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Refashioning and Reframing: Gender, Agency, and the Body in Jana Sterbak’s Remote Control II
Get PDFThis thesis examines Remote Control II (1989), a wearable sculpture by multidisciplinary artist Jana Sterbak. The sculpture references cage crinoline, a popular garment in Europe that was a staple in women’s wardrobes from 1856 until the late 1800s. Visually mimicking a birdcage, the sartorial style prioritized an idealized femininity, enforcing corporeal, cultural, and social control over the female body through immobilization, constriction, and threatening livelihoods. Remote Control II mimics this silhouette with added material and formal elements that highlight the crinoline’s controlling intention. Informed by feminist and queer methodologies and design histories, this thesis argues that Remote Control II is subversive in reappropriating the cage crinoline and transforming the silhouette into one that may offer agency and autonomy. To demonstrate my argument, I analyze the cage crinoline’s history, the broader cultural significance of clothing, and Sterbak’s reinterpretation to highlight how Remote Control II is effective in subverting the cage crinoline’s history through appropriation, material choices, and complicating gendered design elements. This thesis concludes by exploring Remote Control II’s relevance in our contemporary context at a time in which the dress no longer stands for singular femininity
A Comparative Study of the Eschatological Differences between Roman Catholic and Baptist Traditions
Get PDFA Comparative Study of the Eschatological Differences between Roman Catholic and Baptist Traditions
Christopher Dagher
Roman Catholics and Evangelical Baptists have always theologically differed regarding end times beliefs. On one side the quasi-totality of Catholics has an Amillennial view against a large proportion of Evangelicals that opt for Dispensational Premillennialism. However, from their respective beginnings, a common set of doctrines has been Christ's Second Coming (Parousia), the bodily resurrection, and the final judgement. Numerous theologians throughout the ages have contributed their input to enrich Christianity with their eschatological perspectives, many of which have been utilized for different political endeavors. A plethora of statistics have been recorded to quantify the American sentiment on several questions. One example is that 92% of American Evangelicals “believe Jesus will return to Earth someday” versus 63% for Catholics. Finally, Evangelicals and Catholics have found common ground today to pursue ecumenical efforts against what they perceive as a growing wave of immorality in America
Tracing Transhistorical Girlhood Through Sofia Coppola’s Filmic Adaptations
Get PDFThis thesis proposes adaptation studies as a productive, yet vastly overlooked, framework through which to contextualize the work of American filmmaker Sofia Coppola. A substantial number of Coppola’s films are adapted from both fictional novels and non-fiction texts, and approach conditions of contemporary girlhood from the context of varying geo-political and historical stories, events, and figures. This sparks an exploration of Coppola’s signature cinema of girlhood as transhistorical, as the filmmaker transposes, re-creates, and reinterprets stories of women and girls from the past through her own contemporary perspective. The first chapter looks at The Virgin Suicides (1999), an adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ 1993 novel, and the reinterpretation of central narrative devices which transform a male-narrated story into a portrait of nostalgic girlhood. The second chapter looks at Marie Antoinette (2006), adapted from Antonia Fraser’s 2001 biography, Marie Antoinette: The Journey. I position the film’s anachronistic costumes and musical soundtrack as derivative of the adaptation process; not only working to situate the story of Marie Antoinette in recognizable, contemporary themes, but also reflecting Fraser’s sympathetic and subjective approach to her biography. The third chapter looks at The Beguiled (2017) as both an adaptation of Thomas Cullinan’s 1966 novel and a remake of Don Siegel’s 1971 film. I examine Coppola’s reinterpretation of the story’s perspective and sympathy through the gender dynamic on-screen, while addressing what remains off-screen: Coppola’s controversial decision to omit the novel’s original Black characters. This research positions adaptation studies as necessary to a comprehensive understanding of the filmmaker’s oeuvre, demonstrating the intertwinement of Coppola’s signature theme of girlhood and her evocation of adapted period narratives. This results in a recurring theme of transhistorical girlhood in Coppola’s films, through which the filmmaker repeatedly forms portraits of young women through transposed, palimpsestic stories and figures of the past
Brain MRI Graphical Networks and Subgraphs: Developing a novel methodology for identifying small-scale underlying patterns responsible for large-scale functional differences between brains
