ETD SWORD Deposit

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/27543

ETDs in this collection are being checked for completeness and are in the process of being transferred to their respective collections under the FGS ETD collection umbrella.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 108

Open Access
Lady Game Club: The Popular Feminist Politics of Women-in-Games Organizations
(2024-11-07) Stephanie Judith Fisher; Natalie Coulter
‘Feminism in games’ is a large, dispersed, and networked movement that is happening in online and offline spaces. This research seeks to illuminate how inequities can be reproduced within a feminist community through a close examination of Lady Game Club (LGC), a non-profit organization that teaches women how to make digital games. Drawing on the feminist theories of ‘platform feminism’ (Singh, 2021) and ‘popular feminism’ (Banet-Weiser, 2018), I theorize LGC as a platform for popular feminism in games. This study employs community-engaged ethnographic methods, specifically participant-observation and interviews, to analyse the feminist logics that are built into the structure of LGC and practiced by the women game-makers who are a part of this community. By examining the feminist politics of LGC, this study demonstrates the limits of popular feminism in creating an inclusive and equitable games industry and challenging systems of oppression. LGC takes a direct representation approach to feminist activism. It is designed to get more (white and middle-class) women into the games industry, but not to change it. As a platform, LGC elevates and amplifies popular feminism’s normative modes of feminist resistance (i.e., ‘women’s individual empowerment’) while obscuring other forms of feminist resistance, such and those based in survival, care, and refusal. The organization structures feminist politics as an individual politics rather than a collective one, foreclosing the possibility for feminist resistances that are based on collective action or thinking about oppression as systemic or 'built in' (Benjamin, 2019). Although LGC is enmeshed in and reinforces the hegemonic systems of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy, it also creates an opening in the public’s imagination for a more equitable game industry.
Open Access
Embodying Affect: Critical Interventions in Human-Computer Interaction via Embedded and Embodied Design in Extended Reality
(2024-11-07) Michaela Pnacekova; Caitlin Fisher
Human computer interaction has been significantly advanced by the integration of biometric sensors and artificial intelligence, allowing more intuitive and engaging user experiences. However, there is a lack of critical engagement practices with artificial systems and their implementation in user design. The primary objective of this multimodal dissertation (composed of the virtual reality prototype Us Xtended and the online platform Miro) is to close this gap by proposing a methodology of critical embedded and embodied design via biofeedback in extended reality. It aims to do so by creating a design pathway that fosters embodiment, user agency and responsible consumption of emerging technologies. The methodology involves affect recognition and self-quantification as a critical, analytical and storytelling device. This approach aims to redefine human-computer interaction by embedding criticality and agency within the process. This is applied in the prototype via the materialist and performative aspects of biometric data and affective analysis and represented on a three-dimensional affect scale. This quantification apparatus is integrated into the experience. The critical evaluation lies within ways participants shape their experience through their biometric and behavioral inputs. Via self-reflection and comparison between the systemic analysis and self-evaluation, the project critiques affect recognition practices and stresses ethical considerations in ways biometric data is interpreted by artificial systems, reflecting on the reproduction of systemic biases in affect recognition technologies. At the same time, it highlights the system’s reliance on measurable bodily signals, emphasizing the importance of understanding its limitations. This educational aspect enhances users' ability to navigate new technologies, contributing to responsible consumption of emerging media. In essence, this dissertation advocates for a critical, embodied approach to human-machine collaboration. By exploring the intersections of technology, art, and critical theory, it aims to foster deeper understanding and more responsible engagement with the technologies that increasingly shape our existence in the digital age.
