VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Sexual minorities under international law and the Rome Statute's gender provisions: A step forward for recognition, or a rubber stamp for outlaw status?
Keywords: Sexual minorities, Legal status, laws, etc
Sexual minorities, Civil rights
Homophobia

In the Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court gender was defined as "the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society ... not indicat[ing] any meaning different from the above." The intention on the part of some parties to the drafting process was to exclude homosexuals from the scope of the Statute. This thesis examines the potential of the compromised gender definition with regard to the ongoing protection or redress offered under international law to sexual minorities facing persecution and their rights in general. It is argued that this reflection of global homophobia perpetuates societal perceptions of sexual minorities as outside the protection of so called universal human rights. Historically, the creation of out groups through social and legal exclusion has resulted in the most egregious human rights violations of our time. It is suggested that a reversal of societal attitudes can only be achieved by presenting a balance to the current religious voice, at an international level, that is determinative of state behaviour.
Addressing race in workplace cultural diversity training
Keywords: Race relations, Study and teaching
Corporate culture
Diversity in the workplace
Organizational behavior

The findings show that participants in this study adopted an awareness-based anti-racist approach that was aimed at getting employees to identify how the goals of anti-racism could be achieved within their organizations. The two main strategies the participants used were organizational analysis and 'personalization'. This was done through critical reflection and dialogue. It is hoped that the findings of this study can add to the current scholarship by suggesting alternative approaches for workplace cultural diversity training in the corporate sector. Using qualitative interviews and document analysis, this study examined the strategies of eight cultural diversity training professionals who adopted an anti-racist approach to the design of their corporate sector work. Cultural diversity training and anti racism training have traditionally been conceptualized as two different types of training. The purpose of this study was to examine how cultural diversity training programs for the corporate sector could be designed using an anti-racist approach.
Task-based pedagogical activities as oral genres: a systemic functional linguistic analysis
Keywords: English language, Spoken English

A case study of an English as a second language classroom was conducted in order to investigate oral genres emerging from peer interaction during two task-based pedagogical activities. The purpose of the study was to identify the generic sequences and registers of two common instructional tasks, dictogloss and opinion exchange, and then to further analyze variation according to group performance. The study seeks to understand in detail the relationship between pedagogical activity, genre, and participants. To this end four pairs of Chinese adult L2 learners were audiotaped as they engaged in two types of recurrent classroom instructional activities---opinion exchange and dictogloss---three times over a six-week period. In addition, extensive field notes were taken to document genres occurring during other modes of instruction. Learner discourse was analyzed for generic sequence and register using a systemic functional linguistic framework. The discourse was further analyzed to compare group performance. Results showed both tasks had a unique generic structure, which defined them as separate genres. Additional results showed that (a) genre stages are best described in terms of probabilities rather than as dichotomous obligatory or optional occurrences; (b) some stages need not play a large role in the genre to be designated as obligatory; (c) recursion, which represents intersubjective meaning, is a central problem in the dynamic modeling of generic sequences; (d) genre analysis has the potential to contribute to the development of more accurate teaching materials and subsequently to the assessment of tasks for their pedagogical value; (e) task complexity is a matter of judging the quality of the goals attained and efficiency in use of resources rather than calculating a multiplicity of variables; and (f) genre analysis offers a new way of measuring proficiency within a sociocultural theory framework by taking into account use of resources and strategic goals in working toward the goal of the activity.
Iran, Iraq and the Security Council: the impact of the second Gulf war on the international law on the use of force
Keywords: Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988
Intervention (International law)

This thesis examines the impact of the Iraq war on the law on the use of force and analyzes whether Iraq has paved the way for an intervention in Iran. In Part 1, I discuss the background to the situation in Iran, the war in Iraq and the role of the Security Council. In Part 2, I critique the legal justification of the Iraq war and assess whether it could be used against Iran. I conclude that the weaknesses of the argument preclude its application to Iran. In Part 3, I argue that the doctrine of preventive self defence initially used to justify the Iraq war has no basis in international law and cannot be used to justify military action against Iran. I also argue that the war has not changed the law on self defence. In Part 4, I discuss recommendations for reform of the Security Council system.
The reconciliation of class actions, commercial arbitration and consumer rights
Keywords: Class actions (Civil procedure), Canada
Arbitration and award, Canada
Consumers, Legal status, laws, etc
Consumers, Canada

