Graduate Theses & Dissertations

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Women as Gifts and the Triple Hecate Myth in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, and Cymbeline
ABSTRACT Women as Gifts and the Triple Hecate Myth in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, and Cymbeline Women are placed into sexual roles by the patriarchal system in which we live. Gayle Rubin terms this a “sex/gender system” and explains that within this system women are exchanged as “gifts” between men to form kinship ties. The sexual roles this system creates are embodied in the “Triple Hecate myth.” Hecate was the goddess of witchcraft in Ancient Greece and was known to have three faces: Maiden, Nymph and Crone. The Maiden is in girlhood and the label is applied to any woman before she becomes sexually active. The Nymph is a sexually active woman who lives within the norms of society. A sexually active woman who lives outside those norms is a Whore. A Crone is a woman who has passed menopause. She is seen as either a wise elder or a wicked stepmother figure. In Shakespeare’s plays Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, and Cymbeline, the female protagonists Cleopatra, Imogen and Cressida are all trying to control their own destinies and rise above or manipulate this patriarchal system of control. These three women are travelling through the “Triple Hecate Myth.” Cleopatra begins a Whore and ends a Nymph, Imogen begins a Maiden and ends a Nymph, and Cressida begins a Maiden and ends a Whore. They each also problematize the “gift” exchange system either by attempting to self-exchange (Cleopatra and Imogen) or by being exchanged multiple times (Cressida). Keywords: William Shakespeare, Triple Hecate Myth, Gift Exchange, Gayle Rubin, Cymbeline, Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, Feminist Criticism, Classical Studies Author Keywords: Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Gayle Rubin, Shakespeare, Triple Hecate, Troilus and Cressida
Synthesis of Lipid Based Polyols from 1-butene Metathesized Palm Oil for Use in Polyurethane Foam Applications
This thesis explores the use of 1-butene cross metathesized palm oil (PMTAG) as a feedstock for preparation of polyols which can be used to prepare rigid and flexible polyurethane foams. PMTAG is advantageous over its precursor feedstock, palm oil, for synthesizing polyols, especially for the preparation of rigid foams, because of the reduction of dangling chain effects associated with the omega unsaturated fatty acids. 1-butene cross metathesis results in shortening of the unsaturated fatty acid moieties, with approximately half of the unsaturated fatty acids assuming terminal double bonds. It was shown that the associated terminal OH groups introduced through epoxidation and hydroxylation result in rigid foams with a compressive strength approximately 2.5 times higher than that of rigid foams from palm and soybean oil polyols. Up to 1.5 times improvement in the compressive strength value of the rigid foams from the PMTAG polyol was further obtained following dry and/or solvent assisted fractionation of PMTAG in order to reduce the dangling chain effects associated with the saturated components of the PMTAG. Flexible foams with excellent recovery was achieved from the polyols of PMTAG and the high olein fraction of PMTAG indicating that these bio-derived polyurethane foams may be suitable for flexible foam applications. PMTAG polyols with controlled OH values prepared via an optimized green solvent free synthetic strategy provided flexible foams with lower compressive strength and higher recovery; i.e., better flexible foam potential compared to the PMTAG derived foams with non-controlled OH values. Overall, this study has revealed that the dangling chain issues of vegetable oils can be addressed in part using appropriate chemical and physical modification techniques such as cross metathesis and fractionation, respectively. In fact, the rigidity and the compressive strength of the polyurethane foams were in very close agreement with the percentage of terminal hydroxyl and OH value of the polyol. The results obtained from the study can be used to convert PMTAG like materials into industrially valuable materials. Author Keywords: Compressive Strength, Cross Metathesis, Fractionation, Polyols, Polyurethane Foams, Vegetable Oils
Comparative Studies in Tropical Epicentres in Southeast Asia
From ca. 800-1400 CE, low-density agrarian states dominated Southeast Asia, their authority emanating from their epicentres at places such as Angkor in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar, and Sukhothai in Thailand. These epicentres were the setting for numerous structures, activities, and stakeholders that became integral for the perpetuation of the state. These states and their epicentres declined and collapsed around the same time. As part of a larger project (the Socio-ecological Entanglement in Tropical Societies (SETS Project), the aim of this thesis is to add to our understanding of entanglement, resilience, and collapse in Southeast Asia. Using a relatively new method that combines resilience and entanglement theories, this thesis presents a view of epicentral entanglements and vulnerabilities that eventually contributed to the collapse of these societies. The results indicate that overextended socio-ecological systems and their growing entanglements created a loss of resilience and, when faced with change in these systems, collapse. Author Keywords: Angkor, Bagan, Entanglement Theory, Resilience Theory, Southeast Asia, Sukhothai
Effect of Listing a Stock on the S&P 500 Index on the Stock’s Volatility