Open Access
Biotech Animals, Ethics, and Care Approaches in Contemporary Science Fiction
(2024-11-07) Monica Sousa; Allan Weiss
Biotech Animals, Ethics, and Care Approaches in Contemporary Science Fiction contributes to the growing body of works focused on animal studies and science fiction by exploring its connections with biotechnological practices and an animal ethics of care theoretical framework. With a focus on what I choose to call “biotech animals” (which may include animals genetically engineered/modified or animal cyborgs with robotic/cybernetic bodily attachments or enhancements), I explore how contemporary science fiction represents the ethical treatment of these altered animals, particularly after their creation. By tracing out these discussions, I examine how my contemporary focal texts reveal the capacities of the reader/audience to question what caring relations between humans and biotech animals could look like if humans acknowledged both their responsibility and their obligation towards their creations. The analytical chapters of my dissertation examine Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy (2003-2013), Bong Joon-ho’s Okja (2017), Kirstin’s Bakis’s Lives of the Monster Dogs (1997), Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s We3 (2004), Pat Murphy’s “Rachel in Love” (1987), Emma Geen’s The Many Selves of Katherine North (2016), Dean Koontz’s Watchers (1987), and Jeff Vandermeer’s Borne (2017). There are key questions that shape my analysis. What does care look like when applied to biotech animals? How do these texts depict, in various ways, processes that do not suggest a caring framework? In what scenarios are they complicated? Additionally, my dissertation explores the influential role of science fiction in demonstrating that the way we relate to caring relations are often easily affected by biocapitalism and other similar forms of human control. In doing so, my dissertation also draws attention to how these fictional works can draw attention to alternate ways of relating to biotech animals that subvert anthropocentrism while still holding on to core care values, suggesting a need to consider a philosophical posthumanism mindset that removes the human from the center of all ethical consideration.
Open Access
Nonlinear Seismic Assessment Criteria for Reinforced Masonry Structures in Canada
(2024-11-07) Marco Calcagno; Stavroula Pantazopoulou
The objective of this thesis was to bridge the knowledge gap that exists in the assessment of reinforced masonry structures in Canada under seismic loading. Despite the seismic risk present in Canada, there is no formally approved seismic risk-based assessment framework for existing RM structures, and instead, U.S. evaluation criteria (NIST, ASCE/SEI - 41, TMS 402) are used for the assessment of structures built to the Canadian design code (CSA S304). The work presented in this thesis aims to validate the extension of the ASCE/SEI-41 codes to the Canadian context through the development of a comprehensive database of over 70 reinforced masonry walls built and tested in Canadian Academic Institutions. Code-based analytical values of strengths, stiffness, mode of failure, and drift capacities, were compared with the experimentally recorded values and reported failure patterns.
Open Access
Image White Balance for Multi-Illuminant Scenes
(2024-11-07) Aditya Arora; Konstantinos G. Derpanis
Performing white-balance (WB) correction for scenes with multiple illuminants remains a challenging task in computer vision. Most previous methods estimate per-pixel scene illumination directly in the RAW sensor image space. Recent work explored an alternative fusion strategy, where a neural network fuses multiple white-balanced versions of the input image processed to sRGB using pre-defined white-balance settings. Inspired by this line of work, we present two contributions targeting fusion-based multi-illuminant WB correction. First, we introduce a large-scale multi-illumination dataset rendered from RAW images to support training fusion models and evaluation. The dataset comprises over 16,000 sRGB images with ground truth sRGB white-balance corrected images. Next, we introduce an attention-based architecture to fuse five white-balance settings. This architecture yields an improvement of up to 25% over prior work.
Open Access
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF TRADITIONAL GRIEVING PROCESSES: DIRGE PERFORMANCE AND HEALING AMONG THE DAGAABA
(2024-11-07) Delimwini Kuwabong; Michaela Hynie
The Dagaaba are an ethnic group found on both sides of the Black Volta in the Upper West Region of Ghana and Burkina Faso. Like many West African communities, funerals are extremely important in the culture for the ritual performance of mourning. One of the key rituals performed is funeral dirges that are sung and played on the xylophone simultaneously. Each varies depending on the sex, gender, and social status of the deceased. However, these dirges target the living more than the dead. Transcribed and translated verses within this category were analyzed within the Dagaaba cosmology and using ethnopoetics and theories of grief, mourning, and attachment. These sociological, psychological, literary, and musical elements, when synthesized, paint a picture of the Dagaaba funeral dirge as a method of promoting not only individual consolation, but also the reaffirmation of bonds among and within communities.
