Minority actors continue to be under-represented in major Hollywood films, something brought to national light last year through the return of the “OscarsSoWhite” hashtag on Twitter. Though there have been some efforts to increase racial diversity in blockbuster roles, there has been serious backlash from minority actors and viewers who have reacted vehemently to the “white-washing” of minority roles, including characters in Doctor Strange, The Great Wall, and Aloha. This study aims to gauge young (ages 18 - 25), self-identified Asian American adults’ responses to this issue of unequal media representation using an interpretive perspective. Data will be gathered through initial survey “screeners” and in-person semistructured interviews. First and foremost, I will ask Asian Americans if they interact with and/or view forms of media. If so, do they feel (accurately) represented in the media? Do they perceive differences in minority roles in major films versus television? Key terms such as “representation” and “white-washing” will be clarified during the interview, as needed. This research will lay important groundwork for assessing Asian Amerian consumers’ views regarding media representations, especially regarding the intersection of identity and mental health. With this work, we can establish need for future quantitative studies and hopefully address issues associated with unequal representation.

The majority of Latinos/Hispanics seek TV news for information and news that reflect their experiences and values. Univision is the largest Spanish television network, in which its audience heavily relies on it for political information that relates to their values. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between what the Latino/Hispanic viewers said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used in Noticiero Univision Seattle before the Election of 2016. A content analysis was conducted to discover how agenda-setting plays a role in Noticiero Univision news broadcast. Agenda-setting consists of the amount of attention that is given to an issue in the media, which affects the level of importance assigned to that issue by the public. Within the agenda-setting of Noticierio Univision Seattle, it provided little attention to political issues throughout its news segment, which leads to how it affects the level of importance over political issues of its Latino/Hispanic viewers. Furthermore, a focus group study, a diverse group of people assembled to participate in a guided discussion, was conducted with a survey to understand if Noticiero Univision Seattle is responsible for shaping conceptions of social reality (cultivation theory). I predict that the limited amount of political issues Noticiero Univision Seattle focused on during the Election 2016 does not reflect the important issues that the viewers (focus group) were impacted by. This study will help us explore the importance of providing effective news to viewers, especially during the election season.

Archaeologists have explored the use of emerging technologies that utilize photogrammetric data in order to facilitate the preservation of archaeological sites and material culture in digital form. While conducting survey, mapping, and excavation at two sites on the Grande Ronde Reservation, a nineteenth-century schoolhouse and an early encampment, the 2016 Field Methods in Indigenous Archaeology field school collected consistently scaled photographs of the excavation units and their stratigraphic profiles, as well as aerial drone photography. Importing this data into Agisoft PhotoScan, a software package design to construct three-dimensional models based on photographs, I generated a series of point clouds, or visuals consistenting of data-points acquired from the overlapping photographs; these were given digital textures to mimic the various real-world materials and surface present at each site, and then assembled into scale models, or models that preserve the proportions of the sites in miniature. A similar procedure was used to construct models of artifacts found at both sites, as well as digital elevation models of both the schoolhouse and the encampment based on drone photography. The results demonstrate the utility of photogrammetry in ongoing efforts to preserve material culture and the context in which it is uncovered. These models will be shared with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, which oversees cultural heritage management for the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, and with the broader public. Making this data accessible to those outside the discipline is an important step towards outreach and education. Ultimately, this and other photogrammetry and digitization projects will contribute to efforts to expedite the return of material cultural heritage to tribal communities as well as encourage the development of collaborative, community-based partnerships between tribes and archaeologists.