VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Dying to be alive: portraits of the intimacy between life and death
Keywords: Life
Death
Death, Psychological aspects
Mind and body
Arts, Therapeutic use
Sick, Psychology

Using various modes of expressive arts I respond to my own experiences of illness, death and dying. The influences these experiences have, on how I live and understand my life's meaning, are explored. Using Lindsay Anderson's Authentic Transformative Integration Theory, I analyze how creative exploration using expressive arts modalities, such as dance, poetry, journaling, painting and music composition, facilitates the transformative process of integrating experiences of illness, death and dying into a deepened sense of self and place in the world. My personal history and multi-faceted inquiry complements and weaves together research in the field of near-end-of-life care, expressive arts therapies, near-death studies and education. How can meaning be found or created in the midst of suffering, pain, loss or illness? This inquiry uses a holistic approach to representing an exploration of some of the profound questions at the core of the human experience.
Transnational legal process and the TRIPS Agreement: Intellectual property rights, international law and the compliance conundrum
Keywords: International law

This dissertation critically evaluates the extent to which the TRIPS Agreement has succeeded in improving compliance with international intellectual property law. By drawing upon the work of human rights scholar Harold Koh on "transnational legal process", this dissertation departs from traditional accounts of intellectual property regulation at the multilateral level by explaining how implementation problems under the TRIPS regime can be more fully appreciated from the perspective of "compliance theory". I argue that the TRIPS Agreement has only had limited success in generating lasting and meaningful compliance in the global order because intellectual property norms and TRIPS non-compliance mechanisms continue to operate at a largely exogenous, inter-state level, without reconfiguring the values and identities of consumers and other non-state actors at the grassroots level of domestic society. Taking into account the often private and surreptitious nature of intellectual property infringement, it is suggested that the key challenge facing the TRIPS community lies in promoting voluntary adherence to TRIPS standards by domestic actors through processes of "norm internalization" that seek to persuade, rather than coerce or punish.
The scales for experiencing emotions: Establishing concurrent and cross-cultural validity
Keywords: Emotions, Measurement
Emotions

This study provided evidence for the psychometric properties of the Scales for Experiencing Emotion (SEE) (Behr Becker, 2002), a 7-dimensional measure of fundamental facets of experiencing emotions. It is a brief self-report questionnaire developed on a German sample and based on Person-Centered theory of personality and therapeutic change. The purpose of this study was to establish the SEE's concurrent and cross-cultural validity with a Canadian sample. Results show that the SEE has good overall reliability and excellent validity. Findings also indicate that emotional experience is multidimensional and that the SEE encompasses key facets of emotional processing. Although some of the SEE's psychometric properties require further testing, it can be used with confidence for both clinical and research purposes, and with caution in different cultures. It is hoped that this instrument will be used in research, inform therapists of individuals' emotion processes, and contribute to the judicious application of interventions.
Dialectical play and dramatic discourse: Eve, a counter myth
Keywords: Drama
Mythology
Creation, Mythology

In this study my overarching aim is to explore how drama inquiry facilitates awareness about the social construction of knowledge by locating interlocutors in the circumstances and action of a narrative. This investigation is grounded in the understanding of epistemology as a dialectical endeavor that is complex, subjective, partial, dependent on context, and dynamic, and playwriting as a heuristic, dialogic, and holistic methodology. I situated this inquiry in an investigation of the myth of Adam and Eve for two main reasons. One is that this text exemplifies how stories evolve over time due to myriad variables, including the intentions of the storytellers, cultural influences, and who narrates the tale and, thus, instigate changes in awareness. I also wanted to explore how telling this highly influential patriarchal allegory about the feminine archetype from an alternate point of view might shift consciousness about gender, authority, nature, and morality. Narratives are the girders upon which lives are configured. No matter what form they take they are how we humans process, recollect, communicate, and give meaning to lived experience (Bruner, 1990). They allow us to construct and reconstruct aspects of life in nuanced detail, not merely to report events, but as a way to reflect on existence and expand personal and social understanding. Besides providing insights into psycho-social-political structures stories generate culture through interpretive representations (Campbell, 1987). Specifically, my inquiry is a reconstruction of the ancient myth synthesized with a story about a woman in the not too distant future. Eve, A Counter Myth is a full-length, multi-media theatrical work. Despite its serious intent and themes it is a comedy written in modern colloquial language. The play links past with present and legend with contemporary trends. An artistic project, Eve also is a qualitative creative inquiry (Barone Eisner, 1997) that aims to contribute to discourse about what it means to be human.
Duality of diversification: the effect of internal and external configuration of diversification on firm performance
Keywords: Strategic planning
Dissertations, Academic, Canada