Get PDFMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides an unprecedented ability to investigate brain health and function. However, the high cost and high variability in the population limits its use in understanding complex diseases, which requires new methodologies. As such, the focus of this project was to define and identify a novel reorganisation of long Covid brain MRI data into network graphs and subgraphs based on functional, rather than spatial, connections between voxels. We define a physiological connectome: a graph in which the nodes are voxels, MRI metrics are node attributes, and edges are formed according to physiological similarity. From these graphs we define local neighborhood subgraphs containing each voxel’s set of nearest neighbours, which we examine for their properties. MRI features most strongly associated with high connectivity included low values of axial diffusivity (AD), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and isotropic volume fraction (ISOVF); and mean values of intracellular volume fraction (ICVF). Orientation dispersion index (ODI) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values were highly variable. The general data trends outside of highly connected voxels include an inverse relationship between FA and ODI, RD and FA, AD and ODI, ICVF and RD, and ICVF and MD; a positive correlation between AD and MD, ODI and RD, and RD and MD. RD and AD, and ISOVF and ICVF do not demonstrate a clear trend. In future, these subgraphs will form the basis for a generalisable data augmentation and analysis method, to identify underlying patterns responsible for large-scale functional differences between brains
Mobile Augmented Reality Application For the Education of Neurovascular System
Get PDFThe human brain is a complex organ consisting of intricate vascular networks that supply local regions that control various aspects of our body functions. Understanding the vascular neuroanatomy and the associated territories is essential for diagnosing and treating cerebrovascular disorders such as stroke. Traditional anatomical education relies on 2D illustrations and physical dissections, which often fail to provide a comprehensive understanding of 3D anatomical structures. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies offer immersive 3D visualizations, potentially enabling more effective learning experiences. In this thesis, we present NeuroVase, a tablet-based AR application designed to enhance stroke-related neuroanatomy learning. NeuroVase employs a novel dual-modal setup that leverages physical cue cards as the medium to interact with AR learning content and offer off-line textual learning materials. For the application, we developed a new learning curriculum for the cerebrovascular system with the care of stroke in mind. Users can inspect and explore the brain’s vascular territories, understand how blockages in major arteries can lead to specific types of strokes and symptoms, and access key knowledge summaries and 3D anatomical models and MRI. NeuroVase intends to address the limitations of traditional learning methods by offering a more interactive, engaging, and accessible learning tool. The included learning material in NeuroVase can potentially help support time-sensitive treatment decisions and improve prognosis assessment for cerebrovascular conditions, such as stroke. Our platform with modular learning materials was designed with flexibility in mind, making it easy to incorporate additional learning units as needed. Through our user study with 20 participants, the results suggest that NeuroVase could serve as a user-friendly and effective academic and clinical educational tool
The Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Environmental Contaminants on Cognitive and Brain Development in Childhood and Adolescence
Get PDFExposure to environmental contaminants is ubiquitous. Studies increasingly suggest that these chemicals pose a risk for human health, including neurodevelopment in children. Prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants warrants particular concern given the fragility of fetal development and the foundational nature of this period for the rest of the lifespan. However, little is known about potential mechanisms. Furthermore, researchers and practitioners in psychology and child development are generally unaware of such toxicological research.
The objective of the present thesis is to examine the impact of prenatal contaminant exposure on neurodevelopment in children, explore avenues for future research on potential mechanisms, improve dissemination of toxicology studies to psychology researchers and practitioners, and advocate for a larger role of psychologists in prevention, intervention, and public policies. To do so, the thesis contains three manuscripts.
The first manuscript is a PRISMA-guided scoping review of studies on prenatal exposure to a wide range of environmental contaminants and various neurodevelopmental outcomes in children. This chapter provides an overview of neurotoxicology research from birth to age 17 inclusively and aims to make these findings more accessible to clinicians and researchers in fields relevant for child development.
The second manuscript is an empirical study within a pan-Canadian pregnancy cohort examining the association between prenatal exposure to a flame-retardant chemical and IQ at age 3 years. This chapter provides a typical example of a developmental neurotoxicology study in terms of its method, results, and effect sizes.
