identifier: Van Seters, Tom. "Eighty-Eight Drums: the Piano as Percussion Instrument in Jazz." Phd thesis, University of Toronto, 2011.

title: Eighty-eight drums: the piano as percussion instrument in jazz

format:
2.75 MB
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subject: piano drumming jazz

abstract: Evidence of a link between piano and drumming performance practices in western music dates back to at least the mid-nineteenth century. The modern construction of the piano had yet to be fully standardized when percussive techniques were being applied to its keyboard. Since that time, pianists and drummers (especially those involved with the creation of groove-based music) have grown closer and closer, participating in what remains a richly symbiotic relationship. This study examines parallels between piano and drumming performance practices in jazz. In this context, drumming is acknowledged as an important inspiration guiding the expression of rhythm and percussive attack by non-drummers, pianists in particular. Historical connections between pianism and drumming in jazz are addressed through an examination of those legacies that are widely believed to derive from West African drumming, European march and dance traditions, and various aspects of the so-called "Latin tinge" from the Caribbean and South America. Playing techniques are compared in part based on the premise that similarities in musical output flow naturally from congruencies in instrumental architecture. Percussive action unites pianists and drummers, as do shared abilities to create rhythmic layers through the independent functioning of multiple limbs. A discussion of ensemble roles reveals conceptual links, especially with regard to time-keeping, "comping," and mutual approaches to the creation of groove and swing. Transcriptions are employed to illustrate instances of widely adopted drumming-like gestures from the history of jazz with special attention paid to rhythmic counterpoint, complementation, and rudimental sticking patterns used by jazz pianists since the 1960's. Though a statistically small sample, interviews with ten professional jazz pianists support the essential findings of the study. Questions are raised throughout regarding the effectiveness of traditional jazz pedagogy in emphasizing the importance of drumming to non-drummer instrumental praxis.


title: Buying peudoscience: does regulatory focus have anything to do with it?

subject:
pseudoscience
health
regulatory focus theory
consumer behaviour

abstract: Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice that is perceived as scientific, but does not meet the rigorous standard of scientific testing. Distinguishing pseudoscience from science can be difficult, especially with the influence of aggressive marketing tactics in the media that promote dubious health claims. This study examined the relationship between belief in pseudoscience and motivation using the framework of regulatory focus theory. Individuals who are promotion focused are motivated by advancement, accomplishment, and opportunities to grow; while others who are prevention focused are motivated by safety and security. Regulatory focus theory explains why some messages may be more persuasive than others. If a message has regulatory fit, it will elicit a more positive response. This two-part study explored the impact of regulatory focus on belief in pseudoscience. While previous research has explored the role of regulatory focus in a variety of different forms of persuasion, there has yet to be an investigation of regulatory focus on the acceptance of pseudoscience.

abstract: Restricted Access


title: Effects of feedback templates on student performance

format:
393.35 KB
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subject:
templates
student performance
feedback

abstract: We provided one of three types of feedback to students who performed poorly on short written assignments and provided an opportunity to revise and resubmit their work. Control feedback pointed out the main problems of the submission, ‘strong template’ feedback added an annotated example of a good assignment, and ‘weak template’ feedback added an annotated example of a poor assignment. “Strong” feedback led to a greater likelihood of a passing grade on resubmitted work, compared to weak or control feedback templates, but only when we accounted for student motivation. In fact, if a “less motivated” student received the strong template, they were 2.3 times more likely to be successful in their resubmission, but “more motivated” students were likely to be successful no matter what feedback they received.


title: "We story them": Thomas King's rhetorical approach to the de-othering and re-storying of First Nations people

format:
160.71 KB
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subject:
storytelling
ethnic identity

abstract: Canadian First Nations people have always been cast as the Other, as the colonized, by caucasian Canadian society: they are the depraved, the damned, the conquered, and the inferior. This image has been adjusted from century to century to suit society’s needs. As a result, Native people have been prevented from forming their own identities. Thomas King, in The Truth About Stories, tells stories, drawing upon his upbringing and life experiences while exploring the many stereotypes that have been historically attached to North American indigenous peoples. [Honours thesis]


title: Can't stress this enough: can biofeedback increase the use of stress interventions?

format: 754.87KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
biofeedback
deep breathing
cognitive reappraisal
stress coping
heart rate

abstract: Undergraduate students experience many stressors throughout their education. An abundance of stress coping methods exists to help students cope; however, many require a significant time investment (e.g., exercise, meditation). Some quick stress coping methods (e.g., deep breathing, cognitive reappraisal) are effective for coping with in-the-moment stressful situations, but students rarely use these coping methods. It is unclear whether this lack of use is due to lack of knowledge, lack of belief that the strategy is useful, or other factors. Our study examined the first two ideas by introducing deep breathing and cognitive reappraisal to the participants with and without biofeedback. We compared the effectiveness of a physiological technique (deep breathing) to a cognitive technique (cognitive reappraisal). Contrary to our hypotheses, coping strategy and biofeedback did not increase the use of either coping strategy throughout the semester; however, participants across all groups reported using deep breathing and cognitive reappraisal more in Part 2 than Part 1. Aligning with our hypothesis, deep breathing, and cognitive reappraisal as a stress coping strategies lead to similar changes in our biofeedback measure and seem to lead to better mental control over the participant’s stress reaction.


identifier: Valdez, Lidio M. 1998. The Nasca and the Valley of Acari: Cultural Interaction on the Peruvian South Coast during the first four centuries A.D. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.

title: The Nasca and the Valley of Acari: cultural interaction on the Peruvian south coast during the first four centuries A.D.

format:
6.3 MB
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subject: ceramics Nasca Acari Peru

abstract: On the basis of the initial studies carried out by D. Menzel and F. A. Riddell in 1954 in the Acari Valley, Peru, and from further visits, J. H. Rowe argued that the Nasca 3 pottery found in Acari "likely" represented a "Nasca invasion." Rowe's hypothesis was never tested, but frequently was cited as evidence of the Nasca invasion/occupation of Acari. This dissertation is aimed at evaluating the above assumption. Since Rowe's model was developed on the basis of pottery found in Acari, the pottery associated with the so-called "Nasca" walled sites of Acari is evaluated. According to this study, early Nasca is not the pottery style common to the Acari sites. Instead, there is an overwhelming presence of a type of pottery which is markedly different from the Nasca style. This style appears to be local and is referred to in this study as Huarato pottery. The presence of settlements distintive from Nasca in Acari strongly suggests that during the first four centuries A.D. the Acari Valley was inhabited by a local cultural tradition. It was into the context of this local culture that a few Nasca ceramics were first introduced, during Nasca phase 2. During Nasca phase 3 the number of Nasca items introduced to Acari increased, but began to decline during Nasca phase 4. Nasca 5 pottery has not been reported from Acari. In addition to securing some Nasca goods, the local inhabitants of Acari imitated early Nasca motifs. While early Nasca art was so rich in themes, only specific ones were emulated in Acari, however. It is of interest to point out that the introduction of the few Nasca goods to Acari took place when the early Nasca ceremonial center of Cahuachi was at its climax. It is possible, then, that the introduced items were brought to Acari by local residents who had made pilgrimage visits to this center. Considering the ideological significance of Cahuachi, it can be argued that the Nasca goods found in Acari perhaps symbolized the prestige of this center and as such likely were owned by specific individuals. If so, these foreign goods must have been regarded as "status insignia." In this regard, on the basis of current information, Rowe's hypothesis cannot be validated.


title: Treating and tracking infection: doctors, disease, and the type-writer girl in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

format: 163.69KB PDF application/pdf

abstract: While the eponymous vampire of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula has intrigued scholars through myriad interpretations of fin de siècle fears and anxieties, those who treat and manage the living infection that is vampirism are often ignored in favor of an exciting, terrifying monstrosity. Though the defeat of the vampire is only possible through the combination of a handful of middle-class professionals, none are as crucial to the process of gathering and disseminating information than Mina Harker. Mina, the only woman in the Crew of Light, mitigates the anxiety of the men surrounding her through the presence of her period-typical femininity, acting as the "heart" of the crew while disparaging the rise of the New Woman that threatened gender roles and expectations. However, her role is larger than that of a mere wife or woman; Mina works to mitigate anxieties through her growing collection of letters, articles, diary entries and more, information that proves vital to tracking and destroying the vampire. Through an examination of the rise of professionalism and the role of the Type-Writer Girl at the end of the nineteenth century, Mina Harker is exposed as the primary weapon against an undefined creature designed to provoke fear through familiar means of infection.


title: Lorenz’s system - analysis of a sensitive system

format: 0.95MB PDF application/pdf

subject:
Edward Lorenz
butterfly effect

abstract: Meteorology is a branch of geophysics concerned with atmospheric processes and phenomena and atmospheric effects on our weather. Edward Lorenz was a devoted meteorologist who made several significant contributions to this field. We first describe the fascinating history of Lorenz’s discoveries and his revolutionary additions to the area of meteorology. In particular, he noted the extremely sensitive dependence on the initial conditions of a Chaotic system in the atmosphere, which is commonly referred to as the Butterfly Effect and pertains to Lorenz’s system of three Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) that models the atmospheric convection in the atmosphere. We conducted a novel, in-depth mathematical analysis of the Theorem of Existence and Uniqueness for a system of ODEs in general and addressed how it applies to Lorenz’s system. Further, we exhibited how Lorenz’s system is ill-posed using an application where we varied the initial parameters by minimal variations and noted relatively quick and drastic differences in the trajectories of the system.


