Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Hands-On History: Applying A Strong Like Two People Approach To Archaeology Education, Kaylee Woldum

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores Indigenization in the context of archaeology and Western education at the Tundra Science and Culture Camp (TSCC), a government-run summer camp in the Northwest Territories, Canada. By collaborating with Indigenous knowledge holders, it begins the process of re-designing the Human History session—a program within the TSCC that focuses on archaeology and the cultural sites around the camp—to incorporate more Indigenous pedagogies and knowledge. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and participant observation, this thesis outlines an attempt to Indigenize the Human History session at the 2022 TSCC, its successes and challenges, and diverse conceptions of what it would mean …

Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analysis Of Infant Feeding Practices And Stress In 18th-19th Century Pointe-Aux-Trembles, Québec, Sydney Holland

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is a bioarchaeological study of infant feeding practices and early life stress in 18th -19th century Pointe-aux-Trembles, a rural community near Montréal, Québec that was known to practice wet nursing. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of 62 incremental dentine samples were used to reconstruct the feeding histories of 10 infants (age) interred between 1709-1843. At least 6 of 10 infants display evidence of breastfeeding, with weaning foods (e.g., porridge, bread) typically introduced between ~1.5-5.5 months of age and weaning completion around 10.5-13.5 months. Isotopic and/or dental evidence of stress (e.g., enamel hypoplasia) was identified in 8 of …

The Embodied Rhetoric Of Cognitive Labour, Shubhayan Chakrabarti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation traces the roots of neoliberal selfhood to the rationalist ontology of modernity in the 1600s. The historical tension between materialism and immaterialism is expressed in the historicisation of work into Fordism and post-Fordism where embodied factory toil is apparently replaced by immaterial work, recalling Descartes’ mind-body split. If post-Fordist work addresses the Marxist critique of alienation in its emphasis on entrepreneurial inner selves, it does not explain the post-Fordist preoccupation to efficiently “Taylorise” the body through obsessive productivity. I argue that the factory prevails in the entrepreneur’s adoption of factory efficiency as a learnt behaviour from the Fordist …

Teachers’ Work: Communicating On Difficult Knowledge In Ontario Schools, Zsofia Agoston Villalba

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines how K-12 teachers in Ontario navigate the complexities of teaching "difficult knowledge"—topics such as racial and ethnic injustices, Indigenous perspectives, immigration experiences, and gender issues—within the parameters of the school and the curriculum. Utilizing an institutional ethnography approach, the study examines the curriculum as an institutional text that coordinates and shapes teachers’ practices. Working with and against the curriculum, teachers find innovative ways to engage their students on difficult knowledge topics. Based on interviews with 12 K-12 teachers, this research explores teachers’ work and pedagogical approaches. They employ diverse teaching methods like storytelling, open dialogues, and collaborative …

The Forgetting Of Fire: An Archaeology Of Technics, Thomas A. Doerksen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation applies the methods of Bachelard and Foucault to key moments in the development of science. By analyzing the attitudes of four figures from four different centuries, it shows how epistemic attitudes have shifted from a participation in non-human, natural realities to a construction of human-centred technologies. The idea of an epistemic attitude is situated in reference to Foucault’s concept of the episteme and his method of archaeology; an attitude is the institutionally-situated and personally-enacted comportment of an epistemic agent toward an object of knowledge. This line of thought is pursued under the theme of elemental fire, which begins …

Head Shapes And Toothaches: A Study Of Cranial Modification And Dental Pathology At Muna, A Late Pre-Hispanic Cemetery From The Archaeological Sanctuary Of Pachacamac (Lima, Perú)., T Naomi Nakahodo Moromizato

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is a bioarchaeological analysis of cranial modification and dental pathology in a sample of human remains excavated from the pre-Hispanic MUNA cemetery. This cemetery was on the outskirts of the Archaeological Sanctuary of Pachacamac in the Lurín Valley. The cemetery was comprised of disturbed skeletal remains and relatively well preserved fardos funerarios (funerary bundles) from the Late Intermediate Period (1100-1470 CE) and early Late Horizon (1470-1532 CE). The results of this thesis show that the skeletal remains and fardos likely belonged to a single community, and the analyzed sample showed intra-site variation of the fronto-occipital cranial modification. The …

Applying 3d Structured Light Scanning To Roman Leather Insoles From Vindolanda: A Novel Approach To Podiatric Data Collection, Maria Lorene Glanfield

