Perennial negotiations/elemental encounters autoethnographic perspectives on approaching food sovereignty

This thesis uses a multifaceted process to engage with the topic of food sovereignty in California. It employs diverse methods, including critical and creative prose, photography, autoethnographic mixed media, storytelling and poetry. I am particularly concerned with the " " challenges of approaching food sovereignty, a radical praxis that combines subsistence practices with anti-capitalist resistance, while in my own "skin," which is thoroughly embedded in white, urban, middle classed culture and in corltextualizing ecological relationshipslkinships via cultural, historical and economic trajectories. The project utilizes a processual methodlology drawing substantially from the work of Brian Massumi to explore these issues through four creative narrative pieces which coalesce around the elemental metaphors of air, fire, water and earth. Following Deleuze and Guatarri's concept ofrhizomatic plateaus, the thesis narratives are comprised of many non-hierarchical layers and can be read from many angles. Each is offered "in process" rather than as a finished piece, thus practically validating the concept of the ongoing work of research and suggesting the equally omnipresent possibility of change and mutation in the formation relationally based knowledges. Cultivating ecological ethic and healing on multisensory levels, as well as commitment to emergent and re-productivist worldviews are goals of this project's research.

Child care by choice or by default? : examining the experiences of unregulated home-based child care for women in paid work and training

This thesis aims to uncover the dynamics, causes and outcomes of women's reliance on unregulated home-based child care in Ontario, Canada, and the implications ofthis form of care for women's equality. Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study, I examine the diverse experience of 14 women using home-based child care and engaged in both paid work/training and care work for children under the age of six, and draw comparisons with users of other forms of child care. I argue that home-based child care involves high levels of instability for continuity of care and is chosen largely as a default position based on economic considerations. It represents a compromise between the demands of social reproduction and paid work/training that entangles mothers in relations of exploitation with care providers. Doing so leaves both mothers and care providers socially and economically vulnerable and relying on social networks to fill in the gaps.

Exploring Teacher Candidates’ Experience, Perception, and Knowledge of Multicultural Education in Two Ontario Universities

In this study, teacher candidates’ experiences, perceptions, and knowledge of multicultural education at 2 Ontario universities were used determine to the effectiveness of their teacher education programs in preparing them to teach in multicultural classrooms. The research also strived to highlight the most effective practices in these programs that contributed to the preparation of teacher candidates for employment in culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse classrooms in Ontario. A questionnaire and interviews were used to determine the effectiveness of the program in preparing them to teach in diverse classrooms. The findings revealed the need for a greater emphasis of multicultural education in teacher education programs at these universities. The data showed that teacher candidates were most critical of the courses and the delivery of the curriculum in relation to multicultural education. Teacher candidates were also concerned with the lack of multicultural education in their practicum placements. In addition, teacher candidates indicated in the questionnaire that they felt competent adapting instruction to the needs of students in multicultural classrooms. However, the results obtained from the interviews were more varied. The interviews highlighted that teacher candidates were hesitant about teaching in culturally diverse classrooms and less likely to state that they were prepared for these teaching environments. As well, many teacher candidates believed their peers were not prepared for multicultural issues. Teacher candidates believed the program could be improved in many ways including specific instruction across all classes, more diverse practicum experiences, guest speakers, case studies, and the creation of new courses that specifically address multicultural education.

Between the panels: How anti-Black racism has recycled myths of the Black body in comic books

Anti-Black racism continues to be a widespread problem, and as such deserves investigation and elimination. As Jackson (2006) says; “There is a hyperawareness…of the negative inscriptions associated with the Black masculine body as criminal, angry and incapacitated.” (2) To continue the study of the changing face of racism, the researcher must be well equipped with a contemporary methodology which is adaptable and exploratory. Due to the malleability of racism, research into its elimination must make inroads to areas that have heretofore been neglected and overlooked by traditional academic study. This project achieves a unique perspective by undertaking a theoretical exploration of racist stereotypes and motifs in the world of mass produced superhero comic books, a genre of comics which has neither yet been thoroughly investigated for the use of racist stereotypes nor been the focus of anti-racist scholarship.

A Home at School: Building Stronger Indigenous People through Cultural Resurgence in an Urban Ontario Public School Context.