identifier: Onyskiw, J. E. (1999). Processes underlying children's responses to witnessing physical aggression in their families. Retrieved from https://era.library.ualberta.ca/files/8c97kt15f#.Wg3I8lWnGUm

format:
9.45 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
family aggression
children

abstract: This study used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses that intra-family aggression affects children: (1) because of observational learning/modeling of aggressive behaviour, and (2) because intra-family aggression disrupts mother's ability to provide warm, responsive parenting. This study examined whether there were effects due to the child's age or gender, and if there were differences depending on whether the information was provided from the mother or the child.


identifier: Richards, William H. "Transformation and Generic Interaction in the Early Serial Music of Igor Stravinsky." Phd thesis, University of Western Ontario, 2003.

title: Transformation and generic interaction in the early serial music of Igor Stravinsky

format:
3.29 MB
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subject:
transformation theory
symmetry
pitch-class set genera
near-equivalency
set-class space
pitch-class set theory
serial theory
Igor Stravinsky
Allen Forte
Joseph Straus
Richard Parks
Robert Morris

abstract: This dissertation investigates the compositionally continuous and discontinuous serial and non-serial formations found at or near the musical surface in works selected from Stravinsky’s early serial music, draws these formations into relationships through the analytical apparatus of an original transformational system, and explores their interactions through the model of generic set-class space. Ultimately, a dynamic model of the pitch structure for each of these works emerges that transcends order relationships embedded within the linear formations.


title: A study of mindset: better understanding the structure of mindset and how growth mindset interventions are delivered

format: 598.40KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
mindset
domain specificity
active learning
academic achievement

abstract: Presented on April 21, 2022 at Student Research Day at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: Mindsets (MS) (i.e., beliefs about the malleability of traits) exist in many diverse domains, such as intelligence, creativity, emotions, and anxiety. With such a diversity of mindset domains, it is reasonable to question whether a general underlying factor influences all mindsets similarly. For example, if one believes intelligence is malleable, does one also believe creativity, musical ability, and athletic ability are malleable? In study 1, we conducted factor analysis on nine self- report mindset measures to determine if a general mindset factor exists. The nine mindsets studied clustered into three underlying factors: 1) Skills (intelligence, creativity, musical and athletic ability); 2) Personality (personality and morality); and 3) Emotions (emotions and anxiety). Stress did not load onto any of the three factors. In addition, we investigated ways to improve the efficacy of growth mindset interventions. Though growth mindset interventions show positive outcomes, the effect sizes are generally small. Actively engaging in material by applying the information to one’s life, or teaching others, improves retention of that material over passively listening to the material being taught. In study 2, we sought to determine whether an active vs. passive growth mindset intervention is more effective for improving exam scores. We found no significant difference in exam score improvement between the control, active, or passive groups. It is possible that the active intervention was not engaging enough to alter one’s mindset beliefs in only one exposure. Targeting general mindset factors rather than individual mindset domains may improve intervention efficacy.


identifier: de Toledo, R. (2018). African rhythm as the foundation of contemporary bass performance (Master's thesis). University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

format:
1.48 MB
PDF
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subject:
bass playing
West African music
performance

abstract: Jazz and contemporary bass playing is a varied and deeply elaborate landscape. If jazz, American popular music, Caribbean, and Latin musical genres are taken into consideration, the breadth of bass styles is too broad to encompass in one lifetime. However, when the roots and traditions of these styles are examined, many common musical devices appear. With even more examination, these musical qualities can be seen and linked to West African ancestry. In this thesis, I outline several of these qualities and demonstrate these concepts from the perspective of modern bass performance. As well, I discuss the core rhythms in contemporary bass playing that have been retained from West African music. In conclusion, I present a handful of practical practice exercise to aid the bassist in internalizing some of the concepts discussed in the thesis. With such a broad topic it is clear to me that, while I present a unique perspective on contemporary bass performance, the study of African retention in bass performance goes far beyond the scope of a master’s thesis. It is my goal to open a gateway to a new awareness on the roots of contemporary bass playing and aid the bassist to build an authentic and profound connection to the ancestry of the art form.


title: The effect of prior abuse on behavioural responses to emotional expression in the domestic horse (Equus caballus)

format: 939.71KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
horses
behavioural responses
human facial expressions

abstract: Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)

abstract:
Several domestic species have shown discriminatory abilities when judging the level of affect in human faces. In other words, they can distinguish between positive (happy) and negative (angry) human facial expressions. As a species that relies heavily upon humans for survival, such recognition abilities aid domestic species in their interactions with human handlers. What has yet to be explored is whether former experiences of neglect or abuse influences subsequent behaviours in response to varying degrees of human emotion, expressed through facial expressions. Previous research suggests that poor welfare conditions, such as former experiences of abuse and neglect, can affect subsequent judgments of future events. Such that abused horses may have a diminished expectation of positive events, which often leads to an enhanced awareness of threatening stimuli, thereby, eliciting avoidance behaviour.

The present study aims to add to the current literature by examining differences in behavioural responses to positive (happy) and negative (angry) human facial expressions, between horses with and without former experiences of abuse and neglect. Eleven horses were assigned to one of two experimental groups; 5 horses with known, prior experiences of abuse, and the remaining 6 horses served as the control group, with no prior experiences of abuse. Horses were presented with counterbalanced photographs of positive and negative human facial expressions, and their behavioural responses were recorded.

Our results indicated that horses with previous experiences of abuse were more likely to hold a pessimistic bias, involving a diminished anticipation of positive events (decreased optimism), and an increased occurrence of stress-related behaviours. Alongside the insights that these findings provide into inter-specific communication, they highlight the impact of welfare conditions on domestic horses well-being, cognition, and related behaviours.


title: Cutting into the abyss: the subtle knife as the pharmakon in Pullman's His Dark Materials

contributor:
Thompson, Bill
Wiznura, Rob

format:
158.82 KB
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subject:
Phillip Pullman
His Dark Materials

abstract: The Subtle Knife as the Pharmakon in Pullman's His Dark Materials In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the subtle knife (or Æsahættr, literally meaning "god-destroyer") is the most significant of the trilogy's three central instruments. It is both a tool and a weapon, a device which is capable of revealing the abyssal void between the parallel universes that combine to form Pullman's multiverse; and capable of repairing the damage done by the all-consuming nothingness it exposes. Almost counter-intuitive in nature, the tool aspect of the knife creates the negative consequences of its use, whereas the weapon aspect of the knife comes to signify the positive consequences of its use. Having the potential for both good and evil, construction and destruction, I argue the subtle knife is the pharmakon of Pullman's trilogy. Originally a term referred to by Jacques Derrida, the pharmakon is a paradoxical aspect of being both the poison and the cure, or a dissembler of binaries. The pharmakon does not represent evil anymore than it represents good; it is purely neutral and thus a neutralizing agent. [Honours thesis]


identifier: Shadnam, Masoud. "The Regulation of Morality in Formal Organizations: The Case of Iranian Oil Industry." PhD thesis, Simon Fraser University, 2011. Full text available online: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/11572.

title: The regulation of morality in formal organizations: the case of Iranian oil industry

format:
1 MB
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subject:
morality
regulation
discourse
moral regulation
institutional theory
Critical Management Studies

abstract: Questioning the moral foundations and consequences of formal organizations has become a central concern in organization theory. Despite the extensive research in this broad area, organization scholars have not yet adequately investigated the systematic effects of a formal organization on the morality of its own members, particularly from a process perspective. As a result, today little is known about the internal dynamics of organizations as it treats and influences the morality of organizational members. To address this issue, the present study takes a discursive understanding of morality and explores the intra-organizational processes that regulate the moral discourse of organizational members. The theoretical foundation of this research draws on the literatures of institutional theory and critical management studies, and highlights two domains – practice and privilege – as primary sites of moral regulation in organizations. The question that guides the present study is – what are the common patterns of regulating practice and privilege that characterizes the organizational regulation of morality? This work investigates these patterns in the context of the Iranian oil industry, which has been the largest industry and the main source of national income in Iran for the past century. The oil industry is particularly appropriate and interesting for this study because in the face of several radical changes in the broader moral order of the Iranian society, the organizations of this industry have been able to regulate the morality of their members regarding the issues of concern for their business. The findings suggest that organizations in this industry regulate the morality of their members mainly through four processes: Repositioning, restructuring, reframing, and cooperating/not cooperating. The collected data also points to some of the salient institutional characteristics that underlie the organizational regulation of morality. I discuss the insights that these findings provide for organization research on moral phenomena and highlight the various aspects of the active role of organization in regulating morality. I conclude the thesis with a review of the implications for theoretical understanding of morality and propose directions for future research in this area.


