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Graduate Theses & Dissertations
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- Workplace Bullying in Ontario Healthcare Settings
- This thesis builds on scholarship that highlights how expected gender roles serve to both normalize and obscure forms of violence and hostility in health care workplaces. An analysis of 25 labour arbitrations involving cases of bullying reveals how gender relations is a factor in these grievances and relevant policies in Ontario health care facilities. Reinforced by underlying expectations around women as nurturing and men as aggressive, responses to bullying are found to reflect and reproduce embedded gendered power inequalities in labour. While bullying in the workplace is often treated in policy discussions as an individual and identity-neutral phenomenon, this research provides evidence to the contrary. As a consequence, we must interrogate existing legislation and policies, asking how we can develop approaches that account for, respond to, and mitigate the causes of bullying rooted in unequal power relations, including gendered ones. Author Keywords: gender, health care, labour arbitration, policy, workplace bullying, workplace harassment
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- Civil Aviation and Scheduled Air Services in Colonial Botswana, 1935-1966
- This thesis provides an in-depth and chronological study of the development of civil aviation in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (today’s Botswana), and the role played by the British Government in the development of this form of transport. The thesis argues that Her Majesty’s Government’s neglect and very little interest in its protectorate’s civil aviation represented a form of underdevelopment. The study also reveals the constant contradiction between the neglect of the imperial government and the constant lobbying on the part of colonial administration in the Protectorate for the establishment of an air service. To the colonial administrators, civil aviation represented a symbol of modernity and progress as well as more practical advantages such as mobility. The thesis finally concludes that the Bechuanaland Protectorate’s first airline was established due to growing nationalism both locally and on the continent, at large. The British Government facilitated the establishment of the airline as an attempt to appear benevolent to the protectorate on the eve of independence. Author Keywords:
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- VISUAL INFORMATION-PROCESSING AND THE EVOLUTION OF FLAKE MAKING SKILL
- Flaked stones tools are the oldest and longest persisting human cultural remains. Some of these tools were made by hominins who were not anatomically or cognitively modern. My thesis uses an eye-tracking device, developed by psychology, to study modern day novice and expert tool making. By comparing these two groups I was able to characterize the behaviours that lead to successful flake making, and furthermore make inferences about the cognitive capacities that hominins would have had to have to have been successful themselves. This study suggests limited engagement of short-term memory and problem solving skills, which is consistent with other studies. However, this study seems to refute the hypothesis that improvements in hand-eye coordination alone account for the rise of flaked stone technology. My thesis also shows that eye-tracking is a fruitful way to study flake making and, based on my research, I propose several future directions of study. Author Keywords: Eye-tracking, Human Evolution, Knapping, Oldowan, Skill
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- Smile and a Neutral Attitude
- This thesis examines the ways in which body image is discussed in online settings. There are three different communities discussed: body positivity, proED (pro-eating disorder), and body neutrality. Both body positivity and proED content are fairly popular online, and both have found significant support and followers on various social medias. In this thesis, I argue that both of these types of content cause significant harm to those who engage with them, primarily because both communities (though different in their approaches to body image) work to uphold the thin ideal. I then bring up the third type of content: body neutrality. Body neutrality has not been given the same academic attention as body positivity and proED content, likely due to its relative infancy. In this thesis, I propose body neutrality as a much healthier way to frame body image online because of its completely neutral stance on fat, thinness, and general body image. Though any work relating to social media is quickly out of date, I hope that this thesis provides an overview of body neutrality and how, in its current form, it provides a more balanced approach to online body image discussions. Author Keywords: body image, body neutrality, body positivity, eating disorders, social media
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- Alien Imaginaries
- This dissertation offers a cultural analysis of UFOs and extraterrestrials in the United States. In it I look at what I call real aliens — extraterrestrials believed to be real and interacting with humans on Earth. Beliefs in real aliens are often denigrated and dismissed in official discourse, yet they continue to not only persist, but thrive, in American society. Hence, this dissertation asks: Why do so many people believe that extraterrestrials are visiting our planet? Part One begins by tracing the invasion of real aliens in the United States using Orson Welles’s 1938 radio broadcast “The War of the Worlds” as a starting point. Here, I look at how and why the broadcast registered with listeners’ anxieties and created a fantastic and uncanny effect that made it possible for some to conceive of aliens invading the United States. In Part Two, I trace the rise of ufology, which involves the study of extraterrestrials currently interacting with humans on Earth, and I consider how the social and political climate of the Cold War, as well as the cultural environment of postmodernity, provided the necessary conditions for stories about aliens to be made believable. Part Three explores the case study of the Roswell Incident, a conspiracy theory about the origins of an alleged flying saucer crash and government cover-up. I look at the reasons for why many individuals have come to believe in this conspiracy theory and I reflect on the tensions between “official” and “unofficial” discourses surrounding this case. I also consider how and why Roswell has become such an important site for ufology, and I examine the performances given by ufologists at the annual Roswell International UFO Festival to appreciate how ufologists offers seductive explanations of why things are the way they are; for many, their stories offer a better version of events than the purely rational and positivist explanations offered by official sources, especially since they tap into the disillusionment and mistrust that many Americans feel about contemporary politics. Author Keywords: aliens/extraterrestrials, America, conspiracy, official and unofficial, storytelling, ufology