The third manuscript is an empirical study with an American community cohort composed of participants aged 6 to 20 years old. Participants underwent executive function testing and structural brain imaging at baseline and up to two follow-up sessions scheduled 15 months apart. This chapter aims to inform the design of future research into the mechanisms of neurotoxicity following contaminant exposure.
Overall, prenatal contaminant exposure is associated with small adverse effects on cognition for individuals, but has significant societal implications. Future studies should aim to better characterize potential mechanisms like cortical morphology to inform prevention and intervention efforts. Lastly, the thesis highlights the benefits of disseminating neurotoxicology findings to psychologists and child development experts
Evaluating EEG as a prognostic tool to predict persistent symptoms in adolescents with concussion
Get PDFApproximately 30% of children with concussion experience persistent post-concussion symptoms (PPCS), but no accurate prognostic tools are available. Electroencephalography (EEG) identifies alterations in electrical activity post-concussion, but its prognostic capability is unknown. Our objective was to determine if EEG outperforms current prognostic tools in predicting PPCS at 1-month post-concussion. Thirty-four adolescents (12.9 +/- 2.2 years, 20 males) with concussion were recruited. The treating physician predicted the likelihood of PPCS (0-100) at diagnosis in the emergency room. Participants completed a resting-state EEG and a brief clinical assessment battery 6.4 +/- 2.4 days post-injury and the Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory (PCSI) 28.9 +/- 1.9 days post-injury. PPCS (yes/no) was defined as an increase of ≥7 points on the PCSI compared to pre-injury symptom ratings. Twelve (35.3%) participants experienced PPCS at 1-month post-injury. Independent t-tests found that F3 delta power (p=0.04), F4 delta power (p=0.1), and F4 theta power (p=0.07) differed in adolescents with and without PPCS, which were combined into a multivariable model. Using inferential approaches, the EEG model had an AUC=0.71 (sensitivity=75%, specificity=68.2%) compared to the 5P Score (AUC=0.66, sensitivity=75%, specificity=45.9%) and physician prediction (AUC=0.55, sensitivity=71.4%, specificity=38.9%) models. However, these differences were not statistically significant (p=0.60 and p=0.32 respectively). The optimal machine learning model (SVM radial kernel, C=0.2) found that only the EEG performed significantly better than random chance in the training (72.9% accuracy, p<0.001) and validation set (62%, p<0.001). EEG features have potential as a prognostic biomarker of PPCS. Future studies should include larger samples and different EEG systems and features
Infants and Their Educators in a Nature-based Educational Context
Get PDFNature-based education appears as a powerful response to the increase of an indoor and sedentary lifestyle. Nature-based education refers to a practice where nature is central to children’s daily experiences, such as routines, exploration, and play, and includes opportunities to connect and become comfortable with nature. It offers multiple benefits for children’s whole development (e.g., Kuo et al. 2019). Literature on infants’ experiences with nature is limited (e.g., Jørgensen, 2018; Monti et al., 2019). The present qualitative case study examined the experiences of infants younger than 18-months-old and their educators in two not-for-profit Québec daycares: one urban and one semi-rural centre that integrated regular nature-based practices into their curriculum. Observations examined 19 infants’ experiences into the outdoor natural setting and with their four educators. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each educator to investigate their perspectives on this approach with infants. Results demonstrated that the natural environment offered a rich context for infants’ whole development in an integrated way: cognitive, social, language, and motor. Educators offered a secure base in a child-led pedagogy by being responsive, sharing joint attention, and supporting infants’ learning experiences verbally and physically. They also held a strong vision of infants as active learners, which is crucial to a child-led pedagogy in a nature-based context. Still, the educators must display strong self-confidence, teamwork and organizational skills to overcome the invisibility of this age group in the guidelines, training, and information for outdoor practices. The findings have important pedagogical and policy implications for the well-being of Quebec’s youngest citizens to make them more visible and to offer them a rich context to explore and learn
Once Upon a Medium: Exploring How Narrative Mediums Affect The Experience of Narrative Transportation
Get PDFBrand storytelling is considered an important contributor to brand success. Stories are known to narratively transport the audience, which results in positive brand outcomes. Past research on narrative transportation mainly focused on presenting stories in a written form.
