The College News, 1937-02-24, Vol. 23, No. 15

Bryn Mawr College student newspaper. Merged with The Haverford News in 1968 to form the Bi-college News (with various titles from 1968 on). Published weekly (except holidays) during the academic year

Including excluded adolescent boys: discursive constructions of identity

The main aim of this thesis is to problematise discourse relating to adolescent boys in order to gain a better understanding of the persistent practice of exclusion and to seek to highlight examples of how discourse can position boys in ways that are more inclusive. In doing so this work is an attempt to theorise my practice as a researcherpractitioner educational psychologist, to be reflexive and to raise my consciousness of the means by which professionals, parents and I can both liberate and limit the ways in which the identity of excluded adolescent boys becomes discursively constructed. Taking a predominantly relativist and post structuralist position I propose a model based on Lacanian theory integrated with methods of analysing discourse, 'a critical discursive psychology' which frames and guides the research process throughout. As the thesis unfolds my initial intention to pursue the research topic from a linguisticdiscursive perspective becomes influenced by a psychoanalytical dimension as the limitations of a purely discursive approach become apparent. My attempt to take a psychoanalytical reading of the discourse data draws attention to unconscious processes that may influence the signifying of some adolescent boys as either pathological or deviant and enables me to speculate as to why such discourses persist whilst others are repressed. However, and most importantly to this study, by exposing through the discourse analysis how discourse constructs the identity of some adolescent boys at both a societal and individual level, I am able to reveal that discursive constructions of the identity of adolescent boys are also open to resistance and change. This in tum provides rich possibilities for future research and practice

'Sand in the hand': young people's relationships with commercial media in the digital age

This thesis explores young people's experiences of contemporary, commercial media. It aims to provide a holistic understanding of new and more traditional media use.The study draws its theoretical framework from the fields of communication studies, consumer behaviour, cultural studies, marketing, sociology and social psychology. Despite several studies investigating young people and new media, a richer understanding of media consumption is needed, located within an ever more commercialised landscape. Assumptions of new media participation are frequently taken for granted, with limited critical analysis of the consumer experience. Studies from a marketing perspective have focused exclusively on managerial effectiveness to the detriment of consumer realities. Moving beyond media effects, it takes an active consumer-centered approach, contextualising new media consumption within the everyday lives of young people. It compares and contrasts practitioner tactics with young people's lived experiences of new and traditional media.Multiple methods of enquiry were used, informed by an interpretive approach. The initial fieldwork consisted of 15 interviews with 'expert' agency practitioners, investigating perceptions of youth marketing and the tactics deployed. Following a pilot study, the main consumer phase explored the mediated experiences of adolescents aged 13-17. A total of 175 secondary school pupils from three diverse school settings participated. Each completed a self-completion questionnaire, a smaller sample also contributing a time-based diary. 45 pupils participated in the qualitative phase, guided by the principles of phenomenology. Photo-elicitation and psycho-drawing techniques were utilised to enrichen discussions.The new media experiences of young people in this study were indeed bound up in their everyday lives. Young people were found to have a complex range of 'newmedia' experiences, embedded in their 'in home' and 'out of home' lifestyles. Their active use of the internet, for mood enhancement, experiential learning, escapism and communication, rarely encompassed commercial motivations. Of several barriers to new media use, online practitioner tactics caused the greatest concern. For many young people, such actions were deeply de-motivating, constituting an unwanted intrusion, in contrast to the symbiotic relationship synonymous with traditional advertising. Their consequent elusiveness is epitomised through the metaphor "sand in the hand"

Shakespeare

Openly licensed anthology focused on the theme of Shakespeare. Contains The Complete Works of Shakespeare