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Skating on the edge : Kamila Valieva and the systemic exploitation of elite athletes
Get PDFThe case of Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater who tested positive for a banned substance during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, underscores the vulnerability of youth athletes to coercion, abuse, and systemic neglect. Rather than an individual act of misconduct, Valieva’s doping violation reflects broader structural failures in international sport, where minors are subjected to extreme physical, psychological, and ethical pressures in pursuit of competitive success. This paper critically examines the means through which elite youth athletes are exploited, using Valieva’s case as a focal point to analyze the failures of anti-doping governance, the role of coaches and federations, and the inadequate protections afforded to minors in elite sport. Through philosophical and legal analysis, I investigate the ethical responsibilities of governing bodies and the systemic disregard for athlete welfare. A feminist ethics of care approach will be used to assess how existing policies fail to protect young athletes from harm. Ultimately, this research calls for stronger accountability measures, policy reforms, and a fundamental shift in sports culture to prioritize athlete well-being over competitive success
Ticking the Boxes: Temporality and Diversity in Disney Animation
No full textDisney Animation is an influential piece of media that shapes global cultural narratives, serving as a reflection and a means for contrasting societal values. Ticking the Boxes: Temporality and Diversity in Disney Animation explores the complex intersection of diversity and temporality within Disney animated films, investigating Disney’s claim of evolution regarding their representations of culture and more closely examining if these representations have improved or if Disney has just become better at hiding their offensive and inaccurate cultural representations.
Focusing on key films from the 1940s-2020s–including Fantasia (1940), Peter Pan (1953), The Lion King (1994), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). This text engages in textual and visual analysis, examining narrative structure, character development, and the framing of cultural identity over time. This thesis analyzes how Disney’s portrayal of race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage has not shifted amid Disney pushing a public narrative of improvement in representations of people of colour and cultural heritage.
Findings reveal that Disney’s trajectory has not been simple: with older films exoticizing people of colour or characters while creating temporally and globally ambiguous settings that continue to partake in the practice of “otherness” of various cultures and people of colour. Whereas the more recent films attempt to situate their narratives with more “conscious effort,” ultimately, these representations, like The Princess and the Frog, still lack cultural specificity and temporal grounding. Media like these animations inform children about societal values, people of colour, and other cultures. Furthermore, suppose these representations are inaccurate, and parents do not educate children on the issues with these representations. In that case, children believe that these depictions are the reality of the cultures they represent, leading children to partake in behaviours towards people of colour and cultures other than their own as different.
The thesis argues that despite Disney’s effort to push the image of their animated films as having advanced in terms of their attention to diverse and temporal elements, ultimately, Disney has not achieved the movement toward inclusivity that the company claims to have achieved. Ultimately, the research emphasizes a need for a call to action of large media corporations like Disney to create genuine improvement in how they represent topics of other cultures and temporal elements to ensure children receive accurate and educational information from these films instead of misleading the social understandings of children
Highland community on the Bras d’Or
No full textA historical and genealogical account of the Cape Breton, N.S. community of Johnstown; a revision of the original typescript written in 1966, published in 1978 by the Casket Printing & Publishing Company Ltd., Antigonish, N.S
When The River Talks, We Listen: A Case Study on River Clean-ups as Environmental Adult Education
No full textThere are many outdoor environmental volunteer actions individuals can take to address the growing climate and biodiversity crises. Environmental adult education (EAE) activities bring participants together around a shared solution and offer an opportunity to connect and reflect on relationships with nature and society. This qualitative case study examines the experiences of volunteers participating in river clean-ups in London Ontario. It examines what participants learned and how they made sense of environmental issues through outdoor environmental volunteer activities. An analysis of responses from nine interviewed participants revealed common themes. Participants shared that they found river clean-ups to be a source of connection to the land and to other people, and a way to process their emotions about climate change and biodiversity loss. They also highlighted the importance of being able to take action on an issue that seems too complex to address and affirmed their understanding of responsibility to solve environmental problems. Learners shared lessons from the experience, nature and other participants. A variety of learning modalities were reflected in the shared experiences of participants, including experiential, informal, incidental, and land-based learning. While the experiences evaluated in this study were from river clean-ups not intentionally organised as EAE activities, they provide insights that could inform development of future EAE curriculum applications. If river clean-ups are used as a EAE activity, it is suggested that providing intentional framing of the activity at the beginning and opportunities for reflection towards the end could solidify the learning of the activity
175th anniversary, St. Peter’s Parish, Tracadie, N.S.
No full textA 175 year history of St. Peter’s Parish, Tracadie, Nova Scotia; published in 1978 by the Casket Printing & Publishing Co., Ltd., Antigonish, N.S
