Graduate Theses & Dissertations

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Archaeological Investigation of the North Group at Pacbitun, Belize
This thesis reports on the 2010 excavations of the North Group and Eastern Court at the ancient Lowland Maya site of Pacbitun. It provides a construction history of the architecture and an analysis of associated artifacts, burials, and caches. The archaeological investigations demonstrate that the seven structures (Strs. 34-40) of this restricted access plazuela group were built in the Early Classic period, and renewed in the Late Classic period. Based on analyses of artifacts (ceramics and lithics), skeletal and faunal remains, and intra- and inter-site comparisons, the North Group functioned as a secondary elite domestic residential group. Reconstruction suggests that the inhabitants here were not commoners; instead, the occupants probably were related to the ruling elite of Pacbitun. Some of the evidence includes the central location and elevation of the North Group, the presence of red painted plaster surfacing, a burial with multiple ceramic musical instruments, and multiple dedicatory caches with exotic goods (e.g., marine shell, jadeite, "Charlie Chaplin" figures). Author Keywords: Ancient Maya, ceramic musical instruments, Charlie Chaplin figurines, Pacbitun, North Group, Eastern Court, Belize River Valley, Belize, restrictive access plazuela group, secondary elite
Archaeology and Reconciliation in the Williams Treaties Territory
This thesis examines the history of Indigenous inclusion in the discipline of archaeology and how archaeologists can provide reconciliation when working with Indigenous peoples in their territory. This thesis focuses on the territory of the Williams Treaties with a particular focus on the location of Nogojiwanong (Peterborough). My data consists of in-depth interviews from ten informants and studying three case studies that happened in the area. I take my informants’ suggestions and apply them to my case studies, to show practical examples of how we can provide reconciliation in the field of archaeology. Author Keywords: Decolonization , Heritage Management , Indigenous, Reconciliation
Archaeology of Vagabondage
My research examines the figure of the 'vagabond' as a case study to illustrate how 'modern' perception of the 'vagabond' has depleted the diversities in its 'pre-modern' counterparts. It argues that the paranoia towards the 'vagabond' was inherited from the west out of the colonial contact leading to the birth of the nation-state and its liaison with 'instrumental rationality' during the high noon of advanced industrial capitalism, while (quasi-religious) itinerancy, on the contrary, had always been tolerated in 'pre-modern' India. The problems I am addressing are: What is the line of thread that separates the 'traveler' from the 'vagabond', the 'explorer' from the 'wanderer'? How do we then politically account for the historic 'ruptures' in the vagabond having been tolerated in the ancient 'Indic' thought [cf. Manusmriti, Arthshastra], encouraged in early Buddhist discourse [cf. Samannaphala Sutta], revered as the 'holy Other' in the Middle Ages [cf. Bhakti-Sufi literature], and eventually marginalized in the 'modern'? While considering issues of cultural differences, my thesis points to how the epistemic shifts from the classical to the medieval, from the medieval to the modern radically alter the value system immanent in the figure of the 'vagabond'. The research argues that the cultural baggage that the expression 'vagabond' is generally associated with, is a product of a specific western/utilitarian value system, which is a distinct 'cultural' category of the 'modern' west that had no resonance in 'pre- modern' India, and hence cannot be necessarily universalizable. The project works in a number of registers: historical, archival, cultural, philosophical and representational, involves analysis of literary, filmic texts, also legislative documents, and is genuinely interdisciplinary in nature. As of discourse analysis, the project studies the politics of cultural representations both of and by 'vagabonds'. Author Keywords: 1943 Bengal Famine, Homelessness, India, Vagabond, Vagrancy, Vagrancy Act
Archaeology, Engagement and Local Communities
This research is an ethnographic investigation into the relationships between the Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project and the local population of Vivlos, the region where the team takes their seasonal residence during their annual archaeological field season. Fieldwork in Vivlos revealed the local peoples’ interest in archaeology, local legends, and Greek history. The people’s cultural identity facilitated a sense of communal pride with hosting the archaeologists for their field season. The archaeologists’ ethical considerations and their friendliness towards the locals during their time in Vivlos followed practices affiliated with public archaeology, laying the groundwork for maintaining positive working relations between the two groups. Author Keywords: Archaeology, Engagement, Local Communities, Public Outreach
Art of the Sustainable Street
