Independent Studies

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This collection consists of a selection of theses completed by students as part of the requirements for the 3- and 4- year Bachelor of Independent Studies degrees. The theses included here were submitted to UWSpace by Independent Studies administrators upon the program’s closing in 2016.

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Arab-Jewish Cooperative Coexistence in Israel/Palestine
(University of Waterloo, 2005) Zer-Aviv, Avi
The current conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel/Palestine has ruptured relations between the two peoples, and essentially divided them along geographic, economic, cultural, political, and sociological lines. Yet up until about a hundred years ago, these two peoples enjoyed a rich and deep shared history of coexistence, and lived together as neighbours in relative peace for centuries. This thesis is an attempt to uncover those memories, and use them to rekindle the tradition of cooperative coexistence between Jews and Arabs in that region. It comes from listening to the stories of my mother’s parents, both born in British Mandate Palestine, and from my own unique identity as a Canadian-Israeli-Palestinian-Algerian- Hungarian-Polish Jew and pagan. It comes from my own conflict of understanding the creation of the State of Israel as a rescue spot for Holocaust survivors like my father’s mother, and my discontent with religious nationalism and its racist dimensions. It is above all an affirmation that peace is an ongoing relational process worth cultivating, and will never be achieved so long as Jews and Arabs stay separate, segregated, and ghettoized within their respective communities.
I Don't Care Whose Fault It Is! Or, An Introduction to the Short-Term Forecasting Theory, Implementing Fuzzy-logic and Neural Networks
(University of Waterloo, 2006) Bernstein, Jordan
In contradiction with much conventional economic theory, this thesis argues that successful short-term forecasting is both possible and practicable. Beginning with the assumption, and widely-held belief, that there are patterns to be discovered in the stock market, the thesis develops the Short-Term Forecasting Theory (STFT) to demonstrate how useful and accurate short-term forecasts might be achieved. In short, this thesis posits that, if short-term financial forecasting of an equity can be broken down to a mechanical procedure, the problem of short-term forecasting is reduced to the question of finding the proper tools for this procedure. This thesis presents two computing methods – fuzzy logic and neural networks – that, when combined, could serve as an appropriate tool for implementation.
Second-Generation Stack Computer Architecture
(University of Waterloo, 2007) LaForest, Charles Eric
It is commonly held in current computer architecture literature that stack-based computers were entirely superseded by the combination of pipelined, integrated microprocessors and improved compilers. While correct, the literature omits a second, new generation of stack computers that emerged at the same time. In this thesis, I develop historical, qualitative, and quantitative distinctions between the first and second generations of stack computers. I present a rebuttal of the main arguments against stack computers and show that they are not applicable to those of the second generation. I also present an example of a small, modern stack computer and compare it to the MIPS architecture. The results show that second-generation stack computers have much better performance for deeply nested or recursive code, but are correspondingly worse for iterative code. The results also show that even though the stack computer’s zero-operand instruction format only moderately increases the code density, it significantly reduces instruction memory bandwidth.
Writing to Tell, Telling to Live: Reading the Storyteller in Alistair MacLeod's Short Fiction
(University of Waterloo, 2008) Barclay, S. Vaughn
This essay examines the way Alistair MacLeod‘s short fiction formally and thematically invokes the presence of Walter Benjamin‘s oral "Storyteller" figure/and culture, elaborated in his 1936 essay, in order to ask broader questions about the role of storytelling—oral and written—in contemporary culture. The essay analyzes the cultural implications for resuscitating this storyteller figure. I develop a paradigm to explore the "use" of stories by synthesizing "found" ideas drawn from various cultural sources: Benjamin‘s affirmation of the use of story, the rhetorical criticism of Terry Eagleton, Raymond Williams' searching analyses of the individual, culture and education, and finally cultural philosophies of narrative by Richard Kearney and Richard Rorty. This paradigm is then tested in five MacLeod stories.I show how MacLeod‘s stories, in foregrounding the links between writing and orality, invite us to revaluate the role of orality and literature. MacLeod‘s texts demonstrate how narrative and storytelling encompassing a newly visioned and embodied subject, re-grounded in the matrix of family/culture/history, can narrate us through fragmentation and loss towards a new cultural vision. Contemporary manifestations of Benjamin‘s "Storyteller" figure discovered in MacLeod‘s texts are seen to reflect the many existential sources of story and the culture-shaping energy that story is. Rehearsing the active shaping and historicizing of self and culture through narrative, the stories work to renew our sense of the fundamental nature and cultural use of story. These conclusions have significant implications for how we inherit and carry forward from generation to generation our location or dislocation within personhood, family and culture.