This thesis is the first to connect the diversification literature in strategic management with the literature on multi-market contact. I argue that there exists a duality of diversification, and that both sides of the duality have an impact on firm performance. The internal configuration, which potentially generates the synergistic use of resources, minimizes transactional costs among business divisions, and cross-fertilizes social capital of the corporate umbrella, is represented by the multi-divisional corporate structure of a diversified firm. The external configuration, which influences firm performance in that a focal firm can benefit from a coexistence with its rivals in a coordinated way, includes the first- and second-order multi-market contacts among firms, and the macro-level pattern of the inter-firm network. The second-order multi-market contact is further divided into Simmelian ties and quasi-Simmelian ties. Simmelian ties are referred to as triadic ties. Quasi-Simmelian ties are a focal firm's connections with the rivals of the focal firm's directly connected rivals. My arguments are tested in the Canadian general insurance industry through the use of spatial econometrics modeling. The analyses do not provide support for the beneficial effects of the internal configuration and the first-order multi-market contact. However, my results find evidence for the performance advantage of establishing Simmelian ties and quasi-Simmelian ties with rivals. Finally, my results reveal that the inter-firm network in the Canadian general insurance industry is negatively connected. A given firm's performance in such a network is harmed by the existence of all other firms, and weakened by those firms with which the given firm is directly connected. In addition, the given firm benefits from those far away rivals, whose existence undercuts the competitive blunt of those rival firms with which the given firm is directly confronted.
Hybrid youth: discourses of ethnic difference and style
Keywords: Youth, Ontario
Cultural fusion, Ontario
Multicultural education, Ontario
Ethnicity, Ontario
Popular culture, Ontario
Teenagers, Ontario

Ethnic identity is central in shaping how we understand and perceive ourselves in relation to others. It is a complex and ever-evolving construction that takes place within a myriad of social relations and daily experiences. Based on an empirical qualitative study conducted with nine classmates from a Toronto high school, this research seeks to better understand how teenagers experience ethnic identity and understand the differences that surround them at school. I look in particular at the role of music and fashion styles as key sites for the construction and expression of ethnic identity, as well as vehicles to cross cultural borders. The participants' discourses reveal that popular cultural styles are used to challenge and surpass fixed versions of ethnic belonging, situating individuals as hybrid beings. Hybrid cultural identities, however, are highly structured and constrained at the school by a contradictory discourse that emphasizes authentic roots and stable identities.
"Cracks in the facade of liberty": The resort to habeas corpus to enforce part XX.1 of the Criminal Code
Keywords: Habeas corpus
Liberty
Criminal law, Canada

In 1992, Parliament enacted sweeping changes to the mental disorder provisions of the Criminal Code (Part XX. 1). These changes were intended to mark a new era of dignity, respect for liberty and balance between the safety of the public and the assessment-treatment needs of mentally disordered persons. However, in Ontario, many people were unlawfully held in jail in spite of orders that they be placed in hospital to receive assessment or treatment under the new regime in Part XX. 1. A number of accused people began to seek the extraordinary remedy of habeas corpus in Superior Court to enforce regular orders for placement in hospital. The ten-year string of threatened, aborted and decided habeas corpus cases in Ontario reveals a gap between the progressive goals of Part XX. 1 and the reality of its implementation in Ontario. I propose a twofold response to eliminate the need for resort to habeas corpus. The first is the recognition and reconciliation of the need for collaboration among the institutions responsible for forensic justice in Ontario. The second is a proposal for a specific legislative response for the timing of in-hospital assessments, to ensure alignment with the policy aims within Part XX. 1.
"I want to talk to my lawyer": the right to counsel of detainees suspected of security offences in Israel
Keywords: Right to counsel, Israel
Detainers (Criminal procedure), Israel
Subversive activities, Israel

The right to counsel has been recognized in Israel as an important right in the criminal procedure and was elevated to a constitutional status. Accordingly, the protection of the right and limitations on it are regulated by law. This legislation differentiates between treatment of the right to counsel in the context of security offences and other offences. In the security context the right can be delayed for significantly longer durations. This different framework is an application of an 'Accommodations' model, which allows modifications of the ordinary framework, inside the bounds of legality, due to security needs. I argue that this differentiation can be justified, as the interests in this context lead to a different balance; however the specific framework that is set in the Israeli legislation is not proportionate. The current duration of delay of the meeting should be re-evaluated and minimized, and alternative forms of meeting should be added.
Academic excellence, devotion to the church and the virtues of womanhood: Loretto, Hamilton 1865-1970
Keywords: Learning and scholarship, Religious aspects
Academic achievement, Religious aspects
Nuns

