Halfway To Everywhere: What Churches Can Learn About Community Vibrancy From Its Professional & Entrepreneurial Women, Catherine L. Holland

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Welcoming And Belonging: Voice, Acceptance And Purpose, Kevin Driver

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Connections: Church In Community, Shirl Christian

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Activism And The Fossil Fuel Industry By Andrew Cheon And Johannes Urpelainen, Alexandra Watt Simpson

The Goose

Review of Andrew Cheon and Johannes Urpelainen's Activism and the Fossil Fuel Industry

Processing Youth Adventure Wellness Experiences: Poetic Representations Of Youth’S Peace Bus Experiences, Ty Th Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This narrative inquiry explored how youth are processing their Peace Bus program experiences two and a half years after program completion. The purpose was to gain an understanding of (1) what program components the participants reflect on, (2) how they conceptualize their program experiences, and (3) what factors contribute to their reflection processes. This research sought to address the gap in literature where little is understood about the ongoing experiences of program participants of adventure wellness programs and the processes that lead to positive changes. As the researcher, I conducted a qualitative study using narrative inquiry and poetic representation methods. …

Host Community Impacts: Learning From The Experience Of Hosting International Volunteers In El Barrial, Suchitoto, Getsemani And San Miguel, El Salvador, Mike Boylan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous exploration of International Experiential Learning (IEL) programs has generally focused on the experience of Northern volunteers, without considering the outcomes in Southern host communities. Contemporary scholars raise serious concerns about potential harm being done in Southern host communities as a result of IEL programs that resemble historical colonialism. This study contributes to the growing body of research that addresses this gap in the understanding of Southern host community experiences. The results tell us that the host community members do not articulate negative experiences in the way that post-colonial scholars predict. The analysis of 23 interviews including host community members, …

Yardwork: A Biography Of An Urban Place By Daniel Coleman, Vivian M. Hansen

The Goose

Review of Daniel Coleman's Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place.

Race And Participant Perceptions: A Case Study Of Canadian International Service Learning Students In El Salvador, Kenzie Pulsifer

Social Justice and Community Engagement

International service learning – ISL after this, has grown in volume and interest across the post-secondary educational landscape in the last two decades in the ‘North’. In attendance with this growth, has been an increasing concern regarding its capacity to be an effective and progressive set of learning and engagement practices. Most broadly, are the concerns with the neo-colonial character and legacy associated with current ISL presence in the South – the content of participant values and beliefs – how they perceive and practice their roles in these experiences. This research investigates most specifically, a concern associated with these North-South …

Combating Food Waste: Dumpster Diving As A Form Of Consumer Resistance, Brock J. Vaughan

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This paper explores North America’s food waste issue associated with our current industrial globalized food system. Through a sociocultural lens, this essay examines the new social movement of dumpster diving among food waste activists and ‘freegans’ in urban areas. Millions of people are currently unaware as to where their next meal will come from, yet Western households and supermarkets waste massive amounts of edible food. Dumpster divers do not just encourage us to be mindful of the choices we make with respect to food waste; they seek to challenge pre-existing capitalist structures and conventional ways of thinking. Analyzing the counterculture …

It Takes A Village-Schooling Out Of Place: School Experiences Of Black African Youth In Waterloo Region, Olufunke Oba 5726040

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examined experiences of alienation among Black African youth in Waterloo region schools. This study is timely and relevant considering the rapid influx of Black Africans into the region in response to government initiatives to redirect immigrants to smaller communities. The research addressed the dearth of scholarship on experiences of Black Africans outside the major metropolitan areas by employing Afrocentric and critical race theories to explore relationships between race and youth experiences of alienation. The dissertation study utilized elder facilitated youth dialogue forum (adaptation of focus group) and in-depth storytelling (which honours African orality) to access the meanings seventeen …

Storying Gendered Violence: Indigenous Understandings Of The Interconnectedness Of Violence, Josie Nelson

Social Justice and Community Engagement

The research and scholarship of gendered violence on university campuses is growing; however, there is currently limited to no research exploring the experiences of Indigenous peoples, particularly women and two-spirit, non-binary and transgender students. To advance the knowledge of the interconnectedness of violence, I conducted two focus groups with six Indigenous women staff at Wilfrid Laurier University. This research, informed by Indigenous feminism and storytelling methodologies, shares their understandings of how colonial and gendered violence cannot be understood independent from one another. Participants also provide insight into the needed supports on campus for Indigenous students who have experienced gendered violence. …

Not So Neet: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Ontario's Youth Job Connection Program, Lindy Bancroft

Social Justice and Community Engagement

The Ontario government has identified youth unemployment as a central societal problem that it seeks to address through policy measures. It has recently switched its focus from assisting all youth towards assisting NEET youth (neither in employment, education or training), as is demonstrated in the current youth employment policy Youth Job Connection (YJC), which began in the fall of 2015. This MRP situates YJC as part of a broader trend away from designing youth policy as an explicit form of social control to a seemingly more positive approach of youth development. Using this example, it showcases the continuities between the …

Minimum Houses For Minimum Wages: Are Tiny Houses A Solution For Low-Wage Workers?, Edward Sauve

Social Justice and Community Engagement

No abstract provided.

