Announcing the Final Examination of Rebecca Freihaut for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Strategic Communication
This study was a year-long longitudinal qualitative project using the case study of Mayfield, KY after the catastrophic tornado event that impacted their community on December 10, 2021. Oral histories were collected from 18 participants who lived in or were closely connected to Mayfield at the six month and 1.5 year marks after the disaster. Later, after the oral histories were archived and made available to the public, the transcripts were used to extract the crisis narratives from the oral histories and the data was thematically analyzed using the existing theory and theoretical framework of Narratives of Crisis: Telling Stories of Ruin and Renewal by Seeger and Sellnow (2016). The themes were analyzed to better understand how crisis narratives change over time and to determine if there were differences between the leadership of Mayfield and their stakeholders, the public. A major finding in this area was the intertwining of one of more themes within the same passage of narrative, including the intertwining of traditionally competing themes. This extends the theory of Narratives of Crisis. The Discourse of Renewal by Ulmer and Sellnow (2002) was also used to analyze how narratives may differ between those in the community who are considered leaders, and those who represent a general cross-section of the community. The major finding in this analysis was the lack of up-to-date information between leaders and the public. By not creating a bridge of communication, many of the successful steps taken by leaders may not have reached their intended audience. One of the components of the Discourse of Renewal, organizational learning, was specifically used to find lessons learned discussed by community leaders in Mayfield, and to explore how these learned lessons can be applied for practitioners to better understand disaster recovery and renewal in the future.
Dissertation Committee:
Major Chair: Dr. Timothy Sellnow
Dr. Adam Parrish
Dr. Michael Strawser
Outside Member: Dr. Barbara Gannon
Read More