This study of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary's (IBVM) convent school in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is a microhistorical examination of the teaching Sisters and their students. Loretto Hamilton is both a mirror and a window. It offers a reflection of a Loretto convent school in Ontario throughout the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries and a view into the operations of the Sisters, students and school. Forty students attended in the school's first year, 1865; the following year, enrollment surged to 100 pupils. Loretto Academy closed in 1970 with a capacity of almost 400 students. It remains the longest continuously operating private girls' school in the city's history. This study contributes to and substantially revises the existing body of historical research by examining the IBVM's critical role in the process of establishing convent schooling in Hamilton, Canada West, in 1865. Without the diligent work of women religious, and in particular that of the Loretto Sisters (the name by which the IBVM were known colloquially), the history of higher education of Hamilton girls in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries would have been markedly different. This study adds to our understanding of nineteenth and twentieth-century education by examining the experiences of those students and teachers who participated in the day-to-day life of Loretto Hamilton. It enriches in minute detail how the Academy functioned in terms of the pedagogy and curriculum of a secondary school. There was a distinct difference in the goals the Loretto Sisters established for their school, and those desired by the local public high school that had as its goals preparation for the world of work and civil obedience. Yet, in order to survive, Loretto Hamilton had to parallel its local public high school in curricular offerings and building expansions in order to retain and attract students. When it could no longer compete, the school closed.
The debate on change of medium of instruction in Hong Kong secondary schools
Keywords: Language policy, China
Education, Secondary, China
Public opinion, China
Language policy, Public opinion
Education, Secondary, Public opinion

This thesis explored the heated debate prompted by the 1998 change of medium of instruction from English to Chinese for most Hong Kong Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 students imposed by the Hong Kong government. In order to understand the background of the 1998 change, the history of English education in Hong Kong was briefly examined. Then the thesis looked at the responses of different sectors of Hong Kong society, e.g. parents, teachers, and government officials to the 1998 change as reported in Hong Kong newspaper reports and commentaries. 14 interviews of parents and educators were also conducted to understand the reasoning/rationale behind their views on the issue in detail. At the end of the thesis, the concept of linguistic imperialism was examined to see if it could be appropriately applied to the situation of Hong Kong in relation to the 1998 change.
"Coming out" as queer Asian youth in Canada: examining cultural narratives of identity and community
Keywords: Gays, Identity
Gays, Canada
Lesbians, Identity
Lesbians, Canada
Asians, Canada
Youth, Canada
Coming out (Sexual orientation)

This thesis examines cultural narratives of identity and community formation in Canada through an analysis of interviews with six self-identified queer Asian youth from the Greater Toronto Area. It critically examines the concept of “coming out” by highlighting the complex and often contradictory positionings that queer Asian youth may find themselves in having to negotiate their identities and subjectivities in different contexts of marginalization. Overall, it argues that “queer Asian youth” are positioned as secondary citizens by the Canadian nation-state. However, this thesis also argues that individuals and communities may take up the category of “queer Asian youth” to contest and characterize the profoundly unstable nature of social categories such as race, class, gender, nation and sexuality.
Using graphing calculators in the mathematics classroom: teachers' conceptions and their teaching practices
Keywords: Graphic calculators
Mathematics, Study and teaching
Mathematics teachers, Attitudes