Open Access
Literary Friction: poetics at the operational level of war
(2024-11-07) Oliver Richard Jones; Art Redding
This dissertation explores an intersection between literary studies and war studies, approaching literature as a critical medium that can enhance the conceptualization of war as an organizational process directed towards political and strategic ends. This work of scholarship argues that literature provides unique terms for examining war as a complex interpretive structure, and enumerates historical examples of literary practice as a medium for ideational and transformative activity in military domains. Through this lens, the dissertation explicates the literary aspects of the philosophy of BGen. (ret) Shimon Naveh as it is articulated in his writings on “Systemic Operational Design” (SOD) and operational art. It explores Naveh’s influence on professional military education (PME) in the Israel Defense Force and the legacy of his thinking through the writings of the “Naveh school”, which includes Dr. Ofra Graicer and BGen. (ret) Gal Hirsch, alongside a few others. It highlights how the Naveh school engaged with advanced literary and philosophical texts drawn from a broad corpus of modernist and postmodern literary and philosophical production, including TE Lawrence, John Boyd, Paul Virilio, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Hayden White and Bernard Tschumi. By mapping some intellectual spaces where literature has been enlisted in sophisticating military knowledge and activity, this dissertation seeks to broaden the conceptual repertoire of military and security-focused scholarship, offering insights into the ways literary practice has been incorporated in the conceptualization of warfare and strategy in defence organizations and parallel fields of research which support defence organizations. Ultimately, this work seeks to understand the interplay between literary forms and the logics of warfare, pushing the boundaries of how literature is conceptualized within military-academic spaces, while challenging the terms on which war is conceptualized in humanities scholarship.
Open Access
Tell Dem Wagwan Fanon: On [Colonial] Violence and Prison Labour in Canada
(2024-11-07) Krystal Alisha Batelaan; Gamal Abdel-Shehid
In this dissertation, I draw on Frantz Fanon’s concepts of cultural imposition and collective catharsis to examine how the colonized subject, like the incarcerated Black worker, undergoes a double process of dehumanization wherein they are perceived as both an invisible and hypervisible subject. I argue that the colonized subject is invisible insofar as they are subjected to various forms of dehumanization such as physiological and psychological abuse, lack of access to resources, and neglect. However, they are also perceived as hypervisible because they are viewed as existing in excess as hypersexual, hyper deviant, and hyper criminal creatures and therefore deserving of the treatment they endure. Similarly, the incarcerated worker is viewed as invisible and hypervisible because they are viewed as unskilled and subhuman beings undeserving of adequate pay and protections but are also perceived as best suited to work in poor conditions doing less skilled, undervalued, low-paying work. By tracing how this relationship between race, racialization and labour is underpinned by whiteness both historically and in a contemporary sense, I demonstrate how the use of prison labour within a Canadian multicultural context must necessarily be read through a normalizing white gaze, under the guise of public safety and rehabilitation; here the prison functions as a disciplinary site wherein Black and racialized prisoners are constructed as inferior beings in need of heightened control through labour. In doing so, I argue that the use of prison labour in Canadian prisons is a form of colonial violence that reproduces inferior and superior colonial identities.
