There is a common request to justify the existence of philosophy, something which is fairly unique to the field. Due to their shared focus on the nature of reality, many of these criticisms come from the natural sciences: a suggestion that with developing natural science and technology, philosophical inquiry inevitably becomes obsolete. This suggestion has had historical moments: similarly, the defense of philosophy has arrived in those moments. This presentation follows three major mathematician-physicists turned philosophers: Immanuel Kant, Edmund Husserl, and Alfred North Whitehead, who have each aimed to respond to growing naturalisms which sought to end the philosophical project. They are each linked to major scientific revolutions: namely the Newtonian physics revolution, the modern physics revolution, and the modern psychological revolution. In each of their works of systematic philosophies, you can see the defence of philosophy as the field which lays down the preconditions of philosophy emerge. This presentation will compare their views on the preconditions and necessity of science, examining their views on the role of the subject in science, the role of values in science, and the necessity of philosophical investigation prior to science.  

In "Concrete Flowers: Contemplating the Profession of Philosophy,” Kristie Dotson problematises “philosophy as critique,” citing it as a barrier to diversifying the discipline of philosophy. This talk builds from Dotson’s work, connecting the struggle for diversity in the Academy with the individual thinker’s struggle to see their work as philosophical. I interpret philosophy as critique as a process of intellectual colonization by and through the canon. I offer an alternative to philosophy as critique: “philosophy as questioning motivations.” In this mode, the philosopher responds to their source material by asking why the author holds dearly to their chosen frameworks and assumptions. This method shifts philosophy from a combative urge towards an investigation and appreciation of each author’s intellectual grounding—without presuming that canonical material already contains all the relevant knowledge and resources to philosophise. I posit “intellectual sovereignty” as an inherent status occupied by all thinkers, across disciplines. By “intellectual sovereignty” I mean the obligation to be and think of oneself as a full voice—one who understands, listens and responds with assuredness of one’s worldview. Only philosophy as questioning motivations recognizes each author as intellectually sovereign, and offers a path out of the canonical colonization, towards a diverse body of scholars and academic knowledge.

My presentation explores the connection between 'home' and a 'good death' and furthermore, how this reveals this disconnect of this 'good death' for homeless and vulnerably housed folks. Research has been emerging which stresses that a ‘good death’ includes dying at home due to its sense of community, familiar environment and increased ability to satisfy end-of-life interests. However, with this importance of 'home' in this transition comes the intuition that people who are homeless or vulnerably housed have an inability to attain this ‘good death’. I will unpack how this space plays an important role to the dying process and, how certain inequalities such as homeless folks' lack of consistent community, place and healthcare access inhibits this often forgotten population in our society from a fair chance at a 'good' death. 

A central issue in discussions of free will and determinism is change and what part the knowledge of a deterministic world would play in our ability to change. If the world is predetermined, either by a higher power or by the laws of the universe, can people change their behavior, personality, and reactions towards the actions of others?

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This philosophical paper will draw from Peter Strawson’s argument about participant reactive attitudes (PRA) in Freedom and Resentment (1962) to show that a working thesis of determinism offers nothing of value regarding how we react and interact with others. This will be done in part by explaining what PRA is and Strawson’s view of PRA in relation to determinism. Then, I will raise and respond to a potential weakness in his argument to critically defend my thesis.

The position of women in science has always been a challenging one and has created a skewed gender representation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The initial cause for this disparity is often attributed to women’s lack of interest in the subject matter rather than the product of a patriarchal society and an academic structure unconducive to the inclusion of women in these fields. As with most social discrepancies, the root cause of this issue is far more complex and deeply ingrained in scientific practices and society’s scientific institution as a whole. Here I discuss the many barriers impeding women’s equal access and opportunity in STEM studies and how these must be addressed. I will discuss the lack of recognition for women’s contributions to science. In the past and the importance of representation in STEM academics. I will also address the ways young girls are covertly discouraged from pursuing careers or interests in science and the ways this discrimination follows them into the world of academia and the workforce.

Deeply imbedded stereotypes of a fundamentally patriarchal field means women must work harder with fewer resources and support available to them. As such, women must fight for a credibility that is inherently granted in men, further perpetuating the gender inequality in science.