The Write Choice
(University of Waterloo, 2009) Rupert, Spencer
This paper compares and contrasts movies, television, and video games from the perspective of the writer. This is done in order to determine which is the superior story telling medium. It is accomplished by examining how each is written, who else holds influence over the story, and the regulatory bodies involved. The relationships between the three media are discussed and then illustrated in order to demonstrate these relationships and the theories discussed in this paper.
Game Design Concepts
(University of Waterloo, 2009) Bishop, Orin
The term “game design” is not well defined; it is used to mean many different things which oftentimes are only peripherally related to the actual design process, and many books purportedly on the subject do not adequately cover the core concepts of game design proper. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the more formal aspects of game design separate from other aspects of games such as art, production, audio, and programming. My objective is to flesh out a set of guidelines that can be applied across all types and media including both digital and non-digital games, and touch upon various difficulties and challenges that a game designer is likely to face in each stage of the design process from initial concept to playtesting and tweaking. Along the way I provide specific examples of how formal gameplay might be altered by specific changes to internal logic and mathematics, and how this might affect the experience for the players. The focus is on games as formal, mathematical systems, and I examine games from their basic elements outwards, though I also explore such topics as the incorporation of theme and narrative into formal gameplay. Throughout the thesis I present a number of different ways of looking at and thinking about gameplay, with the hope that the reader may emerge with a clearer vision of the underlying formal systems of all games.
Positive Materialsim: How Does Money Shape Family Happiness?
(University of Waterloo, 2009) Leslie, Trevor
Why do some families let money shape their happiness in a negative way while others control their money and shape their happiness in a positive way? Maslow (1943) described his first two levels in his Hierarchy of Needs as both materialistic and positive, that is support of life and safety, and yet materialism has a negative connotation in Western society. I conducted eight in-depth qualitative interviews with couples in the Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Demographically they were very similar by age, number of children, duration of marriage, education, family income, and proximity to grandparents. Existing literature and statistics suggest that many families fall prey to excessive negative materialism, yet the results of this study suggest that these families use materialism positively to help shape their happiness. Therefore, I submit my Positive Materialism Theory - A person or group who uses materials or materialism to facilitate spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values and as a result increases their happiness quotient. If families understand that money can be positive, (that money buying happiness is not negative), maybe this awareness will help families realize that “money can buy happiness” and take steps to accomplish this.
Citizenship for a Modern Democracy: Youth Perspectives on the Canadian Multicultural Reality
(University of Waterloo, 2009) Moores, Erin
This paper explores the links between citizenship and multiculturalism in the Ontario secondary school curriculum Grade 10 Civics course and among Ontario youth. Contemporary citizenship theory suggests that a progressive approach to citizenship, fostering critical thinking, civic participation and commitment to social justice, is particularly necessary in a multicultural nation faced with complex issues like racism and inequity. However, this study offers preliminary support for the idea that Ontario’s approach to citizenship education remains generally conservative in nature and does not create a platform from which students could internalize critical perspectives on multiculturalism. Analysis of the Ontario Grade 10 Civics course and interviews with five recent Ontario high school graduates likewise suggests that students may also retain more conservative attitudes towards citizenship and superficial knowledge about its links to multiculturalism. This paper suggests that more research into how students understand these complex topics might assist educators as they develop more progressive curricula.