title: Helping the Grant MacEwan College Board of Governors acquire and transfer knowledge about presidential search

format: 785.25 PDF application/pdf

subject:
post secondary
governance
presidential search
presidential recruitment
board
knowledge management
knowledge transfer
succession planning
MacEwan
president search
president recruitment
action research
board of governors

abstract: The frequency of turnover within public post-secondary boards of governors presents particular challenges to the individual and collective ability of members to acquire and manage intellectual capital and practical knowledge on board roles and responsibilities. My study examined how, through the application of knowledge management theory, a board can learn and share knowledge on a vital board responsibility—presidential search. Normally, boards learn about presidential search while engaged in a recruitment process or through presentations at governance conferences. Seeking knowledge about this topic through a proactive and targeted approach is not common practice. Through a facilitated, qualitative action research exercise, participants engaged in a progressive learning experience to create a body of knowledge about presidential search experiences and develop strategies for transferring it when membership changes. This shared organizational learning experience is also expected to contribute to a comprehensive board succession plan for Grant MacEwan College.


title: Human trafficking: a critical discourse analysis of governmental and non-governmental organizations in Alberta

format:
260.33 KB
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subject:
human trafficking
non-governmental organizations

abstract: Presented on April 23, 2019 at Student Research Day held at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: This presentation will discuss the results from a Sociology Honours research project which used critical discourse analysis to look at the discourses of human trafficking among governmental and non-governmental organizations. This presentation will demonstrate how through the use of critical discourse analysis three main levels of power relations were found, each having significant impacts on the knowledge production around human trafficking. By addressing the commonalities as well as the differences between the governmental and non-governmental organizations, this presentation will also discuss how power relates to the discourses of human trafficking that are most commonly disseminated to the general public, and how this may be problematic in continuing to silence certain groups in society.


identifier: Haimour, M. (2016). Reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in the sustainable development era: a conceptual framework for integrated innovation. College of Graduate and Professional Studies, University of New England.

format:
546.96 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
integrated innovation
RMNCH

abstract: Despite the fact that major developments have been made in the area of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) at global level; new global health goals and targets have to be achieved by 2030. In this context, however, the complexity and ever evolving risk factors, determinants, policies and challenges demand the need for new, innovative, transformative, and sustainable solutions. The purpose of this capstone is to propose a conceptual framework for integrated innovation (scientific/technological, social and business), focusing on creating a context for systemic and sustainable change. A qualitative, general inductive approach was adopted. Data was originated from credible resources including publications from global health organizations, peer-reviewed articles, reports, and theories. Themes generated from the analysis were: 1) Enabling and predisposing factors; 2) Guiding principles and means of implementation; 3) Outcomes; and 4) Impacts. These themes were tied into phases that operate in a dynamic system that promotes interaction among all phases, and are embedded within a larger ecosystem: ecological and social determinants of health. To ensure quality improvement and enhance performance, phases are guided by ongoing evaluation. The link between future investment in integrated innovations and achieving targets related to RMNCH in the sustainable development era is important. Findings from this capstone could be used to help innovators of and investors in RMNCH innovations to adopt a systematic approach to guide their future work; aiming to accelerate the scalability and diffusion of the innovations and enabling them to reach the most in dire needs markets and populations. [A capstone submitted to the College of Graduate & Professional Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Health, University of New England].


identifier: Webster, C. L. (2011). The good, the bad and the therapeutic: Psychiatric nursing care in film. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta.

title: The good, the bad and the therapeutic: psychiatric nursing care in film

format:
1.13 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
nursing
patient care
ethics
media depictions

abstract: The media is an important information source regarding psychiatric nursing care. There has been limited English language research that has specifically explored the nurse-patient relationships that were depicted in film between psychiatric nurses and the people for whom they cared. Using an interpretive visual inquiry method, fifteen films were selected and analyzed using a relational ethics framework.


title: Psychological mechanisms of health anxiety: evidence for the metacognitive model

format: 711.57KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
health anxiety (HA)
metacognitions

abstract: Individuals with severe health anxiety (HA) disproportionately believe that they have, or may acquire, a serious illness. Additionally, individuals with severe HA often engage in somatization, which is the tendency to report physical symptoms that do not have a detectable cause. Past research has established that anxiety sensitivity and somatosensory amplification contribute to HA. Other variables, such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and metacognitive beliefs, have been recently associated with HA. However, these factors have not been assessed together in a single study. Through self-report questionnaires, the present study examined whether IU, metacognitions, and cognitive avoidance are associated with HA in a university sample (N = 564). Cognitive avoidance was included as an exploratory variable. Using a hierarchical regression analysis, metacognitions about illness beliefs, and metacognitions about the uncontrollability of thoughts, uniquely predicted HA when controlling for both anxiety sensitivity and somatosensory amplification. An additional hierarchical regression analysis determined that metacognitions about illness, metacognitions about the uncontrollability of thoughts, and metacognitions about biased beliefs uniquely predicted somatization when controlling for anxiety sensitivity and somatosensory amplification. IU, and cognitive avoidance, did not emerge as unique predictors for either HA or somatization. These results indicate that both researchers and clinicians may wish to further explore the role of metacognitive beliefs in the development and maintenance of HA.


title: Genuine concern or lip service: sexual violence policies in Canadian post-secondary institutions

format:
1.43 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
sexual violence
post secondary education
policies

abstract: Post-secondary institutions are intended to be safe spaces where students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to experience and engage in critical thought and discussion. When critical thought and discussion occurs, it may raise awareness, give context, and challenge assumptions which have potential to shift the narrative around big issues. Although post-secondary institutions foster the intellectual growth of its members, they are also environments where its members face sexual violence. While sexual violence has always been present in these institutions, it is only more recently that sexual violence along with its impacts on victims received closer attention from media. This media attention resulted in a public pressure which demands post-secondary institutions to create and implement policies and educational programming that specifically addresses sexual violence. Other policies and processes, however, such as Student Codes of Conduct the criminal justice system, already designate forms of sexual violence as intolerable or illegal. Due to the massive public pressure and demand for policies which specifically address sexual violence and sexual violence only, it is crucial to examine how or if these policies add or contribute to the policy or legislative context in Canada. To examine these policies, this research investigates campus community members’ knowledge of and perceptions of sexual violence policies in the context of Canadian post-secondary institutions.


title: Person-first language: does it matter when describing persons who sexually offended?

format:
1.31 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
sex offenders
labels

abstract: Negative community attitudes towards persons who have sexually offended may be detrimental to community reintegration. Poor community reintegration is a problem as it is linked to various factors that increase the likelihood that a released person convicted of a sexual offense will commit another crime in the future. Past literature has found that the ‘sex offender’ label serves to exacerbate negative perceptions through perpetuating stereotypes that include ‘all persons who sexually offend are dangerous and incurable.’ Person-first language has begun to replace labels as a means to put the person before the behaviour and lessen the immediate negative response. The aim of this study was to test whether person-first language could result in less negative perceptions made about a fictitious person being released into the community following a conviction for sexual offending. Two hundred and ninety one Canadian participants read one of eight randomly assigned public announcement vignettes and then proceeded to answer questions regarding their perceptions of persons who sexually offend. The results indicate that the Canadian participants continued to endorse negative perceptions of the population irrespective of the label used, suggesting that the labels were not perceived differently. However, when a person-first label was compared to ‘rapist,’ and ‘pedophile,’ participants reported less negative perceptions pertaining to treatment amenability. Implications for how information is disseminated by the media to the public will be discussed.


title: Applied political philosophy: combatting the dangers of transhumanism by placing human dignity in the battle over bioethics and human enhancement in America

format:
559.6 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
human enhancement
transhumanism

abstract: The desire for human enhancement dates back to the initial conception of human civilization. For thousands of years we have continuously attempted to enhance physical and mental capabilities through various means, sometimes with inconclusive, comic, or even tragic results. The industrial and technological revolutions alleviated many of our social and individual health requirements, but also intensified our desire for enhancement. However, up until this point in human history, most biomedical advances, whether successful or not, merely attempted to restore things that were perceived to be deficient, such as vision, hearing, or mobility. Inventions that have attempted to improve on nature, such as anabolic steroids or Ritalin, have been relatively modest, incremental, or detrimental to overall long-term human health. Regardless, recent scientific and technological developments in areas such as biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology, humanity appears to be on the cusp of an enhancement revolution (Masci, 2016, para 3). If, or more likely when it comes, this societal transformation will be prompted by continuous efforts to aid people with disabilities and heal those who are diseased. While biomedicine is constantly making rapid progress in new restorative and therapeutic technologies, these could in turn have immense implications for human enhancement.


title: What maintains generalized anxiety disorder? Examining intolerance of uncertainty and negative beliefs about worry

format: 626.35KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
worry
anxiety disorders
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

abstract: Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience excessive and chronic worry over a variety of daily events. If left untreated, GAD tends to be chronic and cause difficulties in daily functioning. Therefore, understanding the factors that cause and maintain GAD is important to allow for the effective treatment of the disorder. The Metacognitive Model, Intolerance of Uncertainty Model, and Emotional Dysregulation Model each implicate specific mechanisms as the casual and maintaining factor in GAD. Existing research has shown negative beliefs about worry (NBW), intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and fear of emotions to be associated with GAD. However, the existing research is primarily cross-sectional, which does not allow researchers to determine whether these beliefs cause and maintain GAD. The present longitudinal study examined whether NBW, IU, fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance predict worry severity and GAD symptoms at follow-up. Undergraduate psychology students, pre-screened for high levels of worry, completed a series of online self-report measures assessing levels of worry, GAD symptoms, NBW, IU fear of emotions, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Participants (N = 372) returned 4-months later to complete the same series of questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses revealed that NBW was the only mechanism to consistently emerge as a predictor of pathological worry and GAD symptoms cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Exploratory analyses revealed that changes in NBW and IU were the only mechanisms to predict changes in GAD at follow-up. These findings have implications for the understanding and treatment of GAD.