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis research introduces a novel 3D structured light scanning and digital, post-processing enhancement methodology influenced by digital approaches used in anthropological archaeology, ichnology, and forensic podiatry to the analysis of Roman leather insoles from Vindolanda. The primary objective was to capture 2D and 3D footprint impression evidence on the surface of 81 insoles for enhanced visualization and analysis in order to refine the quality of podiatric data that can be extracted from Roman footwear. I conducted three case studies (pointed toe, sandal, and children’s insoles) based on a set of distinct, but related research questions concerning the refinement of …

Shoe Modifications And Foot Health: A Case Study From Roman Britain, Casey Elizabeth Kay Boettinger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, I undertake an examination of foot care practices in Antiquity. The majority of the discussion surrounding foot care comes from evidence of shoe modifications at Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort located in northern Britain. I provide a general discussion about herbal and non-herbal remedies for foot conditions, as recorded by medical authors. This discussion precedes a case study of selected shoes from Vindolanda, where I write about five modification types that demonstrate the sort of knowledge that existed at Vindolanda. The findings from this thesis suggest that podiatric knowledge and foot care existed as early as the …

Exploring The Woodland Period Within The Lake Wawanosh Region Through Two Archaeological Sites: Aghn-12 And Aghn-14, Matthew Severn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis focuses on two archaeological sites from the Woodland Period, Blackwell One (AgHn-12) and Blackwell Two (AgHn-14), which lie roughly 8 km northeast of Sarnia, Ontario. Specifically, the sites are situated near the historic Lake Wawanosh, which was drained in the late 1800s, and roughly 400 m south of the Lake Huron shore. Blackwell One has evidence of an Early Woodland Meadowood occupation in its West Locus and Late Woodland, Younge to Springwells phase occupations, within its East Locus. Blackwell Two falls within the Middle Woodland period and is a component of the archaeologically defined Saugeen cultural complex. The …

Stories Of Words, Numbers, And Communities: My Usri Research And Speak Fluent Marketing Internship Experiences, Choi Sze Leung

SASAH 4th Year Capstone and Other Projects: Publications

This report illustrates my experiential-learning opportunities, which took the form of two internships. In the summer of 2021, I worked as a marketing intern at Speak Fluent Speech Services, a speech clinic that provides speech and communication training for adults. Aside from designing posters for the clinic’s social-media campaigns, I also had the opportunity to write creative and professional copy and compile a campaign's key performance metrics into a marketing report. In my second internship, I was a research student in the Undergraduate Student Research Internship (USRI) program in the Anthropology department. In this internship, I conducted linguistics anthropology research …

Variation In Habitual Activity And Body Composition: A Segmental Body Comparison Of Runners And Swimmers, Madelyn Hertz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is considerable evidence that differences in patterns of habitual activity influence the distribution of skeletal tissue within the human skeleton, but little is known about variation in soft tissue. This thesis examines body composition and surface scan data from runners, swimmers, and a ‘recreational control’ population to investigate differences in the properties of limb segment surface areas and volumes, muscle mass, and fat mass. It also explores the relationship between activity and aging through the examination of body composition and volumetric measurements in older-adult habitual swimmers. The findings show that resulting limb segment properties support assumptions of running as …

Surveying The Industry: A Professional Profile Of Cultural Resource Management In Canada, Sydney Rowinski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cultural Resource Management (CRM) has transformed the practice of archaeology; however, little is known regarding general make-up and demographics for this dominant form of archaeological practice. Even less is understood concerning the views and sentiments of its practitioners. In Canada, no jurisdiction maintains practitioner profiles; subsequently, their training or understanding of the roles they play in mediating heritage resource compliance requirements for clients, Descendant communities, or heritage stakeholders like the wider archaeological community, is relatively unknown. Despite recent discourse focused on the operational side of CRM (e.g., nature, output, and consequences) insight on the values, ideals, and level expertise of …

Stable Isotope Analysis Of Breastfeeding And Weaning Practices In 19th Century Montreal, Jess Sadlowski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A plethora of changes occurred in nineteenth century Montreal including industrialization, population growth, urbanization, and women in the workforce. These changes likely affected how infants and children were cared for, including breastfeeding and weaning practices. Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of serial dentine sections of 21 teeth from a French-Canadian population interred at Saint Antoine (AD 1799-1854), this study reconstructs infant feeding practices from a low-middle socioeconomic status population. Adult female diet emphasized C₃ foods with variable terrestrial and aquatic protein. Lack of isotope results limited information about the diets of subadults. In one individual, weaning was …

From Micro To Macro: Examining Potential Microbiome Mediated Influences On Human Growth And Health Outcomes Through Breastfeeding And Antibiotic Exposures, Nicole K. Phillips