In early North American life, the presence of pregnancy and childbirth was ubiquitous to life and the settling of the New World. It is in this gendered realm of gynecology and obstetrics that women of colonial America are able to master the realm of childbirth and pregnancy, while also finding a refuge from the dominance of men and the biological expectations of colonial womanhood. Within this space of privacy, produced by the exclusion of men, women of the time were able to host conversations that would eventually initiate movements for contraception, abortions, and bodily autonomy. Using subdued language between sisters, mothers, and daughters, one is able to trace evidence of early feminist action to regain self-governance over one’s reproductive rights. In addition, women found new freedoms when they chose to assist in births and become midwives. Midwives, the providers of care during pregnancy and childbirth, were able to assume positions of authority and power that allowed them to access the male dominated world of medicine. Physicians became increasingly interested in the realm of childbirth during the 19th century, creating friction between these now blurred separate spheres. Childbirth was no longer an event only between woman, child, and midwife, but now an experience tainted in societal beliefs regarding women’s rights and the place of women in medicine. By observing the early American ideological revolution surrounding childbirth, one may reveal more than the experiences of a few hours of labour, but the lived realities of women in a society where reproduction functions formed a large part of their identity and purpose in life. The women of colonial America who conceived, carried, birthed, and assisted in the delivery of children were not simply cogs in a machine of reproductive oppression, but rather women who sought knowledge and quietly, but influentially, resisted their biological destinies.

Benevolent sexist attitudes are attitudes that appear to be positive but actually portray women as less competent than men (e.g., the belief that women should have men's protection). In contrast, hostile sexist attitudes are attitudes that are blatantly negative toward women. Previous research has shown that after exposure to benevolent sexist attitudes, women performed worse on cognitive tasks than after exposure to hostile sexist attitudes (Dardenne et al., 2007). In addition, research shows that women students whose self-worth is more contingent on their academic performance do better on intellectual tasks (McLaughlin & Perunovic, 2013). The current research examined how University of New Brunswick women students' sexist attitudes, contingencies of self-worth, and other factors predicted their performance on LSAT logic questions in the lab and their overall GPA. Women students (N = 178) completed a series of questionnaires assessing their sexist attitudes, contingencies of self-worth, identity, and self-esteem, as well as completed several LSAT logic questions and reported their GPA. We observed that endorsement of benevolent sexist attitudes, when controlling for the variance in GPA accounted for by hostile sexist attitudes, negatively predicted overall GPA scores such that higher endorsement of benevolent sexist attitudes was associated with low GPA scores. We also found that academic self-worth contingency was positively associated with overall GPA, such that higher academic self-worth contingency was associated with high GPA scores. The implication of holding benevolent sexist attitudes and basing one's self-worth on academic performance among women students will be discussed.

Sexual consent is an important focus of research on sexual assault and coercion; in fact, sexual assault is often defined in terms of sexual activity. For the purpose of this study sexual consent is defined as the freely given verbal or nonverbal communication of a feeling of willingness to engage in sexual activity. A review of the literature found few studies focused on identity factors that influence sexual consent attitudes. The limited research looked at factors such as gender, and relationship status on sexual consent attitudes and behaviours. No studies looked at the influence of peer attitudes on an individual’s attitude. Peer attitudes are likely a significant factor in an individuals sexual consent attitudes as it has been shown that adolescent’s attitudes are particularly influenced by perceived norms of their peer group. Therefore, the aim of this project is to determine the extent to which peer attitudes towards sexual consent are associated with an individual’s attitudes towards sexual consent. As sexual consent is a heavy focus in the media and on university campuses, this study also looks to see participant’s perceptions of coverage of sexual consent at UNB and in the media. Data was collected from 136 undergraduate university students enrolled in the introductory psychology course using an online survey. Data analysis is ongoing; however, thus far we found that individual’s having more positive attitudes towards sexual consent also perceive their friends attitudes as being more positive. Participants indicated that they believe there is extensive coverage of sexual consent in the media and that they have learned a lot about sexual consent from both the media and their university. 