This thesis argues that Canadian legislation should allow arbitration to settle consumer class actions, especially in light of the Dell case. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada held that an arbitration clause in a consumer contract may be valid and enforceable despite being in a contract of adhesion and regardless of whether certain rules to be applied during the arbitration are in the nature of public order. Although principles of arbitration generally allow parties to select applicable substantive and procedural rules, this thesis argues that in the case of arbitration of consumer class actions Canadian legislation should make some of the applicable rules imperative. After outlining and discussing the importance of contractual stability and the advantages to consumers of arbitration, this thesis concludes that, for these and other reasons, it is essential to enforce arbitration clauses in contracts of adhesion with consumers and suggests criteria to evaluate the fairness of the arbitration decision.
Patterns of learning and knowledge exchange in Thai work teams: A study of team members communication and relationships etiquettes
Keywords: Social sciences, Methodology
System analysis
Teams in the workplace
Industrial organization

This thesis investigates patterns of learning and knowledge exchange in Thai work teams. I used General Systems Theory to describe these patterns and compared those communication interactions to achieve a holistic understanding of Thai team behaviour. I focused on the use of the dialogue process, emphasizing the gathering and processing of different information and knowledge from other people. I also used the communication etiquette concept to take into account culture differences. I used 5 focus groups and 8 individual interviews to capture qualitative behavioural data on 36 urban Thai managers and staff in public, private and state enterprise organizations. I analyzed the data together with data from my pilot study (6 individual interviews). In total, there were 42 participants. Comparing and contrasting the discussions and interview transcripts, I found patterns which fall into 3 major themes. These themes revealed that the closer or more intimate Thai team members are, the greater the openness, and the more authenticity they exhibit in exchanging information. These qualities reflect their culture of building caring, trusting relationships through various stages, starting with smiling, temperament-reading, and getting acquainted. Many culture-specific behaviours, such as Mee Nam Jai, non-assertiveness, and indirect versus direct talk and feedback supported good team relationships. Also, people took on different supporting roles, such as pseudo-sibling relationships and informal-third person roles to accommodate others' relationships as well as their own. However, some potential conflicts, including emotional or temperamental reactions, losing face, domination and power imbalance, egoism, and favouritism, could cause team divisions or individual or group alienation, preventing the raising of opinions that threaten the team's cohesiveness. Comparison with Westerner and Japanese studies indicated that temperament-reading, pseudo-sibling relationships, and informal third person roles may be uniquely important in Thai team relationships and certainly require further investigation elsewhere. Holistic understanding of all the data provides some insights into mechanisms Thais use in working together as a team. This knowledge can contribute to designing team-building instructions suitable to the nature of the Thais.
Early educational experiences of Canadian Black women: possible outcomes and strategies for higher education
Keywords: Women, Black, Education
Discrimination in education, Canada
Discrimination in higher education, Canada
Sexism in education, Canada
Women, Black, Education
Women, Black, Ontario
Women, Black, Social conditions
Women, Black, Ontario
African American college students
Women, Black, Education
Women, Black, Canada
Sex discrimination in higher education, Canada

This study looks at the early educational experiences of Black women in Canada. It focuses on how these experiences can effect later decisions about seeking access to higher education as well as the effect that these experiences can have on coping strategies while in school. This research, using an anti-racist Black Feminist approach is unique because previous studies have only investigated American accounts of this phenomenon. The nominal representation of Black women in higher education necessitates the need for implementing institutional and policy changes in education at all levels, not just in academe. Finally, in an attempt to facilitate a praxis for change, biographical accounts, and narratives are used. These methods are necessary in order to create a voice that will give life to this research.
A study of the admissions process to a teacher education program
Keywords: Teachers, Training of
Teachers, Ontario
College applications, Ontario

