Abstract
dc:description.abstractThe social construction of disability posits that media play an important role in the construction of disability. Few studies have systematically examined the role of disability in film or television. Engaging in a multiple perspective analysis, this dissertation examined the role of disability in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Data were analyzed with a content analysis, a thematic analysis, and an ideological rhetorical criticism. Disability was found to be used as a tool of character, plot, and atmosphere development. The data also suggested that negative assumptions of disability, often reinforcing of stereotypes, were readily apparent in the series and identifiable via multiple methods of analysis. The results also confirmed that analyzing artifacts using unique configurations of methods can result in new and more nuanced insights into the role of disability in popular culture.
Degree
thesis:*- Name thesis:degree_name
- Special Education
- Level thesis:degree_level
- Dissertation
- Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
- Special Education
- Year
- 2014
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Heggen, Amanda H.
- Contributors dc:contributor
-
- Scherba de Valenzuela, Julia
- Copeland, Susan
- Stone, James
- Witherington, David
Subjects
dc:subject × 5Rights
- Language dc:language
- English
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:educ_spcd_etds-1015