My interest in studying the largest salt lagoon in West Africa was sparked after working alongside a women’s rights group in Ghana during the summer of 2018. The Yihi Katseme’s knowledge and experience (or Brave Women) provided the basis for which I would come to learn about the history of the Songor Lagoon and its biophysical nature. For hundreds of years past, the salt harvested here was done in a traditional fashion by the collection of coastal communities surrounding it. The resource, as it came to be, was given to the people of Ada by a spirit guide of an old woman. Those who win salt, as it is referred to in Ghana, have defended their right to do so throughout the country’s pre-colonial wars, up to present, as private companies alongside the government, attempt to possess and expropriate the resource. My research looks at the ongoing resistance to this movement away from tradition and towards western scientific knowledge. Garret Hardin’s theory “The Tragedy of the Commons” (1968), is used in this case study to explore the complexities of the common and private property theories of resource management and how it relates to the modern day salt politics in Ada, Ghana.

This piece examines the intersecting lifestyles and social issues associated with the phenomenon of “man camps” in various major industries in Canada and the United States. Bringing together a variety of histories, critical perspectives, and media ethnography, it explores the realities of lived experience of man camp workers and those who interact with them. The analysis compares these relations to similar contexts in Latin America and other parts of the world. In particular, the paper argues that a variety of factors lead to exacerbated tensions between camp workers and indigenous communities in Canada where in other places they have formed coalitions to work towards mutual objectives. This paper argues for a change in perspective which incorporates a labor and class perspective to discussions of man camps in industries like oil and timber. 

“Every established order tends to make its own entirely arbitrary system seem entirely natural” (Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977. Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press.)

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In my recent thesis research, the established scholarship of field theory, formed by French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is taken to consider the structure and functioning of artistic production in rural Nova Scotia. Particular focus is given to state intervention and how the political field intersects with the everyday practices of arts practitioners through the funding apparatus. For this research, a theoretically responsive review of national and provincial state intervention through history establishes the grounds for exploring the current artistic field, in which it is revealed that an impasse to artistic autonomy is inscribed in structural relations of the field. This is an outcome of the state-led rise of cultural orthodoxies and the workings of the granting apparatus in Nova Scotia. For this presentation, I look specifically to the granting system as a Trojan Horse mechanism for the introduction of heteronomous value and belief into the field of cultural production. Thus, developing knowledge of how state funding shapes art and culture in unforeseen ways is vital to informing our engagement and reengagement with seemingly natural forms of cultural work. I believe this work is an important contribution to our thinking on art and the state in Nova Scotia and on cultural work analysis in places of margins generally.

The consequences of colonialism have remained significant in the 21st century, having shaped the socio-political landscape of many developing countries. In the South Pacific, the country of Fiji knows this reality all too well. The repercussions of the British colonial era perpetuated an ethnocultural division between the indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian population (the imported Indian land labourers). Following the independence of Fiji in 1970, the ethnic divisions perpetuated the deep-seated animosity between the two factions, impacting both the social and political landscapes. Over the years, it escalated to a trend we now know to be a ‘coup culture’. In the timeframe of roughly 40 years, Fiji has experienced four military coups and destabilized the fragile political and socio-economy landscape of the developing country. However, one must question what exactly led to the spiral of coups. This paper utilizes the international relations framework of post-colonial and dependency theory to understand the implications of colonialism and the legacy which has plagued Fiji since independence. This tale of four coups traces some of the major implications of colonialism and the consequences those implications still have today. By using international relations theory, this paper begins to shed light on the global influences which resulted in the domestic struggle for stability and ethnic equality in an ethnically divided developing country. What becomes even clearer though is that there is no simple answer to the ‘coup culture’ overshadowing Fijian politics and society; instead, the complexity of the Fijian coup culture goes beyond theories of international relations or domestic politics, and can only be understood through a wider framework which can encompass a larger scope of analysis for the short independent history of the small islands state. 

Insectum is a project led by Christopher Kaltenbach . This unprecedented research is on nicrophorus vespilloides (burying beetle) and its potential as a powerful bioremediator for crude oil spills. The speculative system I've researched details the beetle, its hind-gut fungi (yarrowia lipolytica), and its potential to metabolize oil in highly polluted areas. The product I've hypothesized would be used in partnership with Pure Wax (a wax that can absorb pollutants without taking on water itself), and efforts would be centralized in Niger Delta, Nigeria. I chose to further promote this theorized fungi-infused wax by creating a brand identity that promotes the hypothetical system of production. Since Deurex’s Pure Wax was growing, and absorbing new biotechnology, it was in need of a new name, identity, and set of values. The new name of the company and product is Yarrowax. It combines the essential fungi, yarrowia lipolytica, and the mode of transmission, wax.