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- Phantoms of Mars
- My analysis of twentieth century Mars science and fiction outlines how the ongoing dialogic between Mars science and fiction publics influences the American frontier dialectic and how Mars serves as the arena where this debate comes to life. It examines connections between myth, science, and fiction by tracing the evolution of historical and literary representations of the American frontier and understandings of Mars spanning the twentieth century. To illustrate these findings, I investigate the fictional visions of the planet in the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, and Kim Stanley Robinson. Ultimately, Mars is revealed as a fictional frontier where a better way of living may be achievable by transforming the planet and ourselves. Finally, the planet’s physical site holds a haunting potential value that inspires further research and new narratives, which informs the future use of Mars in American culture. Author Keywords: Bradbury, Burroughs, Frontier, Mars, Myth, Robinson
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- Nineteenth-Century Aesthetics of Murder
- This dissertation examines how sex crime and serial killing became a legitimate subject of aesthetic representation and mass consumption in the nineteenth century. It also probes into the ethical implications of deriving pleasure from consuming such graphic representations of violence. Taking off from Jack the Ripper and the iconic Whitechapel murders of 1888, it argues that a new cultural paradigm – the aesthetics of murder – was invented in England and France. To study the ‘aesthetics of murder’ as countless influential critics have done is not to question whether an act of murder itself possesses beautiful or sublime qualities. Rather, it is to determine precisely how a topic as evil and abject as murder is made beautiful in a work of art. It also questions what is at stake ethically for the reader or spectator who bears witness to such incommensurable violence. In three chapters, this dissertation delves into three important tropes – the murderer, corpse, and witness – through which this aesthetics of murder is analyzed. By examining a wide intersection of visual, literary, and cultural texts from the English and French tradition, it ultimately seeks to effect a rapprochement between nineteenth-century ethics and aesthetics. The primary artists and writers under investigation are Charles Baudelaire, Thomas De Quincey, Oscar Wilde, and Walter Sickert. In bringing together their distinctive styles and aesthetic philosophies, the dissertation opts for an interdisciplinary and comparative approach. It also aims to absolve these writers and artists from a longstanding charge of immorality and degeneracy, by firmly maintaining that the aesthetics of murder does not necessarily glorify or justify the act of murder. The third chapter on the ‘witness’ in fact, elucidates how writers like De Quincey and Wilde transferred the ethical imperative from the writer to the reader. The reader is appointed in the role of a murder witness who accidentally discovered the corpse on the crime scene. As a traumatized subject, the reader thus develops an ethical obligation for justice and censorship. Author Keywords: Censorship, Jack the Ripper, Murder, Trauma, Victorian, Wilde
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- Late Epigravettian Resource Exploitation in the Southern Pre-Alpine Region
- This study examines the foraging strategies employed by Late Epigravettian occupants at Riparo Tagliente, Italy. The study sample is composed of highly fragmented macrofaunal remains recovered from a single stratigraphic layer (layer 617) located at the cave border in the southern portion of the site. Models derived from foraging theory, chiefly the Central Place Forager Prey Choice Model, are applied to interpret the pattern of faunal exploitation. Red deer (Cervus elaphus) is the most commonly identified species in the sample, followed by roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). The faunal analysis suggests that the site occupants focused their foraging efforts in lower–altitude resource patches at short travel distances. The distribution and composition of the sample indicates that bone may have been used as a fuel source in this area. Author Keywords: Archaeozoology, Foraging Theory, Taphonomy, Upper Paleolithic
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- 'Land Displacement and Coping Strategies'
- This thesis explores the social history of the Marange people of eastern Zimbabwe from the 1960s to 2015. It uses historical episodes like the recurring droughts, the 1970s war of independence, the ‘crisis in Zimbabwe,’ that has been traced from the late - 1990s, and the diamond mining story to demonstrate how the inhabitants interacted with their environment. It argues that the relocation project that began in 2010 had a severely disruptive impact on the families relocated to the relocation area - ARDA Transau - making the case that the Marange relocation project was a ‘development disaster.’ While the provision of accommodation had a notable positive impact on the majority of the displaced households, family needs were not always met. For instance, large families such as those of the dominant polygamous followers of the African Apostolic Church of Johanne Marange were not provided with adequate housing. Also, the livelihoods of the displaced households were shattered by the relocation exercise. In their efforts to creatively adapt to these new constraints, the displacees had diverse coping strategies like selling firewood, illegally extending space for crop cultivation, artisanal mining, vending and begging for food to eke out a living. Author Keywords: Coping Strategies, Crisis in Zimbabwe, Development, Displacement, Land, Livelihoods
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- An Investigation of Rare Earth Element Patterns and an Application of Using Zn and Cd Isotope Ratios in Oysters to Identify Contamination Sources in an Estuary in Southern China
