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2024-01-19 Senate Minutes and Agendas
No full textMinutes and agenda for the January 19th, 2024 meeting of Saint Mary’s University Senate
“In the name of the fear, the shame and the hegemonic guilt :” a SIRmon from trans Christian men to the church
Get PDF1 online resource (5 unnumbered, 157 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-157).With a resurgence of anti-LGBTQIA+ propaganda in Canada, this thesis addresses the source of a long history of hatred of trans people in conservative Christian communities, and the belief that trans and Christian identities are mutually exclusive. The current dominant narrative addressing anti-trans rhetoric focuses on the implications of normative masculinity and combating its evolution into "toxic masculinity" within the sex/gender system. Vatican documents are prime sources of reinforcement of "toxic masculinity" in both Christian and secular Western society. A language shift from toxicity to hegemony guides my exploration of hegemonic Catholic theology and its roots in hegemonic gender ideology. The goal of this research is to combat the weaponization of Christianity against LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly trans communities, by dismantling its weaponry of fear, shame, and guilt. A narrative analysis of two trans Christian men’s memoirs—My Name is Brett: Truths From a Trans Christian (2015) by Brett Ray, and Trans Boomer: My Journey From Female to Male (2015) by Lee Jay—uses a mixed theoretical framework of queer theology, intersectionality, transfeminism, body theology, and Black theology to deconstruct personal experiences of integration and tension living in the liminal space of trans-Christian identity. Ray and Jay’s memoirs show that, not only are trans men and Christianity not mutually exclusive, but the (Catholic) Church can learn and strengthen their collective relationship with God by coming to know and love God’s trans children. There is no theological justification for anti-trans rhetoric
‘Coffee depends on women’ : the gendered coffee paradox of Kenya’s coffee industry
Get PDF1 online resource (379 pages)Includes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 336-371).A “coffee paradox” – evident through the unequal political and social relations within coffee’s global value – as named by Benoit Daviron and Stefano Ponte (2005), created a “coffee boom” in consuming countries and a “coffee crisis” in producing countries. This paradox certainly exists, and my research takes their argument a step further. Using a feminist political economy perspective, informed by an intersectional feminist approach, I identify an additional paradox, which I name as the “gendered coffee paradox,” because while “coffee depends on women,” it remains a “man’s crop” through policies and practices that favour men and discriminate against women. Kenya’s complex coffee chain was created by the British government and European settlers during the colonial era (1880s to 1962). Yet, even after Kenya’s 1963 independence and significant gender advancements since Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, women in coffee experience
gendered barriers. While colonialism discriminated against all Africans, it set up specific
discriminations for the gendered disempowerment of women. As such, twenty-first century
neoliberal approaches to “empower women in coffee,” as adopted by global and national
institutions, as well as the specialty coffee industry, fail to address entrenched structures of gender inequity and women’s intersectional challenges. Through my field work in the Republic of Kenya, I present a case study centred on a Kenyan coffee estate, Chepsangor Hills Coffee, and on interviews with both leaders and farmers throughout Kenya’s coffee industry, to showcase women’s continued challenges regarding land ownership, income gaps, and time poverty (the “double burden”). The study also highlights several examples of ways Kenyan women utilize business and nonprofit initiatives, seeking empowerment for themselves and their communities. My study suggests that “accompaniment,” as a relational approach premised on mutuality, may be an alternative to “empowerment.