Operating from 1884 until 1996, the Canadian residential school system directly influenced four generations of Indigenous peoples and indirectly influenced countless others.  The aforementioned influence was not acknowledged until 2008 when the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a public apology on behalf of the government of Canada.  The sentiment was appreciated; however, Harper’s apology is meaningless until Canadians truly hold themselves accountable for the negative impact that the residential school system has had on the Indigenous.  I will argue that, although positive steps have been taken in recent years to reconcile with our Indigenous brothers and sisters, Canadian artists like Kent Monkman, Mike Patten, and Gord Downie have made it abundantly clear that the government of Canada has not yet taken full responsibility for the residential school system or for the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Following Nazism in Germany, generations of Germans began installing gold bricks near the homes of the Jewish survivors and victims of the concentration camps.  The gesture serves as a constant reminder of the transgressions perpetrated by the German people during World War II (1939-45); this is a gesture that Canadians can learn from.  Canadian artists Kent Monkman, Mike Patten, and Gord Downie have followed suit and spear-headed verbal, as well as visual, forms of reconciliation in Canada with The Scream (2016), Native Beating (2011), and Secret Path (2016).  Artistically, or otherwise, accountability of any kind is crucial, and I urge educators to build a more accurate, inclusive, and informative Canadian history curriculum in the hope that Canadians never again feel ashamed for being Canadian.

This paper examines how Korean boyband BTS uses its platform to make commentary on the experience of youth in Korean society. There is an acknowledgement among Koreans that the current generation of young people have “given up” on what the rest of the population considers basic goals, including marriage, children, and employment. This is in part caused by changes in the labour market after an economic crisis in 1997; currently, there is a trend of part- time and temporary jobs rather than permanent positions. As a result, a huge emphasis is put on education in order to prepare students for future employment. Finally, a majority of male students must enlist in mandatory military service, resulting in stress and sometimes psychological trauma. Many of these factors can be attributed to the rapid westernization of South Korea, which has created a divide between youth and older generations. BTS’ music acts as a voice for young people to criticize these societal pressures, as youth should be “a time that is as beautiful as flowers”. Although this paper focuses on South Korea, BTS’ message is felt by fans all over the world, perhaps signaling a more global phenomenon not unique to South Korea.

According to the National Discrimination Poll (Encuesta Nacional sobre Discriminación, ENADIS), contemporary Mexican society has been characterized by a high level of discrimination and inequality in economic and educational terms. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexico’s Gini Coefficient, which is a marker of economic inequality, stands at 0.46, the highest among the members of the organization. Inequality exists not just among individuals but also between the different cities and regions of the country. Mexico City and Monterrey have been growing due to an increase in jobs, international investment and the centralization of national offices while other states, such as Chiapas and Oaxaca, become poorer as corrupt politicians steal states’ subsidies and their levels of violence discourage investment. 

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Mexico’s economic inequality is not just a consequence of bad economic policies or politics. Its levels of Inequality are also affected by its cultural attitudes; the views of its people and views on education in particular. Denise Dresser, a Mexican political expert, describes these attitudes as a being part of a “Culture of Conformity”(Dresser, 2011).  Many parents see education as an expense where the costs outweigh the benefits. As reported by the OECD, in 2014, the percentage Mexican youth aged 15 to 19 attending school was just 53%. Mexico ranks among the poorest performers in its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares levels of education in mathematics, science, and reading among OECD countries. Mexico still has a chance to change its conditions. The minority that believes in a change based on themselves have the responsibility to share their ideas, knowledge, passion, and motivation to work for better conditions. Their knowledge and education have to be shared if Mexico wants to develop. The culture of the country has to evolve to ensure future generations do not conform and try to achieve all their dreams. In other words, education is the key to development.