- Environmental monitoring and investigation of metal biogeochemical cycling has been carried out in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), an important and complex system in Southern China. In this study, rare earth element (REE) patterns as well as isotope ratios (i.e., Zn and Cd) were evaluated as tools to identify contamination sources in environmental compartments (i.e., water and suspended particles (SP)) as well as in oysters collected from estuarine sites. Results show elevated concentrations (also called anomalies) of Pr, Nd, Dy and Ho, relative to other REE elements, in water samples, potentially from REE recycling and other industrialized activities in this area. Unlike water samples, no REE anomalies were found in SP or oysters, suggesting that the dominate REE uptake pathway in oysters is from particles. Secondly, site to site variations in Zn isotope ratios were found in water and SP, showing the complexity of the source inputs in this area. Also, in estuarine locations, larger spatially differences in Zn isotope ratios were found in water collected in wet season than those in dry season, which may due to mixing of different source inputs under the water circulations in different seasons. A series of laboratory experiments were conducted during which changes in Zn isotope ratios were measured during uptake under varying salinity and Zn concentrations and during depuration. Neither in vivo Zn transportation among the various tissues within the oysters nor water exposure conditions (i.e., different salinities or Zn concentrations) caused Zn isotopic fractionation in the oysters. Cd and Zn isotope ratios were also determined in oysters obtained from the PRE. Large variations in Cd and Zn isotope ratios suggest that oysters were receiving contaminants from different input sources within the PRE. A consistent difference (approximately 0.67‰) was observed for Zn isotope ratios in oysters collected from the east side of the PRE compared to those from sampling locations on the western side of the PRE, suggesting different Zn sources in these two areas. Ultimately, by combining biogeochemistry with physiology, this study represents a first attempt to assess pollution status, monitor contaminants using oysters and model/identify contamination sources using both REEs and metal isotope ratios. Author Keywords:
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- Eco-evolutionary Dynamics in a Commercially Exploited Freshwater Fishery
- Fisheries assessment and management approaches have historically focused on individual species over relatively short timeframes. These approaches are being improved upon by considering the potential effects of both broader ecological and evolutionary processes. However, only recently has the question been raised of how ecological and evolutionary processes might interact to further influence fisheries yield and sustainability. My dissertation addresses this gap in our knowledge by investigating the role of eco-evolutionary dynamics in a commercially important lake whitefish fishery in the Laurentian Great Lakes, a system that has undergone substantial ecosystem change. First, I link the timing of large-scale ecological change associated with a species invasion with shifts in key density-dependent relationships that likely reflect declines in the population carrying capacity using a model selection approach. Then, using an individual-based model developed for lake whitefish in the southern main basin of Lake Huron, I demonstrate how ecosystem changes that lower growth and recruitment potential are predicted to reduce population productivity and sustainable harvest rates through demographic and plastic mechanisms. By further incorporating an evolutionary component within an eco-genetic model, I show that ecological conditions also affect evolutionary responses in maturation to harvest by altering selective pressures. Finally, using the same eco-genetic model, I provide a much-needed validation of the robustness of the probabilistic maturation reaction norm (PMRN) approach, an approach that is widely used to assess maturation and infer its evolution, to ecological and evolutionary processes experienced by exploited stocks in the wild. These findings together highlight the important role that ecological conditions play, not only in determining fishery yield and sustainability, but also in shaping evolutionary responses to harvest. Future studies evaluating the relative effects of ecological and evolutionary change and how these processes interact in harvested populations, especially with respect to freshwater versus marine ecosystems, could be especially valuable. Author Keywords: Coregonus clupeaformis, density-dependent growth, fisheries-induced evolution, individual-based eco-genetic model, Lake Huron, stock-recruitment
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- Securitization, Borders, and the Canadian North
- Canada takes a national approach to border management. While this ensures that security practices are consistent across the country, it also fails to consider that different regions in Canada may have their own border needs. This dissertation, therefore, seeks to determine if border management priorities in Northern Canada are the same as in Southern Canada, along the 49th parallel. To make this determination, three sets of federal government documents are analyzed. First, documents associated with the current Beyond the Border Action Plan are explored to better understand security priorities and if regions are considered. Next, documents that are associated with Northern security and regional governance are analyzed in order to illuminate regional security issues and determine where borders fit within this narrative. The final set of documents to be examined are Senate reports on Northern security, as they can provide a glimpse into how regional security agendas are set. Grounded theory is used to illicit key themes from all documents and political discourse analysis is applied to the Senate reports to assess the strength of securitizing arguments for the region. Securitization theory and the Copenhagen School’s five security sectors are used to frame the analysis. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s security priorities and the extent of the interplay between the sectors. The concept of regional security complexes is also addressed to determine the extent to which bilateral border cooperation exists in the North. Analysis reveals that border security priorities are not the same in the North as they are in the South. For example, in the North, greater emphasis is placed on protecting maritime borders, whereas in the South, land and air borders are prioritized. Beyond the Border aligns more closely with the needs of the Southern border, thus leaving a policy and security gap in the North. Bilateral border and security cooperation are also much more prevalent in the South than in the North. This research concludes with three policy suggestions to close this gap and addresses the extent to which it is in Canada’s interest to work more closely with the United States in the North. Author Keywords: Arctic, Borders, Canada, Policy, Regions, Securitization theory