This study investigated teachers' conceptions of mathematics and their teaching practices with respect to the use of graphing calculators in their mathematics classrooms. Case studies on three teacher participants were developed using quantitative and qualitative data that consisted of self-assessments on beliefs in mathematics, observations, surveys on professional and personal technology use, and semi-structured interviews. All three teachers viewed mathematics as a dynamic field, emphasized understanding concepts as opposed to mechanical procedures, and preferred the construction and understanding of the concept over the memorization of procedures. All three teachers were willing to use graphing calculators in the mathematics classroom and all three had a similar goal of attempting to use the graphing calculators to eliminate mechanical processing time and enhance their students' ability to construct their own learning. The evidence from the study suggests that these teacher's practices, with respect to the use of graphing calculators in the mathematics classroom, are influenced by how proficient their students are at using this technology and how accessible the technology is. There were five major findings from the study: (1) if the mechanics of operating a graphing calculator involve at least as much mental effort as the mechanics involved in pencil and paper work, then using the graphing calculator will not free up students so that they can concentrate on constructing their own knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts or solving more complex problems; (2) when mechanical operating issues are overcome, introducing graphing calculators into the mathematics classroom aids teachers in helping students construct their own mathematical knowledge by allowing all students to begin at a common starting point; (3) to obtain the full benefits of having students learn with the graphing calculators in the mathematics classroom, teachers must require students to use the graphing calculators when they are being evaluated; (4) teachers will determine for themselves where graphing calculators can be most appropriately used in the curriculum; and (5) teachers require strategies that will allow them to successfully deal with managing the day-to-day difficulties involved in using technological instruments such as the graphing calculator in the classroom. Implications for future study include how we can help those teachers inexperienced with the use of technology to incorporate the use of technology in their classrooms, how we need to address the need for consistent teaching practices throughout the intermediate, secondary and post-secondary levels, and how future case studies can be coded to reflect more precisely the language used by teachers to question students in the classroom. Suggestions for educators to consider when using graphing calculators in the mathematics classroom are given at the end of the study.
Teachers' reported understanding and implementation of a new grade 8 mathematics curriculum
Keywords: Mathematics, Study and teaching (Middle school)
Middle schools, Curricula
Mathematics teachers, In-service training

This dissertation is a two-stage qualitative examination of the interpretation and implementation of mathematical reform in Grade 8 classrooms in four regions of Ontario. It is also an examination and amplification of M. Simon's (1995b; 1997) theoretical model of reform-based mathematical instruction. Eighteen teachers were selected from a wider group who had voluntarily participated in the Impact Math workshops that had been designed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education to support mathematical reform in Grades 7 and 8. The teachers selected were those most likely to be using the Impact Math curriculum units and the new Ontario curriculum as intended, that is, in a reform-based instructional manner. The theoretical underpinnings and classroom interpretation of reform-based instruction vary widely in the research literature. In this study Simon's theoretical model was linked to codes of expected classroom practice drawn from the literature on reform instruction. This model and attendant codes were used to analyze the first stage data. The analysis revealed that the teachers could be loosely grouped into three patterns of mathematical reform interpretation and implementation: surface reform, mixed practice and substantive reform. In all three patterns, teachers espoused the basic tenets of reform but implemented it to varying degrees, from superficial to substantive. The coded model was used to develop a detailed description of each of these three patterns. Three teachers were chosen from the mixed practice pattern for a second stage of in-depth case study. The analysis of the second stage data (extended in-class observation and interviews) reaffirmed the finding that although all of the teachers espoused mathematical reform instructional methods—their interpretation varied in distinctive ways. The model worked well to identify the factors (e.g. teachers' own mathematical knowledge, teachers' concept of worthwhile mathematical discussion or, lack of time) that were particularly important in influencing the teachers' interpretation and implementation of reform practice. The interplay of these identified factors and teachers' instruction have implications for mathematical reform beyond this study. Modifications were made to the Simon model to make it a more effective research tool in further studies of reform instruction. Recommendations for further research are discussed.
An exploration of teacher vulnerability in a context of large-scale government-mandated secondary school reform
Keywords: Educational change, History
Educational change, Ontario
Teaching, Ontario
Teachers, Attitudes
Teachers, Ontario
Education and state, Ontario
Emotions

This study examines teacher professional vulnerability in a context of large-scale government mandated secondary school reform. Its primary objective is to develop and refine a theory of vulnerability by grounding it in secondary teachers' day-to-day work as they implement a complex set of reform mandates. It is exploratory and developmental in nature. Two questions are addressed: What is the nature teacher professional vulnerability? In what ways might support influence teacher professional vulnerability? Mixed methodology is used to achieve the primary purpose of this study. The survey and interview data together reveal a dynamic interplay among individual agency, individual attributes, and context that affect the ways teachers understand and experience vulnerability. These data show that teacher professional vulnerability is a complex, multidimensional emotional experience. It has both a protective or inefficacious component, as well as an open or willing component. The conditions of secondary school reform implementation are such that teachers believe that they have lost valued work conditions, and that their sense of purpose as a teacher is under attack (Kelchtermans, 1996). These conditions cause teachers to experience protective or inefficacious vulnerability. Teachers experience willing or open vulnerability as proposed in the theoretical framework primarily in their interactions with students. They value developing rapport with them, and see this more personalized kind of relationship as necessary for students' academic, social and emotional development. The open dimension of vulnerability has not been identified in previous research, and requires further study to better understand its dimensions.