By the age of 17, William Blannerhasset De Courcy may have been a dashing young naval gentleman, charming and clever.  Or he may have been a gawky teenager, awkward and pimpled, but sincerely eager to learn.  Either way, he succeeded in impressing his commanding officers of his "worth and high qualities" ('De Courcy' 1842).  History records something of William's travels in 1842, but no other mention of his character.  What were his hopes and dreams for the future?  Did he enjoy life at sea?  We don't know what thoughts flitted through his head, nor what emotions stirred in his heart, during his early career in the naval reserves.  But we might hypothesize, and infer, and imagine.  Through an exploration of historical documents, artworks, monuments, and modern recreations, we might try, for a moment, to see through his eyes.

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History is written on our lives, and sometimes on our tombstones.  Without the preservation of the Old Burying Ground National Historic Site, William's story could not have been told.  This Halifax cemetery, in use from 1749 to 1844, is the final resting place of 12,000 souls.  What some see as little more than a field of lichen-encrusted ruins – perhaps better suited to the needs of the living if levelled and paved as a parking lot – is a collection of lives lived, of threads in the tapestry of the past.  Let us learn from those who bequeathed us this troubled world, and not think only of cemeteries as places of death.  Let us remember the lives of individuals like William De Courcy, and honour the rich variety of those who learned, loved, and struggled in those problematic days of our colonial past.

This paper looks at John Sayles’s 1987 historical drama Matewan and its portrayal of working class race relations in early 20th century Appalachia. The paper looks at Sayles’ depiction as a form of myth making. Fought between striking miners and mining company mercenaries, the Battle of Matewan is a true historical event. Sayles however compounds the issue by introducing fictional subplots featuring the introduction by the mining company of African-Americans and recently arrived Italian-American immigrants to break the initially whites-only miners’ union. Through the course of the film, the white miners must come to terms with the economic existence they share with their non-white counterparts. Their self-delusions of supremacy must be torn away before true solidarity can be achieved against the mine operators, and only once that occurs can the final showdown between labour and capital take place. Sayles brings to the Matewan story a much larger narrative of working class struggle. He creates a mythos of American working class identity where non-class social categories are rendered irrelevant by capitalism’s downward pressure on wages and disregard for human dignity, spurring on the creation of a new social consciousness in which workers from initially antagonistic backgrounds recognize their common humanity through their common plight. His message in 1987 came at a time when American labour was facing renewed capitalist assault on basic worker and human rights under the leadership of the economically neoliberal and socially neoconservative Reagan Administration. 

In my presentation I will examine the ability of film to address questions of ontology, and more specifically the ability of film to enlighten viewers about their state of being in modern society. To do so, I will focus primarily on the nature of uncanniness of film, in that film is able to develop questions of being by way of Sigmund Freud’s notion of the uncanny, where the uncanny acts as a way to understand our subconscious and ways that it is constrained. I will also explore other philosophers and academics like Slavoj Žižek, Stanley Cavell, Stephen Mulhall, and Julia Kristeva. My examination will be, in a way, an analysis of the various capacities of film creation that allow for the uncanny, with direct examples given from popular movies; through this I will argue that film goes a step farther than Freud’s original notion of the uncanny allows for because it does not simply examine the subconscious, but also the collective conscious of society. As noted by Žižek, film acts as a quilting point in society where we can look into society in a philosophically critical way. 

A collection of poems meant to have absolutely no meaning. A lot of poetry you read these days is making a point, as if poetry’s only value is to teach you something. Poems about the environment, poems about self worth, poems that affirm life. These collected poems do nothing of the sort. If they make a point they are certainty not trying to, and they are also most certainty not affirming life. In todays “hyper positive” culture people are becoming afraid to share their not so pleasant thoughts, this creates boring, dishonest poetry. Rather than telling the reader exactly what the poems is about, this collection lets that reader decide for themselves. There is value in reading things you don’t like.

The focus of this research is on the relationship between secondary students, poverty and literacy skill development in rural Nova Scotia high schools. More specifically, we examine the pedagogical practices that impoverished students perceive as being authentic, significant, and useful in their literacy learning. My role in this research study has been to conduct an in-depth literature review which pertains to the impact poverty has on student learning in underserved communities, what has been done to intervene and disrupt the impact of poverty thus far, and how to mitigate economic struggles and literacy through pedagogical practices. The now completed literature review and synthesis have outlined the most pervasive and valuable themes in educational research literature as it relates to poverty and literacy skill development. The research that I’ve compiled, sorted, and synthesized reveals 9 critical aspects of education that benefit students experiencing poverty: 1) Student-teacher collaboration, 2) The fostering motivation and confidence, 3) In-school and out-of-school supports for students, 4) Differentiated instruction in the classroom, 5) Effective and explicit instruction, 6) The use of digital media and tools, 7) Relevant content in the classroom, 8) Supportive classroom and school culture, and 9) Teacher efficacy and satisfaction. It is hoped that this work and the dissection of these methods will better inform teachers in their pedagogical practices and daily instructional interactions with students who experience poverty.