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Human microbiome research has rapidly developed over the past two decades yet absent from most research is the composition and dynamics of microbiomes within human populations. Given the limitations in longitudinal studies which requires decades of repeated microbe taxonomic testing of a population sample, an alternative option is to examine microbiomes and their influences via proxies using pre-existing health datasets. This research demonstrates preliminary associations between presumed disrupted and supportive microbiomes dynamics proxied by antibiotic and breastmilk exposure respectively. Using health record data across the life span from approximately 500,000 U.K. participants, this research demonstrates variable altered growth and health …

Mapping Gothicism In Hiv/Aids Art, And The Importance Of Art In Understanding Queer Cultural Trauma: Canadian Perspectives, Riley Buist

2023 Undergraduate Awards

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada continues to be a defining moment in queer trauma and cultural production. Since the 1990s, queer academics and theorists have become increasingly interested in how queer people navigate and negotiate trauma. With the establishment of Queer Studies and Gothic Studies, the two fields have been considered complementary both historically and contemporarily. Queer academics and theorists have discovered that queer cultural production continuously evokes gothic themes, tropes, and atmospheres to understand cultural trauma. Previous research primarily focuses on literature, and my research seeks to expand the field into visual mediums. My research is interested in understanding …

Bureaucratic Sorceries In The Third Policeman: Anthropological Perspectives On Magic & Officialdom, Alexandra Irimia

Languages and Cultures Publications

This article discusses The Third Policeman through the lens of a dialectic of enchantment and disenchantment that is firmly anchored in the history of anthropological discourse on bureaucracy (Malinowski, Lévi-Strauss, Tambiah, Herzfeld, Graeber, Jones). From this angle, Flann O’Brien’s novel is examined as an aesthetic illustration of an essentially anthropological argument: although bureaucracy has been described as an eminently rational form of social systematisation, regulation, and control (since Weber), it also functions, paradoxically, as a symbolic site for irrationality and supernatural occurrences, haunted by madness, mystery, and delusion. The novel is intriguing partly due to its nonchalant, humorous entwining of …

Discourses Of Tension In A Rainbow Nation: Transcultural Identity Formations Among Hakka Mauritians, Federica Guccini

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Identity formation happens at a crossroads of that which people believe they are and are not. Acknowledgment, reification, or subversion of identity frictions form powerful communicative patterns that I call ‘discourses of tension’. I argue in this dissertation that discourses of tension are foundational to the formation of transcultural identities—positionalities that emerge between or beyond perceived cultural boundaries—because they enable people to identify and express cultural complexities and expectations.

Based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork and research in other relevant sites, this argument is supported by my analysis of how Hakka Chinese Mauritians express agency and identity within …

Autoethnography Of A Pregnant Doula: An Anthropological Investigation Of Birth Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Ontario And Quebec, Fattimah A. Hamam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the existing systems and institutions people depend on in all areas of life. Birth is no exception. This research shows that COVID-19 replicated dominant North American cultural scripts treating birth as a risky and stressful medical event. It goes further to explore how birthers themselves described their experiences. Drawing on autoethnographic reflections, ethnographic interviews and a WhatsApp group chat, this thesis documents the nuance in predominantly middle class, cis-gendered women’s experiences giving birth in Ontario and Quebec during the pandemic. It uncovers the overarching non-birther centric nature of local birth culture and argues …

Legs And Hills, Aidan Attema

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Relatively longer leg length is a feature of the genus Homo that is often argued to have evolved due to selective pressures from a greater reliance on endurance running. Within the genus Homo, however, Neanderthals had relatively short legs with shorter tibiae – a characteristic that has been hypothesized to be a hindrance for running yet advantageous for locomoting on sloped terrains. This thesis tests three hypotheses relating to lower limb proportions and running performance: does morphological variability correspond with a) speed on flat and uphill terrain during a workout completed by cross-country athletes, or b) athletic performance during …

Localized Activism In The Bangladeshi Garments Industry: Mobilizing The Labour Movement From The Ground Up, Raisa Masud

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is based on research conducted between the summer and fall of 2021, and it investigates the global garments industry from the perspective of local labour organizers and activists in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is the second-largest producer of fast fashion and textile in the world, employing millions of garments workers across the country. Moreover, the long history of industrial disasters, such as the infamous case of the Rana Plaza collapse, make Bangladesh a valuable site for unravelling the layers of exploitation and vulnerability associated with wage labour in the global assembly line. The 2013 Rana Plaza collapse killed over a …

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 …

University Students With Disabilities, Accessibility, And The "Return To Normal", Kate M. Mahoney, Samuel A. Schneider, Anika Sebudde

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

In the context of the "return to normal" on university campuses in the ongoing pandemic, our research team wondered what students with disabilities could tell us about what makes university classes and services more and less accessible to them, and in that broader context, what pandemic modifications they hope continue. After two years of innovation, if we rush back to normal, we are at risk of squandering hard-won new skills, technology, and insights that are of broad value for all students. Disabled students' experiences and perspectives, as reported in 80 survey responses and 16 interviews, disrupt common assumptions about accessibility …

Uwo Students' Use Of Social Media To Navigate Accessibility, Anika Sebudde, Samuel Schneider, Kate M. Mahoney

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Our research group explored Western University students' use of social media to navigate issues and experiences with accessibility and disabilities.

