Shakamohtaa: Connecting And Coming Together To Support International Student Career Readiness, Sabreena Macelheron

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Abstract

In the evolving Canadian landscape, permanent residency acquisition has undergone a transformative shift from land sales to educational credential procurement. Canadian higher education markets post-secondary qualifications to international students (IS) seeking migration routes, posing nuanced challenges. IS, despite holding higher education credentials, often find themselves relegated to non-field specific jobs due to existing disparities in the Canadian job market. Amid this equation, IS grapple with the essential need for pre-and-post graduate career experiences to fulfill eligibility criteria for permanent residency application. This pursuit extends beyond merely aligning with their credentials, requiring conformity to approved national occupation codes aligned with …

The Impact Of International Experiential Learning On Career Trajectories: A Scoping Literature Review, Nishta Mehta

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Preparing graduates for their future beyond the classroom is of importance in today’s society, where the employment landscape is ever-changing and expanding globally. However, recent research suggests that knowledge acquisition is insufficient, and it must go part and parcel with the development of lifelong skills in problem-solving, critical reflection, and adaptability to support successful career trajectories. Experiential learning (EL) is understood as enticing students to think critically about learning through the application of knowledge using transferable skills in contexts beyond the university. This is especially true for international learning experiences. Nevertheless, despite over a decade of EL, neither professors nor …

Sustainable Development Goals Within Canadian Universities, Kavanagh S.A Lambert

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were created for all countries by the United Nations in 2015 with the aim of transforming the world for the better. Each country is responsible for working towards achieving these SDGs. Within Canada, fifteen research universities known as the U-15 make up the majority of private-sector research and innovation. About 65% of these U-15 institutions have developed their own SDG report/plan, illustrating a high level of initiative and involvement when it comes to the SDGs. Research indicates that as countries continue to improve their efforts towards the SDGs, there will be a need for …

The Growing Discipline Of African Diasporic & Black Studies In Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions, Xie Xin Lin

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Broadly defined as the survey of African diasporas, Black studies aims to think critically about both the histories and contemporary social climates of Black cultures.
It is moreover a subject that recognizes, celebrates and most importantly learns from the diversity of Black worlds.

This project aims to highlight the prevalence of Black studies programs in Canadian post-secondary institutions. It also seeks to discuss and emphasize the importance of Black studies in pedagogy, especially in the traditional academia but also beyond classrooms.

Education And The Pandemic: Engaging In Epistemic Humility To Question Assumptions, Institutions, And Knowledges, Prachi Srivastava, Prachi Srivastava

Education Publications

Education systems are the formal institutionalisations of the knowledges and values our societies privilege, who they privilege, how, and on what terms. They are imbued with assumptions. These assumptions inform how systems are structured. The pandemic has exposed existing global and local inequalities, non-binary dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, and dysfunctions of education systems. This paper argues that the global scale and severity of the education disruption challenges taken-for-granted distinctions that privilege systems of the ‘West’ as referential for ‘the Rest’. It argues that the existing overarching technicist knowledge regime is inadequate for recovery, and proposes an alternative approach.

Host Organizations' Perspectives Of Partnered Global Study-Abroad Programs, Jessica C. Pop

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: The relationships between sending and host partners in nursing study-abroad programs are crucial to the success and sustainability of these programs. Yet, there has been a paucity of research focused on the global partnerships between sending and host organizations. Most research about study-abroad programs has primarily focused on Global North sending organizations’ perspectives on the educational, social, and career benefits to Global North students with few studies highlighting the perspectives of host organizations from the Global South.

Aim: To explore Global South host organizations’ perspectives about global partnered nursing study-abroad programs.

Research Design: This research study was guided by …

Improving Developing Countries’ Health Information Systems Capacity For Infectious Disease Pandemic Responses: A Case Study Of The Ebola Virus Disease And The Coronavirus Disease Pandemics, Uche Ikenyei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is increasing evidence to demonstrate that current information system theoretical models meant to assess the success of the health information systems (HIS) lack the applicable theoretical underpinning suitable for developing countries. This stems partly from a theory-evidence gap where theoretical models developed in the West are applied in developing country contexts but lack tailoring to localized, contextual realities. Therefore, this study addresses this gap by enhancing the DeLeon and McLean's information system success model with six contextual factors peculiar to the infectious disease HISs in a developing country context.