We have all heard the jokes or the comments. “Don’t flash the lights, they’ll have a seizure.” “What do you call it when someone uses 100% of their brain? A seizure.” They get worse from there. We live in a world, however, where it is not the jokes that affect the everyday lives of those living with epilepsy; we live in a world where these people are scared to share their diagnosis because they fear doing so will result in losing jobs, licences, friends, or simply be treated like they are glass. Where do these ideas come from? Epilepsy has a long history of being misunderstood and considered evil in nature. This misunderstanding is not just in what are considered mystical or supernatural belief systems but in more traditionally accepted ones as well. For instance, it appears in Christianity when Jesus casts a devil out of a boy with epilepsy (Mark 9:14-29). This view prevailed for many years, even after a medical description of epilepsy emerged. Under Nazi Germany, those living with epilepsy were considered “unworthy of living”—a view that was common across most of the world, including the US and Canada. In fact, as late as 1972, those living with epilepsy could be forcibly sterilized in parts of Canada (Grekel, Krahn, & Odynak, 2004). The history of epilepsy has left both those living with epilepsy and those around them scared of the disease. By examining the history, current representations, and personal history with epilepsy, I will make a case that we need to use our current knowledge about epilepsy to change the way it is perceived and presented in today’s society. 

Members of the UNB culture and social psychology research laboratory and I examined how people in Canada and Korea present themselves online to attract potential romantic partners. We randomly selected 302 Canadian and Korean profiles from Match.com. Of the 302 profiles, we analyzed the content of 203 self-descriptions written by Canadian and Korean men and women. Based on previous research involving individualism and collectivism in self-presentation styles across cultures, we predicted that Canadian profiles would contain detail about one's uniqueness, whereas Korean profiles would provide more features that focused on others. It was also predicted, based on previous cross-cultural research, that Korean profiles would contain relatively more prevention-focused information (e.g., avoiding aversive outcomes, staying safe) and that Canadian profiles would contain relatively more promotion-focused information (e.g., seeking positive results, pursuing advancement). We also expected to find some minor gender differences in the content of the profiles within each cultural group. In this presentation, I will share some results from our examination of cultural differences in the self-presentation styles of online daters and discuss the implications of our findings concerning perceived attractiveness and influential self-presentation strategies across cultures.  

Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between sedentary behaviour and psychological distress, anxiety symptoms, and self-esteem. Other research has demonstrated that regular physical activity can counteract these effects by providing anti-depressive, anxiolytic, and mood-enhancing effects. Thus, the present study seeks to examine whether weekly exercise dose is predictive of weekly wellbeing ratings. A secondary objective within the study is to determine whether the impact of exercise on wellbeing varies across different subcategories of wellbeing (overall wellbeing, interpersonal wellbeing, individual wellbeing, or social wellbeing). Participants of this study are being taken from a larger study that compares an intervention involving Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) plus aerobic exercise to treatment as usual in undergraduates with elevated mood and anxiety symptoms. The intervention involves an eight-week “learn to run” program that consists of two group sessions per week. Each week, participants are to complete a questionnaire that assesses their wellbeing and dose of exercise. Data collection for the study is ongoing. Analyzing the results will help determine whether dose of exercise is predictive of wellbeing scores and whether this impact varies across types of wellbeing. Understanding the relationship between exercise and wellbeing is important as we do not yet know how regular exercise impacts wellbeing on a weekly basis. Additionally, this study can provide those with mental health problems an effective strategy to improve their wellbeing.

Women occupy the empty places that society needs filled. We care for the children, nurse our elders, clean the house, get the groceries, arrange for the plumber, hold a part time job to make ends meet and then still manage to get a meal on the table. 