Investigation of atmospheric trace gas composition and air-sea flux detection potential over Halifax (NS) Harbour using OP-FTIR spectroscopy
Get PDF1 online resource (96 pages) : colour maps, graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 92-96).In a world where air quality and the future of the earth are being heavily influenced
by anthropogenic pollution, it is vital to protect air quality and improve our understanding
of the relationship between the ocean and atmospheric trace gas composition. Tropospheric trace gas concentrations as well as vertical concentration differences (an input to the calculation of ocean-air flux) are derived over a period of one month (August – September, 2021), based on available long Open-Path Fourier Transform InfraRed (OP-FTIR) spectroscopic measurements at the air-sea interface in ambient air in Halifax, NS. Average concentrations and measurement errors are reported, as well as possible explanations driving the temporal behaviour of key air-quality related trace gases (ammonia, formic acid, carbonyl sulfide, carbon monoxide, and methanol), as well as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The concentration results show ship plume events as well as diurnal cycles. The concentration differences suggest an ocean source of carbonyl sulfide and formic acid, and an ocean sink of carbon dioxide and ammonia, which is consistent with prior knowledge of air-sea gas exchange. This is the first report of the flux-related concentration difference of these gases in a marine environment by this technique. Prior to these spectral retrievals, the sensitivity to different parameter choices in fitting OP-FTIR spectra using the Multiple Atmospheric Layer Transition (MALT) Non-Linear Least Squares (NLLS) algorithm was investigated, with a focus on the FOV parameter, which is related to the optical configuration of the spectrometer and spectral line broadening
The shifting trophodynamics in four southern Nova Scotia lakes after the introduction of Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)
Get PDF1 online resource (126, 4 unnumbered pages) : colour illustrations, graphs, charts (some colour), mapsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-41, 87-92).Invasive fish species Chain pickerel (Esox niger) was first reported within Kejimkujik National Park and Historical Site in 2018. I used stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) ratios to assess food web structure and trophodynamics in four four lakes ranging over an invasion spectrum: Loon Lake (first Chain Pickerel report in 2018), Grafton Lake (2019), Big Dam West Lake (2020) and Cobrielle Lake (2021). It was shown that E. niger can be grouped into two clusters based on their feeding habits, CP1 and CP2; 4.2cm ≤ TL ≤ 10.9cm and 20.2cm ≤ TL ≤ 58.6cm. Mixing model results indicate CP1 individuals feed primarily on Odonata with a mean dietary proportion of 0.736 ± 0.079. Those assigned to CP2 feed primarily on native fish with a mean dietary proportion of 0.724 ± 0.032. Post-invasion there was a consistent decrease in overall trophic position for fish and Odonata prey items.</p
Analysis of the warm absorber in NGC 6814
Get PDF1 online resource (vii, 47 pages) : colour illustrations, colour charts, colour graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 46-47).NGC 6814, a Seyfert 1.5 Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) at redshift z = 0.00522, is a compelling object to study due to its high X-ray variability and the presence of photoionized gas outflows. In 2016, a rapid occultation event, indicative of the presence of a highly ionized absorbing gas, was detected in NGC 6814, presenting a unique opportunity to investigate the properties, size, and location of the eclipsing gas. The primary objective of this work is to probe the warm absorber in NGC 6814 using high-resolution spectra from 2021, comparing the properties of the warm absorber with those from the obscuring gas observed in 2016. This analysis aims to unveil insights into the origin of the eclipsing gas and provide further details on the properties and kinematics of the central region of NGC 6814. This work reveals that two warm absorbing models with similar velocities but varying ionisations and densities are statistically required to fit the absorption features in the spectrum, with some features remaining unfitted. A picture can be drawn of the warm absorption system in NGC 6814, where both warm absorbing clouds are a part of the same medium moving outwards at a velocity of ≈ 2500 km s−1, or that the two warm absorbers are describing an ionisation and density gradient within the same cloud
The radicalization of young white men
Get PDF1 online resource (123 pages) : colour chartsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 110-121).On August 12, 2021, a tragic mass shooting occurred in Plymouth, England, starting the
exploration into the roots of hatred and extremism, particularly among young white men. This investigates the intersectionality of white supremacy and toxic masculinity, focusing on the emotional characteristics leading individuals to online hate groups. Centered on three major groups – Incels, the Proud Boys, and America First and Canada First – the study addresses three key questions on the motivations for joining, dominant emotional characteristics, and the variations between the groups. Guided by A General Theories of Hate Crime, this research employs qualitative methodologies, analyzing the online free spaces for each group. The findings highlight the hate and anger each group possess, and feelings of isolation, sadness, and joy. The discussion chapter uses the identified themes and emotions linking them to theory and literature to provide a nuanced understanding of the motivations fueling online hate
Granny's legacy : did evolution select for grandmothers over an extended fertility window?