However, aside from text, brands can communicate to consumers via different mediums (e.g., video). The impact of different mediums on the experience of narrative transportation has received little attention in the literature. This research aims to explore whether the amount of narrative
transportation could vary across different mediums of storytelling, specifically text vs. video. Additionally, this research aims to understand the underlying mechanism for why narrative transportation may differ across mediums. Specifically, I theorize that a story presented via text
may require a different amount of cognitive resources to process compared to a story presented via video form, which may affect the amount of narrative transportation experienced. This thesis
examines these questions across three studies. Study 1 found that presenting a story in text form led to significantly higher narrative transportation compared to presenting the story in video form.
Study 2 results were consistent with study 1 and additionally demonstrated that text required more cognitive resources to process compared to video. However, the cognitive resource requirement
did not ultimately mediate the effect of medium on narrative transportation. Study 3 aimed to test the mechanism by manipulating cognitive load. While the effect of medium was replicated, cognitive load did not moderate this main effect. Finally, theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed
Sufism in Late Mamlūk Cairo: The Mystical Teachings of Ibn Mughayzil (fl. 895/1490)
Get PDFThis dissertation is a study of the Egyptian Sufi Ibn Mughayzil in four chapters. Chapter 1 investigates his life, activity, and teachers, in addition to his place within the Egyptian Shādhiliyya. I show that his discipleship of Muḥammad al-Maghribī, a prominent Shādhilī master, and his studies under such notable scholars as Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī and Shams al-Dīn al-Sakhāwī linked him to the Sufi and scholarly elite of Cairo and created the opportunity for him to pursue the eighth deputyship of one of the two main lines of the Egyptian Shādhiliyya. Although it does not appear that he was ever recognized as that deputy, his legacy was ensured by his two known writings: al-Kawākib al-zāhira fī ijtimāʿ al-awliyāʾ yaqẓatan bi-Sayyid al-Dunyā wa-l-Ākhira, a comprehensive treatment of Sufi topics; and al-Qawl al-ʿalī fī tarāduf al-muʿjiza bi-karāmat al-walī, a brief treatise mainly on saints’ miracles. I examine these works in Chapter 2, illustrating their pertinence to late Mamlūk Sufism through their focus on such themes as the relationship between Law (sharīʿa) and Reality (ḥaqīqa), the saints’ miracles, and Sufi epistemology. I reveal Ibn Mughayzil to be a strong defender of the Sufis and a devout Shādhilī, while distinguishing his text from two contemporary Shādhilī manuals by al-Suyūṭī and Aḥmad Zarrūq. Chapter 3 offers a close study of the author’s treatment of select issues concerning God and His relation to the world, including His oneness and manifestations, the eternality and creation of the world, the Muḥammadan Spirit (al-rūḥ al-muḥammadiyya), the vision of God in this world and the next, and religious diversity. I introduce Ibn Mughayzil as a synthetic and creative thinker, engaging a rich body of literature to develop his positions. I suggest, nevertheless, that his determination to defend the orthodoxy of certain Sufi doctrines engenders his tolerance of diverse views and, in some cases, ambiguity in his own stances. Chapter 4 explores the key topic of the Kawākib, the waking vision of Prophet Muḥammad after his death. Beginning with a brief history of the phenomenon up until Ibn Mughayzil’s time, I show that it had grown increasingly common—especially among the Shādhiliyya—and became the object of a heated debate in ninth/fifteenth-century Cairo. I argue that Ibn Mughayzil makes a crucial intervention by theorizing the waking vision in a way that honours traditional distinctions and views, thus appealing to scholars who had been skeptical about the possibility and orthodoxy of the vision. I also demonstrate that Ibn Mughayzil’s attention to the waking vision anticipates its increased significance in later centuries in ritual and as a source of spiritual authority. In the conclusion, I contend that study of a late Mamlūk Sufi text like the Kawākib can help us appreciate scholarship of the period and challenge the notion of a literary decline