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 …

Polisci 3210f: Feasibility Of A National Disability Insurance Plan (Ndip) In Canada, Twana Hassan, Aditi Priya, Dylan Poole, Samantha Rubin, Ethan Chen

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

This research report presents an overview of the feasibility and reliability of a National Disability Insurance Plan (NDIP) in Canada. Several Global North countries are leading the way in disability legislation and disability funding in comparison to Canada's inaction on the matter. A National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada will have social and economic benefits for everyone in Canada. The report concluded that Canada is capable of implementing a NDIP and doing so is the right choice.

From Epistemic Bubbles To Generative Possibilities: Knowledge Leadership And Knowledge Mobilization For Child And Youth Care Practicum Education, Carys Cragg

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Child and Youth Care (CYC) Practicum Education (CYCPE) operates in more than 40 public postsecondary institutions (PSI) across Canada. CYC educators instruct and assess, while supervisors mentor thousands of students at child, youth, and family-serving organizations. As an emerging profession, CYC does not yet experience well-established governance, widespread postsecondary research infrastructure, nor public recognition, leaving CYCPE with threats to its credibility and existence. Despite individual CYC educators’ and programs’ extensive professional knowledge, we lack CYC-specific CYCPE organizational knowledge. This problem of practice (PoP) limits CYC educators’ ability to inform, improve, and innovate upon CYCPE’s design and delivery. This organizational improvement …

Colombian Women’S Experiences Of The Canadian Refugee And Asylum Adjudication Process, Camila N. Parra Carrillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present thesis “Colombian women’s experiences of the Canadian refugee and asylum adjudication process” is an ethnographic description and analysis of the experiences of Colombian refugee women as they move through the refugee and asylum adjudication system in Ontario, Canada. Using concepts such as liminality, politics of waiting, hermeneutics of suspicion and arbitrariness, the refugee and asylum adjudication system is shown to be a site of power and domination that creates negative emotions in the people who face it, especially in the oral hearing as a central event in the process. Centering Colombian refugee women’s voices, their experiences and emotions …

Gbsv Resource Guide And Review For The University Of Western Ontario And Surrounding Area, Alyssa J. Madhani

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

During the 2021-2022 academic year, gender-based violence and sexual assault became a major topic of discussion due to a number of troubling incidents throughout the year. One of the largest calls to action by the student body was for more resources and trainings. This paper compiles the resources and trainings that can be found on campus of the University of Western Ontario and in the surrounding areas into a cohesive list of major relevant sources. The goal of this paper is to amplify the many different programs already in place that can be added to the training cohorts or made …

Edi-D In Canadian Universities, Madison Milanczak

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization (EDI-D) is a term that institutions adopt to serve the livelihoods of equity-deserving individuals better. It is commonly used in post-secondary institutions as a holistic descriptor of the values institutions attempt to uplift through programming and other initiatives.

Equity, Diversity, inclusion, and decolonization programming have recently increased in Canadian universities. Although there has been an increase in initiatives, funding, and public attention, the quality of programming is under review. Focusing on the U15 research universities, this project analyzes the current EDI-D programming in Canadian universities. Insinuating critical reflection on EDI-D programming, the distribution of resources, …

A Qualitative Look Into Repair Practices, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research poster is based on a working research paper which moves beyond the traditional scope of repair and examines the Right to Repair movement from a smaller, more personal lens by detailing the 6 categorical impediments as dubbed by Dr. Alissa Centivany (design, law, economic/business strategy, material asymmetry, informational asymmetry, and social impediments) have continuously inhibited repair and affected repair practices, which has consequently had larger implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) on ourselves, our objects, and our world. The poster builds upon my research from last year (see "The Right to Repair: (Re)building a better future"), this time pulling …

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 …

Teacher Professionalism, Embodiment, And Surveillance: An Autoethnographic Study, Melanie Cloutier-Bordeleau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This autoethnographic study entails using my own situated knowledge and experience as a white bisexual secondary school teacher from a low socioeconomic background as a basis for data generation and analysis. Attention is given to examining the current enforcement of specific norms governing behavioural and physical conduct, and the role these norms play in constructing and reinforcing hierarchical structures of identity related to race, gender, socioeconomic status and sexuality. The main question the study explores is: How does the performativity and performance of educator “professionalism” contribute to constructing/reinforcing hierarchies of identity with respect to gender, sexuality, social class and race? …

The Right To Repair: (Re)Building A Better Future, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The goal of this research project was to take a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to research and examine the Right to Repair movement’s progress, current repair practices, impediments, and imperatives, and the various large-scale implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) stemming from diminished consumer freedom as a result of increased corporate greed and lack of governmental regulations with regards to repair and the environment. This poster exhibits the highlights of my general research project on the Right to Repair movement over the course of this four month internship, and aims to disseminate information about the movement to the wider public in an …

Régionalisation Représentative : Vers Un Gouvernement Local Plus Équitable, Démocratique, Réactif Et Efficace Au Nouveau-Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

En réponse au Livre vert sur la réforme de la gouvernance locale du gouvernement du Nouveau- Brunswick publié en avril 2021, le présent rapport fait le diagnostic des problèmes du système de gouvernance locale existant de la province et propose une solution qui tire parti des actifs existants pour créer un système de gouvernance locale plus équitable, démocratique, réactif et efficace. Un système de gouvernance locale remanié aidera les Néo-Brunswickois à faire face aux difficiles défis économiques et démographiques actuels et futurs.