This two-stage mixed methods study examined the admissions process to the OISE/UT Bachelor of Education program for the 2002-2003 year. The first stage of this research was to determine, in terms of demographics, who were highly successful teacher candidates and who struggled or failed in the preservice program. A total of 347 students were selected for this study, 90 from the primary/junior (P/J), 92 from the junior/intermediate (J/I), and 165 from the intermediate/senior (I/S) divisions. Pre-existing biodata was obtained from the Registrar's office, which was used in conjunction with information from interviews with 11 cohort Coordinators. The Coordinators ranked the students from 4 (highly successful) to 1 (struggled or failed) in both the academic and practicum components of the program. Seventy-five students were ranked "4" and 54 students were ranked "1" in the practicum. Students who had a least one contemporary classroom and at least one non-classroom experience as well as previous experiences with the appropriate age group were the most successful in the program. Students who had insights into certain knowledge and skills including student-centred learning, a range of approaches, and an understanding of the complexity of teaching as well as certain dispositions such as determination, enthusiasm, flexibility, and creativity were the most successful in the program. For the second stage, the Applicant Profiles were obtained for the 129 students mentioned above. A content analysis was conducted using the recording units of prior teaching related experiences and insights. Prior teaching related experiences included contemporary, children's, adult, and non-classroom ones. Insights included classroom management skills, broader school community, role of a teacher, and characteristics of a teacher. The categories were further broken down and statistical tests including the Pearson Chi-square and the linear-by-linear association were performed to test if relationships were statistically significant among the variables mentioned above among others, and those students who were identified as highly successful with those who struggled or failed.
Judicial boundedness, political capitulation: the dialectic of international governance in the World Trade Organization
Keywords: Dispute resolution (Law)

Yet the DSS was in fact objectively designed as a weak judiciary and is inherently weaker than existing international judicial bodies. Nevertheless, the DSS has, in practice, been assigned by WTO Membership enhanced governance role that transcends its original design. A gap therefore exists between the structure of the DSS and its application in practice. The WTO's 'judicialized' dispute settlement system (DSS) is the source of intense political controversy. It is under attack, charged with judicial activism and with simply having been granted powers that are too extensive. Simultaneously, proponents depict it as an advanced model of international constitutional governance, and as the foundation of an evolving international structure that holds great promise. An alternative narrative of judicialization is provided, explaining the gap identified by the comparative study. A cumulation of preference patterns causes the Membership of the WTO to strategically employ the bounded DSS as a third-party rule-maker, a substitute for deliberative political decision-making---a dialectical form of governance. The problems of legitimacy are therefore rooted in the dysfunctional politic rather than the DSS; and the DSS cannot underpin a 'constitutional' construct. Both contradicting perspectives flow from a 'constitutional' narrative of international judicialization that assumes a domestically analogous 'separation-of-powers' structure and share the premise that the DSS has been constructed as an exceptionally powerful judiciary, in relation to the WTO's political elements and in comparison to earlier models of international adjudication. Some see this strength as the source of illegitimacy, others as the basis of a new constitution. The study concludes by advocating and developing an agenda for invigorating the political decision making process in the WTO while preserving and strengthening the DSS. The comparative weakness of the design of the DSS---its 'boundedness'---and the gap between design and practice are demonstrated through institutional-comparative analysis of relative judicial power, a dedicated concept developed on the basis of political science literature; it includes a tri-judiciary comparison of nine complex attributes understood as determinants of an international judiciary's relative judicial power.
Leading to learning: towards a model of transformative leadership in schools
Keywords: Educational change
Educational leadership

This is a qualitative inquiry concerning transformative leadership in schools. The purpose of the study is to develop a model of transformative leadership, constructed by analyzing the data provided by the author's experiences as an educational leader, using current leadership research and literature. This interpretive form of qualitative research is founded in educational connoisseurship and criticism, and uses personal experiences and artifacts to connect theory and practice. Key research questions include: How does the practice and experience of leadership relate to current theoretical frameworks? What understanding of leadership can be gained by close examination of personal experience? What does transformative educational leadership look like in practice and in context? What are the roles of the transformative educational leader? Drawn from wide reading and analysis of personal experiences, five roles of leadership emerge: Leader as Learner, Leader as Teacher, Leader as Partner, Leader as Advocate and Leader as Researcher. Each of these roles is supported by existing leadership frameworks and literature. Implications for each role for transformative leadership are discussed. Finally, a process for reflection that can be used by leaders who wish to engage in transformative action in schools is outlined.
Struggling with diversity: the state education of the pluralistic, Upper Canadian population, 1791-1841
Keywords: Education, History
Education, Ontario
Public schools, History
Public schools, Ontario
Church schools, History
Church schools, Ontario
Frontier and pioneer life, Ontario
Minorities, Education
Minorities, Ontario

