MES Major Papers
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Browsing MES Major Papers by Subject "Access"
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Item Open Access Black Movement and Freedom: Questions of Cyclescapes, Cycling Planning, and Minstrelsy(2025-04-30) Ismail, Sabat; Ali, Muna-UdbiThis paper investigates the following central question: What are the outcomes of the historical and ongoing restrictions placed upon the Black diaspora's physical movement? Related to my research question, I consider what the literature and archives have to say about Black experiences with movement and I engage with cycling-related scholarship on class and race, particularly as it relates to Black communities. I explore this in this paper to sufficiently contextualize the subject-matter I am engaging with. I argue that the historical and ongoing restrictions of the movement of the Black diaspora is subjectivity-producing and provides an alternative lens to better understanding anti-Blackness, and liberatory ways of understanding and engaging with movement. Additionally, to contribute to advancing an underexplored research topic in Black Geographies and further the growing scholarship on cycling and racism. Additionally, I explore the experiences of cycling and Black communities and conduct a research analysis on late nineteenth-century minstrel and other anti-Black imagery featuring bicycles. This paper focuses on Canada and the United States, bringing cycling and transportation research into conversation with Black studies and Black geographies. I draw on archival materials from the late 1800s to early 1900s, alongside a counter-archival and discourse analysis. My sources include journalism, transportation planning data, and academic literature in social geography, anthropology, and history—all centred on cycling in North America.Item Open Access Eco-Access? Investigating archival documentation for presence and radical re-definitions of access, inclusivity, and disability representation(2023-12-31) Rielle Haig; Leesa FawcettMy research is focused on analyzing archival documents to highlight inclusive language and themes of disability representation. Access in this analysis is seen on a sliding scale, as nature and the natural world, when analyzed through the lens accessibility is not simply a binary with the urban. Approaching the research, I reflected on and used a critical disability-oriented lens, with a specific focus on eco-crip theory to better understand access and inclusion of disability in urban natural spaces. I am interested in how the perception of access to nature affects the dialogue surrounding representation, and as a by-product, the experience individuals with physical disabilities may have in wilderness and nature. Experience in this context is posited on, first, the representation in the environment and second, the movement and act of accessing or moving through the space. For this research, I chose to investigate archival content documenting the Leslie Street Spit, a unique urban area in Toronto, Ontario. My archival investigation involved highlighting and interpreting the key themes of access, disability, and nature, using the Spit as an example, to find representation and presence of individuals with physical disabilities. Through the research, I discuss and argue that access and inclusion ought to be interpreted on a sliding scale, particularly when attempting to integrate these themes into discussions of nature and the environment. With this in place, the use of language and representation can lead to creating more inclusive spaces in the outdoors, both physically and theoretically. I suggest an increasing need to acknowledge and promote the presence of a diverse range of beings in nature and adjust the current assumptions of access and inclusion that tend to exclude disability.