Arts (Faculty of)

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 1862

Nishga Initiative and Missionary Response: Robert Doolan at Quinwoch, B.C.
(SAGE, 1981-07-01) Patterson II, E Palmer
In this historical study of the work of pioneer missionary Robert Doolan, Professor Patterson points out the initiative shown by the Nishga people of the northwest coast of British Columbia and how this interest helped build the church there.
Native Missionaries of the North Pacific Coast: Philip McKay and Others
(University of the Pacific, 1986) Patterson, E Palmer
IN WRITING THE HISTORY of nineteenth century Christian missions the tendency has been to deal primarily with the European and Euro-American or Euro-Canadian missionaries and their exploits—as adventure, devotion, sacrifice, martyrdom, cultural and economic imperialism, and other themes. Much less attention has been given to native missionaries, lay and clerical, commissioned by their white supervisors. Still less attention has been given to spontaneous, informal, or self-commissioned missionary activity by native Christians.
L'Adultère e(s)t la souffrance : analyse thématique et exemplifiée de l'œuvre fictive de Guy de Maupassant
(University of Waterloo, 1991-01-07) Richter, Klaus Bodo
Partant de la suggestion d'André Vial, ''l'un des critiques les plus importants" de l'œuvre de Guy de Maupassant, que l'infidélité conjugale est un des thèmes parcourant son œuvre, cette étude visera à développer la pensée de l'auteur quant à l'adultère en traçant ses idées à travers son œuvre fictive. Par ceci, elle comblera une lacune dans la recherche sur l'auteur et son œuvre et contribuera à éclairer un coin négligé par l'étude scolaire de la litterature française. [...]
Logic in Pictures: An Examination of Diagrammatic Representations, Graph Theory and Logic
(University of Waterloo, 1994) Hawley, Derik
This thesis explores the various forms of reasoning that are associated with diagrams. It does this by a logical analysis of diagrammatic symbols. The thesis is divided into three sections dealing with different aspects of diagrammatic logic. They are (1) The relevance of diagrammatic symbols and their role in logic, (2) Methods of formalizing diagrammatic symbols, such as subway maps and Peirce's Existential Graphs through the means of Graph theory, (3) The conception of inference in diagrammatic logic systems.
Occurrent Contractarianism: A Preference-Based Ethical Theory
(University of Waterloo, 1995) Murray, Malcolm
There is a problem within contractarian ethics that I wish to resolve. It concerns individualpreferences. Contractarianism holds that morality, properly conceived, can satisfy individualpreferences and interests better than amorality or immorality. W hat is unclear, however, iswhether these preferences are those individuals actually hold or those that they should hold. The goal of my thesis is to investigate this question. I introduce a version of contractarian ethicsthat relies on ind ividual preferences in a manner more stringent than has been in the literatureto date.
An Inquiry into Mental Variation
(University of Waterloo, 1995) Kujundzic, Nebojsa
Although there are both common and specialised senses of the term variation, (the OED lists dozens) there seems to be no well defined use of this term in philosophy. The main task of my thesis is to demonstrate that variation can be defined as a cognitive technique. I suggest that variation has been frequently used by philosophers, although not always in an overt manner. Moreover, I attempt to show that it is reasonable to talk about the relative importance of variation by examining the role of variation in Locke's Essay, Husserl's and Reinach's phenomenology, cognitive science, and thought experiments.
Normalizing the Ideal: Psychology, the School, and the Family in Post-World War II
(University of Waterloo, 1996) Gleason, Mona Lee
'Psychology and the Construction of the 'Normal' Family in Postwar Canada, 1945-1960,' investigates the manner in which psychological discourse constructed notions of the normal postwar family in Canada. Despite their pronouncements to the contrary, I argue that the psychologists' discussions of what constituted the normal family were shaped by and reflected their social values, and not so-called objective, scientific concerns. In psychological discourse, normal families were those that conformed to the idealized expectations constructed by the psychologists themselves. These expectations reflected the hegemony of the Anglo-Saxon middle-class point of view that dominated postwar Canadian society. Through its specialized discourse, psychology compared, differentiated, hierarchized, homogenized and excluded families and individuals. Together these techniques constituted its 'normalizing power. ' The study seeks to understand the role of professional social sciences in shaping the private experience of ordinary Canadians and the political uses to which the concepts of social scientific rhetoric are put. It suggests that social scientists endowed with the power to influence social convention determined acceptable ideas about the family and family life. This raises important questions about the political motivation of this expert intervention into the private lives of Canadians.
An Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture and Video
(University of Waterloo, 1997) Baker, Charles
This M. F. A. thesis exhibition consists of painting, sculpture, and video completed over the last five months. In support of the exhibition, an artist's statement outlines my exploration of the interaction between artist and audience, stylization and mass production of image.
L'apprentissage du français langue seconde chez les immigrés chinois, coréens et japonais à Montréal
(University of Waterloo, 1997-06-01) Kraus, Vivienne
Présentement au Canada il existe un nombre considerable d'immigrants asiatiques. Quoique la présence des immigrés ait des conséquences positives pour le Canada (pour son economie, pour ses relations internationales, etc.), du côte de l'immigré, c'est patiois le contraire. Depuis l'essor de l'immigration provenant d'Asie, des difficultés surgissent du fait que ces nouveaux arrivés ressemblent beaucoup moins aux Europeens, source privilegiée des immigres au Canada dans le passé, sur les plans physique, culturel et linguistique. Cette étude va porter sur trois groupes asiatiques en particulier, asavoir, les Chinois, les Japonais, et les Coréens, en raison de leurs similarités linguistiques et culturelles. Ces trois groupes se trouvent aussi parmi les communautés linguistiques les plus nombreuses du monde. Si le Canada reste un pays destinataire de ces immigrés, ces chiffres témoignent de l'importance d'une meilleure compréhension des difficultés auxquelles se heurtent ces immigrés. Cette étude se concentre sur les obstacles qu'ils rencontrent dans le contexte scolaire. [...]
Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region: Adapting Feminist Organization Theory to Daily Practice
(University of Waterloo, 1998) Aubry, Christine G.
As a volunteer with Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region (PPWR), I observed an organization that was providing services in a feminist context. PPWR is a feminist organization: a goal of the agency is to reduce gender power differences. Further, PPWR's participants work within an atmosphere of consensus and support. Because PPWR adheres to central feminist values and principles, some feminist organization theorists would argue that PPWR could, and should, follow the model of feminist consensual organizing. However, PPWR is also a service organization (like many bureaucratic organizations). The goals of the organization make structure and hierarchy necessary for goal achievement. In this thesis, I examine how PPWR reconciles the need for structure and hierarchy with feminist values and principles. The goal of this research is to examine what is unique about PPWR's organizational structure. This was an exploratory case study. My position as an insider with the organization allowed for qualitative data collection through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Using organizational models found in traditional and feminist organization theory, I examine the organizational characteristics of PPWR. I explore the reasons why PPWR is hierarchically structured despite adherence to feminist principles. I also look at some of the dilemmas of consensual organizing practice which are particularly relevant to service organizations. Although PPWR is becoming increasingly structured, I argue that the organization is not likely to experience goal displacement. I examine internal and external characteristics of the organization which reinforce participants' commitment to organizational goals. The controversial nature of PPWR's services and the organization's social movement orientation counter-balance the problems which some feminists have attributed to the traditional bureaucracy.
Motivated Resistance to Counterattitudinal Arguments: The effects of affirmation, argument strength and attitude importance
(University of Waterloo, 2000) Correll, Joshua
In this study we explored some of the factors associated with biased processing of attitude-relevant information. We were particularly interested in the possibility that a self-affirmation, by reducing self-evaluative concerns, might increase participants' willingness to impartially evaluate information that conflicts with their current views. We examined students' reactions to arguments about increasing tuition as a function of four factors: attitude importance, argument strength, the congruence of arguments with existing attitudes, and our experimental manipulation of affirmation. We found that affirmation reduced biased evaluation only for participants who rated the issue as important. We also found that affirmation dramatically impacted the perception of argument strength. Stronger counterattitudinal arguments were rejected by non-affirmed participants, who did not distinguish them from weak arguments, presumably because of the esteem threat posed by a strong ideological challenge. Affirmed participants, though, evaluated strong counterattitudinal arguments more positively.