title: Is “Just-Get-Started” an effective self-management tactic to improve flossing?

format: 516.47KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
oral hygiene practices
flossing
undergraduates
self-reliance

abstract: Presented on April 21, 2022 at Student Research Day at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: Healthy behaviours are often maintained by how habitual, or automatic, the behaviour has become. Repeated initiation and repetition of a behaviour has been shown to result in an activity becoming more automatic. Thus, this study experimentally investigated the efficacy of the often recommended “Just Get Started” (JGS) tactic, which increases the likelihood of initiating a behaviour, and assessed whether it increased participants’ frequency and automaticity of flossing. Undergraduate students (n = 44) completed baseline surveys before being randomized into one of two groups: (1) a control group in which participants were only told to floss each day for four weeks, and (2) and a JGS group that was additionally given the recommendation to use the JGS tactic, that is, whenever they did not feel like flossing, to pick up the floss and floss one tooth before deciding whether or not to continue. Participants reported their frequency and automaticity of flossing after 2 and 4 weeks. Results showed that although both automaticity and flossing increased over time, there was no significant difference between the JGS and control group on these measures, suggesting that the JGS rule provided no extra benefit. Participants who made use of the JGS tactic, however, reported that the rule helped them initiate and continue flossing, which suggests that the JGS rule may be perceived as more useful than it actually is. Additional exploratory analyses revealed several differences in background experiences between flossers and non-flossers. Baseline flossing frequency also showed a small correlation with self-control, conscientiousness, and procrastination, and a strong correlation with automaticity. Limitations of the study include a small sample size and the over-reliance on self-report measures.


title: An exploratory study of millennial managers from employees’ perceptions

subject:
age discrimination
millennials
Generation X
baby boomers
millennial managers
employee perception

abstract: This study explores the perceptions of employees who have millennial managers. An analysis of employees’ perceptions provides further knowledge to understand how to manage any bias or obstacles that millennial managers may be faced with. This study uses implicit personality theory to understand the subconscious thoughts people have immediately upon meeting them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 employees. The interviews were then transcribed so the analysis could be conducted with ease using the First and Second Cycle coding. This technique led to the creation of 5 themes: important characteristics and work experience of millennial managers, judgements they face, millennials, baby boomers and finally culture. These themes were utilized to form the results of the study. The first main finding is that age discrimination can be seen within these two sectors, even when participants stated otherwise because their age discriminatory comments were being made subconsciously. The results also showed that millennial managers do face challenges in the workforce, such as being doubted, tested and more. This study’s recommendation is millennial managers should encompass some or all of the important characteristics highlighted by participants to aid in preparing them to overcome said challenges.

abstract: Restricted Access


title: Faking faces: psychopathic traits and feigned emotional expressions

format:
235.97 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
psychopathic traits
facial expressions
emotions

abstract: Presented on April 24, 2017 at Student Research Day held at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine what effect psychopathic traits have on the ability to express both genuine and feigned emotional expressions through a detailed analysis of facial characteristics of emotion. Despite the wide array of research on psychopathic traits and emotional dysfunction, most studies have focused on recognition rather than expression of emotion. Participants (n = 121) were assessed for psychopathic traits and randomly assigned into a feigned or genuine emotional condition, and asked to display each of the six core emotions (i.e., happiness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust, and sadness). Each face was then coded for the presence of facial musculature action units using a standardized coding system. Results indicated that those feigned group produced more authentic facial expressions than their genuine counterparts. Limited main effects were found related to psychopathy and overall facial expressions; however, interesting patterns of specific action units were noted. Specifically, those high in psychopathic traits engaged in more authentic and pronounced expressions of specific facial musculature movements in some emotional expressions (i.e., fear and disgust). Implications concerning methods of coding, emotion induction, and facial affective mimicry are discussed.


title: Discourses of female masturbation in human sexuality textbooks

format: 367.63KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
masturbation
female sexuality

abstract: Presented on April 26, 2021 at Student Research Day held virtually at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: Many studies show that masturbation is a common and healthy aspect of human functioning (Kontula & Haavio-Mannila, 2002). Despite this, masturbation has been, and continues to be, perceived by society as a sinful, unhealthy, immoral, and/or shameful act (Hare,1962; Kontula & Haavio-Mannila, 2002; Studd & Schwenkhagen, 2009). Female masturbation, in particular, is subject to harsh social criticism and experiences elevated levels of conceived social unacceptability. Female masturbation is demonized within society to such a degree that it is often perceived as inherently unworthy of discussion or consideration (Garlick, 2012; Stolberg, 2000). The purpose of this study is to trace the ways in which female masturbation is discussed in Human Sexuality textbooks. By conducting a content and discourse analysis of 21 Human Sexuality textbooks and encyclopedias, I explore the dominant themes in which female masturbation is represented and discuss the implications of these representations.


identifier: Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)

title: Determining recovery success in Anthelia sp. after exposure to varying levels of thermal stress

format: 230.68KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
coral bleaching
coral recovery
climate change
coral fluorescence
dinoflagellate

abstract: Coral bleaching is a phenomenon caused by anthropogenically increased ocean temperatures, and may lead to the eventual death of massive reef systems. Bleaching is the result of corals expelling dinoflagellate endosymbionts in order to compensate for thermal stress. However, the loss of symbionts leads to a subsequent reduction in fluorescence intensity emitted by the coral. Substantial research has been done on coral bleaching due to environmental stressors, but little knowledge has been acquired about coral recovery after thermal stress. The present study aimed to determine how Anthelia species recover after being exposed to varying levels of temperature stress. Corals were exposed to varying levels of heat stress and subsequently brought back down in temperature to promote recovery. Using fluorescence microscopy, a relatively new method of quantifying coral health, and health-colour indices, recovery ability after thermal stress was determined. Analyses concluded that corals were able to successfully recover after thermal stress of 31°C, and exhibit a thermal compensation point around 30°C. However, beyond 31°C, recovery was not achievable. The findings of this study are beneficial to the larger coral research field because they indicate that corals do possess recovery ability up until reaching a fatal thermal maximum.


title: Diffraction of fully Euclidean model sets

format: 493.19KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
diffraction
fully Euclidean model sets

abstract: We provide a elementary proof, using only the Poisson summation formula and theory of tempered distributions, of the well-known fact that fully Euclidean regular model sets produce a pure point diffraction measure.


title: Exploring which anxiety-related disorder symptoms and mechanisms are associated with COVID-19 anxiety

format: 675.82KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
anxiety disorders
COVID-19 pandemic

abstract: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in anxiety has been reported among the population. This rise coincides with the introduction of COVID-19 anxiety, which is the fear and emotional distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research has found an association between COVID-19 anxiety and symptoms of health anxiety, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. COVID-19 anxiety has also been associated with mechanisms such as anxiety sensitivity, maladaptive metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty, and the emotion of disgust. In the current study, self-report questionnaires were used to examine which anxiety-related disorder symptoms, and related mechanisms, were associated with COVID-19 anxiety. A total of 593 MacEwan students completed the study between September 2020 and February 2021. A set of regression analyses examined which anxiety-related disorder symptoms were uniquely associated with COVID-19 anxiety. The two symptoms most associated with COVID-19 anxiety were health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. When examining the anxiety-related mechanisms, a second set of regression analyses identified disgust sensitivity and health anxiety-specific intolerance of uncertainty as having the strongest association with COVID-19 anxiety. Based on these findings, clinicians may wish to screen for COVID-19 anxiety in clients experiencing health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, or panic disorder symptoms. Lastly, clinicians may find it helpful to target the clients' responses to feelings of disgust, and their health anxiety-specific intolerance of uncertainty, when working with clients experiencing high levels of COVID-19 anxiety.


title: Democracy in the information age: the new political enigma

format:
440.8 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
political campaigns
case studies
Big Data
predictive modelling

abstract: The introduction of the Internet to the toolkit of political campaigns has cardinally altered the landscape of democratic elections. As the Internet has expanded so has the level of information it brings alongside, where the amount of data produced in 2017 outweighs the entirety of human societies. Prior to the Age of Information, society has been limited in their capacity to access information, now we are purview to information glut; with unprecedented information comes unprecedented consequences. Data has provided a means for institutions to accumulate, calculate, and nudge human interaction based on predictive analytical techniques where this compendium of information, produced through the Internet, has reduced citizens into analytical nodes. But what is the long run impact of a future predicated on predictive analytics, where individuals are compiled into grand data sets and outcomes are the result of scaled data operations? This paper seeks to rectify this question. When applied to the democratic process, how will political campaigns utilize this technology to advance their campaigns? What is the impact of Big Data and predictive analytics on individual autonomy and how does this contribute to an increasingly fragmented society?


