performed on a rolling basis with input from local communities. Further, we suggest that HIA should be infused into recycling legislation to help streamline the practice in order to make it safe for health and the environment and to maximize the economic benefits.