Our goal was to determine how students use social media platforms to discuss access issues and uncover common trends of student experiences with accessibility at Western University.

A Psychological Profile Of The Digitized Economy: Who Buys Cryptocurrencies, Nfts, And Meme-Stocks (And Why)?, Nicole Wolfe

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

As the global digital economy continues to grow in interest and financial worth, it is imperative to harvest data to gain early information on this nuanced economy. Already, we have witnessed billions of dollars in losses and wins at the blink of an eye, encouragement to invest from well-known celebrities and politicians, and high anxiety from the newness, power consumption, and potential outcomes of this nuanced system. Stemming from the lack of solid evidence in this emerging field, we hope to gain more insight on the early players and variation within the digitized economy. Similarly, we hope to identify specific …

Assessment Of Arm Position In Egyptian Mummies, Emily King

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The arm position of Egyptian mummies had not been studied in an in-depth manner. The goal of this research was to use the IMPACT Radiological Database (Nelson & Wade, 2015), a large sample size of CT scans and X-Ray images of mummies, to discuss the evolution of arm position of adult Egyptian mummies throughout time. The results from this research demonstrate that with an increase in sample size, an increase in variability also occurs. In addition, we were also able to conclude that arm position reflects long term societal trends as opposed to short/frequently changing trends. Finally, what our research …

Osteoarthritis In Early To Middle Epipalaeolithic, Aasiyah Sheri Ms

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The study of human remains allows insight into the past. Studying an individual's bones and any diseases or abnormalities that may present themselves allows archaeologists to construct an image of what life might have been like for the individual. How old they were when they died, the type of work they did, and their overall health are all factors that can tell us a great deal about a person.

An Analysis Of Ground Stone Celts On The Late Woodland Middle Ontario Iroquoian Dorchester Village Site (Afhg-24), Patrick J. Seddon

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

A comprehensive analysis of ground stone celts on the Late Woodland Middle Ontario Iroquoian Dorchester Village Site (AfHg-24). Metric and non-metric traits of the celts were analyzed to gain a better understanding of ground stone tools and their uses. A greater understanding of site formation processes and the development of Late Woodland Iroquoian villages may be attained through the creation of typologies, and an analysis of tool metrics, manufacturing and use wear traits, non-chert detritus produced through manufacture, and intra-site spatial data.

The Iroquoian Sweat Lodges Of Dorchester Village, Dana V. González Zavala

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

During the Middle Iroquoian period (1300-1400 A.D.), semi-subterranean sweat lodges were structures commonly built on the inside of longhouses in Southern Ontario (Parks, 2018). These structures are known to have been used for health, social, and spiritual purposes (P. Timmins: personal communication, 2022). Stratigraphically, the basal layers of sweat lodges can yield artifacts that were used during shamanistic rituals and social ceremonies that took place within the structures (Parks, 2018). The lack of research on sweat lodges simply highlights the broader need to learn more about indigenous cultures across Ontario, both in prehistoric and modern contexts. In this report, the …

Nevis’ Archives: Learning About The Bath House Hotel, Loren Gordon

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The Bath House Hotel in Nevis is said to be the first hotel which welcomed tourists in the Caribbean. However, much of its origin is not known. Through reading archives and other extensive research, more information relating to the hotel was compiled in an effort to discover the history of this important building. The building, which once housed guests who ventured to the Bath Spring - which was reported to have healing properties- is one of historic value and significance. The archives provided a glimpse into the past of Nevis, the people who may have been connected to the hotel, …

Assumed Identities And The Construction Of Self Among The West Indian Diaspora In The Greater Toronto Area (Gta), Badarinarayan A. Maharaj

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis I explore the (re) construction of identity and sense of self among members of the West Indian diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area. The research took place between October 2021 and March 2022, taking the form of semi-structured interviews with people who identify as West Indian and participant observation at various West Indian establishments. My objective is to show how the cultural elements of sport, food, and music are experienced and engaged with by the members of the West Indian diaspora, and the ways in which it allows for the development and expression of a West Indian …