title: The effects of the H1 antagonist chlorpheniramine on anxiety in zebrafish

format:
191.34 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
anxiety
chlorpheniramine
Danio rerio
shoaling

abstract: Presented on April 23, 2018 at Student Research Day held at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

abstract: Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have recently emerged as an excellent model organism to study the neurological basis of anxiety disorders. They display robust behavioural responses to external stimuli and possess all of the main vertebrate neurotransmitters. Research in rats has demonstrated that the histaminergic system plays a role in anxiety, possibly by interacting with other monoamines such as serotonin and dopamine. In zebrafish, however, the histaminergic system is not well characterized, so it is of interest to assess the role of histamine on anxiety in zebrafish. Chlorpheniramine, a histamine antagonist that has been tested multiple times in rodents and shown to decrease anxiety, was administered to fish with the expectation that we would observe similar anxiolytic effects in zebrafish. Chlorpheniramine was administered through immersion for ten minutes at two doses (20mg/L and 25mg/L), and zebrafish were tested using the shoaling test, which is a measure of anxiety based on the tendency of fish to form more cohesive shoals when anxious. We found that chlorpheniramine did not produce a significant anxiolytic effect at either dose; however previous research in our lab suggests that the 20mg/L dose reduces anxiety in the novel tank diving test. Further research using different doses and tests or other histamine antagonists should be conducted for a more thorough understanding of the histaminergic system in zebrafish.


identifier: Bott, T. M. (2011). The construction of diverse nitrogen-containing heterocycles via the reaction of amines or azides with metallocarbenes. [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Alberta.

format: 30.98MB PDF application/pdf

subject: azetidines Stevens azides heterocycles

abstract: A fundamental goal in organic chemistry is the development of new and innovative ways of transforming simple building blocks into complex structures. The formation of ylides from the reaction of metallocarbenes with heteroatoms, such as the nitrogen of an amine or azide, is an example of a versatile methodology that is capable of undergoing divergent transformations into a wide variety of nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Azetidines are a class of small, strained amines, which display properties of their smaller and larger ring counterparts, aziridines or pyrrolidines, depending on the nature of their substitution pattern and their chemical environment. Chapter 1 will highlight the recent advances in the synthesis and application of these molecules in the recent literature. In chapter 2, we demonstrate the ability of azetidines to undergo ring expansion to pyrrolidines via the Stevens rearrangement of ammonium ylides. In this methodology, azetidines behave in a manner distinct from equivalent systems lacking ring strain. This investigation allowed for the construction of a range of differently functionalized pyrrolidines in a one step procedure from readily available azetidines and diazocarbonyl compounds. An extension of this successful azetidine ring expansion chemistry, to provide access to more complex heterocyclic ring systems, is described in chapter 3. The goal of this project was to determine the functionality required on the azetidine ring to direct the Stevens rearrangement in an intramolecular fashion. The use of carbonyl and silyl groups as a means of directing the transformation was investigated. These groups were chosen for their ability to be easily removed or transformed after the ring expansion process in order to access a broader range of compounds during later applications. In chapter 4, we describe a new methodology for the formation of C-acylimines through the reaction of organic azides with in situ generated metallocarbenes. Using aryl-tethered diazo-azide substrates allowed for the production of highly reactive C-acylimines, which in the presence of carbon nucleophiles could be subsequently trapped to form highly conjugated indolone derivatives. In contrast, when an alkyl tether was used, we observed the formation of an isolable C-acylimine, which displayed intriguing umpolung chemistry when treated with organozinc reagents.


title: Assessing the spread and establishment of Prussian carp (Carassius gibelio) in northern Alberta

creator:
Jessen, Erika
Shaw, Ross
Das, Mrinal

format: 782.55KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
Prussian carp
invasive species
anthropogenic introduction
eDNA analysis
northern Alberta

abstract: The Prussian carp (Cassasius gibelio) is an exceptionally dangerous invasive freshwater fish species. Native to Asia and eastern Europe, it has come to dominate many freshwater bodies across Eurasia through anthropogenic activities, causing extensive ecological damage by outcompeting native taxa and degrading environmental conditions. Within the last two decades, the Prussian carp has been introduced into Alberta, and has since spread into the rivers and lakes of the province. To date, most research relating to Prussian carp in North America has focused exclusively on southern Alberta. My research project aimed to expand research into northern Alberta, specifically the Edmonton region, with the objective to determine if Prussian Carp have spread into northern Alberta. Twelve lakes and ponds in the Edmonton area were surveyed using an underwater drone to collect footage. Four of these sites were further subjected to eDNA analysis. The results of the drone footage picked up a mixture of native and invasive fish species, with two being positive for goldfish. The eDNA analysis picked up neither goldfish or Prussian carp DNA at any of the test sites, likely due to low eDNA concentrations. Overall, these results highlight the need for ecological management to mitigate the spread of invasive fish species in Alberta.


identifier: MacDonald, Michael B. "Back to the Garden: Territory and Exchange in Western Canadian Folk Music Festivals." (PhD diss., University of Alberta, 2010), https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5b0d3eca-3267-4f02-b1ed-04f51fda3b3b/view/a6ec814f-8195-4a23-a61f-1fe52c91055f/MacDonald_Michael_Summer2010.pdf.

title: Back to the garden: territory and exchange in western Canadian folk music festivals

format:
6.15 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
folk music festivals
western Canada

abstract: Until now folk music festivals in western Canada have not been systematically surveyed nor has their operation been theorized as a mode of creative production. This work develops a historically grounded approach to folk music as a means of social production and challenges the idea that folk music is only a music genre. I conclude, using a theoretical approach developed by Deleuze and Guattari, that contemporary folk music festivals make use of social capital to establish a folk music assemblage. This assemblage provides an alternative, non-centralized, and increasingly global alternative for the flow of music capital. Folk music is no longer a style of music but a mode of doing business in music that is socially oriented and politically and economically potent.


title: Revolution unfinished: comparing collective memory in the Kyiv Post and RT

format: 382.99KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
Maidan Revolution
Ukraine
journalism

abstract: Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled)

abstract: From November 2013 – February 2014, Ukraine’s Independence Square (or Maidan) became the site of revolution. The Maidan Revolution culminated in the deaths of over 100 protesters and law enforcement, and the removal of former President Viktor Yanukovych. Subsequently, several studies have observed how Maidan is being remembered (see Kozachenko, 2020; Nuzov, 2016; Shevel, 2016). I rely on the perspectives of Maurice Halbwachs (2011/1925) on collective memory, Robin Wagner-Pacifici (1996; 2010; 2017) on events, and various perspectives on media framing in journalism. This paper builds upon existing literature by exploring the formation of collective memory in 52 newspaper articles from the Kyiv Post and RT. From my findings I argue both news outlets accept Maidan as part of their taken for granted memory. Both outlets primarily frame Maidan using national memory narratives. Like Kozachenko (2020), I observed the presence of Ukrainophile and Sovietophile historical frames. Though both news outlets frame Maidan as a failed revolution, I argue Maidan is characterized differently by the Kyiv Post and RT. Whereas, the Kyiv Post frames Maidan as a tragic unfinished revolution, RT constructs a framing of Maidan as a coup which allows them to compare it to current events.


title: Examining the relationship between music training and early reading skills in children

format:
312.24 KB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
musical perception
reading skills

abstract: Past research has found evidence of a link between musical perception and performance on literacy related tests, such a reading tests and phonological awareness measures. Particular focus has been on the correlation between musical skills and phonemic understanding, with few studies examining reading specifically. Thus far in the literature, it is unclear if the relationship between perception and reading is dependent on specific perceptual abilities or is more domain general. Past investigation is also limited in the musical tasks that are available for children, and this had led to very mixed results as to why the relationship between music and reading might exist. The present study tested 120 6- to 10- year olds on a variety of musical perception measures and word reading tests to examine the association when controlling for general cognition and length of music training. Our results revealed that speed and tuning perceptual abilities were the only significant predictor of word reading scores, and that music training was uncorrelated with reading ability.


identifier: Berezowsky, Sherrin. Biological Inheritance and the Social Order in Late-Victorian Fiction and Science. Dissertation, University of Western Ontario, 2011, ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1471&context=etd. Accessed 9 May 2018.

title: Biological inheritance and the social order in late-Victorian fiction and science

format:
1.12 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
English literature
nineteenth century
Victorian
heredity
inheritance
science
class

abstract: This dissertation investigates the heightened interest in heredity as a kind of biological inheritance that arises after the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) and how this interest intersects with concerns about class mobility and the shifting social order. Within this framework, this project considers how heredity became a means of organizing and regulating bodies in keeping with what Michel Foucault terms biopower. It unearths the cultural work within literary and scientific writings as they respond to narratives of self-help and self-improvement by imagining heredity as a means of stabilizing the social order, and by extension the nation, at the very moment that it was undergoing significant change. In studying diverse texts, this project highlights the shared ideological concerns behind both literary and scientific narratives.