Maps of Human Communication: Science and the Arts
(University of Waterloo, 2009) Bandyopadhyay, Sujoy
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the function of language as a map that navigates the perception of human reality. In the thesis, attention is paid to the structure of speech, and whether or not it accurately represents the structure of empirical knowledge. This thesis also examines how, in a scientific context, paradoxes and confusion in quantum mechanics can be avoided through the use of a linguistic formula. Such a formula will permit the structure of speech to be congruent with the structure of empirical knowledge, as it pertains to the description of scientific experiments. The structure imposed onto the content of films by certain creative techniques are also examined in this thesis. The overall conclusions are that while the use of a linguistic formula could be useful in a scientific context, a strict adherence to the structure of empirical knowledge might not be appropriate in the area of film-making, because it might stifle creativity or be viewed as censorship.
Realism in Contemporary Fine Art
(University of Waterloo, 2010) Newman, Yoni
Usually I start out with a technical concept. I try to get as detailed as possible in regards to the logistics of how I'll carry out the work. The ideas themselves are quite intricate and so an intuitive approach to process isn't appropriate. Instead lots of research and a mapped out plan of action are required. I don't no longer think of art as an explorative process, except in the most general way. My approach is very exploitive. Most people think of artists as engaging in an activity that is essentially explorative, an open ended thing, the inquisitive mind journeying along uncharted creative waters. I believe this is a very narrow understanding of the process. There needs to be a managing consciousness that marshals resources and knowledge towards a desired end. The whole act of creation is a dance with chaos; where do the ideas come from in the first place? How are experience, knowledge, and history thrown together? How is the vaguest impression transformed into an actual real thing that everyone understands? How does the mind thread its way through various influences to arrive at unique conclusions? The source itself is unquantifiable; so why not rationalize as much of the process as you can? (One can never fully control it, but in trying to, one can at least come to understand it.) Of course it never does go as planned. In less than perfect attempts, one reaches a point where a decision needs to be made as to whether one should resolve a piece of art or continue trying to actualize what it was supposed to be. This was the point I reached with the Demoiselles des Avignon project on October 1 2009. I lacked the experience necessary to carry out the ambitious scheme as originally laid out, but at one point I did have an interesting and potentially successful painting. Integrity dictates that the artist sacrifice everything in pursuit of artistic truth. In this frame of reference there is no compromise, the vision must be realized (this presumes that the artist fully understands the vision at the outset, which I'm not at all sure is most often the case). However, on the ground, an artist is essentially a project manager, unlike anyone running anything, they must constantly evaluate risk versus reward. At what point do I throw the map out the window and look around? This moment hit me on October 1st, with a little over a month left and a lifetime's worth of work still to complete. The practical voice of compromise took over. I re-evaluated what I had achieved. Understanding that I could not complete this painting anytime soon I decided to scrap the methodology that I had employed over the Spring and Summer. The plan had been to produce three paintings of the same subject matter. Here's how they would have theoretically related to each other: (one) The Rubensian, baroque method would have relied largely on drawing skill, and manipulated layers of opaque/transparent paint layers to achieve a luminous sense of plasticity. (two) The modern realist painting was to rely largely on accurate colour relationships to do the heavy lifting with the drawing aspects were to be simplified to generalized shapes. (three) The third painting was going to be guided by an expressionist sensibility. It was not to rely on a particular method, but rather explore some interesting themes from the other two paintings to build up an interesting surface, one that did not rely so strictly on observation. This exercise was meant to explore the intricate relationship between aesthetic approach and subject matter, and this is where a piece succeeds or fails. It's where all the associative commentary happens- an extremely subtle, and tricky dialogue to truly understand. This cannot be so quickly mastered, through such diagramatic means (...by me...at this juncture in time). Sitting in front of me on October 1st, was a painting that resembled none of the 3 hypothetical scenarios described above. I had started one way and then lost focus, and began to rely on instincts where I couldn't solve technical problems. Thus, the work lacked the conviction of the "vision" it was meant to express. At this point I was trying to finish one painting within the remaining month. Seeing as the piece was already compromised, I then tried to hack through the remaining 20% of the painting. every desperate attempt seemed to bring me further and further away from the finish line1. At that point, I was looking at a piece that was utterly confused, and ought to be abandoned. This essay is an exploration of those issues, which I failed to do through painting.