This study took place in two developing countries, Liberia and …

Endangered Species Of The Physical Cultural Landscape: Globalization, Nationalism, And Safeguarding Traditional Folk Games, Thomas Fabian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Folk sports are the countertype of modern sports: invented traditions, bolstered by tangible ritual and intangible myth, played by the common folk in order to express a romantic ethnic identity. Like other cultural forms, traditional sports and games around the world are becoming marginalized in the face of modernization and globalization. In 2003, UNESCO ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in an attempt to counter such trends of cultural homogenization. As elements of intangible cultural heritage, folk sports now fall under the auspices of UNESCO safeguarding policies. As such, the objective of this …

Yoga As Embodied Peacebuilding: Moving Through Personal, Interpersonal And Collective Trauma(S) In Post-Conflict Colombia, Mayme Lefurgey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this dissertation, I examine creative methods of peacebuilding that are both community-driven and embodied in their approach. I evaluate how these methods can simultaneously challenge the confines of conventional peacebuilding mechanisms in transitional and post-conflict contexts, while also offering a unique complement to existing programs and structures. I look at the multifaceted socio-cultural expressions of yoga globally, inquiring as to how this mind-body practice can offer opportunities in peacebuilding on both individual and collective levels.

My project is rooted in the principles of community-engaged research and feminist research ethics. More specifically, this dissertation closely engages with the work of …

From Stateless People To Citizens: The Reformulation Of Territory And Identity In India-Bangladesh Border Enclaves, Md Rashedul Alam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation analyzes nation-building in hitherto ungoverned territories of two Indian chhitmahals in Bangladesh and explores the transformation of their residents from stateless Indian nationals to citizens of Bangladesh. Chhitmahals comprised nearly two hundred enclaves located along the Bangladesh-India border that belonged to one country but were located inside another’s territory. Chhitmahals came into existence with the partition of India in 1947; their non-contiguous locations kept them without state administration and citizenship rights. People developed political councils and adopted illicit practices to survive in the absence of the state, but the impossibility of exercising sovereignty in chhitmahals led Bangladesh and …

Drones Are The New Proxies: Arms Diplomacy As A Turkish Foreign Policy Instrument, Sartaj Javed

All Reports

The rise of the Turkish drone program marks a fundamental shift in national security by democratizing air power, a domain traditionally dominated by the US and Israel. This transition marks an aggressive change in Turkish foreign policy and will be echoed by other nations.

Farmer And Herder Conflict Dynamics In Ghana: The Role Of Environmental Scarcity, Daniel Kofi Banini

Africa Western Collaborations Day 2020 Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Understanding Global Change: From Documentation And Collaboration To Social Transformation, Karen E. Pennesi

Anthropology Publications

The conclusion to the book situates the chapters within four programs of anthropological research on climate change: (1) documentation of local impacts of and adaptations to climate change, (2) connections to socioeconomic and political contexts, (3) collaborations with nonanthropologists, and (4) activism and social transformation. The final section notes the persistent challenges to creating positive change and meaningful research outcomes. It highlights some examples of success and outlines future directions for politically engaged anthropological work around climate change.

Supports For Migrant Farmworkers: Tensions In (In)Access And (In)Action, Susana Caxaj, Amy Cohen, Sarah Marsden

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Publications

Purpose: This study examined the role of support actors in promoting or hindering access to migrant agricultural workers' (MAWs) needs, and, to determine the factors that influence adequate support for this population.
Methodology: Employing a Situational Analysis methodology, we carried out focus groups and interviews with 35 support actors complimented by a community scan (n=28) with public-facing support persons and a community consultation with migrant agricultural workers (MAWs).
Findings: Two major themes were revealed: (In)access and (In)action, and; Blurred Lines in Service Provision. The first illustrated how support actors could both reinforce or challenge barriers for this population through tensions …

Critical Pedagogy Of Discomfort In Community-Based Learning: Kenyan Students' Experiences, Charlene A. Vanleeuwen, Lori E. Weeks, Linyuan Guo-Brennan

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Community-based learning (CBL) is employed as a pedagogical approach in professional programs globally; however, transferability of Eurocentric CBL models and theory to university settings outside the global north is under-examined. Adopting critical hermeneutics as the theoretical and methodological framework, this study explored the meaning of community-based learning (CBL) to Kenyan university students in a human services program and examined the complexity of students’ difficult learning experiences in making connections between classroom learning and praxis in Kenyan communities. Data were collected from six university students following 12-week placements with community organizations in Kenya. Findings revealed disciplinary, historical, cultural and extra-linguistic factors …