identifier: Newberry-Koroluk, Andrea. (2014). Understanding workplace experiences of first-year Canadian social workers: A hermeneutic phenomenological study (doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1863

title: Understanding workplace experiences of first-year Canadian social workers: a hermeneutic phenomenological study

format:
1.38 MB
PDF
application/pdf

subject:
social workers
work experiences
hermeneutic phenomenology

abstract: There is limited global research addressing the experiences of first-year social workers in general, and a dearth of scholarship specific to the Canadian context. In 2012–2013, I conducted in-depth interviews with nine early-career (0.6–3.7 years post-Bachelor of Social Work/BSW), young adult (aged 23.9¬–32.9) social workers in Alberta, Canada to answer the question: how do young adult, early-career Alberta social workers understand subjective feelings towards their work experiences in their first year of practice following completion of the BSW? My research method was hermeneutic phenomenology, an interpretive approach to understanding the meaning of lived experiences. Symbolic interactionism provided the theoretical foundation for my research, facilitating dual attention to structural factors and the dynamics of individual interpretation and agency. My findings relate to the intersection of age and gender in the structure and meaning of the experiences of first-year social workers; institutional hierarchy and internalized marginalization of the social work role; first-year social workers’ fears of committing a cataclysmic error in practice; the meaning of encountering one’s own privilege and marginalization; and disappointments in early practice and individual narratives of transformation and idealism renegotiated. The literature review and findings suggest that three interconnected areas influence the subjective experiences of new social workers: institutional structures, social positionality, and lived experience. Through the interplay of these three areas, subjective workplace experiences are made understandable and meaningful to early-career social workers. From a broad inter-disciplinary perspective, this work is a substantial contribution to scholarship on gender relations and the workplace. Implications for social work education include challenging internalized oppression that reflects gendered norms in caregiving work; teaching multiple ways of evaluating practice rather than relying exclusively on post-positivist epistemologies and methodologies; encouraging reflexivity about practitioner social location; and disrupting narratives that presuppose a single “social work perspective” operating in agencies. In the realm of social work practice, applications include actively challenging the devaluation of young women workers and advocating for better working conditions. Future research in social work could explore gender in the early-career period across the life course and gender identity continuum.


title: The two physics governing the one-dimensional cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation

format: 340.84KB PDF application/pdf

subject:
Schrödinger equation
nonlinearity

abstract: In 1926, in his quest to explain the quantum probabilistic nature of particles, Erwin Schrödinger proposed a nonrelativistic wave equation that required only one initial condition, i.e., the initial displacement of an electron. His equation describes the wave-particle duality discovered by Louis de Broglie in 1924. Furthermore, Schrödinger's wave equation is dimensionless, allowing the equation to be a mathematical model describing different physical phenomena. Introducing nonlinearity into the Schrödinger equation, we worked with the so-called self-focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We showed that when the nonlinearity is perfectly balanced with the dispersion, the self-focusing nonlinear Schrödinger model describes the propagation of a soliton. In 1968 Peter Lax introduced the "Lax Pair," a pair of time-dependent matrices/operators describing the nature of a nonlinear evolution partial differential equation, to discuss solitons in continuous media. This procedure is what we call the scattering method for describing mathematically nonlinear processes in physics. We used the scattering method to find the Lax Pair for the nonlinear Schrodinger model, and we showed that the equation is a compatibility condition for the AKNS system. In 1974, Ablowitz, Kaup, Newell, and Segur (AKNS) introduced the inverse scattering transform to solve evolution nonlinear partial differential equations arising from compatibility conditions for the AKNS system. Rather than using the inverse scattering transform, we showed an intuitive approach in revealing the formation and propagation of a soliton for the self-focusing nonlinear Schrodinger equation, using a novel approach via cnoidal waves. The work will also include a novel theorem describing the steepening of the wavefront due to nonlinearity.


title: Burst Mode Clock Recovery for Passive Optical Network

contributor:
Huang, Dr. Wei-Ping
Chen, Dr. Chih-Hung
Electrical and Computer Engineering

subject:
Electrical
Computer
Eng.
Optical Network

abstract: The emerging passive optical network (PON) requires the burst mode clock and data recovery (BM-CDR) for the successful data detection, with a strict requirement in the locking time. Two innovative BM-CDR schemes are proposed, modeled, simulated, and analyzed. They simplify the circuit design and reduce the chip size and the power consumption by utilizing the characteristics of the optical components in the upstream fiber link. One scheme utilizes the phenomenon of the clock tone generation by the fiber dispersion. The other scheme utilizes the nonlinear relaxation oscillation of the directly modulated laser (DML) to generate the clock tone. The phenomenon of the clock tone generation by the DML relaxation oscillation is discovered for the first time. Both schemes do not incur extra cost, additional optical components or electrical circuit blocks. In both schemes, the BM clock recovery (CR) circuitry is based on the injection locked oscillator (ILO). Its behavior in the BM-CR application with the input of the distorted non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data is simulated at the system level for the first time. The BM-CR circuitry is designed and fabricated in a standard 0.18 !lm CMOS technology to experimentally demonstrate the two schemes operating at the bit rate close to 10 Gbps.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Private Schooling in English Canada

contributor:
Synge, J.
Sociology

subject:
private schools
English Canada
macrosociological approach
comparative

abstract:
This study deals with the private schools of English Canada with a special emphasis on Upper Canada and later Ontario. Its approach is
macrosociological: it covers three hundred years of schooling in Canada
and compares private schools in Canada with school systems in one hundred and fifty-three societies. Various sociological models are used during the course of the study and at the conclusion the private schooling
principle is connected to general sociological theory.
Chapter One discusses the relationship between mass schooling
and modernizaticn. Drawing on the ideas of Durkheim and Weber a developmental model of the rise of state schooling is presented. It is suggested that in modern societies private schools result from the strains
of social differentiation; this yields two kinds of private schools:
schools of privilege and schools of protest.
Chapter Two includes an international survey of private schools;
this helps to place the private schools of Canada in a comparative
perspective. The survey revealed that communist and communist-inc.lined
societies have abolished private schools. In non--communist societies
the amount of private schooling is variable and shows no clear relationship
to the degree of industrialization. From the comparative data a
typology of scliool systems is developed. Further analysis shows that
private schooling in English Canada is relatively small; only Norway and
Sweden among modern industrial non-communist societies have smaller private school enrolments.                                                                Chapter Three covers the first four stages of the developmental model in an account of the rise of state schooling in the ten school systems of Canada. In a more detailed treatment of Upper Canada (later
Ontario) it was possible to explore a conflict model of educational change
presented by Scotford-Archer and Vaughan (1968). The conflict model was
found to be inappropridte for the Canadian experience. The account of
schooling in Newfoundland also indicated that the developmental model
also required further modifications. Changes in the patterns of private
schooling in nineteenth-century Ontario were discussed.
Chapter Four deals with the two types of private schools. The
schools of privilege are examined from a national point of view since
they play an important role in the formation of the English Canadian
elite. The Social characteristics of private elite schools are presented
in a national survey of private school enrolment. In discussing the second type of school, the schools of protest, the study confines itself
to the contemporary private schools of Ontario. The private schools run by the Roman Catholics, Reformed Church members, Mennonites and secular groups are described.                                                                                Chapter Five turns to the problem of the contribution of schools tothe economy. Since state schooling seems not to be a necessary feature of industrialization a diffusionist account of the spread of state schooling is given. Private schooling is discussed in connection with two important sociological approaches: normative functionalism and conflict theory. An account of private schooling and the formation of communities shows the limitations of both these theories. Modern critics of state schooling are mentioned, included in some of their proposals is the suggesstion that more private schools should be opened.
Finally there is a concluding section with suggestions for further
research in the area. A lengthy appendix is attached which provides
technical information, data and further comment on problems raised in
the text; this appendix is intended for future researchers in the field.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: STATISTICAL METHODS FOR PROCESS MONITORING AND CONTROL

contributor:
Mhaskar, Prashant
Yu, Jie
Chemical Engineering

abstract:
Nowadays, large-scale datasets are generated in industrial processes as varieties of digital instruments, analytical sensors and data devices are utilized. The data does not transfer to useful knowledge automatically. In the current age of big data, it is critically important to develop data-driven techniques to harness industrial data to make better decisions. Statistical methods can help to make sense of the variety of data from industrial processes. Specifically, this thesis addresses three applications of statistical methods in process engineering in order to obtain different kinds of process knowledge.
With the high-dimensional and correlated process data, multivariate statistical process monitoring methods have been developed to extract useful information from a large amount of process data and detect various types of process faults. Specifically, an independent component analysis (ICA) mixture model based local dissimilarity method is developed for performance monitoring of multimode dynamic processes with non-Gaussian features in each operating mode.
Then, two video analysis based pellet sizing methods are proposed for measuring the pellet size distributions without any off-line and intrusive tests. The videos of free-falling pellets are first taken and then the free-falling tracks of pellets in video frames are analyzed through the two video analysis based pellet sizing approaches. The utility of these two video analysis based pellet sizing methods is demonstrated through the online measurement and estimation of free-falling nickel pellets in two test videos.
Moreover, a subspace projection based model-plant mismatch detection and isolation method is developed for the closed-loop MPC systems within state-space framework. The model quality indices are developed through subspace projection in order to eliminate the effects of system feedback. The paper machine headbox process with MIMO MPC controller is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in detecting and isolating different kinds of model-plant mismatches.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Master of Applied Science (MASc)


title: Reaeration in Flowinq Systems

contributor:
Murphy, K.L.
Chemical Engineering

subject:
stream reaeration
steam velocity
temperature
mass transfer coefficient

abstract:
The literature on stream reaeration was reviewed. A recirculating
loop open channel system was desiqned and experiments were performed to study the effects of average stream velocity and temperature on the mass transfercoefficient for oxyqen dissolution into "clean" water. The applicability of the apparatus to the study of the effects of surfactants was also investigated.
The velocity ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 ft/sec and the temperature from
5,0 to 25.o0c. The results indicated that the mass transfer coefficient
varies approximately linearly with average stream velocity and that the temperature coefficient is a variable which depends on mixinq condHions. Furthermore, it was found that the temperature dependency of the mass transfer coefficient could be expressed as either a linear or power function. Correlations expressing the mass transfer coefficient in terms of easily measurable stream parameters.
were developed and compared to those found in the recent literature

