Tag Archives: UTC

Authors A-H, UTC Interns

Beauty in The Eye of The Beholder – by Coniah Davis

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If you have not heard of the model Winnie Harlow then you are definitely missing out. Thanks to Harlow’s unique natural beauty she has been an inspiration in the modeling industry and social media. Prior to gracing the runway Harlow’s story began in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Harlow was diagnosed with vitiligo at age 4, a skin condition where the cells that produce melanin are destroyed causing certain areas of the skin to turn pale and stop functioning. When she was younger over time the depigmentation in her skin began to become visible, so when she would go to school she was bullied. 

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Religious Diversity, UTC Interns

Religious Diversity In Corporate America – by Meg Eslinger, Vivian Schlabritz

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Editor’s Note: Article from DEI in Communications class at the University of TN / Chattanooga where I spoke on religious diversity.

Corporate America makes up nearly 45 percent of American employees. Each of those employees represent diversity in some form or fashion, representing an array of languages, cultures, classes, and religions. With these diverse aspects comes considering dealing with differences between employers, co-workers, CEO’s, etc. Religious Diversity seems to have the most significance when it comes to conflict or dealing with strategic communication. Religious Diversity plays an essential role in Corporate America, especially today in the age of Social Media and the public seeing what corporations are “all about.”

How a big corporation such as Delta, Nike, Target, Verizon, etc promotes being accepting of religion, no matter what religion, is essential from a Public Relations standpoint. Yes, they might look good on the outside to the public for consumer satisfaction and revenue, but it’s not always equally reflected within these corporations. Religion is defined by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by saying; “Religion is not limited to traditional, organized religions, but also includes religious beliefs that are practiced by a small group of people and are not part of a formal church or sect.” (SHRM 2008) Religious diversity really shows itself with respect in how employers handle accommodating time off for religious holidays. According to most corporate Human Resource Managers, they report they work with ”most” religious holidays meaning Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc- and not including holidays such as Diwali, Yom Kippur, Ramadan, etc.

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Religious Diversity, UTC Interns

The New Business of Church – by Justin Glover

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Editor’s Note: Article from DEI in Communications class at the University of TN / Chattanooga where I spoke on religious diversity.

When discussing the idea of someone’s religious ideals and upbringings, it is important to treat these topics with the utmost respect. However, the church you may attend is much more than a business than you might expect. Religion is a $1.2 trillion dollar industry, and yes that is trillion. This can ultimately bring into question the character of those who operate these businesses. Does this mean that these establishments are ultimately trying to trick or confuse those who attend? Not necessarily, but it is shallow to operate behind closed curtains much like many church business markets.

It is also important to break down the similarities with a business and a church. The church offers a public speaking attendance for its viewers and does things such as play music. These things are often services that require payment to attend. Concerts and motivational speakers do not often offer the contents within their acts to the public for free. According to the Theology of Business Institute, annual collections for churches averaging 162 attendees is just south of $215,000. It is important to note as well that a church is a legal entity. They employ a group of people at each general location across the country and strive to ignite the community. If a church is operating for a long period of time, it is safe to assume that they are generating a profit.

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Religious Diversity, UTC Interns

Are Advertising Companies Making Changes – by Jessalee West, Taralyn Wiley, Caroline Coppock

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Editor’s Note: Article from DEI in Communications class at the University of TN / Chattanooga where I spoke on religious diversity.

Many aspects of communication have changed over the years to become for the most part more inclusive. However, one part that seems to be falling a bit behind all the others is the inclusion of religious diversity. This topic is not one that is discussed a great deal when thinking about advertising, branding, or marketing. There is a lot of discussion about racial inclusion as well as gender inclusion, but the religious aspect does not get as much attention. This idea seems to be changing a bit at a time, especially with companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Google.

Advertising is a big part of media and communications, however there is not a lot of religious talk in regard to what is included in advertisements. It is not one of their main focuses within many companies when researching and determining what will generate the most success for their advertisements. When dealing with religious holidays it is taken into consideration that some things should be included, such as when dealing with Easter and Christmas, however there is rarely any research done into how best to reach those religious minorities. It is considered a general rule in advertising to not use generic religious symbols that could somehow offend a person of that religious affiliation. And while this is a good step there is work to be done in regards to making advertising a religiously inclusive part of marketing and communications. There are some companies who are making good progress in the right direction, such as Facebook.

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Religious Diversity, UTC Interns

Christianity in 2021 – by Cole Fischer, Sydney Hermann, and Liv Ellis

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Editor’s Note: Article from DEI in Communications class at the University of TN / Chattanooga where I spoke on religious diversity.

As we get older and merge into the world, we are often faced with meeting increasingly more diverse people. It is important to listen to each other with open minds to understand others and how they have lived their lives. Learning and understanding new points of view is the best way to be an active member of a diverse community. Generalizing religious people groups can be dangerous as everyone has different experiences even within the same religion. As Christians, we have different walks of faith and yet, we have had our own experiences in life. The following three testimonies are from college students who identify themselves as members of the Christian faith.

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