Dilemma And Knowledge - Book Review Of Re-Imagining Utopias: Theory And Method For Educational Research In Post-Socialist Contexts, Jessica Zychowicz

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

The Differentiation Of Smallholder Farming And Household Food Responsibilities In Northern Ghana, Siera Vercillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the most urgent problems facing sub-Saharan Africa is that many people lack access to safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food, particularly in semi-arid regions such as northern Ghana. An important indication of this problem within Ghana is that stunting rates due to prolonged undernourishment are significantly higher in the northern regions than in other parts of the country, despite claims of an overall increase in the availability of food. Broadly, this dissertation employs qualitative case study research in the Northern Region (interviews N=109 and 12 focus groups) to describe the changes in access to resources, roles and …

The Politics Of Wounds, Jonathan Nash

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

What configuration of strategies and discourses enable the white male and settler body politic to render itself as simultaneously wounded and invulnerable? I contextualize this question by reading the discursive continuities between Euro-America’s War on Terror post-9/11 and Algeria’s War for Independence. By interrogating political-philosophical responses to September 11, 2001 beside American rhetoric of a wounded nation, I argue that white nationalism, as a mode of settler colonialism, appropriates the discourses of political wounding to imagine and legitimize a narrative of white hurt and white victimhood; in effect, reproducing and hardening the borders of the nation-state. Additionally, by turning to …

Reflection/Commentary On A Past Article: “A Practical Iterative Framework For Qualitative Data Analysis”, Prachi Srivastava, Nick Hopwood

Education Publications

This submission is a reflection by Srivastava and Hopwood on their earlier article, A Practical Iterative Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis, originally published in International Journal of Qualitative Methods in 2009, and selected for the journal’s special anniversary issue, “Top 20 in 20.” They discuss how they have applied the framework in their various studies since then, Srivastava, primarily in field-based international research in education and global development, and Hopwood, in education and health. Based on a brief analysis of the paper’s citations, they identify its impact to have been: in a wide variety of fields crossing disciplinary boundaries, studies …

How Do Educational Leaders In Small, Fragile, And Developing Countries Translate Their Understandings Of Student Learning And Achievement Into Leadership Practices? A Case-Study About Leadership In Haïtian Urban Schools, Carolyne Pierre Marie Verret

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Haïti is unique in many respects; full of contradictions and paradoxes. While beautiful in many regards, it is fraught with issues: political, economic, societal, environmental, cultural, health-related, and educational. The latter stands out, however, as education affects the quality of the country’s human capital, determining the quality of life of its citizens. Therefore, having competent people in leadership positions is critical especially within schools where they can impact students’ learning, development, and achievement (SL/A).

Aiming to describe the state of educational leadership in Haïtian schools to inform policy-makers of the lived-experiences of educational leaders (ELs), the objectives of this study …

The Quantitative Turn In Transitional Justice Research: What Have We Learned About Impact?, Brandon Stewart, Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm

Transitional Justice Review

In recent years, scholars have increasingly turned to quantitative research methods to understand the impact of transitional justice (TJ) on societies emerging from periods of violence and repression. This research often seeks to influence policy diffusion by making bold claims based upon large datasets of TJ events that span space and time. However, the policy advice from the first wave of quantitative research is inconsistent if not contradictory. In this article, we outline a range of methodological issues that help to explain the different conclusions reached by these studies, including sampling strategies, model construction, and the measurement of key variables. …

Time For Change: Aid, Ngos, And Transitional Justice In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arnaud Kurze

Transitional Justice Review

This article examines Scandinavian donor practices in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) with regards to post-conflict justice activities. BiH has been a laboratory of reconstruction, peace-building and transitional justice processes since the end of the war in 1995. While issues related to rebuilding and developing war-torn societies and their economies have attracted extensive scholarly attention, the question of international aid practices in transitional justice contexts remains widely understudied. Although the influence of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in reconciliatory transitional justice work has been growing, the relationship between international donors and local NGOs involved in these projects remains very limited. The objective of this study …