In this thesis, I work through the educational narratives of young Aboriginal women and men as I explore the relationship between cultural programming and student engagement. My analysis is structured through a collaborative Indigenous research project. My overarching task is to explore how a cultural support program, the Native Youth Advancement with Education Hamilton (NYA WEH) Program, offered at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, attempts to re-imagine Aboriginal education in ways that directly challenge the residential school legacy. In particular, I work to illuminate how particular forms of Aboriginal education are connected to the graduation rates of Aboriginal youth. I argue that the ways in which the NYA WEH Program navigates Native Studies curriculum, relationships, and notions of culture and tradition are significant to the engagement of Aboriginal youth. This research develops theoretical connections between the contemporary experience of Aboriginal social inequality and educational initiatives which attempt to reverse that legacy. By placing the NYA WEH Program narratives side-by-side with literature supporting Aboriginal education for Self-determination, I work to learn how to best support and encourage Aboriginal student engagement in secondary schools across Ontario.

Depopulating the Political Sidelines: CBC News Online Forum and Public Spheres in Canada

The subject of the Internet's potential to foster a public sphere has become a growing area of research in the social sciences in the last two decades. My research explores comments made by participants on the CBC News online politics forum during the May 2011 federal election in Canada. Based on conditions proposed by Jurgen Habermas in his concept of the public sphere and operationalized by Lincoln Dahlberg in his pioneering study of the Minnesota e-Democracy listserv, my thesis explores the potential for the CBC News online forum to foster a public sphere for Canadians. While examining the CBC News online forum against the criteria of the public sphere, I also interrogate Habermas' concept of a universal public sphere using the works of Nancy Fraser and other scholars, who argue for multiple public spheres.

Management Material: Understanding the Contradictory Perspectives of Lower Level Managers in a Canadian Call Centre

Call centres have emerged during a time of rapid technological change and represent a form of ready employment for those seeking to replace or supplement "traditional" forms of employment. Call centre work is considered characteristic of the kinds of service work available in the new economy. This paper examines the experiences and practices of lower level managers in a call centre in southern Ontario. Findings are based on analysis of semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that lower level managers resolve the contradictory social space they occupy by aligning themselves primarily with more powerful executives, in part because they know this might lead to increased job security. The implications of this trend for building a strong labour movement capable of combating neoliberal discourses regarding the need for work restructuring are discussed.

All of My Blood is Red: Contemporary Metis Visual Culture and Identity

This thesis explores notions of contemporary Metis identity through the lens of visual culture, as articulated in the works of three visual artists of Metis ancestry. I discuss the complexities of being Metis with reference to specific art works by Christi Belcourt, David Garneau and Rosalie Favell. In addition to a visual culture analysis of these three Metis artists, I supplement my discussion of Metis identity with a selection of autoethnographic explorations of my identity as a Metis woman through out this thesis. The self-reflexive aspect of this work documents the ways in which my understanding of myself as a Metis woman have been deepened and reworked in the process of conducting this research, while also offering an expanded conception of contemporary Metis culture. I present this work as an important point of departure for giving a greater presence to contemporary Metis visual culture across Canada:

Youth, Global Citizenship and Help: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Free The Children

Since 1995 Free The Children (FTC) has grown to be one of the largest and most recognized youth-focused and youth-led non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Canada. FTC has distinguished itself by developing slick marketing campaigns, promising youth that they will become agents of change who can make a significant contribution towards eradicating poverty and promoting global social justice. The organization has utilized the Internet, creating an engaging and dynamic web page used to promote its development initiatives and celebrate the altruistic actions of its young participants. FTC uses a variety of strategies including text, video and images to persuade the viewer to engage with and elicit support for the organization. FTC attracts viewers by highlighting the successes of its overseas initiatives and the contributions made by young Northern volunteers in the global South. The organization also uses celebrity ambassadors, and cultural events such as We Day to raise its profile. Using a critical rhetorical analysis, this thesis interrogates FTC’s online promotional materials, exploring how the organization uses rhetorical strategies to persuade young people to take an interest in social justice activities. More specifically, an examination of FTC web-based promotional materials identifies and problematizes the organization’s rhetorical emphasis on youth empowerment, global citizenship and direct forms of helping the global South. This thesis argues that FTC does not direct adequate attention to fostering critical awareness among it participants. Further, the organization fails to provide its online participants with the appropriate tools or opportunities to critically engage with the structural issues related to global inequities. This thesis also examines how the organization uses rhetoric that promotes simplistic, feel-good projects that avoid exposing young people to an analysis of global social injustices.