Le présent rapport recommande de renforcer les commissions de services régionaux en s’inspirant des districts régionaux de la …

Representative Regionalization: Toward More Equitable, Democratic, Responsive, And Efficient Local Government In New Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

Responding to the Government of New Brunswick’s Green Paper on Local Governance Reform released in April 2021, this report diagnoses the problems of the province’s existing system of local governance and proposes a solution that leverages existing assets to create a more equitable, democratic, responsive, and efficient local governance system. A reformed local governance system will help New Brunswickers confront difficult present and future economic and demographic challenges.

This report recommends strengthening New Brunswick’s 12 Regional Service Commissions along the lines of British Columbia’s regional districts—multi-purpose bodies that have coordinated service delivery and land-use planning in that province since the …

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 …

Education, Migration And Development Panel, Henri Boyi

Africa-Western Collaborations Day 2020

8 graduate students/recent graduate presentations on education, migration and development. Moderated by Dr. Henri Boyi. Reporting of panel done by current GHS students of the 2021 class. Abstracts can be found under "Africa-Western Collaborations Day 2020 Abstracts". Presenters as follows:

Jemima Nomunume Baada, "Experiences of Social Reproduction among Migrant Women in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana"

Elmond Bandauko, "This is a Good Place to Live! Narratives and Counternarratives on Territorial Stigmatization in Harare's Informal Settlements"

Chinelo Ezenwa, "A History of 19th Century European Missionaries in Colonial Africa with Specific References to the Impact of Missionary Schools"

Rebecca Jackson, Jade Rozal, …

The Politics Of Where: The Federal Government And Canada's Urbanization, 1867-2017, Charles D. Crenna

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation responds to a single overarching research question: what is the nature and extent of the federal government’s influence on urbanization in Canada, both on its systems of cities and on their internal structure? Lessons learned regarding the federal role in Canada’s urbanization remain relevant and applicable to emerging conditions. They offer a sound, streetwise foundation for future urban policy development, based on understanding the vital politics of where.

Large, complex systems of cities are both self-organizing and responsive to strategic guidance by the federal government. Politically-difficult choices among competing urban locations can be made both by hiding …

Health Policy And Social Change: Women’S Advocacy Groups And Narrative Mobilization, Jill Moffatt

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The goal of this study is to systematically investigate the mobilization of co-created (storyteller and story-gatherer) narratives for policy and social change. A case study format investigated the mobilization of narratives by a women’s health organization in London, Ontario. Semi-structured interviews resulted in transcripts from key actors. These transcripts were thematically coded and analyzed. All interview participants emphasized that from their perspective the organization did influence health policy or social change through their narrative use. Specific policy change examples were provided by participants, and social change was subjectively recognized as realized through the creation of awareness and affirmed through audience …

Homelessness In London, Ontario: Assessing The Sustainability Of Housing First In Light Of A Shift To Models Of Prevention, Kayla May

Western Research Forum

Background: Housing First (HF) is internationally recognized as an evidence-based model for the development of programs that target homelessness. In London, Ontario, there are a handful of HF programs and research has investigated their efficacy. However, HF is only effective for "managing" homelessness, whereas prevention is also needed. Through a recent update of Canada’s national funding for homelessness, municipalities are seeing an increase in resources to prevent homelessness. With additional funding on offer, research needs to move beyond questions of HF efficacy and instead ask how to fully evolve a system of both responsive and preventative models.

Objectives: (1) Assess …

Price Of Membership: The Effect Of Income On A Sense Of Belonging To Canada, Bertina Lou

2019 Undergraduate Awards

Liberal market capitalism permeates daily life and carries important social consequences for Canadian citizens. When social relationships between individuals are mediated by class position under a free market society, an interesting question about the relationship between individuals and society itself can be raised: does the amount of economic resources possessed by an individual influence their sense of belonging to Canada? This study examines Canadians’ economic positions, measured by annual personal income, as a determinant of their sense of belonging to Canada. It also investigates the role of known correlates of exclusion, such as being a victim of discrimination, having visible …

Rape Myths In Digital Spaces: An Analysis Of High-Profile Sexual Assault Cases On Twitter, Madelaine E. Coelho

2019 Undergraduate Awards

As demonstrated through the #metoo and Time’s up Movements, sexual assault has proven to be an inescapable facet of everyday life. While sexual assault literature has expanded to explore the digitization of sexual violence and rape culture, there has been less attention to how rape myths permeate digital spaces such as Twitter. To explore rape myths in online spaces, this paper analyzes over 10,000 tweets related to high-profile sexual assault cases in order to understand what Twitter users are saying about high-profile cases of sexual violence. Furthermore, these tweets are analyzed to understand their meaning in the context of rape …