Get PDF1 online resource (iii, 88 pages) : charts, graphs (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 30-35).Why are humans among the very few species in which females have an extended postreproductive lifespan? This question was first posed in 1957 by evolutionary biologist and original theorist of the Grandmother Hypothesis G.C. Williams, based on the widely accepted belief that menopause was uniquely human (Williams., 1957; Kim et al., 2018). Menopause occurs in human females well before the end of their anticipated life span and is classified as the permanent discontinuation of ovulation (Thouzeau & Raymond, 2017). Following the postulates of Darwin, any decrease in reproduction is counteractive to fitness, meaning that menopause essentially has no benefits to survival (Croft et al.,2015). The Grandmother Hypothesis asserts that grandmothers' benefits of caring for and aiding children and grandchildren counterbalance the price of lost reproduction (Cohen 2007). This hypothesis suggests that natural selection favours a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan if it allows individuals to enhance their fitness by aiding their offspring in successful reproduction. This research evaluates the utility of the Grandmother Hypothesis for understanding PRLS in Homo sapiens using historical (1790-1918)
parish data from Nova Scotia. Using this data, I will identify whether fecundity and infant
mortality rates follow the trends outlined by the Grandmother Hypothesis. Specifically, I will analyze whether there are shorter birth intervals in the mothers where their mother lives in close geographic proximity and if the child survives to reproductive age when their maternal grandmother is present. Although the results did not achieve statistical significance, the trends apparent in the data do follow the proposed trends of the Grandmother Hypothesis
Making sense of holes in spaces using algebra
Get PDF1 online resource (29 pages) : illustrationsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 28-29).Algebraic topology provides a nice method for detecting holes in topological spaces by the use of algebra. It turns out that algebra and holes are related to each other by groups: the fundamental group and homology group. On the matter of the fundamental group, there is a generalization to higher dimensions, called higher homotopy groups. In practice these are more difficult to compute, leading the discussion to go in the direction of homology groups, which are easier to compute. In doing this, we address the two varieties of homology groups, called simplicial and singular homology groups. Even though homology
groups are easier to compute, we have to work hard to construct them. To remedy this, we turn to the Eilenberg-Steenrod approach which takes the properties of homology as axioms
Ultrastructural characterization of individual myofibrils using second harmonic generation
Get PDF1 online resource (61 pages) : colour illustrations, colour charts, graphs (some colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 59-61).Second harmonic generation (SHG) is a non-linear optical effect in which two identical incident photons interact with a material to generate one photon at twice the frequency of one incident photon. Polarization-resolved second harmonic generation microscopy (PSHG) has been used in biomedical research to study collagen, muscle, and a variety of other biological tissues. In this work individual myofibrils were imaged with PSHG microscopy, and the optical parameter ρ, which is related to molecular disorder, is reported. The relationship between contractile state of individual myofibrils and ρ was also investigated.
The results of this study show that individual myofibrils dissected from Drosophila melanogaster can be successfully imaged using PSHG. Individual myofibrils dissected and fixed at physiological ATP concentration and imaged in water were found to have a mean ρ value of 0.544 ± 0.03. A gradient in ρ value perpendicular to the direction of the sarcomere was observed in fibrils in this population. In the A-band, I-band, and M-line of the sarcomere the average ρ values are reported in both the relaxed and rigor state. The mean ρ value of the A-band was found to be significantly higher than the M-line and I-band in the relaxed state. In the contracted state the level of disorder in the three regions was not significantly different. The level of disorder increased in all three regions as ATP concentration decreased.</p