Open Access
Analysis of the Interface Properties of Multi-material 3D Printed Structures
(2024-11-07) Shauvik Pahari; Garrett Melenka
Multi-material 3D printed (MM3DP) samples offer enhanced mechanical performance with the added benefit of being customizable for specific applications. However, MM3DP structures have weak adhesion at the boundary interface. So, the interface characteristics in those structures are a critical factor in determining the strength of the structures and predicting failure. Digital image correlation (DIC) is a full-field strain measurement technique ideal for evaluating the non-uniform load response in anisotropic materials due to their heterogeneous composition. This thesis demonstrates the fabrication of MM3DP samples using two distinctly different printing methods. The multi-material samples were extensively compared with the homogenous samples of the same base material with a shear test to assess their mechanical performance. Strain variations on the samples were analyzed and post-processed with DIC software as different material combinations were explored. Additionally, statistical analysis was performed to validate the results and assess the feasibility of the methodology.
Open Access
Deep Learning-Enhanced Autonomous Aerial and Ground Robotics Using UWB and Lidar in GNSS-Denied Environments
(2024-11-07) Zahra Arjmandi; Gunho Sohn & Costas Armenakis
Over the last decade, advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have led to significant improvements in navigation and positioning, yet widespread adoption remains limited due to challenges in integrating various technologies and ensuring reliable real-time data processing. This thesis addresses these issues by developing a comprehensive framework that merges advanced data collection platforms, deep learning algorithms, and novel fusion methods to enhance UAV positioning accuracy and reliability. A central contribution of this research is the creation of the Q-Drone Ultra-Wideband (UWB) benchmark dataset. This dataset, generated from a UAV equipped with five UWB sensors across five diverse environments (indoor, outdoor, and semi-outdoor) over a distance of 4 km, provides a standardized benchmark for testing UAV positioning systems. It enables researchers to develop and validate algorithms under varied conditions, supporting advancements in UAV navigation and positioning research. The thesis also introduces an incremental smoothing approach, integrating high-rate and low-rate UWB measurements with inertial data within a unified pose graph framework. This method, using an "add-after-eliminating" strategy, reduces Mean Absolute Error (MAE) by 0.2 meters compared to baseline multilateration methods and achieves a 0.3-meter MAE reduction compared to two-factor pose graph methods. Further, the DeepCovPG framework is developed, combining a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) with a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to predict and incorporate dynamic covariances into the pose graph. This approach results in a 48% reduction in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and a 51% reduction in Range Covariance RMSE, with notable improvements of 0.41 meters in tunnels and 0.23 meters in fields. The framework also achieves a 26% reduction in multilateration RMSE and a 32% reduction in multilateration Covariance RMSE. Additionally, the thesis explores Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-based positioning and proposes the INAF fusion method. This method dynamically selects relevant information from geometric and AI-based odometry techniques, improving accuracy by 3.90% over direct fusion methods and 0.25% over attention-based fusion methods. The INAF fusion method demonstrates enhanced adaptability to various driving conditions, improving accuracy in both straight and dynamic environments.
Open Access
AI-Assisted Pipeline for 3D Face Avatar Generation
(2024-11-07) Amin Fadaeinejad; Niko Troje
Filling virtual environments with realistic-looking avatars is essential for games, film production, and virtual reality. Creating a fun and engaging experience requires a wide variety of different-looking avatars. There are two main methods to create realistic-looking avatars. One is to scan a real person's face using a light room. The second is for the artist/designer to create the avatar manually using advanced tools. Both of these approaches are expensive in terms of time, computing, and human labour. This thesis leverages generative models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Auto-Encoders (VAEs) to automate avatar creation. Our pipeline offers control over three aspects: face shape, skin color, and fine details like beards or wrinkles. This provides artists flexibility in avatar creation and can integrate with tools like MOSAR for controlling avatars from 2D images.