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Master of Engineering (ME)


title: From Opium to Oikos: The Limits and Promises of Marx's Critique of Religion

contributor:
Greenspan, Dr. Louis
Religious Studies

subject:
Religion
Marx's Critique
Opium to Oikos

abstract:
This study fundamentally departs from conventional approaches
to the "communist-religious" problematic. On the one hand, we reject
the orthodox historical materialist denial that communism involves
the positive germination of religious practices of any form whatsoever.
On the other hand, we also dismiss the "utopian" attempt to convert
Marx's theory of this era into a secular extension of Judeo-Christian
eschatological principles. Thus, though our central thesis is that
Marx's theory of communism logically contains a religious moment,
we radically redefine the salient terms of this proposition.
This revision stems from our excavation and evaluation of Marx's
critique of religion. We limit our purview to Marx and to the sources
that influenced him in this area. In Chapter I, we uncover the thematic
roots of Marx's critique and trace the rationalist assumptions that
were held by his source influences and that were reproduced, mostly
unconsciously, in his writings on religion. In Chapter II, we examine
the evolution and significance of this thematic legacy in Marx's
texts. In particular, we detail the effect of Marx's rationalist
premises on his implicit construction of a true/false universality
semantic frame. In this context, we demonstrate that Marx's critique
consists of two logically distinct, yet historically intertwined,
layers, or the substantive and the methodological critiques, respectively. In Chapter III, we evaluate Marx's critique and argue that its substantive
side is invalid on both methodological and empirical grounds. This
verdict turns on our contention that the Western rat~onalist tradition
is one-sided. We also maintain, however, that the methodological side
of Marx's critique is valid. We argue that the excision of the substantive
critique does not injure the core of Marx's contribution to
religious science, but rather makes possible its reclamation. In
Chapter IV, we substantiate this point by using Marx's methodological
approach as the requisite "ground floor" of a new theoretical framework
for conceptualizing the "communist-religious" problematic, and, by
extension, for constructing a new religious science. In the course of
this exposition, we redefine religion in oikic terms, delineate why it
is useful to attribute a religious dimension to communism, sketch the
contemporary political implications of our thesis, and outline a model
of religious science that synthesizes the fundamental claims of the
historical materialist and the "holistic" traditions.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Training of Neural Networks Using the Smooth Variable Structure Filter with Application to Fault Detection

contributor:
Habibi, S.
Mechanical Engineering

subject:
Neural Networks
Smooth Variable Structure Filter

abstract:
Artificial neural network (ANNs) is an information processing paradigm inspired by the human brain. ANNs have been used in numerous applications to provide complex nonlinear input-output mappings. They have the ability to adapt and learn from observed data.
The training of neural networks is an important area of research and consideration. Training techniques have to provide high accuracy, fast speed of convergence, and avoid premature convergence to local minima.
In this thesis, a novel training method is proposed. This method is based on the relatively new Smooth Variable Structure filter (SVSF) and is formulated for feedforward multilayer perceptron training. The SVSF is a state and parameter estimation that is based on the Sliding Mode Concept and works in a predictor-corrector fashion. The SVSF applies a discontinuous corrective term to estimate state and parameters. Its advantages include guaranteed stability, robustness, and fast speed of convergence.
The proposed training technique is applied to three real-world benchmark problems and to a fault detection application in a Ford diesel engine.
SVSF-based training technique shows an excellent generalization capability and a fast speed of convergence.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Master of Applied Science (MASc)


title: A Novel Approach to Power Cable Performance Assessment using Perturbed Thermal Field Analysis

contributor:
Findlay, R.D.
El-Kady, M.A.
Engineering

subject:
Power Systems
Power Cable
Perturbed Thermal Feild Analysis

abstract: This thesis reports on a novel approach to cable thermal field and ampacity computations using a newly proposed concept of perturbed finite-element analysis, which involves the use of derived sensitivity coefficients associated with various cable parameters of interest. It uses the sensitivity coefficients to achieve optimal cable performance. The proposed model provides a quick methodology, based on the finite element model, to assess the cable thermal performance subject to variations in the cable thermal circuit parameters. Furthermore, an optimization model for an underground power cable thermal circuit, based on generated gradients was developed, where subsequent utilization of the derived sensitivities as gradients of objective functions in a general framework of power cable performance optimization is presented. This comprehensive model uses the more accurate perturbed finite element method, which enables calculation of the objective function value and its gradients, without sacrificing the model accuracy. The algorithm developed was applied to various benchmark cable systems with their actual configurations, for different practical cable performance optimization objectives of interest to power utilities operators. The thermal field of an underground power cable sample directly buried in the soil was observed in the laboratory using a developed full size experimental setup. The investigation involves all parts of the thermal circuit parameters including cables composition, surrounding soil and boundaries phenomena. This experimental set was used to validate the developed simulation model by comparing the simulation results with the real laboratory measurements. Such experimental verification confirmed the accuracy of the newly introduced finite element sensitivity methodology.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Engineering (DEng)


title: The Development of Sensitivity to First-and Second-order Local Motion

contributor:
Lewis, T.L.
Maurer, D.
Psychology

subject: Psychology Neuroscience

abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to determine the timeline of the development of sensitivity to first-order (luminance-defined) versus second-order (contrast-defined) motion and to compare how sensitivity to motion varies with temporal frequency (flicker rate), spatial frequency (stripe size), and velocity. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that infants' sensitivity to drifting gratings is more adult-like for second-order than first-order stimuli. Moreover, the evidence suggests that infants choose a moving over a stationary grating based on their sensitivity to grating flicker rather than its direction. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate that sensitivity to second-order motion is more adult-like than sensitivity to first-order motion at all ages tested. Children reach adult-like levels of sensitivity to motion at 7 years when stimuli are second-order, but are still worse than adults at 10 years when stimuli are first-order. Furthermore, sensitivity to motion varies with temporal frequency when stimuli are first-order, but spatial frequency when stimuli are second-order. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that first-order motion is processed using low-level motion mechanisms, while second-order motion is processed using a feature tracking mechanism. In Chapter 4, I explored sensitivity to second-order motion in 5-year-olds and adults using directional and non-directional motion tasks. Children's sensitivity to motion is more immature when temporal frequency is relatively low, but only for the directional motion tasks. All participants perform better on the non-directional than the directional task, but only when temporal frequency is relatively high. These results are consistent with Seiffert and Cavanagh's (1998) findings that second-order motion is processed by a feature tracking mechanism. Combined, these findings are consistent with the idea that first-and second-order motion are processed, at least in part, by different neural mechanisms.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: From the Depths of Despair to the Promise of Presence: A Rhetorical Reading of the Book of Joel

contributor:
Boda, Mark J.
Evans, Paul S.

subject:
Reilgion
Book of Joel

abstract:
This dissertation examines Joel through the lens of rhetorical criticism and seeks to demonstrate that Joel is a unified work of prophetic literature that moves from scenes of devastation to promises of restoration through its persuasive evocation of divine and human responses in order to articulate the necessity of calling and relying upon YHWH in all circumstances. This study orients itself in the broader context ofJoel studies before examining rhetorical critical methodologies. This study discusses the model of George A. Kennedy and Karl Moller and proposes modifications so that it will better engage with the rhetoric of Joel. This dissertation then seeks to apply Kennedy's and Moller's model in a detailed study of Joel. The body of this study considers different text units within Joel, discussing how the text constructs the rhetorical situations into which it places its persuasive strategies. This dissertation then considers the potential effectiveness of these strategies in their situations. It traces how Joel uses a series of crises in order to persuade the text's implied audience that its only hope is found in crying out to YHWH amidst desperate circumstances. This leads to the consideration ofthe gap between Joel 2:17, 18, where the tenor of the text changes from devastation to restoration secured by the powerful actions ofYHWH. This study notes how the latter half ofJoel evokes restorative responses from YHWH culminating in the promise ofYHWH's protective presence in Zion, which should further persuade the implied audience that it ought to heed the text's appeal to cry out to YHWH.
This dissertation concludes with a summary ofthe persuasive elements ofthe individual rhetorical units within Joel, while also considering the rhetorical trajectory of Joel as a literary whole. It then offers suggestions for further rhetorical study of prophetic literature.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Greek Verbal Aspect in Synoptic Parallels: On the Method and Meaning of Divergent Tense-form Usage in the Synoptic Passion Narratives

