University of Victoria Journals
Not a member yet
13485 research outputs found
Sort by
Feminist Narratives of Mid-Century America: Reading Aesthetics in Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness Through Lolita’s Lens
No full textThe portrayal, or lack thereof, of feminine power in Ursula Le Guin’s 1969 novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, is contentious: scholars either praise the text for portrayinga feminist utopia or criticise it for a failed attempt at equalising genders. Using aestheticization in Nabokov’s Lolita to illustrate that mass consumerism and female subjugation are inextricably linked in mid-century America, I argue that, in The Left Hand of Darkness, the absence of aesthetics—from the material objects, atmosphere, and Gethenian attitudes toward sexuality—strengthens its reading as a feminist text
“Signs on a White Field”: The Shadow of Ulysses
No full textThis essay employs a poststructuralist approach to James Joyce’s Ulysses through affect: the dynamic method that considers bodies and their sensory experiences along-side the emotionally-formed forces that motivate them into relation. Through the examination of my own encounter with the Robert Amos painting, Dedalus on the Shore (2016), and the Proteus episode of Ulysses it depicts, I advocate for the novel’s endurance as a global cultural monument beyond its high-literary disposition. Utilising Rita Felski’s discussion of Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology, I explore reproductions of Ulysses that shift focus from the novel’s stature in literary history to the influential power engendered by its essence, and our delight in its stylistic whims
Wilted Petals that Loved: Flowers and Humanity in Charlotte Brontë’s Villette
No full textThis essay discusses scenes in Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1853) that involve flowers and the relationship between Lucy Snowe and Monsieur Paul Emmanuel. Their romance demonstrates how Brontë shines a light on the humanity of women when mid-Victorian society values their physical appearance and housewife skills. The relationship demonstrates human connection and mortality through the following: offering gifts more meaningful than a bouquet; security through the house that Monsieur Paul gives Lucy for her career; and Biblical origins of man and woman. Lucy achieves autonomous security due to their connection, making her a model for women in Brontë’s desired society
Zooming with Babies: Troubling a Shared Present
No full textThis paper outlines how the specific constraints of virtual communication technology have stirred new thinking around what kind of research and what knowledge is produced with babies. During Zoom sessions, the 2–4-month-old babies were frequently present but out of shot, or glimpsed as a small limb or movement or sound on the other side of the screen. The babies’ bodies, movements, and sounds exceeded the boundaries of the screen. Through a posthuman lens, presence, time, and agency unravel the Zoom screen as an active participant that interferes with what can happen in a shared present in a liminal space
Living Through a Pandemic with Birds
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic highlights the intricate interdependence among humans and other living creatures. It is imperative for educators to acknowledge these connections and embrace an approach that recognizes humans as part of the shared world, woven together with other species and elements. To commit to such an approach, educators should reckon with their pedagogical dispositions and orientations toward the world and incorporate them into their teaching. The curriculum inquiry “Living with Birds” offers a renewed perspective by examining the everyday interactions and relationships among children, educators, a pedagogist, and birds, and their ethical and pedagogical implications in an early childhood context
Interrogating the Representation of Children in Images of Childhood: Review of Paul Duncum’s Images of Childhood: A Visual History from Stone to Screen
No full text‘Nudging’ Voluntary Compliance in Border Customs
No full textLegal and regulatory compliance can be voluntarily motivated or enforced by authorities. The World Customs Organization Voluntary Compliance Frameworks (WCO VCF) is adopting a reward and punishment system, responsive to economic constraints of compliance. However, psychological elements do not appear to be incorporated. The WCO VCF could employ ‘norm nudge’ and ‘deterrence nudge’ as supplementary tools in responding to different client risk types, analogous to the effective application of nudge incentivization in taxation compliance. Similarly, it could help improve voluntary self-declaration of goods at the border crossing.
This policy report was developed from a paper for the 2022 BIG Summer Institute, Trade & Customs Borders in the 21st Century, made possible by funding from the Korea Customs Service and support from the World Customs Organization
Restoration of Glenbrook Ravine Park, New Westminster
No full textThe Glenbrook Ravine Restoration Project in New Westminster is a locally born initiative formed on the strong foundation of community engagement and partnerships. The goal of this multi-year project is to reduce the amount of invasive Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and replace them with native plant species, enhancing the park for the community to enjoy. Running since 2017, the 2022 year saw a total of 304.40m2 cleared of invasive Himalayan blackberry and 133 native species planted to increase plant biodiversity in the park, subsequently bolstering fauna biodiversity in years to come. In November, twelve members of the New Westminster community and neighbouring municipalities participated in a willow staking workshop to plant 100 willow whips and help stabilize the restoration site’s slope. To assist future project leads and stakeholders, I made a restoration plan that includes a 10-year budget, annual timeline of duties, and a list of appropriate native species that can survive climate conditions that Metro Vancouver may see in 2050 and beyond. For future climate change conditions, I looked at research and climate predictions of Canada’s southwest coast and the Lower Mainland in the next 60 years (2080). While the climate niche for the majority of the Lower Mainland is not expected to change as much as some other parts of BC, extreme summer heat and drought periods are expected to increase as well as more frequent intense rainfall events outside of the summer months. Due to these harsher conditions, selecting hardy drought-tolerant species that can establish in the CWHdm zone, such as Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and avoiding species that are seeing die-offs due to heat stress, including Western red cedar (Thuja plicata), is recommended. Current and future challenges during public restoration events include difficulty working on the slope due to its steepness, and volunteers facing difficulties telling the difference between Himalayan blackberry and similar-looking native plants in areas where both are growing side by side