Open Access
Symmetry-based monocular 3D vehicle ground-truthing for traffic analytics
(2024-11-07) Trong Thao Tran; James Elder
3D object detection is critical for autonomous driving and traffic analytics. Current research relies on LiDAR-derived ground truth for training and evaluation. However, LiDAR ground truth is expensive and usually inaccurate in the far field due to sparse LiDAR returns. Assuming a fully calibrated camera and a 3D terrain model, we explore whether inexpensive RGB imagery can be used to obtain 3D ground truth based on the bilateral symmetry of motor vehicles. From manually annotated symmetry points and tire-ground contact points, we infer a vertical symmetry plane and 3D point cloud to estimate vehicle location, pose, and dimensions. These estimates are input into a probabilistic model derived from a standard public motor vehicle dataset to form maximum a posteriori estimates of remaining dimensions. Evaluations on a public traffic dataset show that this novel symmetry-based approach is more accurate than LiDAR-based ground-truthing on single frames and comparable to LiDAR-based methods that propagate information across frames.
Open Access
Towards Optimal Grasping Of Unknown Objects Using Deep Reinforcement Learning
(2024-11-07) Behrad Jabarnejad; Dan Zhang
Smart manufacturing, which uses advanced technologies to optimize processes, has become increasingly popular. Improving the agility of robotic systems, including manipulation skills, is crucial in this field. Grasp synthesis, the process of developing grasping plans while manipulating objects, can be approached empirically. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is an empirical method that does not require a dataset and learns tasks by interacting with an environment. This study aims to utilize DRL algorithms to perform grasping by creating a novel grasping environment for a simulation model of a three-finger gripper and then validating this model to achieve optimal grasp on unknown objects. The results showed that the trained DRL model in the validated simulation environment successfully grasped unknown objects placed randomly. The agent identified optimal grasps using a grasp quality score in the DRL model’s reward function.
Open Access
Investment and Financing of Roadway Digital Infrastructure for Automated Driving
(2024-11-07) MohammadAmir Ahmadian Shahreza; Mehdi Nourinejad
Connected automated vehicles (CAVs) rely on sensors to scan their environment, enabling efficient decision-making, though their limited range poses challenges. Enhancing CAV operations by leveraging cooperative sensing via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications offers ways to improve autonomy. This study examines optimal investments in vehicular connectivity and stationary sensor deployment under different traffic conditions. Our results highlight the trade-off between roadside stationary sensors and CAV-mounted sensors. Results show that for low traffic flow and constrained budgets, infrastructure investment is preferable, while higher traffic flow favors connectivity among CAVs. Additionally, the analysis shows that an optimal toll cannot fully cover digital infrastructure costs, though if safety benefits are factored in, covering the costs of constructing such infrastructure becomes feasible. The self-financing theorem also holds for the case of digitalization of existing roads if their flow-capacity ratio exceeds a certain threshold.
Open Access
Open-Gate Junction Field-Effect Transistor for Chemical and Biomolecular Analysis
(2024-11-07) Abbas - Panahi; Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh & Sebastian Magierowski
Field-effect transistors (FETs) have emerged as a transformative platform in biosensing, effectively bridging the gap between electronics and biology by measuring the intrinsic charge of bioparticles. The development of FET-based sensing techniques can be traced back to the 1970s with the advent of the ion-sensitive FET (ISFET). This innovation stemmed from Bergveld's pioneering work on metal-oxide semiconductor-based FETs, which were modified to create ISFETs. The core innovation behind ISFETs and BioFETs was the realization that replacing the metal gate of a MOSFET-like structure with an ion-sensitive membrane could transform the device into a robust biosensor with biomolecular sensing capabilities. This modification, involving the replacement of the top gate with a solution gate, enables a sensing modality where the potential of the interface between the solution and the sensing layer (typically dielectrics) can be measured. These solid-state devices leverage the modulation of charge carriers at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface, facilitating label-free detection of biological and