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Think of some of your favourite women.  What are the things women do to be individuals and to be noticed?  Is it a shade of lipstick, hair style, jewellery, clothing or a 6” heel on a size 7 foot?  Second-wave feminism encourages women to be seen as people without their value being determined by the beck-and-call of a partner nor set aside on some pedestal as a ‘goddess’.  Is that the message that all of us send back out to the world?

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In this series of paintings (still in progress) the goal is to get uncomfortably close and remove those security items that ‘make a woman’.  Many women choose to show you stuff rather than themselves in order to lure someone into conversation or feel attractive.  In an article entitled Bridging the Gap, Angela McRobbie highlights how women are targeted as the ultimate consumer.  Advertising is direct and deliberate, making women feel they need to keep up.  When the industry keeps women consuming, the market keeps rolling, but where does that leave her?

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This project encourages the observer to investigate feminist material culture and shines a spotlight on how women place value on objects to mask themselves from the public.  These paintings are paired with some facts about the subject, letting the observer get to know a stranger and see what is truly amazing about each and every one of them.

Abstract forthcoming. 

As the East India Company formally consolidated its rule across India, from the last decades of the seventeenth century into the first half of the nineteenth century, so too did notions of masculinity and its power as a source of imperial authority. Contemporary commentary on the integrity of British imperial command solidified themselves alongside performances of masculinity. Social authority and imperial justification were thus derived from the white male body, and constructed upon the broad intersections of morality, naturalized disposition, and inappropriate behaviour. Therefore, rhetoric and policy of imperial command found itself gendered in the context of a predominantly masculine East India Company and the Company’s unequal interactions with Indian men and women. Focusing on the period after the EIC solidified itself as a dominant power, and before the formal establishment of the government Raj, this study draws the connections between appropriate masculinities for British men and the moral philosophy of Company imperial power.

Anant Pai's Amar Chitra Katha (Immortal Picture Stories) have been identified by scholars as the presentation of Indian stories and culture in a typically Western medium. However, Amar Chitra Katha is part of a long tradition of narrative art in India. I trace the history of narrative painting and sculpture through representations of the Mahabharata, and situate Anant Pai's project within this long tradition of sequential art. While Amar Chitra Katha has some Western influences, Pai and India Book House represent this publication as an accurate retelling of historical events and ancient stories. The reality is that Amar Chitra Katha deviates from ancient texts, despite its assertion of privileging an "original" source and discarding much of later literary traditions, which I examine in the context of the Mahabharata tradition. Amar Chitra Katha retellings significantly modify the meanings of the stories represented from their early literary appearances, often in methods specific to the nature of this medium, as a combination of representative art and the written word. Amar Chitra Katha inserts modern biases and prejudices into its retelling of ancient literature, and directs the reader to understand many aspects of modern India as grounded in the ancient past, thus informing a vision of the nation's future.

From the fifteenth century until present day, the Romani have been among those people subjected to racialized policies developed in order to prevent their integration into society. I looked at German fairytales, myths, government policies, and oral testimonies and I discovered that Romani had been racialized before there was a category of ‘race’, or a vocabulary to contextual racism in Europe. This early positing of fundamental biological differences within the cultural framework of the Holy Roman Empire enabled the Nazi party to easily mark the Romani for termination along with many other marginalized groups during their attempt to ‘purify German blood’.

Many people mistook Japan being a fascist state during the interwar period and joined the Axis for the Second World War.  However, Japan never had one fascist party dictatorship like in the case of Italy and Germany.  Nonetheless, for Japan’s expansionist foreign policy, it is impossible to ignore the influence of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.  After putting an end to isolationist policy in the mid-nineteenth century, Japan went through significant changes.  Especially after the Meiji Restoration, Japan was able to become a European-like imperialist power.  Starting from that point to the interwar period, Japan tried to demonstrate its power on the Asian continent.  Nevertheless, most of the Asian countries and territories were already ruled by European powers, and Japan did not have access to a lot of colonies to stand out as an imperialist power.

Japan decided to spread its influence to the largest country of Asia; China.  When the European powers like Britain and France strongly opposed the invasion of China, Japan needed new allies from the other side of the world to keep the other European powers in check and not interfere in their aggressive expansion policy in Asia.  To Japan, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, who were also militaristic powers, were the most suitable allies in the world.  In addition, Japan suffered domestic crises such as the political upheaval in the 1920s and the Great Depression in the 1930s.  The European fascist states of Italy and Germany proved to be the best model for overcoming these crises.  The betrayal of the Anglo-American powers made the Japanese turned their backs on them.  Furthermore, through the domestic and international crises, Japan found itself under the influence of fascism, under the guidance of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.  Thus, the Axis powers consisted of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperialist Japan were formed for the upcoming Second World War.