Dissocation of Subjective and Objective Health Status in the Chinese Population
(University of Waterloo, 2011) Tsuei, Sian
As the general Chinese population becomes more overweight, pressure mounts to explore the reasons behind this trend. Pooling four waves of the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) into two groups—2004 with 2006 and 1997 with 2000—it was found that the higher socioeconomic status (SES) is positively correlated with perceived health status, but negatively correlated with objective health measures such as being overweight, diabetic, or hypertensive. Contrary to previous theories, in the Chinese population, higher SES is generally positively correlated with better health lifestyle knowledge, and less likelihood of daily use of alcohol and cigarettes. The negative correlation between higher SES and health may be due to increased opportunity cost of time. We find no evidence to support the idea that individuals with higher SES consume more sin goods such as alcohol and tobacco.
Justice that is Healing: Responding to Domestic Violence in Aboriginal Communities
(University of Waterloo, 2011) Workman, Gloria
All Aboriginal communities are dealing with the effects of domestic violence. This thesis includes an exploration of the magnitude, outcomes and conditions that have been exacerbated by domestic violence with the goal of discovering ways to cope, challenge and prevent abuse within family life in Aboriginal communities. After reading a book called Returning to the Teachings, Exploring Aboriginal Justice by Rupert Ross, many questions came to mind: How would restorative justice processes work for situations of domestic violence? Was it even an appropriate response for situations of such a complex nature, particularly in Aboriginal communities? This kind of research is extremely important to help decision makers understand the urgency of the situation. There is a need to change the way that the justice systems deal with situations of domestic violence within Aboriginal communities. The health and well-being of the ever increasing number of future generations of Aboriginal children and youth depend on these changes, as they grow and develop into contributing members of their communities. I conducted a literature review, participated in numerous workshops and interviewed four people who helped me to gain a better understanding of justice as healing processes. Domestic violence is a significant, complex challenge within Aboriginal communities that has its roots in decisions made by western governments and churches to assimilate Aboriginal people into mainstream society. The warehousing of children in residential schools (over a hundred year period) and the ‘scooping’ of Aboriginal children into the foster care system (in the 1960s) destroyed families, communities and nations and left parents to pick up the shattered pieces of their families' lives. So much harm has been created for Aboriginal families and communities as a result of decisions made by mainstream hierarchies that it will take an enormous amount of resources and changes in how social services and justice systems deal with situations of domestic violence within Aboriginal communities. It will require a paradigm shift that puts Aboriginal people, particularly Aboriginal women, in charge of programs and services that promote the healing and restoration of their families and communities.
Imagination: A Tool with Potential
(University of Waterloo, 2012) Vukovich, Heidrun
This thesis deals with imagination as a tool in light of two academic disciplines: philosophy and education. In the history of philosophy, imagination appears as an intentional tool for cognizing, and in education, the child’s self-generated, imaginative activity serves as an integrative tool for cognitive processes and for self-awareness. The use of imagination in the history of philosophy reveals time-sensitive stages of differentiated, imaginative activity and intentionality. A similar time-organism of imaginative activity occurs in the developing child. Both time processes point to an evolving but de-linearized becoming human (Karl Koenig), which imply an evolutionary perspective of consciousness. This becoming human establishes itself in times of crisis and windows of opportunity, most obvious in child development. Similar relationships of opportunity and crisis are perceived in scientific research and in quantum physics. My background for this enquiry is education. In observing how educators face the challenge of declining academic skills in the global competitiveness of “knowledge as wealth” paradigm (Government of Canada), we see in the educational context the relative one-sightedness of causal thinking and information technology. This priority has undermined other modes of cognition. What is important beyond formal, abstract modes are empathy and interpersonal functioning skills that require imaginative activity. For education to fulfill its role in the midst of present cultural shifts, it must review its broader mission of culturalization. It must replace the present curricular-based school system with a postmodern pedagogy of whole child education. Kieran Egan’s imaginative education and Rudolph Steiner’s education towards freedom, both observe the child’s own time-sensitive cognitive processes in light of human becoming. In detailing their approach, imaginative activity accounts as an integral learning tool for Egan, and further stabilizes and harmonizes the development of the self in Steiner’s Waldorf Education.