chemical analytes. FET biosensors offer numerous advantages, including intrinsic molecular charge sensing, real-time monitoring, high sensitivity, size scalability (ranging from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers), and compatibility with standard integrated circuit (IC) technologies such as complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS). Over the past three decades, researchers have harnessed the inherent charge sensitivity of FET sensors to detect a wide range of analytes, including ions, proteins, DNA, and other biomolecules. These sensors can selectively capture target analytes by functionalizing the FET’s gate surface with specific receptors, such as antibodies or aptamers. This capability has positioned FET biosensors as crucial tools in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and drug development, driving innovation and expanding the frontiers of these fields. The widespread demand for FET sensors across diverse sensing domains underscores the critical role of standard foundry-based fabrication methodologies. Efforts to refine FET sensor fabrication processes for enhanced reliability, scalability, and reproducibility are crucial for mass production and widespread adoption. Standard foundry-based fabrication techniques ensure uniformity and consistency in device performance, enabling seamless integration into diverse sensing platforms across industries. Most standard FET sensors (or ion-sensitive FETs) have been realized by CMOS platforms, which allow these sensors to be manufactured in an almost flawless foundry process that creates ICs in our cell phones. Various CMOS-based ISFET configurations were made and used for different biosensing applications. Later, graphene and carbonaceous materials were used as novel high-performance FET biosensors. However, the real breakthrough came with the efforts to standardize graphene FETs through foundry fabrication, pioneered by companies such as Cardea Bio and Graphena. This strategic initiative has not just made graphene FETs more accessible but has democratized access to them, previously hindered by prohibitive costs. This development fosters accessibility for researchers and industrial stakeholders, opening new avenues for research and innovation. By leveraging standard foundry-based fabrication approaches, FET sensors are poised to meet the escalating demand for reliable, high-performance sensing solutions. This advancement could catalyze innovation across various fields, spanning healthcare, environmental monitoring, agriculture, and beyond. The recent introduction of the open-gate junction field-effect transistor (OG-JFET) by CMC Microsystem represents a significant advancement in silicon-foundry-based FET sensor technology standardization. The OG-JFET foundry enables the mass production of chips with diverse designs on a silicon wafer, allowing for customized configurations tailored to specific application requirements. The structural innovation of the OG-JFET, achieved by removing the top gate of a p-type JFET sensor and introducing a soft material, indicates a new era of charge-sensing capabilities within a JFET electronic structure. Understanding the intricate physics of the charge sensing mechanism and its integration with microfluidics has been pivotal in unlocking the full potential of the OG-JFET. As the technology is still in its early stages of development and scale-up, user-friendly CAD tools and dedicated portable characterization systems have emerged as a cornerstone for successful adoption and integration in academic and industrial research settings. This system enhances performance and facilitates seamless integration into diverse research environments. This thesis is dedicated to tackling the challenges inherent in comprehending the charge-sensing physics of OG-JFET sensors and exploring the design and simulation of these sensors to discern the impacts of various design parameters. At the heart of this research lies developing a portable characterization system and electro-fluidics packaging schemes to streamline testing and characterization processes. A key objective of this endeavor is to standardize these processes, thereby overcoming the barrier posed by the high cost and limited accessibility of conventional characterization equipment such as probe stations and semiconductor analyzers. By providing researchers with accessible and cost-effective alternatives, this research seeks to democratize access to this FET sensor foundry technology, thus fostering innovation and discovery in chemical and biological sensing. These concerted efforts aim to accelerate the adoption and advancement of FET sensor technology, paving the way for transformative breakthroughs in scientific inquiry and technological applications.