This paper investigates the effect of listing a stock on the S&P 500 Index on the stock’s volatility, using various econometrics models: GARCH and EGARCH. The study mainly addresses three issues; firstly, it analyzes stock volatility in two sub-periods, secondly, it determines whether the announcement can account for the fluctuations in the price of the stock, and finally, it investigates the change in the stock’s variance. After isolating the effects of external and industry shock by using the returns on the S&P 500 Index as a proxy, the author finds evidence of structural change in the volatility of stocks after that stock is added to the index. Additionally, the existence of a dominant symmetric effect, which captures the response of volatility to news, indicate that following the onset of including the stock on the index, information flowing into the market increased. However, the rate at which old news is captured in price falls. The empirical evidence also suggests that on average a stocks variance falls and that the announcement to list a stock on the index has little effect on the stock’s price. Author Keywords: EGARCH, GARCH, S&P 500 Index, Symmetric Effect, Volatility
Exploring and Evaluating Personal, Cultural and Social Food Needs and the Role of a Community Freezer among Inuit in Hopedale, Nunatsiavut
This thesis sought to explore and evaluate perceptions of food needs and the role of a community freezer in addressing those needs, among Inuit in Hopedale, Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador). Research was carried out through an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. Phase 1 employed qualitative interviews with community members in Hopedale to explore the perceptions of food needs from an Inuit perspective. Results from Phase 1 identified a series personal, physical, cultural, and social food needs that informed the development of a series of questions that were integrated into a community-wide survey that was implemented in Phase 2. Results from Phase 2 identified a series of cultural, household and individual characteristics that significantly impact perceived ability to meet needs among community members in Hopedale. Findings from this research contribute to our understanding of food needs, and may potentially influence estimates of levels of needs that are protected in Inuit land claims, and inform the development or improvement of community methods for food support. Author Keywords: Food Needs, Food Programs, Food Security, Indigenous, Inuit, Mixed-Methods
Rights, Resources, and Resistance
The development of pan-Indigenous political organizations in northeastern Alberta in the context of oil and gas development during the 1970s created disparate effects on Indigenous communities in the region. Resistance to assimilation policies led the Indian Association of Alberta to transform itself into a unified voice that represented Aboriginal and treaty rights in the late 1960s; however, the organization lost legitimacy following the divergence of goals between influential Indigenous leaders, Harold Cardinal and Joseph Dion. Tripartite agreements began to unfold between the federal and provincial governments, the oil and gas industry, and individual local leadership; environmental degradation spread throughout the landscape. Some communities benefitted financially whereas other communities, like Lubicon Lake Nation, received little compensation and felt the full force of industrial contamination of their traditional territories. Without the support of pan-Indigenous political organizations, Lubicon Lake developed an individual response that was successful in gaining international attention to their conditions. Author Keywords: 1970s, Indigenous politics, Lubicon Lake Nation, northern Alberta, political economy, tar sands
Comparing Two Tablet-Based Visuomotor Tasks to Standard Laboratory Versions
The assessment of visuomotor function can provide important information about neurological status. Several visuomotor tasks exist for testing in the laboratory, although attempts to make these tests portable to allow quick and reliable assessment have been limited. We developed an assessment tool using two laboratory visuomotor tests as a tablet application: the double-step task, and an interception task. Performance was assessed by measuring the participants’ ability to reach toward unpredictably moving targets in each task. Response patterns were compared across equipment types to determine if participants were responding similarly to the moving targets in the standard laboratory and the tablet version of the tasks. On the double-step task, participants adjusted to the displaced target adequately in both the lab and tablet versions. On the interception task, participants intercepted non-accelerating targets, and performed worse on accelerating targets in both versions of the task. These findings suggest that the tablet version of these tasks assesses similar visuomotor processing as the respective laboratory version. Author Keywords: concussion assessment, double-step task, interception task, visuomotor processing, visuomotor system
Situating Copper Bells in Prehispanic Southwest Societies
This thesis examines the spatial, temporal, and contextual distribution of copper bells in the Greater Southwest region and how they are situated in archaeological literature. To date, 672 copper bells have been found in at least 113 different Southwestern sites dating from ca. A.D. 900-1450, though there is no archaeological evidence for metallurgical activities in the area at this time. The origin of copper bells has been assumed to be West Mexico, a region known for its metallurgical traditions and whose inhabitants produced copious amounts of similar bells. Various lists of copper bells discovered have been compiled over the years, but little consideration has been given to the role these artifacts may have played in Southwestern societies. Copper bells are frequently labelled as prestige goods in archaeological literature, a term which fails to account for their significant depositional variation. By updating the database of known Southwestern copper bells, it becomes possible to examine these contextual distributions in greater detail. It is concluded that the prestige goods model is not suitable for Southwestern copper bells in many cases, and that alternative frameworks such as inalienable possessions are a better fit for these artifacts. Author Keywords: Archaeology, copper bells, inalienable possesions, interaction, U.S. Southwest