Who Governs The Internationalization Of Higher Education? A Comparative Analysis Of Macro-Regional Policies In Canada And The European Union, Merli Tamtik

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

The internationalization of higher education has become a politically strategic and economically promising policy area. As a result, the traditional authority and governance boundaries related to internationalization are becoming fluid. This paper focuses on the macro-regional internationalization strategies in Canada and the European Union (EU) in order to understand the changing dynamics of internationalization governance. By applying multi-level governance theory, the paper analyses and compares how internationalization is understood at the macro-regional level, revealing fundamental differences in the normative values. The findings indicate that while Canada is formulating an aggressive marketization approach to benefit from the intensified global competition, the …

Multi-Stakeholder Partnership In Teacher Education And Development, Linyuan Guo-Brennan, Carolyn Francis, Elizabeth Townsend, Michael Guo-Brennan

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

While there is a growing interest in offering international teaching practicums to pre-service teachers as an approach to developing teachers' global perspectives on education, however, understanding of the impact of such practice on the host communities is insufficient or absent. This study collected data from multiple sources and, using the Theory of Change framework, examined the impact of pre-service teachers' international practicum on the school and community development in Kenya. Through exploring the context of host communities, the perceptions of Kenyan educators, and the changes that have occurred in Kenyan schools and communities, this study revealed positive development changes in …

Towards Evidence-Informed Agriculture Policy Making: Investigating The Knowledge Translation Practices Of Researchers In The National Agriculture Research Institutes In Nigeria, Isioma N. Elueze

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the knowledge translation practices of researchers in the National Agriculture Research Institutes of Nigeria and the utilization of research knowledge by policy actors in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria. Data for the study was obtained from agriculture researchers and the policy actors through questionnaires and interviews. In addition, bibliometric and content analysis were carried out on documents from the research institutes and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to gauge the transfer and use of knowledge by the researchers and policy actors respectively. Out of about six hundred questionnaires that …

Whose Finger On The Nuclear Trigger, Erika Simpson, Murray Thomson

Political Science Publications

No abstract provided.

"My Friends, They Are People To Rely On": The Social Foundation Of Business In Ghana, Patrick D. Shulist

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The management and entrepreneurship literatures increasingly engage in poverty alleviation research in the developing world. However, there is a marked tendency to overlook how the Western World, from where most theory comes, differs from the developing world. Such a fallacy has potential deleterious effects on the research itself, but more importantly on the practical applications of that research.

With this in mind, my dissertation uses an inductive qualitative methodology to explore the nature of self-employment in the developing world as it is; that is, not coloured by theoretical priors. In doing this, I lay the groundwork for understanding the …

The Contributions Of Anatol Rapoport To Game Theory, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

Game theory is used to rationally and dispassionately examine the strategic behaviour of nations, especially superpower behaviour. This article explains how basic game theory - at its simplest level - was used by Anatol Rapoport to generate ideas about how to enhance world peace. Rapoport was at the forefront of the game theoreticians who sought to conceptualize strategies that could promote international cooperation. Accordingly, the basic logic of game theory is explained using the game models of ‘Chicken’ and ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’. These models were used by Rapoport in his books and lectures in simple and complex ways. Then Rapoport’s revolutionary …

Nuclear Weapons And Nato_Is It Safer To Deter Or To Disarm?, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

Debates about whether to retain or abolish nuclear weapons have intensified. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maintains its nuclear weapons are essential to the alliance’s security. NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept reasserted in 2014 that, “As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.” Conversely, many observers of the negotiations regarding the United Nations (UN) Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) argue the Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) in the 28-member NATO alliance are obliged to move NATO’s posture toward nuclear disarmament rather than deterrence. The resarch project analyses the arguments in favour of the alliance’s continued reliance …

A Systems Approach To Modelling The Effects Of Climate Change On Agroforestry: A Case Study In Western Tanzania, Elaine M. Samuel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change is anticipated to have significant effects on agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa as the magnitude of weather events increase in severity. Smallholder farmers in western Tanzania are potentially vulnerable to climate change impact as crops rely on precipitation as the only source of water. It is prudent to evaluate different modes of agricultural adaptations, such as agroforestry, that these farmers can easily adopt to improve their resiliency to the effects of climate change. System dynamics modelling is a cost-effective tool to simulate the long-term behaviour of agroforestry systems under future climate conditions. Water, Nutrient, and Light Capture in …