ABSTRACT The Art of the Sustainable Street Miriam L. R. Mutton The street influences our sense of community every day. It is argued that getting the street right communicates a collective vision for action leading to sustainable community. This investigation continues conversations for community repair and resilient change, especially for small town Ontario. The researcher is informed by ways of seeing inspired by Walter Benjamin’s literary montage, The Arcades Project. By method of collecting and connecting information from literature sources spanning several decades and recent interviews, this thesis demonstrates in narrative form the value to community of everyday street details of human scale. Recurrent themes are adopted as technique in validation. Findings are presented from various perspectives including those of the design professional and the politician. The sustainable street enables communication. Research outcomes indicate knowledge transferred through the art of storytelling supports place-making and connection to community. Fragments of information connect into themes defining safe streets which foster trust among strangers, and facilitate citizenship and good governance. Key words: sustainable community, citizenship, safe streets, Benjamin, governance Author Keywords: Benjamin, citizenship, governance, safe streets, sustainable community
Assessing Emotion Processing Deficits in Youth
It is well-established that alexithymia in adulthood is a critical risk factor for numerous negative mental health and well-being outcomes. Although this area of research has begun to receive interest in earlier developmental stages, significant methodological limitations have been noted with current measures of alexithymia for adolescence. As such, the aim of the current thesis was to provide empirical evidence on the psychometric strength of a new adolescent measure of alexithymia, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale – Adolescent Version (TAS-A). Study 1 examined the construct validity of the TAS-A in relation to self and informant reported emotional intelligence (EI), while study 2 examined the predictive validity of the TAS-A in relation to adolescent problematic gambling and academic achievement. Adolescents completed self-reports of alexithymia, EI, and gambling behaviour, parents completed informant reports regarding their child’s EI, and academic records were obtained. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed significant relationships between adolescent alexithymia, and self and informant reported EI, indicating significant overlap in constructs. Adolescent alexithymia was also shown to be a significant predictor of problematic gambling and academic achievement; however, some interesting gender differences were observed (a pattern of results reported consistently in the adult alexithymia literature). Results are discussed in terms of methodological and clinical implications during the vulnerable developmental transition of adolescence. Author Keywords: adolescence, alexithymia, psychometrics
Assessing Measured and Perceived Risks to Drinking Water Sources
Microcontaminants originating from wastewater effluent and run-off from agricultural lands may be present in the sources of drinking water for rural and Indigenous communities in mixed-use watersheds. In this study, a convergent parallel mixed-methods design was applied to assess measured and perceived risks of contamination in the sources of drinking water for two communities; the Six Nations of the Grand River community in Ontario and the community of Soufriere in St. Lucia, West Indies. The overall goal of the project was to assess how measured and perceived risks of exposure to chemical and biological contaminants in drinking water sources could inform water management strategies for the communities. Quantitative data obtained from the analysis of water samples collected indicated that the highest levels and occurrence of fecal bacteria were found in the Soufriere watershed while the highest concentrations and occurrence of pesticides were found in the Grand River watershed. In the Grand River watershed, conventional treatment of water followed by activated carbon filtration and UV disinfection removed fecal bacteria and also removed many chemical microcontaminants with efficiencies as high as 98%. Data from both watersheds indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between the levels of caffeine and sucralose (i.e. indicators of wastewater contamination) in water samples and the levels of either Total Coliforms or fecal bacteria of human origin. Human health risk assessments of individual pesticides and pesticide mixtures performed by applying a hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) model, respectively indicated that there were no apparent risks to human health from those microcontaminants. Qualitative data obtained from face-to-face interviews with water managers and health professionals working in the two communities, which were collected and analysed concurrently but independently, illustrated that there were cross-cultural similarities and differences in factors influencing the perceptions of risks associated with the sources of drinking water. These perceptions of risks were mainly influenced by factors such as heuristics or informal and informal reasoning, cognitive-affective factors, social-political institutions and cultural factors. These factors may have also influenced water managers and health professionals, as they often recommended more “soft” strategies for managing water resources in the communities. Key words: pesticides, fecal bacteria, microcontaminants, POCIS, measured risks, perceived risks, water management, First Nations, Grand River, Soufriere, St. Lucia Author Keywords: fecal bacteria, measured risks, microcontaminants, perceived risks, POCIS, water management