This dissertation concerns the birth of the spirit of a tolerant State policy toward the education of a pluralistic population in the polity of Ontario during its Upper Canadian period, 1791–1841. During this formative, fifty year period, a general spirit arose amongst the diverse Confessional, denominational, sectarian, and ethnocentric groups as they fought first against the rugged environment, then against innumerable transportation difficulties that denied access into the interior (the bush or the backwoods) to all but the determined and the desperate, and finally against the ruling political clique, the Family Compact. Comprised largely of what E. P. Thompson called Church-and-King men in English context, the Family Compact held all the cards in the fledgling polity—political, ecclesiastical, cultural, legal, judicial, financial, military, and educational. In its efforts to Establish the Church of England (the Anglican Church) in Upper Canada—as it had been so established, to the extent of collecting tithes, in Ireland, for example—the archly-conservative Family Compact sowed the seeds of its own eventual demise by creating broad popular opposition to its sectarian actions and policies after 1820, especially in regard to the education of the rising generations, for whom the State's role in education was of rapidly increasing importance. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Anglicans having lost the struggle to create an education system in their own image, began opening their own private schools and College (Trinity) under the aegis of their fearless though bigoted leader, Bishop John Strachan (Toronto).
A balancing act: the effects of participation in a school musical on its performers
Keywords: Music in education
Drama in education
Art in education

Despite the findings of researchers whose mainstream publications support the inclusion of the arts in life-long learning (Colwell and Richardson, 2002; Eisner, 1992; Gardner, 1993; Pitman, 1998; Rauscher, 1997; Taylor, 2000; Weinberger, 1999), the role of the arts in schools remains uncertain. In order to secure a permanent place for the arts in education and funding for its specialist teachers, much arts-based research has focused on examining the link between learning in the arts and the achievement of academic excellence and social development. Although this link is supported by recent studies (Upitis and Smithrim, 2002) this research has not been sufficient to secure the place of the curricular arts in Ontario's schools. It therefore may be time to examine the role of the arts in schools from a co-curricular perspective and to consider the value of personal student accounts in defining the benefits of arts participation. This participatory case study involved 24 volunteer cast members from a school production of the musical The Music Man. The study site was located at an independent boys' day school in an urban centre in Ontario. The study group was comprised of male cast members from the boys' school and female cast members from an independent girls' school. Data drawn from rehearsal logs and two volunteer student focus groups provided rich and detailed descriptions of the effects of this co-educational, co-curricular experience on the performers' lives. The findings from this study indicate that the students believe the school musical to be a positive and valuable arts occurrence. Their accounts support the belief that the school musical can provide its performers with a holistic and reflective artistic experience. The study recommends that schools make every attempt to retain curricular drama and music courses and that co-curricular musical theatre experiences are valuable learning occurrences for the participants.
What is the right approach of obviousness in patent litigation under Canada's pharmaceutical linkage relationships: To test or not to test?
Keywords: Patent suits, Canada
Pharmacy, Law and legislation
Pharmacy, Canada
Patent laws and legislation, Canada
Intellectual property, Canada

This thesis comprises an analysis of whether scientific research in the lead-up period to an invention by pharmaceutical companies should vitiate a finding of obviousness in patent litigation under Canada's linkage regulations ("Regulations"). Confusion over the test for obviousness was deemed to relate to a lack of understanding by courts of the inventive capacity of persons skilled in the art of pharmaceutical sciences. A purposive social sciences construction of the normative practices of such persons supports an approach to obviousness that would allow testing without vitiating a finding of obviousness. A suggestion toward a fair, unequivocal and predictable test is made which has its locus in Canadian law, federal policy underlying the Regulations and Supreme Court jurisprudence in leading patent cases. The proposed test is consistent with appellate court jurisprudence and commentary in other jurisdictions and provides a patent policy which facilitates rather than impedes innovation in the pharmaceutical sector.
Corporate governance issues in Canadian-German Dual Listed Companies
Keywords: Corporate governance, Germany
Corporate governance, Canada
International business enterprises, Germany
International business enterprises, Canada

Despite the global presence of Dual Listed Companies (DLCs) legal literature has not yet awarded much attention to this special company structure set out to combine the businesses of two corporations located in different countries. As with all cross-border mergers, the DLC structures are complex subject matter due to the fact that they involve more than one jurisdiction and different governance systems. This thesis addresses various corporate governance issues that arise when a Canadian and a German company merge under a DLC structure. In particular, it demonstrates the challenges that the DLC structure provides to shareholders and boards of directors in both jurisdictions, namely the mere difficulty of ascertaining how the DLC provisions in the DLC agreements operate alongside the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) and the German Stock Corporation Act, respectively. It argues that notwithstanding existing legal obstacles a homogeneous DLC-model of a Canadian and German publicly traded company can be implemented.