Indigenous Language Reclamation: The Learners Perspective

ABSTRACT This study explored the link between learning an Indigenous language and the meanings second language learners attach to their language recovery experiences. The study delves into the factors that motivate, enhance and serve as barriers to individual language revitalization efforts. With the goal of reasserting an Indigenous world view, the traditional teachings of the Ojibwe medicine wheel were combined with the lessons of the seven Grandfathers to provide a methodological basis for conducting ethical research with and for the benefit of First Nations people. Within the context of our relationships with self, community, spirit and environment, the pairing of Indigenous theory with the practical community experiences of Indigenous second language learners, demonstrates how Indigenous systems of thought and ontology lend themselves well to the critical understanding necessary to enhance the recovery our own endangered languages. These research findings indicate that there is a definite link between ancestral language reclamation and increased levels of self-esteem, a sense of grounded cultural identity and resilience, an overall sense of healing and the social responsibility that comes with receiving the gift of language. The barriers associated with learning an ancestral language intersect on multiple and often simultaneous levels making it difficult for the language learners to discover their origin.This research found that it was important for language learners to identify that they often carry a collective sense of shame associated with an internalized attachment to the modality of Indigeneity. Once the origin of this shame was acknowledged – as resulting from settler/assimilation logics, it was often possible for people to move forward in their language recovery journeys, while at the same time considering more broadly the structural barriers that make individual learning so difficult.

‘Designer Vaginas': The Representation of Female Genitals on Canadian Cosmetic Surgeons' Websites

This thesis critically examines the online marketing tactics of 10 (English language) Canadian cosmetic surgery clinics’ websites that offer Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery (FGCS), specifically, labiaplasty (labial reduction) and vaginoplasty (vaginal tightening). Drawing on a qualitative Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) and a feminist-informed social constructionist framework (Lazar, 2007), I examine how FGCS discourses reiterate and reinforce heteronormative sexual scripts for women, and impose restrictive models of femininity through the pathologization of genital diversity and the appropriation of postfeminist and neoliberal discourses of individual choice and empowerment. I explore feminist analyses of the links between FGCS and contemporary Western women’s postfeminist subjectivity, and the reconfiguration of women’s sexual agency, to better understand what these contemporary shifts may mean for women’s sexual anxiety and expression. My analysis highlights several discourses that organize the online marketing material of Canadian FGCS websites, including: the pathologization of genital diversity; restrictive models of femininity; heteronormative sexual scripts; neoliberal and post-feminist rhetorics of individual choice and empowerment; and psychological and sexual transformation. Overall, these discourses undermine acceptance of women’s genital diversity, legitimize the FGCS industry and frame FGCS as the only viable solution to alleviate women’s genital and sexual distress despite the lack of evidence regarding the long-term benefits and risks of these procedures, and the recommendations against FGCS by professional medical organizations.

A formação para as relações etnicorraciais e a profissionalização em história: saberes e práticas docentes no contexto da educação a distância

Esta pesquisa analisa a experiência de formação em história, na modalidade a distância, de professores-leigos da educação básica dos estados do Ceará, Bahia, Maranhão e Sergipe, contemplados pelo Programa Pró-Licenciatura II, financiado pelo Ministério da Educação, graças ao consórcio firmado entre a Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro e a Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, entre os anos de 2006 e 2010. O objeto do estudo foi a aplicabilidade da Lei nº 11.645/08, antes Lei nº 10.639/03, que alterou a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional nº 9.394/96, ao instituir a obrigatoriedade do estudo da história e cultura afro-brasileira e indígena em todos os estabelecimentos de ensino fundamental e de ensino médio, públicos e privados do país. Há uma produção significativa de estudos que relacionam educação e relações etnicorraciais, porém são escassos os trabalhos voltados para a formação inicial e/ou continuada de professores. Quais disciplinas são oferecidas? Como o tema aparece no currículo? Como os licenciandos e professores lidam com a obrigatoriedade da Lei? Como ocorrem a produção e a mobilização dos saberes, assim como as práticas sobre esse tema? E qual o nível de comprometimento com o mesmo foram algumas das questões que nortearam a pesquisa. A resposta para essas questões foram orientadas pelas contribuições de Maurice Tardif sobre os saberes docentes, amparadas em metodologia de estudo de caso que utilizou entrevistas semiestruturadas, questionários, análises das aulas-texto produzidas pelos formadores, do ambiente online da disciplina e dos documentos formais que organizaram o curso e instituíram a citada Lei. A investigação revelou um esforço dos docentes formadores e dos professores-cursistas em se munir de saberes e práticas concernentes aos temas da Lei, por outro lado, alguns fatores impuseram limites à profissionalização, como a modalidade a distância, o desconhecimento sobre o tema e a disponibilidade de tempo dos professores-cursistas.

El papel de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones en la educación inclusiva

Incluye bibliografía

Every woman's right : the right to quality education and economic independence /

"National Chicana Foundation, Inc., Montebello, California."