Witnessing-condition Heterogeneity and Witnesses’ Versus Investigators’ Confidence in the Accuracy of Witnesses’ Identification Decisions
(APA, 2000-06) Lindsay, D. Stephen; Nilsen, Elizabeth S.; Read, J. Don
Undergraduate participants were tested in 144 pairs, with one member of each pair randomly assigned to a “witness” role and the other to an “:investigator” role. Each witness viewed a target person on video under good or poor witnessing conditions and was then interviewed by an investigator, who administered a photo lineup and rated his or her confidence in the witness. Witnesses also (separately) rated their own confidence. Investigators discriminated between accurate and inaccurate witnesses, but did so less well than witnesses' own confidence ratings and were biased toward accepting witnesses' decisions. Moreover, investigators' confidence made no unique contribution to the prediction of witnesses' accuracy. Witnesses' confidence and accuracy were affected in the same direction by witnessing conditions, and there was a substantial confidence–accuracy correlation when data were collapsed across witnessing conditions. Confidence can be strongly indicative of accuracy when witnessing conditions vary widely, and witnesses' confidence may be a better indicator than investigators'
Impact de la dramatisation sur la prosodie du français langue seconde
(University of Waterloo, 2001) Breakspear, Christopher
Prosody, the structures governing the pitch and rhythm of speech, is essential to the correct and authentic use of a language. Unfortunately, many students of a second language find it difficult to learn these patterns, particularly when they differ significantly from their mother tongue. Several pedagogical models are now widely used, but only within the confines of a conventional classroom environment. Dramatisation, the process of preparing a full theatrical performance, has already shown itself to be useful in the acquisition of second language grammar and vocabulary. This thesis demonstrates by means of a qualitative case study that this approach to language teaching also results in a statistically significant improvement in the area of prosody. The results were obtained by analysing the digitised speech of four students who participated in a course employing dramatisation in order to teach French as a second language.
Membership Retention in Scout Troops
(University of Waterloo, 2001-08-16) Morland, Liam
Factors affecting membership retention in Scout troops were examined. Scout meetings were unobtrusively observed and program information questionnaires were completed for 17 urban Scouts Canada Scout troops (age range 11–14) in Waterloo Region, Ontario. Thirty Scouters (adult leaders) completed written questionnaires. The study found that many Scouts remain in the program for only one year. Scouts who achieved badges are more likely to stay and continue to the Venturer program (ages 14–17). Troops with more outdoor activities and which give more autonomy to the Scouts have higher rates of membership retention. The Scout uniform is examined from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Scout culture is discussed. Includes description of Scouting with brief history. 23 tables.
Hoax, Parody, and Conservatism in Harry Potter
(University of Waterloo, 2002) Dudink, Peter
This essay examines the ideology or value system implicit in Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter series. Many of the images in the series, despite being fantastic or empirically unprecedented, are minor transformations of popular books and of our very common physical and cultural reality. However, these imaginative transformations of mundane reality actually imitate, reiterate, and conserve common and contemporary secular values. On a third level the thesis will show that this conservation of contemporary secular values is undermined by a cynical and very subtle transformative element of satire, parody, and criticism. Depending on the theme explored by the particular chapter, a different level of meaning might be evident. Chapter One discusses Rowling's parody of popular secular values. Chapter Two focuses on her parody of Christianity. Chapter Three focuses on Rowling's representations of nature and technology and on her parodic reversal of their traditional representation in similar literature. Chapter Four discusses how Rowling has made a critical appropriation of popular culture's reliance on thoughtless and 'instant' solutions, and discusses how she has made a mockery of her own hero, Harry Potter. The conclusion discusses the value of literary devices that transform literal meanings and verbal images into new meanings and images, and concludes that Harry Potter should be read cautiously. A second conclusion is that the author's claim the series is incomplete is a hoax. This argument is defended with a demonstration that the existing four Harry Potter books form a complete unit, and with a reminder that an element of hoax pervades Rowling's entire series.
Heritage Languages: The Case of German in Kitchener-Waterloo
(University of Waterloo, 2002) Heffner, Lori
This thesis investigates the assimilation and/or integration of German families in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario into Anglo-Canadian culture. By administering questionnaires to and interviewing members in three three-generational families (n=29), different factors involved in an effort to ascertain what factors, if any, determine one's decision to pass on or continue learning German. The thesis proposes that if participants have a positive attitude towards German, i. e. , they see some use or value in it, then they will pass it on to the following generation. The first chapter outlines the aims of the study, methodology, and important terms. The second chapter describes previous research on the topic of immigrant integration in more detail, explaining the influences of external agents such as the government, school system, and media, and more 'internal' agents such as one's circle of friends and other social contacts as well as the family. The third chapter describes the three families and summarizes the main characteristics of each generation. Chapter four reports the results of the questionnaires and interviews. Chapter five, the conclusion, suggests which individual factors need to be studied further. The findings in this study suggest that there is no single factor which decides if those of German heritage decide to pass on their language or continue learning/using it themselves, or if they prefer to assimilate into Anglo-Canadian culture. Two factors did prove to be very important, namely the practicality of learning German, and how important one's heritage was to a participant. However, not even the presence of these two variables guaranteed a desire to continue learning German, demonstrating that numerous variables are taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue learning German and/or to pass it on to the next generation.