Gandhi developed a unique theory of non-violent practice and used it to bring about great change in his country, with an emphasis that change starts with the individual and their cultivation of themselves and willingness to commit to change. The work presented here focuses primarily on Gandhi’s principles of non-violence with a brief outline of his time in South Africa and the influence of Leo Tolstoy on Gandhi’s theory. While in South Africa Gandhi was exposed to many of the forces that would influence him to develop his theory, and Leo Tolstoy’s approach to understanding religion, truth, and universal love had a profound impact on Gandhi, who would remain correspondent until Tolstoy’s death. Gandhi’s principles of non-violence are based around self-discipline, courage, selflessness, and the search for truth, which he equates to God. His work in South Africa and India and the influence he maintains today is testament to the power of the fundamental truths contained within his principles and the type of knowledge, understanding, commitment, and conviction that must be maintained for true change to happen. 

In his non-fiction essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell describes a precarious situation from his time serving the British Empire in its reign over Lower Burma. When an elephant goes rogue one afternoon, Orwell must decide: does he act violently to uphold the resolute figure he is expected to be, or does he stray from external pressures to comply with his own morality? The situation is confounded by Orwell’s paradoxical role as an Anglo-Indian officer. In my paper, I discuss the internal conflict that Orwell experiences, the choices he is led to make, and who is truly responsible for this occasion's outcome. I argue that rather than letting our choices define us, we must appreciate context, as few decisions in life are simple. By opting to learn from our faults, we leverage experiential knowledge and create change within ourselves.

Abstract forthcoming.

Sexual consent is the willingness to engage in sexual activity by freely giving verbal or non-verbal communication; understanding sexual consent is important because it allows society to deem what is sexual assault and abuse. Some researchers have shown that emerging adults vary in their attitudes towards sexual consent. However, it is likely that women have more positive attitudes than men do. Therefore, the first goal of this study is to compare men and women’s overall attitudes towards sexual consent. We predict that women, compared to men, will have more positive attitudes towards sexual consent. In addition, few researchers have investigated factors associated with these attitudes. Therefore, a second goal was to investigate factors associated with attitudes towards sexual consent including the extent of parent-child sexual communication, sexual attitudes, and sexual experience. We predict that women and participants who report greater sexual communication with their parents generally and about sexual consent specifically, who had less sexual experience and more liberal attitudes would have more positive attitudes toward sexual consent. The last goal was to determine the extent to which parents have discussed sexual consent compared to other sexual health topics with their sons and daughters. Because parents, especially mothers, tend to talk about sexual health topics more with daughters than with sons, we predicted that parents would discuss consent less than other topics and that young women would report more extensive discussion of sexual consent than young men would.  

Sadomasochism is a rare and highly stigmatized form of sexual behaviour that has recently become more prominent in mainstream media, namely the Fifty Shades books and films. E. L. James' series has brought attention to the BDSM community, but it does not represent a healthy understanding or approach to such practices. Although the practice of sadomasochism is not without risk, in understanding and respecting the risks involved, it is possible to indulge in such activities in a safer manner that elicits a pleasurable response, which involves altering one's perception of discomfort or pain.

From a behavioural perspective, deriving pleasure from playing with physical or emotion distress is heavily dependent on a number of variables: individual variability, personal perceptions, and environmental context. If an individual's idiosyncrasies and perceptions are favourable towards sadomasochistic activities, they may negotiate a context in which pain or discomfort are their desired stimulation.  Thus, what may be a source of genuine discomfort or distress in an everyday environment can be reconstructed as a source of pleasure in a controlled context. These variables are what distinguish these behaviours as sources of reinforcement rather than punishment. By recognizing the value of individual variability as well as the roles that context and perception play in our understanding of physical and mental distress, the practice of sadomasochism can be used as a tool for pleasure and catharsis rather than stigmatized as abnormal sexual behaviour.

Abstract forthcoming.