South Korean television dramas (K-Dramas) have become a popular form of entertainment across the globe. This phenomenon is known as Hallyu, or the Korean Wave. This study examines K-Dramas that became popular in India, Japan, and the United States. For example, Winter Sonata became highly popular in Japan, especially with middle-aged housewives who greatly enjoyed the male lead. The drama involves high school sweethearts that are separated and later reunited. Why are Winter Sonata and numerous other K-Dramas so popular not only in Japan, but in other countries as well? This study examines the question of how K-Dramas become popular in other countries using comparative methods. Through a media studies lens, it will examine plot elements, themes, actors, etc. to help identify what elements led to its popularity and be compared to find relevant factors. They will also be compared to the respective country’s cultural practices to help illuminate the connections across borders. For future research, this study can be expanded to examine more dramas in each country while including more countries. The research on K-Dramas and the widespread popularity of foreign content is relatively nascent, so this study aims to illuminate what makes a transnational phenomenon like Hallyu possible.

This research project explores how Black transgender women are portrayed in films and television series. Using an intersectional lens to understand the relationship between transness, race, and gender, I examine how popular media representations of transness and Blackness during the 1950s-1980s impacted how the public perceived, treated, and interacted with Black transgender women. I analyze media from the 1950s-1980s because the Gay Liberation Movement took place during a portion of this timeframe, and I want to look at how Black transgender women were represented in the media during the Gay Liberation Movement as well as the periods slightly before and slightly after this movement. Having my research timeframe expanded in this way will allow me to understand how portrayals of Black transgender women changed or remained the same as the struggle for gay rights began coming to fruition. I argue it is necessary to taxonomize and examine these portrayals, given the role popular media plays in informing public opinion and constructing narratives about minoritized populations. Often, the controlling images produced by television shows and films offer specific versions of reality that align with the personal beliefs and values of its producers. Thus, this project analyzes the controlling images of Black transgender women in films and television series to demonstrate how popular media constructs racialized transgender subjects.

News media can influence the way the public perceives certain issues, like social issues and crimes. Human trafficking is a stigmatized area of criminal justice, and one that is often sensationalized in the news. The way the news frames their own articles and reports on both specific instances of human trafficking and generally relating to the topic can influence the quality and availability of resources for human trafficking victims. Previous research on this topic found that public opinions about human trafficking showed false and narrow beliefs about it due to portrayals and framings of human trafficking. Two national and two local news outlets were sampled and categorized to look for common themes, keywords, and tones to see how they portrayed human trafficking in their articles.

Social media has provided a stage for many talented creatives like DC Young Fly and King Bach, who have established a platform and brand in Black Entertainment. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the creative control of Black Entertainment has still been in the hands of major Entertainment corporations and has further transitioned into the globalization of Black Culture through Social Media Applications. Furthermore, mass media has indicated the traction that non African American content creators gain from Black culture references, and the lucrative career they obtain by being able to appeal to their audience. This situation has created a unique market for Black culture, where other races have maintained their interpretations of Black Culture through exploitation. The purpose of this analysis is to identify the trend in American Entertainment that capitalizes on the exploitive marketing of Black Culture. Do Black Culture Content Creators, both African American and Non-African American, obtain higher frequencies of engagement (Retweets and Mentions) via the Subsection of Black Twitter when they utilize exploitative marketing compared to corrective promotion to advertise Black Black Culture? This study serves to further inform the reader of the characterization of Minstrelsy and Blaxploitation entertainment in order to 1) Familiarize the characterization of Black Culture marketing and advertising in Social Media 2) Gauge a measurement of engagement that Black Culture Content Creators obtain from derogatory versus corrective promotion of Black Culture 3) Analyze the potential of a networking ecosystem of Black-Owned content creators, production and administration businesses among the Black Twitter network.