Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Data-Driven Analysis Of Video Game Culture And The Role Of Let's Plays In Youtube, Ana Ruiz Segarra

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Video games have become an important part of the global popular cultures that are connecting broader audiences of all ages around the world. A recent phenomenon that has lasted almost ten years is the creation and upload of gaming-related videos on YouTube, where Let’s Plays have a considerable presence. Let’s Plays are videos of people playing video games, usually including the game footage and narrated by the players themselves. In this work I use the metadata, of popular channels and their videos to analyze the current state of video game culture in YouTube and what is the role of Let's …

Reconstructing The Social Landscape Of Cerro Arena, Peru, Felipe Gonzalez-Macqueen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis deals with the 2017 archaeological survey of the site of Cerro Arena, in the Moche Valley, Peru. The site belongs to the Salinar phase (c.a 400–0 BCE), known to be a time of increased warfare and cultural fragmentation. During this time, Cerro Arena became the largest settlement in the valley, housing a large number of people in structures densely packed into the elevated terrain of the site. Yet, information on the spatial arrangement of civic and residential architecture was lacking. Using remote sensing techniques—primarily Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) —and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we sought to create high-resolution …

Petrographic Analysis Of Inuit Ceramics, John F. Moody

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigates the manufacture and use of Inuit ceramics through ceramic petrography. It uses an approach that expands traditional ceramic petrographic descriptive methodologies to more fully document characteristics related to organic inclusions. Changes focus on the description of voids, organic inclusions, and estimation of the amount of organic material in pastes. Organic inclusions were an important component of Inuit ceramic traditions. This methodology allows us to not only identify the types of organics used in archaeological specimens, but also quantitatively and qualitatively assess them alongside other components of the ceramic paste to build a more complete picture of ceramic …

From Buried Treasure And Risky Adventure To Sobering Matters Of Concern: The Ring Of Fire Discourse In Ontario Mining Events, Brianne L. Vescio

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Ontario Ring of Fire is a potential mining project that is located in the far north of the province, within Matawa First Nations homelands and traditional territory. My thesis examines how the Ring of Fire is continually shaped by the conflicting discourses that surround it. To study this, I observed how the Ring of Fire was situated within five mining events. Events were held by different organizations, for different audiences, and had different purposes; varying widely in size and scale. While some actors deployed spectacularly streamlined messages to entice investors and propel the project towards a predetermined future, others …

Intelligible Variability: Narratives Of Male Sex Work In London Ontario Canada, Nathan Dawthorne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Compared to women, there is limited knowledge concerning men working in the sex trade in Canada. London (Ontario) in particular has been the epicentre of campaigns and lobbying against the sex industry for its alleged exploitation of women. In this environment, most policymakers and service providers argue that men-who-sell-sex are non-existent or are so rare that they are not worth consideration, if they are acknowledged in the first place. Yet other gendered configurations of the sex industry do exist. Given the city’s lack of comprehensive inquiry, this dissertation sets about finding these men and documenting their life histories. This allows …

"Being Chinese" In Madagascar, Mingyuan Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This PhD dissertation explores how the meaning of “being Chinese” is culturally and socially constructed in northern Madagascar, focusing on identity-shaping encounters between Mandarin-speaking Chinese and Malagasy people in three particular contexts: 1) a sugar plantation managed by a Chinese stated-owned corporation; 2) networks of Chinese and Malagasy private businessmen who enable the movement of cheap Chinese commodities from Guangzhou, China to northern Madagascar; and 3) the classrooms of the Confucius Institute - a worldwide educational project sponsored by the Chinese government aiming to promote Chinese language and culture. The dissertation provides an ethnographic account of Chinese-Malagasy encounters by discussing …

Social Identities In Chimu Times: A Bioarchaeological Analysis Of Burials From Chayhuac Walled Complex In Chan Chan Site, Peru, Katya Valladares