Constructing The 'Addict': A Discourse Analysis Of National Newspapers Concerning North America's First Supervised Injection Site, Katie Sills

Social Justice and Community Engagement

Safe injection sites provide injection drug users with a safe space to inject drugs with clean supplies under the supervision of medical professionals. This study centres on a discursive analysis of newspaper representations of Insite, North America’s first supervised injection site, located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Insite opened in 2003 under an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and has provided benefits to its clients through a reduction in public injections, decreased spread of infectious disease, and by providing clients with referrals to other community and social services. Despite these accomplishments the Canadian …

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans And Queer + (Lgbtq+) Experiences While Accessing Healthcare And Social Services Within Brantford/Brant County, Christine Wildman

Social Justice and Community Engagement

The purpose of the qualitative study was to better understand how Brantford/Brant County LGBTQ+ community members experience accessing healthcare and social services. Over one month I interviewed 8 LGBTQ+ community members and conducted a focus group with 4 Trans and Gender non-conforming individuals. An intersectional feminist and critical Trans politic analysis was used to understand how LGBTQ+ community members experience accessing care. The results reveal that LGBTQ+ community members experience structural violence through oppressive administrative practices. Specifically, heteronormative and homonormative behaviors and assumed heterosexuality and/or gender, which creates a climate where LGBTQ+ people do not feel safe seeking healthcare and/or …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …

Panic At The Drive-In: Affordance, Moral Panic, And Drive-In Theatres, Maria Chatzifilalithis

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

Sugar For Sale: Constructions Of Intimacy In The Sugar Bowl, Emily Zimmermann

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

Fostering Community Through Creative Placemaking, Amber Richardson

Social Justice and Community Engagement

This project involved a creative placemaking event hosted on the Laurier Brantford campus in Brantford, ON. The purpose of the event was to engage students and residents in the creative placemaking process, and measure how this engagement could lead to an increased sense of community and belonging. Data collection for this project included participant observation, surveys, photos, and the signs created by participants. Through the data collected at the event, it was concluded that engaging in creative placemaking did increase sense of belonging among participants, and respondents cited mental health benefits as well.

Stakeholder Attitudes As A Resistance Toward Long-Range Management Of A Threatened Landscape: A Case Study Of Aggregate Use In The Township Of North Dumfries (Ontario), Kim Margaret Horrigan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Township of North Dumfries is located in the rapidly expanding Municipality of Waterloo. This Township is in close proximity to Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, and is halfway between London and Toronto, with the primary east-west Highway 401 running through the Township. It is an unique area in that it is characterized by an abundance of prime agricultural lands, Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas, and wetlands. In addition, the Township is underlain with a large quantity of good quality glacially derived aggregate materials. Land use conflicts have increased as a result of aggregate developers’ pressures on the resources of this …

Resolving Community Conflicts With Public Participation: A Case Study Of A Southwestern Ontario Community, Rosalba Stocco

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative case study of a southern Ontario urban fringe community demonstrates that unresolved community conflict continues to be played out in the political arena by different actors in on-going disputes. A macro, meta and micro level of analysis reveals that negative patterns of interaction have contributed to a fatalistic attitude to community problem solving. Furthermore, the study confirms that the traditional processes did not address the needs and fears of the residents, thus contributing to the entrenchment and impasses the community faced.

Eramosa Township was chosen for its highly conflictual nature and its extensive public participation practices. Participants from …

The Role Of The State And The Community In Community Participation: A Case Study, Joseph Jean-Marc Andre Belanger

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study analyzes the principles and the practice of the concept of community participation. The purpose of research is to address the degree and manner of autonomy that can be exercised at the local community level and also what kind of participation should come from the state when communities are engaged with the state in a community participation process. The methodology of qualitative nature, is a case study of the Sudbury Better Beginnings, Better Futures Associations. An analysis of the public documents comparing the state and the Sudbury Association’s position on community participation principles is portrayed before performing an analysis …