Against the Grain: Globalization and Agricultural Subsidies in Canada and the United States
(University of Waterloo, 2003) Wipf, Kevin
This thesis investigates whether developments associated with globalization and regional integration have caused the levels of government support provided to agricultural producers in Canada and the United States to converge in a downward direction. The literature is sharply divided as to whether governments retain the ability to pursue an independent agricultural policy course. To shed light on this debate, the levels of government assistance payments made to farmers in six contiguous Canadian provinces and American states (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana) are compared over the 1990-2001 period. This time-frame allows for sufficient periods both before and after the establishment of NAFTA and the WTO to study the effects of these developments on the relevant policy outcomes. After outlining the programs and policy changes that drove the shifts in levels of government support provided to farmers, the paper argues that although the levels of government payments made to farmers in the six sub-units converged in the mid-1990s, they diverged thereafter. The evidence drawn from this examination supports the contention that governments do possess considerable room to manoeuvre in the agricultural policy making arena and significant ability to chart an independent policy course.
ECOLOGICAL CRISIS AND HUMAN NATURE: The Green and Liberal Approaches
(University of Waterloo, 2003) Nestaiko, Marta
The concept of human nature profoundly shapes our understanding of how political and social life ought to be organised. This thesis examines the concept of human nature developed by the Green political perspective and its impact on the Green understanding of economy, society and technology. By comparing the Green and Liberal concepts of human nature (and by extension their respective conceptualisation of society, economy and technology), it is argued that the roots of present day environmental crisis could be traced to the Liberal concept of human nature and the Liberal conceptualisation of the relationship between humanity and nature.
L'identité ethnologique chez Annie Ernaux
(University of Waterloo, 2003-08-01) Crawley, Christine
Pour Annie Ernaux, écrivaine obsédée par le rapport entre le "soi" et le monde qui l'entoure, il n'y a rien de plus important que la recherche sur la réalite. Née en Normandie en 1910 d'une famille ouvrière, Annie Ernaux connaît directement la transition sociale de la classe ouvriere à la classe bourgeoise. Élevée dans une famille ouvriere, où elle était très consciente du fait que même leur façon de parler soulignait leur infériorité sociale, Ernaux a été fort encouragée par ses parents (surtout par sa mère) à quitter ce milieu. [...]
Ding-Diskurs - die Darstellung der Dingwelt bei Wilhelm Genazino, beispielhaft an Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag und Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman
(University of Waterloo, 2004) Fischer, Melanie
The following thesis examines the topos of "things" in literature. Herein we discuss concrete objects and how they are used and presented in contemporary prose. The primary works analyzed are both by Wilhelm Genazino, namely Ein Regenschirm für diesen Tag and Eine Frau, eine Wohnung, ein Roman, published in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The analysis of different "things" in the two novels by Genanzino affords one the opportunity of pursuing three different objectives. First, the topos is by its very nature an interdisciplinary one, and therefore the theoretical concepts from different disciplines are applied to the scholarly examination of "things" in literature. This theoretical framework is based on different aspects of the work of the philosopher Martin Heidegger, the media theorist Marshall McLuhan, the sociologist Norbert Elias, and the philosophical economist Karl Marx. Some specific characteristics of the presentation of "things" in literature such as "Tücke des Objektes" ("flaw of the object") and the fetishization of objects are also discussed. As a result, a new constellation of ideas is developed that has practical applications for the analysis of literature. The second goal of this thesis is to interpret the works of Wilhelm Genazino, a highly regarded author who has been largely ignored by literary scholars, by applying this new conglomeration of ideas. This interpretation concentrates on single concrete "things" that appear in the novels to establish their connotations for the narratives. "Things" become cultural or personal symbols, and the interpretation of them reveals another dimension to Genazino's prose. Last but not least it is shown that even small "things" (can) have a major impact in every form of media. This might well influence traditional interpretations of well known works in the literary canon. Four examples from world literature introduce the topic in order to give an overview of the different representations of the topos "thing". It becomes apparent that the symbolic meaning of things may change during epochs. Nevertheless these four examples introduce topoi, such as "transitorisches Objekt" ("transitional object"), which can also be found in the primary works of this thesis. The examples are taken from different epochs as well as from different cultural backgrounds to emphasize the intercultural premise of the theme. After introducing Genazino´s approach to the thing-discourse and defining his major ideas, a close reading that makes use of the analytical framework is employed to discuss and interpret the primary texts. It becomes apparent that "things", rather than plot or character, provide the major impetus to the narratives. The interdisciplinary approach of this thesis underscores the important contributions that an analysis of "thing discourse" can make to the study of literary texts and their importance to human existence. As the topic of discussion has been of intereset to scholars in several different scientific areas, it becomes clear that the interdisciplinary approach of analyzing texts may spread ideas concerning not only the works in question, but all disciplines involved as well.

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