Assessing Quality of Life for the Urban Inhabitants of Classical Angkor, Cambodia (c. 802-1432 CE)
This thesis examines the interrelationship of urban planning and population health at the site of Angkor (c. 802-1432 CE), the capital city of the Classical Khmer state, now found within modern-day Cambodia. The inhabitants of Angkor developed a settlement strategy that relied on the dispersal of water management features, rice fields, temples and residential areas, to best utilize the spread-out environmental resources of the surrounding monsoon-forest climate. Thus, the main question to be answered by this thesis is this: did the city-planning practice of dispersed, low-density agrarian urbanism promote resilience against the disease hazards associated with tropical environments? To answer this question, methods involved creating assessing environmental and socio-cultural factors which habituated the urban inhabitants of Angkor’s relationship to disease hazards. The results of this assessment demonstrate that it was not until the last stages of Angkor’s urban development, when non-farming members of the population were concentrated into the “core” area of temples within city, that the city’s inhabitants’ vulnerability to infectious disease increased. As the city took a more compact settlement form, it was not as environmentally compatible as the earlier dispersed pattern. Significantly, archaeological case studies such as this can illustrate the long-term development and end-result of urban planning to deal with disease hazards, both in terms of everyday occurrences, as well as during crisis events, which has important implications for contemporary research on environmental disasters today. Author Keywords: Adaptive Strategies, Mainland Southeast Asia, Pre-industrial Urbanization, Resilience, Tropical Diseases
Assessing effects and fate of environmental contaminants in invasive, native, and endangered macrophytes
Macrophytes play an important role in aquatic ecosystems, and thus are integral to ecological risk assessments of environmental contaminants. In this dissertation, I address gaps in the assessments of contaminant fate and effects in macrophytes, with focus on glyphosate herbicide use for invasive plant control. First, I evaluated the suitability of Typha as future standard test species to represent emergent macrophytes in risk assessments. I concluded that Typha is ecologically relevant, straight-forward to grow, and its sensitivity can be assessed with various morphological and physiological endpoints. Second, I assessed effects from glyphosate (Roundup WeatherMAX® formulation) spray drift exposure on emergent non-target macrophytes. I performed toxicity tests with five taxa, Phragmites australis, Typha × glauca, Typha latifolia, Ammannia robusta, and Sida hermaphrodita, which in Canada collectively represent invasive, native, and endangered species. I found significant differences in glyphosate sensitivity among genera, and all species’ growth was adversely affected at concentrations as low as 0.1% (0.54 g/L), much below the currently used rate (5%, 27 g/L). Third, I assessed the potential for glyphosate accumulation in and release from treated plant tissues. I found that P. australis and T. × glauca accumulate glyphosate following spray treatment, and that accumulated glyphosate can leach out of treated plant tissues upon their submergence in water. Finally, I assessed effects of released glyphosate on non-target macrophytes. I found that P. australis and T. × glauca leachate containing glyphosate residues can stimulate the germination and seedling growth of T. latifolia, but can exert an inhibiting effect on A. robusta, although leachate without glyphosate caused similar responses in both plants. Additionally, I found no negative effects in A. robusta when exposed to glyphosate residues in surface water, or when grown with rhizosphere contact to an invasive plant that was wicked (touched) with glyphosate. My results show that non-target macrophytes can be at risk from glyphosate spray for invasive plant control, but risks can be mitigated through informed ecosystem management activities, such as targeted wick-applications or removing plant litter. Integrating contaminant fate and effect assessments with emergent macrophytes into ecological risk assessments can support the protection of diverse macrophyte communities. Author Keywords: Ecosystem management, Ecotoxicology, Glyphosate, Herbicide, Invasive plant, Species at risk