Skills And Student Affairs: A Discourse Analysis, Shannon Mckechnie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Media, industry, and other public actors have claimed that a ‘skills gap’ exists in students exiting post-secondary education and entering the workforce. The Ontario provincial government has developed policy, the Highly Skilled Workforce Strategy, to provide directives to universities in the province to provide skills development to students to aid in closing the gap and providing a workplace relevant education. In this study, I explore the experiences of student affairs and services (SAS) staff responsible for enacting provincial policy related to skills development at the university level by investigating the discourses that shape policy and practices of these staff …

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 …

The ‘Meanings’ And ‘Enactments’ Of Science And Technology: Ant-Mobilities’ Analysis Of Two Cases, Farrukh Chishtie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this work I study two cases involving practices of science and technology in the backdrop of related and recent curricular reforms in both settings. The first case study is based on the 2005 South Asian earthquake in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan which led to massive losses including large scale injuries and disabilities. This led to reforms at many levels ranging from disaster management to action plans on disability, including educational reforms in rehabilitation sciences. Local efforts to deal with this disaster led to innovative approaches such as the formation of a Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) model by a local NGO, which …

An Exploration Of Gender Differences In Higher Risk Young Offenders: Implications For Assessment And Service Delivery, Jordyn G. Webb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Current research examining services for male and female youth in the criminal justice system has focused primarily on males and then generalizes findings to reflect the needs of females. However, more recent literature has identified critical differences between males and females involved in the youth criminal justice system, recognizing that females have unique concerns that need to be reflected in services and interventions. This study examined 277 high-risk, violent and chronic offending youth referred to an urban-based court clinic between the years 2010-2015. The youths' files contained information related to psychological functioning, family history, and information related to outside agencies …

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 …

Girls(') Speak: Criticality As Agency, Annalise Trudell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

I seek to contribute knowledge about girls’ embodied sense of agency, as well as to provide empirical insights into anti-violence community programming. Rather than a focus on girls as victims, I want to illuminate the conditions of possibility for girls’ exercise of agency. Working with a feminist post-structuralist framework, and drawing heavily on Judith Butler (1990; 1997), I ask: How does anti-violence programming impact girls’ sense of themselves as agential subjects rather than victims, and, hence, as capable of exercising agency in their subjectivization? Which conceptions of agency do girls mobilize, and how do certain identity categories come to bear …

Sustainable Development Goals Worth Sharing, Erika Simpson

Political Science Publications

The international community has agreed upon another set of goals for the next 15 years. On the table are no less than 169 objectives and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new aspirations are summarized and the merits and demerits of further elaboration and measurement including country-specific deadlines and targets are discussed. The hefty budget to achieve all 17 goals is estimated at more than $4 trillion US a year. North American policy-makers need to be aware of humankind’s shared aspirations as they consider the new and expensive SDGs. Foreign aid is one of the instruments of North American foreign …

Elusive Peace, Security, And Justice In Post-Conflict Guatemala: An Exploration Of Transitional Justice And The International Commission Against Impunity In Guatemala (Cicig), Daniel W. Schloss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Guatemala has, until today, struggled to achieve security and justice following the end of nearly half a century of civil war in 1996. One specific institution, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), has been implemented to rectify many of the Guatemalan state’s difficulties in establishing and maintaining the rule of law. In this thesis, I look to better explain CICIG’s role in Guatemala relative to security and justice in a post-conflict setting: I define CICIG as an institution potentially capable of building societal trust, and I explain how the inclusion of procedural justice within transitional justice can help …

The Social Costs Of Industrial Growth In The Sub-Arctic Regions Of "Canada", Caylee T. Cody

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Colonialism in the land that is now called “Canada” is rooted in the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people’s way of existing and interacting with the world. The present study identifies that the social costs of industrial growth are part of an ongoing process of colonialism which continues to annex Indigenous lands to feed the capitalist economy and reify the power of the state. Through a comparative analysis of literature written about the Attawapiskat First Nation and the Innu Nation, the study reveals that the financial rewards of industrial growth are few, while the cultural, human, and environmental costs are many. …

Ontario College Of Teachers Cases Of Teacher Sexual Misconduct, Taryn Mototsune

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Teacher sexual misconduct in Ontario was examined by using cases reviewed by the Ontario College of Teachers between 2000 and 2013. Despite the impetus by key stakeholders to develop appropriate policies to circumvent teacher-student sexual relationships, this phenomenon is still not well understood. The current study found that around 92 percent of perpetrators are men. The results indicate that male perpetrators who abuse elementary school-aged males are more likely to have multiple victims and longer offending careers. This study found less intrusive sexual behaviour, fewer multiple victim perpetrators, and shorter offending careers in more recent cases. This suggests that the …