contributor:
Porter, Stanley
Westfall, Cynthia L.
Christian Studies

subject: Synotic Narratives

abstract: Typical approaches to analyzing the parallel material of the Synoptic Gospels have primarily been concerned with studies in form, source, and redaction criticism. However, these sorts of studies have tended to lack any significant treatment of the fundamental linguistic issues that are relevant to a discussion of Synoptic parallel texts, particularly the issue of divergent tense-form usage. For example, in the temple cleansing episode of Matt 21 :13//Mark ll:17//Luke 19:45, Matthew uses the Present form TTotiiTE (''make'') to recount Jesus' statement to the buyers and sellers, while Mark uses the Perfect TTETTOt~KaTE and Luke the Aorist ETTOt~oaTE to communicate the same event. By employing the insights of Systemic-Functional Linguistics and Stanley E. Porter's model of verbal aspect theory, this work argues that different tense-forms are used in the parallel material of the Synoptic Passion Narratives because each Gospel uses verbal aspect as a means to structure their discourses according to various levels of prominence.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Master of Arts (MA)


title: I'll Drink to That: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition in the Maritime Provinces, 1900-1930

contributor:
Turner, Dr. H.E.
History

subject:
Prohibition
Maritime Provinces
1900-1930

abstract: The Prohibition Era in the Maritime Provinces ran from 1900 to 1930. This aspect of Maritime history has never been fully explored. This study argues that the rise and fall of prohibition in the region was a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon. Beginning in the early nineteenth century this thesis demonstrates that prohibitory legislation was accomplished due to the combination of five powerful influences. 'lbey were a nineteenth century anti-liquor tradition, the Protestant Social Gospel, secular progressivism, Social catholicism and World War I war-time reform enthusiasm. During the war and immediate post-war years prohibition in the Maritimes was relatively effective and reasonably respected. After 1920 however, the combination of another set of replicated forces led to prohibition's decline. They were the ending of war-time reformism, the failure of prohibition's promise, enforcement problems, wide-spread violations, the waning of reform idealism, regional economic problems and the rise of a personal liberty philosophy· Consequently, prohibition was repealed in favour of government control of the sale of liquor in New Brunswick in 1927 and in Nova 5cxJtia in 1929. Prince Edward Islam kept prohibition until 1948 but the law was all but dead after 1930.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Diasporic Sexualities in Contemporary Canadian Fiction

contributor:
Coleman, Daniel
English and Cultural Studies

subject:
Diasporic Sexualities
Canadian Fiction

abstract: This dissertation studies representations of diaspora, sexuality and gender, and affect in Shani Mootoo's Cereus Blooms at Night (1996), Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony (1995), Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy (1994), and Dionne Brand's In Another Place, Not Here (1996). There is a notable absence of explicitly named sexual and gender identities in these novels. I argue that this absence is a function of diasporic doubleness: the identities are lost in the trauma of relocation and ongoing cultural translation; they have never been inscribed in collective memories about originary lands or have been inscribed only negatively; or they cannot be concretized in language because, under the disorienting conditions of diasporic mobility, nothing that matters is ever concrete. Mootoo, Choy, Selvadurai, and Brand choose against assigning distinct sexual or gender identities to their characters in part because they refuse to reproduce the social, legaL psychologicaL and medical categories through which discursive power flows. This suspension of naming, however, is not only a matter of counter-discursive opposition. Considered in the context of collective displacement, this suspension also produces an opportunity for queer diasporans to strengthen communal bonds across the fragmentary prejudices and differences that are internal to diasporas. By focusing on emergent experiences of sex-gender desire, Mootoo, Choy, Selvadurai, and Brand create room for affiliation between characters-queer and not-who might otherwise remain separated by the power and politics that flow through language. Whereas Western cultures are philosophically founded on binary separations of mind and body, human and animal, civilization and chaos, and thinking and feeling, affect theorists recognize that humans are first and foremost feeling entities, and that sensation is an integral part of any human experience. The key tenant of affect theory, that the economy of the physical body is a rich resource of agency, motivation, and hope, enables me to find common ground between the quite different interests of diaspora theory and queer theory in literary-cultural analysis.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: What Has Wittenberg to Do with Azusa? : Luther's Theology of the Cross and Pentecostal Triumphalism

contributor:
Studebaker, Steven M.
Heath, Gordon L.

subject: Azusa Pentecostal

abstract:
Pentecostalism in North America has stalled. This dissertation seeks reasons for the current impasse in the triumphalism that has driven the development of Pentecostalism and proposes a critique of that triumphalism through the application of Martin Luther's theology of the cross. This work is intended primarily as a project of constructive theology. It comprises three movements. The first is principally historical, in which I survey the emergence of Pentecostalism. Chapter 1 finds that its development was driven by forces of restorationism and perfectionism, two dynamics that have a long history in American Protestantism. Together these two impulses account for the triumphalism that coloured not only the formation of Pentecostalism, but Evangelicalism, generally. The second chapter traces the development of Pentecostal triumphalism historically from Azusa Street, through the institutionalizing process and defines Pentecostal triumphalism as a form of spiritual immediacy. The second movement is an exploration in historical theology. Chapter 3 considers Luther as a resource for Pentecostal theology by situating him historically in his theological conflict with Roman Catholicism and the Radical Reformation and discovering resonances between his thought and that of Pentecostals. Turning to a contemplation of Luther's theologia crucis, chapter 4 establishes its value as a critique of both personal and institutional triumphalism. Furthermore, it considers the resurrection as an often undeveloped
dimension of the theology of the cross. Connecting cross and resurrection in Luther's thought sets up the third movement, which is essentially an endeavour in constructive theology. Assisted by the work of Jiirgen Moltmann, chapter 5 expresses the theology of the cross in terms of two component dynamics, a pneumatologia crucis, and an eschatologia crucis, the nexus of which accounts for Spirit baptism, the central feature of Pentecostalism. In the final chapter, this model is applied to a variety of issues in Pentecostal theology including spiritual experience, sanctification, and the supernatural, with a view to mitigating its underlying triumphalism. Doing so establishes the basis of Pentecostalism on theological grounds rather than the two historical dynamics of restorationism and perfectionism, which appear to have driven its development.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: Where the Spirit Leads Me: The Autobiographical Holy Foremothers of Contemporary African American Women's Writing

contributor:
O'Connor, Mary
English

subject:
African American Women
Writing

abstract: The autobiographies of the nineteenth-century black women evangelists, along with the petition of their strongly African eighteenth-century precursor Belinda, have never been examined collectively as a genre changing considerably throughout the nineteenth-century, and developing in a chiasmic return throughout the twentieth-century to give rise to contemporary African American women's literary forms. Through close readings of primary texts, I examine the ways in which the evangelists employ discourses produced by socio-economic determinants such as race, gender and class to create a complex black female narrative economy, with its own unique figurations and forms. These figurations and forms--for example the cult of the "unnatural" woman, the quest for community, the trope of trial, or the valorisation of the sermonic mode--develop and change over time. This changing black female spiritual narrative economy is indicative of an important line in the ongoing traditions of black women's writing which has only now begun to be reclaimed and validated. In their texts, evangelist autobiographers such as Rebecca Jackson, Sojourner Truth or Julia Foote maintained African traditions (for example, orality), and African American ways of being and telling (such as the preacheriy, or the performance of the blues) which were signified upon in the work of Zora Neale Hurston, and· are still of utmost importance to many African American women writers today.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)


title: The Tenor of Toughness: The Interpersonal Metafunction in 1 Corinthians 1-4

contributor:
Porter, Stanley
Westfall, Cynthia L.
Christian Theology

subject: Theology Christian

abstract:
This study offers a linguistic-critical reading of 1 Corinthians 1-4. Rather than pursuing the concerns of traditional historical-critical approaches such as classical rhetorical criticism, this study approaches the text from the modem sociolinguistic paradigm known as Systemic-Functional Linguistics (SFL). More specifically, the reading offered in this study is an application of Appraisal Theory. This implementation of SFL theory is concerned primarily with the interpersonal meanings that get encoded in text, especially as they pertain to the social action that Meeks calls '"resocialization." In other words, Tenor ofToughness is a study of the apostle Paul's use of language for the purpose of bringing the letter's putative readers into alignment with the ideology (theology) and values with which Paul expects all believers in Christ in every place to align.
Methodologically, the model offered in the present study directs its attention to the linguistics of appraisal evident in Paul's language comprising 1 Cor 1-4. That is, it analyzes the text and identifies Paul's use of language for the purpose of positively or negatively evaluating the entities or propositions about which he is writing. It is argued that positive appraisals allow one to see what value positions Paul believes should be taken up by believers in Christ, while negative appraisals indicate those value positions that should be rejected. Thus, for example, Paul's urging of the implied readers to ··say the same'' (1 Cor 1:1 0) indicates a positive stance toward unity and negative stance toward division/discord. Additionally, Appraisal Theory analyzes the various linguistic engagement strategies Paul employs in 1 Cor 1-4, for these, too, are indicative of what value positions Paul believes ought to be taken up or rejected by believers. For example. Paul might concede some point in his argument, but immediately offer a counter point that supplants the conceded proposition.
Care is taken to interpret the appraisals and the social values they reveal in light of first-century Greco-Roman cultural context. Values such as humility. pride, loyalty/faithfulness, or friendship are different in many ways from the values of the twenty-first century Western North American social location of the present writer. For this reason, the interpretation ofthese values (or anything related to ideology) are carefully weighed against the scholarship of social historians and Social-Scientific Criticism.

abstract: Thesis

abstract: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)