Conferences
White, O. (2022, August 25-26) [Conference presentation]. Snapshots of U.S. Hegemonic Culture in Memes [Conference Presentation] International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, Galway, Ireland.
White, O. (2022, July 2-3 ) Snapshots of U.S. Hegemonic Culture in Memes [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Communication and Media Studies: Media and Development, Galway, Ireland.
White, O. (2020, August 1-2) An Analysis of Russian Stereotypes in season three of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Communication and Media Studies: Identity and Power, London, U.K.
White, O. (2020, October 2-4) An Analysis of Russian Stereotypes in season three of Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ [Conference presentation]. Midwest Popular Culture Association Conference/American Culture Association: Annual Conference, Minneapolis, M.N.
Graduate Thesis
This case study addresses how Russian-speakers are homogenized in U.S. media and why this homogenization occurs. Using ideological criticism, a content analysis of news coverage from FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC deconstructs the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Video and audio content of news reports are organized by network and categorized into audio and visual categories. Each report is analyzed using Cultural, Anti-Soviet, Linguistic, Non-American, Geographic, Homogenization, and Chechen stereotype content categories. The study aims to expand the existing area of scholarship in the field of Russian stereotypes in U.S. media.
Writing Samples
A case study looking at the presence of Russian & Russian Speaker stereotypes in season 3 of Netflix’s original show, Stranger Things. This article analyzes the ideology of Russophones as compared to the ideology of Americans through media frames.
My Master’s thesis is a case study of the media coverage during the manhunt and subsequent trial of the Tsarnaev Brother’s following the 2008 Boston Marathon Bombing. My thesis proposes the term Russophone to identify Russian language speakers who are not ethno-culturally Russian. My thesis also analyzed the existing body of work on Russian and Soviet stereotypes to build a framework by which the coverage of the Tsarnaev Brothers was analyzed.
This is a sample of writing from Spring 2015 when I was in my first year of graduate school at San Francisco State University. In this paper I analyze the representation of a character from Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” using the framework of Russian stereotypes. This paper served as the framework that ultimately led to my Master’s thesis work.
Graduate Research
BECA 700: Introduction to Graduate Studies
Trans-media and the Internet of Things: A literature review and historical account of trans-media which postulates what the future of trans-media will look like as the Internet of Things grows among consumers.
BECA 702: Ethics and Responsibility in Electronic Media
Ethics of the Internet of Things: A proposal of ethical guidelines for the future of media in the Internet of Things.
BECA 701: Formula and Creativity in the Public Arts
Russian Stereotypes in “Orange is the New Black”: The purpose of this paper was to use ideological criticism to demonstrate how negative Russian stereotypes and othering of Galina ‘Red’ Reznikov in Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” reinforces the hegemony of western culture. A qualitative deconstruction of the episodes; Tit Punched, Moscow Mule, and 40 oz of Furlough will show the stereotypes of Russians as well as offer insight on the western values being represented in the show.
BECA 822: Seminar in Media and Society
Media Effects
The purpose of this paper was to address FX’s The Americans, in order to identify whether there are Russian stereotypes presented in it, and, if so, measure how these stereotypes are affecting the political values of American audiences.
BECA 822: Seminar in Media and Society
International Media Studies
This study applies narrative criticism to a Japanese cultural text, Princess Mononoke, in order to assess the cultural values in the text. By breaking down the text into theme, structure, characters, peripeteia, narrative voice, and style, this study organizes the story and pulls from it the values presented.
Olga White 