Response to Artifact2

Learning Outcome 2 Students are expected to demonstrate skill in responsible and sensitive
communication with diverse others.

To demonstrate my understanding and ability to communicate responsibly and sensitively

to diverse others, I would like to refer to my research essay from COM 370Communication
Technology and Society. In this essay I researched how parasocial relationships with television
characters can influence individuals to become more tolerant towards minorities. To do this I
looked at five different articles pertaining to the subject and interviewed two colleagues to see
what the average person may think about this theory. The research I analyzed showed that there
is, at the very least, some connection between a broader representation of minorities on television
and their acceptance in society. The findings show how important casting in Hollywoods role in
society is in developing a more tolerant world.

Discussing information like this is not easy. The very first sentence of this article is
recent events in the news have clearly shown that discrimination against minorities is still a
major issue in America, and this paper does not intend to undermine this point. This is done to
show the audience, that the research being done is trying to be as objective as possible. Sensitive
subjects such as the tolerance (or intolerance) towards minority groups must be dealt with great
care. Finding new information in how to work towards a more tolerant world is extremely
important and needs to be done, but it is just as important that we, as researchers, do not offend
or hurt anyone along the way. This essay, along with other experiences from Carroll University,
show how I have developed the skill to responsibly and sensitively communicate with a wide
variety of cultures.