b'The Digital Child Evan Creamer, Department of Mass MediaFaculty Sponsor: Dr. Cox, Department of Mass MediaIn this day of increased interconnectivity through social media, the world has become smaller than ever before. Corporations have more access to an individuals information, and sometimes people do not even know this. Children have been a target for advertisers and media companies for years due to their ability to be easily manipulated, meaning that larger companies (and political factions) can effectively raise their own consumers/voters. This can also lead to children learning gender stereotypes from media as opposed to from their parents. With little ability to protect themselves, it falls on parents to protect their own children, yet statistically parents are the most common source of a childs private information on social media. How can one balance the parents right to raise their child with the childrens right to privacy? Only by educating parents and children about the dangers of social media and the media market can they be protected effectively. The Last JediMatthew Snow, Jennifer Rainer, and Lacey Crandall, Department of Mass MediaFaculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicole Cox, Department of Communication ArtsThis paper explores the political economic statures of the film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) with the minor references in previous saga films; to better comprehend the effects on audiences. Political Economys objective is to have transparency of relationships between knowledge, power, and wealth. Those are the main roots of the three systems of political economy in communications. The root of all economic systems is wealth. When the stand-alone production company Lucasfilm was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2012, this allowed the franchise to expand to various distribution outlets that have never been experienced at such a great magnitude. The analysis of this film also looks at the revenue including such areas as ticket sales, merchandise, and video games.Another key area is the greater female presence in this film in a franchise that has been dominated by male characters since Star Wars first appeared in 1977.32'