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is a bioarchaeological study of a sample of Chimu individuals from the site of Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimu polity (900-1470 AD) on the north coast of Peru. This study analyzes the funerary treatment, material culture and osteological remains of 30 individuals buried in three different funerary settings within the Chayhuac Walled Complex in Chan Chan, to explore the hypothesis that the individuals were part of a singular social group that shared similar dimensions of identities, and it seeks to understand why they were interred there after the Chayhuac Walled Complex’s original function ended. This thesis …

Guided By Smoke: A Comparative Analysis Of Early Late Woodland Smoking Pipes From The Arkona Cluster, Shane Mccartney

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis undertakes a comparative analysis of ceramic and stone pipes recovered from eight archaeological sites located near present day Arkona, Ontario. Commonly known as the Arkona Cluster, these sites date to between 1000 and 1280 A.D. during the early Late Woodland Period and are thought to be part of a borderland region between distinct cultural groups known as the Western Basin Younge Phase and the Early Ontario Iroquoians. Using a combination of distribution and attribute data from each site’s pipe assemblage, I explore how the similarities and differences observed can be used to draw insights into the potential relations …

'We Are The Big Six:’ Maasai Perceptions And Organization Of Cultural Tourism In Kenya, Kara D. Kelliher

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Kenya’s wildlife has long been considered an international treasure. Travelling to the renowned Masai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) to capture the ‘big five,’ those five large wild animals considered to be Africa’s greatest, with their camera lenses, visitors will also see or even meet local Maasai living and/or working in the area. Employing ethnographic methods this research examines three sites: the Enkang Oloirien Village Homestay, Olapa village and the main entrance to the MMNR where Maasai women sell souvenirs to explore Maasai perceptions and organization of cultural tourism. Responding to literature which considers benefits from tourism to accrue when hosts …

Storied Realities: A Case Study Of Homelessness, Housing Policy, And Gender In Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Alexandra E. Nelson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Homelessness, as an inherently gendered phenomenon, places women who experience it in a doubly marginal position: not only are people experiencing homelessness often rendered “silent”, but the form women’s homelessness takes is often “hidden”. This thesis explores the intersecting topics of homelessness, housing policy, and gender in Whitehorse, Yukon, highlighting the role of lived experience, narrative, and sharing stories in creating more effective and inclusive public policy. Through both critical feminist analysis and dialogic storytelling, this thesis considers the potential utility of narrative and ethnographic method in creating policy, the visibility of women who experience homelessness in broader political and …

A House Of Healing: The Importance Of Friendship Centres To Urban Aboriginal Populations, Emily Pitts

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Friendship Centres seek to fill an important gap in service provision by providing Aboriginal-based and community-run programming. More than simply a social service provider, however, Friendship Centres offer individuals a safe, supportive environment in which to address issues of trauma and to explore their own identities. This leads individuals to develop a strong sense of place and positive-place identity. Research was conducted between May and August 2017 at the N’Amerind Friendship Centre in London, Ontario. Research methods included participant-observation, ethnographic interviewing, and the creation of a short ethnographic film. The thesis concludes that Friendship Centres are significant landscapes due to …

On Convivencia, Bridges And Boundaries: Belonging And Exclusion In The Narratives Of Spain’S Arab-Islamic Past, K. Elaine Mcilwraith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

References to the history of al-Andalus, the medieval Muslim territory of the Iberian Peninsula, in what is today the region of Andalusia (Spain) still have a palpable presence and relevance. This dissertation examines diverse accounts of the Arab-Islamic past, and the ways and contexts in which they are invoked. Based on a year and a half of fieldwork in Granada, Spain, I conducted interviews with ordinary Andalusians, academics and researchers (primarily historians), tour guides, historical novelists, high school history teachers, Spanish-born Muslim converts to Islam, Moroccans, and others involved in the contemporary production of this history. Moreover, I conducted participant …

Mothers Who Blog: An Exploration Of Advice, Personal Stories And Motherhood Online, Rachael Simser

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines how women use parenting blogs and websites as resources for sharing advice and experiences. An analysis of blog and websites reveals how their format creates a foundation for posting content; this in turn frames an analysis of the stories, advice and writing that women share online. This research shows the online world’s entanglement in everyday lives and practices, and explores online discussions that reveal a complicated and messy view of contemporary motherhood.

