Anthropology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/9870

This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Anthropology.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

Waterloo faculty, students, and staff can contact us or visit the UWSpace guide to learn more about depositing their research.

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

An Anthropological Perspective on the Experiences of Osteoarthritis in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and South Yorkshire, England
(University of Waterloo, 2021-01-13) Richards, Emily; Liu, Jennifer
This research studies the experience of both being diagnosed and living with osteoarthritis. I conducted this research looking to understand whether and how societal norms affected medical treatment of the disease. The research mostly focuses on the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, with a small comparative section on South Yorkshire. Three key themes were discovered and analyzed throughout the research. The first theme is lived experiences of osteoarthritis, which focuses on the concepts of pain and loss. The second key theme is the interrelation of responsibilization, medicalization, and moralization. This involves how patients rationalize the causes of their own osteoarthritis and sometimes how these compare to others. The third theme is Doctor-Patient interactions. Participants explained their experience interacting with medical professionals about their osteoarthritis, and analysis highlights how these interactions influence the participant’s perception of their condition and their own health. Osteoarthritis is well understood from a biological perspective; however, this is only one element in medical treatment. It is hoped in this research that the consideration of lived experiences by medical professionals will improve flaws in the communication of osteoarthritis management and treatment.
Are Drag Queens Sexist? Female Impersonation and the Sociocultural Construction of Normative Femininity
(University of Waterloo, 2009-04-07T18:34:46Z) Nixon, Kevin D.
In a great deal of social scientific literature on gender, female impersonators have been framed as the example par excellence of crossgendering and crossdressing behaviour in the West. Perceived rather dichotomously as either gender transgressive or reinforcing of hegemonic gender norms, female impersonators occupy a very central position within the emerging fields of gay and lesbian, transgendered, and queer studies. Certain schools of feminist thought, dating back to the mid to late 1970s have framed female impersonators as misogynistic gay men who appropriate female bodies and a “feminine” gender from biological women. These theories argue that female impersonators utilize highly stereotypical and overly sexualized images of the feminine, in order to gain power, prestige, and status within the queer community. This study challenges popular feminist perspectives on drag, first on a theoretical level, utilizing advances in contemporary queer theory and secondly on an ethnographic level, based on a year long field study which involved both participant observation and unstructured interviews with several female impersonators and nightclub patrons at a local queeroriented nightclub in a city in southern Ontario, Canada. Aiming to understand the degree to which performers identified with the normative femininity they performed, this study argues for a more complex understanding of what motivates individuals to become drag queens, one that incorporates female impersonators unique subjective understandings of their own gender identities. Overall, this study calls for a more holistic perspective on female impersonation, which does not limit itself to any one theoretical model of drag.
Are Metric Methods Really User-Friendly? A Methodological Study of Sex Estimation Techniques for the Talus and Calcaneus
(University of Waterloo, 2022-01-13) Chan, Grace; Liston, Maria
Skeletal sex is most commonly estimated using the pelvis and the skull. These elements, however, are not always available in archaeological and forensic situations as they may be missing or damaged as a result of burial practices or poor preservation. Anthropologists have developed sex estimation methods that utilize other skeletal elements, and many of these alternative methods rely on statistical analyses of bone metrics. Because metric methods are seen as more objective and less dependent on examiner experience, most have not undergone the independent validation to which morphologic methods have been subjected. The purpose of this research is to validate two previously developed metric methods for the talus and the calcaneus using a different population than the ones on which these methods were developed, and explore potential issues of precision and validity when these methods are applied by external users. This thesis recommends several areas for improvement in the development and publication of metric methods, including the necessity for more external validation studies, greater standardization of variables and methodology, an increased use of probabilistic estimates, and a re-evaluation of how symmetry and error are conceptualized and assessed.
Exploring the Temporalities of the Patient-Doctor Relationship Throughout the Lifespan Using an Anthropological Lens
(University of Waterloo, 2024-09-24) Manning, Wynne Caitlin; Hoeppe, Götz