Performimg Education: The Utopian Potential of Creative Peer-to-peer Sexual Health Education for Queer Youth
(University of Waterloo, 2012) Ligate, Ashling
In this cultural moment, young queers are struggling to imagine themselves and find community. A significant component of enabling a youth's self-discovery is providing access to inclusive and culturally-relevant education about their bodies, especially as it relates to sexual health. Current models of instruction are limited. Institutional learning environments may rely on materials that are overtly or subtly homophobic (for example, speaking only of heterosexual relationships outside of the small section or chapter on other forms of sexual orientation). If a youth is lucky enough to encounter materials that strive to be more inclusive, the communication method may be dry and purely factual, leaving the youth to attempt to translate useful information into their daily life. This project addresses the gap in sexual health education for queer youth. I argue for the potential of using disidentificatory performance as a medium through which to build a self-sufficient commons for young queer people. In order to first identify the markers of this method of communication, I draw upon the work of Jose Esteban Munoz, a queer theorist and performance studies scholar. I conducted a critical content analysis of the fifth episode of the online video series called Heavy Petting and considered whether or not it could be considered an example of disidentificatory performance used for sexual health education. In my analysis of Heavy Petting, four themes arose, each of which related to things that are needed in order for a young queer commons to be self-sufficient: (1) tools for queering toxic tropes; (2) communication methods that allow for dissensus; (3) stylish politics grounded in a subversive aesthetic; and (4) role models and educators who will help create an intimate queerworld, in the words of Munoz. The results of my findings indicate that the Heavy Petting video is an example of disidentificatory performance, in that it satisfies the three criteria that I name as constitutive of the genre. This suggests that such peer-to-peer educational projects do indeed hold the potential to support commons building among young queer people.
Defining, Demanding, and Developing the Critical Thinker
(University of Waterloo, 2013) Emanuel, Tatiana
This thesis examines critical thinking (CT) in education. Research includes a comprehensive literature review, focused on defining CT, understanding CT expectations in education, and expounding on how CT is best developed. To better support CT development and subsequent student achievement, a consensus should be reached regarding the definition of CT, and we consider prominent ideas of CT and its nature to offer a potential encompassing definition. This paper also includes analysis of a selection of Ontario‘s curriculum documents as well as a survey of professors teaching at universities across Ontario to identify CT promotion and expectations. CT is clearly valued in education, and is an important contributor to student achievement and academic success. However, our research demonstrates that explicit secondary school development of CT is often not sufficient considering the demands of higher education.
Evolving Conceptions of Time and Selfhood in Three Novels by Urula K. Le Guin: The Dispossessed, Always Coming Home, and Lavinia
(University of Waterloo, 2014) Pella, Virginia Claire Elizabeth
Since the 1970s, Ursula K. Le Guin has been widely recognized as an author who uses fiction as a means to address fundamental philosophical, political, and ethical questions. Of the many scholarly analyses of her work, however, relatively few consider the implications of her depiction of time and selfhood. Those which do, moreover, concentrate on certain texts and take a limited range of theoretical perspectives. In consequence, neither the enduring nature of Le Guin’s engagement with these issues nor the originality of her treatment of them is generally recognized. This thesis aims to begin redressing this gap by examining the ways in which time and selfhood are portrayed in three major works of speculative fiction, only one of which (The Dispossessed) has previously been considered from this angle. Through a series of close readings, I demonstrate that Le Guin’s depiction of these concepts differs in important ways both from the “common-sense” understandings of time and selfhood prevalent in Western societies and between the three works themselves. The result is a clear evolution, in which the relatively familiar ontological framework of The Dispossessed gives way to a radical reconceptualization of the nature of time and individual existence in Always Coming Home, followed by Lavinia’s subtle but profound reframing of the relationship between time, the individual, and the totality of which he or she is part. Drawing on scholarly analyses of Le Guin’s work, as well as writings from narratology, phenomenology, philosophy of time, and neuroscience, I show that each text constitutes a systematic working through of an alternative way of understanding our individual and temporal existence in the world. This, in turn, forms the basis for Le Guin’s ongoing and in- depth exploration of major ethical questions.