Childhood Precursors of Adult Trait Incompleteness
Previous research has suggested that childhood sensory sensitivity may predict adult obsessive compulsive (OC) behaviours. To date, however, research has not addressed how the separate dimensions – harm avoidance and incompleteness - may influence this relationship or why it exists. The current study used a retrospective design to test a) if sensory sensitivity in childhood predicts trait incompleteness in adulthood, as well as b) if emotion regulation variables mediate this relationship. Questionnaires pertaining to OC dimensions and childhood anxieties were completed independently by 172 undergraduate participants and their primary childhood caregiver. Results showed a linear relationship between sensory sensitivity in childhood and incompleteness in adults. Emotion regulation variables failed to mediate this relationship, although a trend for mediation was present. Additionally, exploratory analysis found perfectionism in childhood to be a predictor of trait incompleteness but not harm avoidance, whereas physical anxieties predicted harm avoidance and not incompleteness. Results are discussed in the context of clinical and theoretical implications. Author Keywords: Distress Tolerance, Harm Avoidance, Incompleteness, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Sensory Sensitivity, Symmetry
Sexual consent
How one identifies their nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSE) and cognitively integrates the experience into their sexual schemas may affect how individuals perceive and negotiate sexual consent. Previous research has demonstrated that both the method of quantifying NSEs and the labels used to describe NSEs yield different results in psychosexual outcomes associated with NSEs. The current study assessed differences in subjectively and behaviourally quantified NSEs, as well as the role of cognitive and affective appraisals of sexuality and sexual interactions, on sexual consent attitudes. While behaviourally measured NSE history did not significantly influence sexual consent attitudes, the subjective identification of NSEs with various labels did influence attitudes toward sexual consent. Cognitive appraisals of rape and affective appraisals of sexuality also significantly predicted sexual consent attitudes. Implications for future research and NSE prevention are discussed. Keywords: Nonconsensual sexual experiences, sexual consent, quantifying NSEs, affective sexuality, cognitive sexuality Author Keywords: identification, nonconsensual sexual experiences, rape, sexual affectivity, sexual assault, sexual consent
Investigating Ecological Niche Differentiation Among Wild Candids Experiencing Hybridization in Eastern North America
Currently there are large areas of the North American landscape that are occupied by Canis spp. hybrids of several varieties, leading to the logical question as to the genetic structure and ecological function of Canis populations across the continent, and to what extent hybrids reflect contemporary landscapes. This study illustrated patterns of niche differentiation between parental canid species and their hybrids using individual high quality genetic profile and species distribution models to support the intermediate phenotype hypothesis. In general, hybrids demonstrated an intermediate habitat suitability compared to its parental species, across most environmental variables used. A similar trend was observed in the niche metric analysis, where we found that hybrids exhibit intermediate niche breadth, with eastern coyotes and eastern wolves exhibiting the broader and narrower niche, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the intermediate phenotype hypothesis is supported even at a large scale and when involving highly mobile large mammal species. Author Keywords: canid, ecological niche modelling, hybridization, intermediate phenotype, microsatellite genotype, niche differentiation
"I like big books"
The purpose of this study was to determine whether students at the Royal Military College (RMC) preferred electronic or print texts, their reasoning for this preference, and whether preference was related to student characteristics. Students (N=139) in a core course were provided with both formats. Due to a limited number of e-text users, statistical analyses of most variables were not possible. Instead, qualitative responses were analyzed to gain insight into student preferences. Students reported on the benefits and concerns of using each format. Their discussion of the benefits to the e-text and concerns about the print text were related to the level of convenience of each format. When considering the benefits of print and drawbacks of e-texts, students explained how these features could impact their reading experience. This study provides qualitative support for the continued use of print texts. Although they frequently use various forms of technology in the classroom, students are reluctant to study using electronic devices and feel their reading experience is best with print. Author Keywords: Educational technology, Qualitative, Textbooks, Text preferences

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Graduate student theses produced at Trent University. You may also browse theses and dissertations by year, program, or author.

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1973 - 2033
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