Unsettling The Homeland: Fragments Of Home And Homeland Among Iraqi Exiles In Amman, Jordan, Abdulla Majeed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

For the past 30 years, imperial military invasions and political meddling in Iraq, and a long history of a repressive Ba’athist regime disfigured the nation, displaced Iraqis from their homeland, and unsettled their relationship to it. By examining the narratives of Iraqi exiles who have diverse migration genealogies, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political trajectories in Amman, Jordan, this thesis looks at how exile shapes how the homeland is imagined, remembered, and performed. Based on fieldwork and interviews conducted in Amman between May and September of 2017, the thesis explores: 1) Why certain narratives and elements of the past are employed, while …

"Too Hard To Pronounce"- Examining Immigration Ideologies In The Treatment Of Newcomer Youths' Names, Nadja Schlote

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines how the treatment of newcomer youths’ names within social interactions between immigrants and the Canadian host society reveals immigration ideologies indicating either an integrationalist or assimilationist attitude. The data was collected from semi-structured interviews with newcomer youths and staff members at the Cross Cultural Learner Centre in London, Ontario, from April to August 2017. One the one hand, I examine how the newcomer youths’ names are treated by members of the dominant society, often including forms of name-based microaggressions that reflect an immigration ideology that includes a preference towards cultural assimilation. On the other hand, I demonstrate …

Soccer, Space, And Community Integration: Being And Becoming Canadian In London, Ontario Through The World's Game, Marcelo Eduardo Herrera

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract:

In this thesis I explore various forms of participation in organized soccer in London, Ontario – a mid-sized Canadian city with a diverse and growing immigrant community. My research took place between April 2015 and September 2015 and is based on focus group discussions, individual interviews, and casual conversations mainly, but not exclusively, with players and non-players, parents of players, and team or club administrators from London’s soccer community. My work’s primary objective is to provide an informed account of how and why soccer has and continues to be used by immigrant groups in London to integrate into Canadian …

Pushing The Limits: Testing, Magnetometry And Ontario Lithic Scatters, John E. Dunlop

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lithic scatters, small ephemeral clusters of stone artifacts on cultivated surfaces, lie on the periphery of archaeology. These sites are often too ephemeral to be fully understood through standardized fieldwork methodologies mandated in Ontario CRM archaeology and yet, they are widely regarded as worth documenting with hundreds now recorded. In this thesis, it is argued that what are small artifact scatters on the surface can belie more complex subsurface finds of significant cultural and historical value. As such, there is a need to reconsider the approaches made to the investigation of these sites. Geophysical techniques applied early in a scatter’s …

The Semi-Subterranean Sweat Lodges Of The Redeemer Site, Amanda Parks

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sweat bathing is a practice of great antiquity and is well documented throughout the world. In the archaeological record of southern Ontario, sweat bathing has been identified via a feature class referred to as semi-subterranean sweat lodges (SSLs). To add to our understanding of this feature class, this research examines the SSLs of the Redeemer site (AhGx-114), a fourteenth century Iroquoian village located in Hamilton, Ontario. Statistical analyses were applied to SSL data, aimed at identifying whether any significant patterns emerged regarding spatial and morphological attributes, and artifact distributions. Broader societal changes during the Middle Ontario Iroquoian period were also …

Perceptions Of Primates And Protected Areas: Ethnoprimatological Implications For Conservation In The Pacoche Refuge, Tamara L. Britton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research uses an ethnoprimatological approach to investigate people’s perceptions of primates and protected areas through a case study in the Pacoche Marine and Coastal Wildlife Refuge in Manabí, Ecuador. Twenty-one agricultural workers from the community of Pacoche were interviewed using a photo pile-sorting exercise and structured open-ended interviews.

Results regarding perceptions of primates indicate that despite previous local practices, in comparison to other faunal species in the park, primates are no longer commonly targeted for food or medicinal purposes. White-fronted capuchins, while reported to be damaging to corn and orange crops, and commonly viewed as aggressive, were also widely …