Building Student Centred-Communities for Canada's Growing Population of Undergraduate Students
(University of Waterloo, 2014) Barbor, Allan
Over the past decade, Canada’s rising post-secondary student population has resulted in the “studentification" of many university towns. Such unprecedented growth requires new strategies focused on supporting undergraduate students during their transition into off-campus communities. Leaders throughout the community can engage students in high?priority neighbourhoods, through an informed and collaborative approach to development. Their investment in a purposeful and strategic infrastructure will improve student integration as they transition out of residence and into the surrounding communities.
Salacious Sade and Perverted Poe: Perversity and the quest for knowledge from 1740 to 1895
(University of Waterloo, 2014) Baldwin, Brittney
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of perversity within the Self as a quest for individual knowledge. Libertine and Gothic literature will be characterized as an individualized reflection on society’s fragmented role as part of the Whole. I will discuss how Libertine and Gothic literature utilize the supernatural, the cloister, and melodrama to characterize the fluidity within gender and sex. In turn, I will locate the essence of perversity in literature between 1740 and 1895 as an intellectual pursuit and an ideology of independence. The time period I have chosen to examine encompasses the lives and deaths of the authors I am analyzing, from the birth of Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (also known as the Marquis de Sade) in 1740, to Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s death in 1895. I will illustrate how perversion and radical individualism creates personal freedom that also works to undo widespread attempts at systematic authority while paradoxically depending on the very norm it seeks to pervert.
Fermion Doubling in Loop Quantum Gravity
(University of Waterloo, 2015) Barnett, Jacob
For the last 20 years, it has been known how to couple matter to the theory of loop quantum gravity. However, one of the most simple questions that can be asked about this framework has not been addressed; is there a fermion doubling in loop quantum gravity? This is an exceptionally important issue if we are to connect the theory to experiments. In this thesis, we will arrive at a demonstration of fermion doubling around some graphs in the large bare ? limit. To obtain this result, we ?rst perform a Born-Oppenheimer like approximation to the Hamiltonian formulation of loop quantum gravity to work around a theory with a ?xed graph. We then make the case for identifying the energy spectrum this theory with a model of lattice gauge theory which is known to double. Appropriate reviews of fermion doubling and loop quantum gravity are provided along with an outlook of constructing a doubling-free version of LQG. Our ?ndings suggest one should interpret matter in loop quantum gravity in a much different way.
For the Long Haul: Challenging Ideologies of Social Movement Participation through Counter-stories of Activist Burnout
(University of Waterloo, 2015) Wettlauffer, Kathryn
It is a widely accepted truth, in the academic and activist literature alike, that burnout jeopardizes the sustainability of social movements and their actors. More disputable is whether its cause, or blame, lies in collective pressures or personal choices. This thesis takes up critical theory to develop a narrative inquiry into the dynamics between the two, in pursuit of answers to more complex questions about the origins of burnout: What ideologies of social movement participation dominate activist spaces? How do they manifest in subcultural norms and practices? And how do participants themselves navigate or negotiate these collective expectations, in order to “do activism” or do activism differently, in ways that are personally (un)sustainable? Narrative analysis was conducted using data collected during life story interviews with ten social and environmental justice activists from across Southern Ontario. Four distinct yet intersecting “ideologies” were discerned as forces shaping social movement participation within this region: an ideology of what activism is? an ideology of activist spaces as (anti)oppressive? an ideology of community relationships? and an ideology of how commitment is experienced or proven. These “activist ideologies” are also traced back to their roots in key ideologies that dominate western society more broadly, demonstrating an application of Althusser’s theory of the ideological state apparatus and how the “trickledown effect” of oppressive relations—even amongst progressives and radicals—may be interrupted or subverted. This theoretical analysis is complemented by a creative analytic theatre script crafted from the original research data. Its purpose is twofold: While offering the reader a more engaging representation of that data in the context of this thesis, “the play” is also designed for use in social movement spaces as a tool to both encourage the sharing of activists’ own burnout experiences and spark deeper, more strategic discussions of long-term social movement sustainability.

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