Assessing the Effects of Brief Interventions on Mood and Dream Imagery in Recovering Alcohol and Drug Addicts
Addiction can lead to a plethora of health, social and economical problems. Substances are used for mood regulation, and therefore, waking day mood is extremely important during recovery of alcohol and drug addiction. The current study examined the effects of Meditation and Sleep Mentation Therapy on mood levels. All participants were male, and currently in treatment programs or early stages of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. Participants were tested for anxiety and depression and were asked to provide a recent dream, prior and post to participating in the intervention. Dreams were scored using Hall and Van de Castle guidelines for scoring imagery. Results are consistent with previous research in that mood levels changed over the course of the meditation period. Implications for future research are discussed as well as applications of Sleep Mentation Therapy and Meditation in clinical and applied practice. Author Keywords: Addiction, Dream Therapy, Meditation, Mood
Assessing the Potential for Contamination of Lakes from Upwelling of Arsenic-Laden Groundwater Through Sediments
A bedrock fracture hosting arsenic (As) contaminated groundwater was suspected to be transported to Ramsey Lake, a drinking water resource for more than 50,000 residents of Sudbury, Ontario. A high resolution, spatial, water quality mapping technique using an underwater towed vehicle (UTV) was used to identify sources of upwelling groundwater into lake water and localize the upwelling As contaminated groundwater vent site. The top 7 cm of lake sediments (in-situ) at this vent site were observed to adsorb 93 % of the dissolved As, thus inhibiting lake water quality degradation from this contaminant source. Sediment samples from this location were used in laboratory experiments to assess the potential for this system to become a source of As contamination to Ramsey Lake water quality and elucidate As(III) fractionation, transformation and redistribution rates and processes during aging. Arsenic speciation is important because As(III) has been shown to be more toxic than As(V). To accomplish this a sequential extraction procedure (SEP) that maintains As(III) and As(V) speciation in (sub)oxic sediments and soils was validated for the operationally defined fractions: easily exchangeable, strongly sorbed, amorphous Fe oxide bound, crystalline Fe oxide bound, and the residual fraction for total As because the characteristics of the reagents required to extract the final fraction do not maintain As species. Batch reaction experiments using sediment spiked with As(III) or As(V) and aged for up to 32 d were sequentially extracted and analysed for As(III) and As(V). Consecutive reaction models illustrate As(III) is first adsorbed to the sediment then oxidized to As(V). Fractionation analyses show As(III) most rapidly adsorbs to the easily exchangeable fraction where it is oxidized and redistributes to the strongly sorbed and amorphous Fe oxide bound fractions. Oxidation of As(III) adsorbed to the amorphous and crystalline Fe oxide bound fractions is less efficient and possibly inhibited. Select samples amended with goethite provide evidence supporting Mn(II) oxidation is catalyzed by the goethite surface, thus increasing As(III) oxidation by Mn(III/IV) complexed with the strongly sorbed fraction. Although As immobilization through groundwater sediment interactions may be inhibited by increased ion activity, particularly phosphate or lake eutrophication, this threat in Ramsey Lake is likely low. Author Keywords: arsenic, fractionation, modelling, redistribution, speciation, water quality mapping
Assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility Compliance
The modern world faces a number of social, economic, and environmental sustainability challenges. Since businesses are assumed to have a role in causing such problems, they must also play a role in finding solutions. In Canada, the extent to which corporate social responsibility is institutionalized in the oil and gas industry remains a contentious issue among stakeholders. This study examines the extent of corporate social responsibility compliance in oil and gas corporations through an assessment of the corporate social responsibility reporting of two oil and gas organizations. Comparative analysis was used to determine each firm’s operational level compliance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines in terms of corporate social responsibility reporting. The study showed that firms' levels of compliance with social, economic, and environmental responsibility are unequal. As a result, a five-part mechanism is recommended to strengthen corporate social responsibility in the industry. Author Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Corporate social responsibility compliance, Corporate social responsibility reporting, Sustainable development

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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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