This thesis explores the temporalities of patient-doctor relationships. Existing studies of patient-doctor relations have been largely made by non-anthropologists who assess patient-doctor encounters and relations at shorter timespans. How longer timespans matter to these social relations has been analyzed less. This thesis proposes a qualitative approach that uses interviews and diaries by participants to document their experiences with their doctors and the healthcare system in Ontario. Adopting this approach for an exploratory study of 19 participants suggests that age, gender, ethnicity, and educational status affect how patients experience the temporalities of their interactions with medical doctors.
The Heritage Inquisition: A Comparative Analysis of Archaeological Heritage Legislation from Around the World
(University of Waterloo, 2020-01-16) Tildesley, Martha; Park, Robert
Around the world, archaeological sites and their excavation are governed by laws. These laws regulate things such as what must occur when land that may contain archaeological sites is going to be disturbed, as well as who is allowed to excavate sites, and what happens to the artifacts that are found. These laws have a real impact on archaeologists and other members of society, but they differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. By comparing current archaeological heritage legislation, regulation and policy in different jurisdictions around the world, this thesis identifies patterns both common and distinct within the heritage legislation. In this thesis, I draw from my own research to look at the diverse ways in which archaeology is regulated, practiced and perceived in different parts of the world. I draw from my own knowledge and experience of Ontario archaeology and include areas from around the world that share a similar past to that of Ontario, which results in the archaeology of colonial and Indigenous histories. The jurisdictions examined in this thesis are: Ontario and Nunavut in Canada; New Zealand, and Tasmania. In chapter one, I investigate and demonstrate how these archaeological heritage laws are important, and the real effect they have on people. Archaeological legislation protects archaeological sites and materials, and is sometimes perceived in a positive manner, and sometimes in a negative manner by affected people. In chapter two, I expand upon the effects of legislation on individuals by comparing the archaeological heritage legislation from the four chosen jurisdictions. I ask the question: which problems were solved by the legislation? Asking this question emphasizes the similarities and differences in the practice of archaeology from around the world and helps to show how different jurisdictions deal with specific archaeological situations. This analysis of the current archaeological heritage legislation of these jurisdictions offers insights into the role and influence heritage governance has on the lives of people around the world.
Ruptures in Canada’s Nationalist Narrative: Situating Toronto’s Former-Yugoslav Immigrants in the Indigenous-Settler Context
(University of Waterloo, 2017-01-20) Jovanovic, Stefan; Dagtas, Secil; Habib, Jasmin
With the increasing prevalence of Indigenous discourses in the public consciousness, it becomes clear that the role of immigrants in the Indigenous-Settler dynamic has yet to be understood, and is particularly understudied in its Canadian context. However, given that nearly half of the population in the City of Toronto is composed of immigrants, it presents a rich research opportunity. As a Toronto-based immigrant from Former-Yugoslavia, I decided to conduct research with my own community. This thesis investigates the positionality of the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) Former-Yugoslav immigrants in the context of Indigenous-Settler relations. My research suggests that this community is situated within two ruptures of the Canadian nationalist narrative – paradoxical realms of multiple co-occurring imaginaries. As displaced peoples, they are privileged beneficiaries of the Canadian state while simultaneously being denied access to the Whiteness of the Canadian-Canadian ethnic identity. The ruptures are exposed by the relational positionality of Indigenous peoples to Former-Yugoslavs; in other words, Indigenous peoples play a central role in the identity of the GTA’s Former-Yugoslav immigrants. The very existence of Indigenous peoples in Canada shatters the illusion of inclusivity in the multiculturalist narrative by exposing (1) the rupture of injustices acted upon Indigenous peoples by the Canadian state, which maintains its marginalization of these communities via multiculturalism; and (2) the rupture of the relational nature of Whiteness by challenging it as a monolithic identifier of ethno-racial categorization in favour of pluralistic forms of identity. Thus, Former-Yugoslav immigrants are Settlers who have potential for solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
The Sidney Effect: Competitive Youth Hockey and Fantasy Relationships
(University of Waterloo, 2009-04-30T19:30:59Z) Theoret, Matthew John Ross
This thesis explores how a group of 17 male youth athletes, and their families, experience competitive hockey. Many of the youths seem to forge fantasy relationships with hockey celebrities, heroes, and stars -- e.g. Sidney Crosby -- emulating them with regard to the "best" attitudes, equipment, and styles of play to have or use. Their parents invest considerable amounts of money and time into their sons' participation in hockey, not because they necessarily share their sons' dreams of athletic stardom, but because they hope that it will help instill community-defined "positive" values into their sons--tools needed to become "successful" youths and, eventually, adults.

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Browsing Anthropology by Subject "anthropology"