Open Access
Psychoanalytic Transference: Julia Kristeva’s Struggle for Maternal Identification
(2024-11-07) Sehrish Sarfaraz Malik; Susan Ingram
By examining Alice Jardine’s intellectual biography of Julia Kristeva’s life and work, this dissertation engages in intertextual, interpretative, and textually based research, bringing together Jardine’s biography with Kristeva’s psychoanalytic theories and later autobiographical reflections. Kristeva’s own learning to do away with maternal desire is represented unconsciously yet powerfully by Jardine, who, I establish, takes the position as her good-enough biographer. Chapters are structured around six personal moments in Kristeva’s life that I have chosen from Jardine’s text: the mother and grandmother, father and symbolic fathers, and son and son-substitutes. My dissertation highlights the importance of these moments since they are connected to motherhood and substitutes, creativity and loss, as Kristeva moves in and out of time to mark her own difference and authority between primary and symbolic relations. My understanding of Jardine’s narrative suggests that Kristeva is composed of her own textual theories and childhood stories. I argue that Kristeva has lived her life through her psychoanalytic concepts, rebuilding her transitional objects and defense mechanism of projective identification with the maternal while sublimating the loss of her primary relations in symbolic relationships. Since the unconscious fragments of the personal erupt into a poetic revolution, I read Jardine’s biography to understand Kristeva’s practice of writing what she is living at any given moment as representing the energy charges and the psychical marks of the unconscious rhythmic space. As a method, my goal is to play with dynamic approaches to psychoanalysis by weaving together a technique representing a wave of Kristeva’s personal experiences as part of her theoretical writing. This way of approaching life and work is critical for me to move from the description of events in Kristeva’s life toward psychoanalytical levels of reflection about her works through her theories to demonstrate how Kristeva manifested her own subjectivity. Refusing to distinguish between the personal and the textual, life and theory, my investigation reads for the entirety of Kristeva’s subjectivity, where living and loving take the risk of thinking, as part of distancing from primary relations.
Open Access
“No one said anything about driving in Film Preservation 101!”: The Lived Experience of Disability, Chronic Illness, and Neurodiversity in Moving Image Archival Education
(2024-11-07) Michael Alexander Marlatt; Janine Marchessault
Disability, neurodiversity, and chronic illness are underrepresented in moving image archives. Lack of representation is felt within collections, users of archives, and most importantly for the purposes of this project, staffing. Archivists often need advanced level education to work in the field. Archival education is the first potential employment barrier. This project highlights accessibility gaps in North American moving image archival education programs by sharing the lived experience of disabled students, neurodivergent students, and students with a chronic illness studying and working within moving image archives. Through semi-structured interviews with students, alumni, and faculty of George Eastman Museum’s L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation; NYU’s Moving Image Archiving Preservation program; UCLA’s former Moving Image Archive Studies program at UCLA and current MLIS Media Archival Studies specialization; and the Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management program at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), students and alumni share their experiences from the application process until graduation. My own perspective is also included as a person with epilepsy who graduated from the program at TMU. Key theories in archival studies, archival representation, film preservation, disability studies, cinema studies, and archival accessibility practises inform contextualization and analysis of these testimonies to lived experience, with a constant awareness of the interdisciplinarity existing within these fields. Concepts emphasized throughout include the political/relational model of disability, care, affect, universal design, academic ableism, trauma-informed archival practise, archival silences/bias, “the archive” vs archives, the person-centered archive, and community archives. Students’ experiences are organized around three themes: institutions hosting the programs, the programs, and the archival space. I argue that to create more inclusive archival education programs and overall field, it is vital to engage with the lived experiences of disabled students, neurodivergent students, and students with chronic illnesses. Knowledge mobilization is at the center of this project. This dissertation not only highlights accessibility gaps in moving image archival education but also gives suggestions for how to correct them. Collaboration is necessary for archival inclusion; the student perspective is critical for inclusionary growth.
Open Access
"Tapija and the Politics of Communal Care"
(2024-11-07) Lea Alilovic; OTHON ALEXANDRAKIS
This dissertation explores the contemporary movements, processes, and experiences of neoliberal dispossession in Pula, Croatia, focusing on the city's growing economic dependency on tourism. Central to this study is the local phenomenon of tapija, a term that describes pervasive feelings of melancholy and boredom ingrained in the city's fabric. The dissertation investigates the question, “What does tapija as a feeling do?” and argues that tapija is not merely a reflection of apathy or inertia but a complex and multifaceted sensation. Drawing on Ann Cvetkovich’s (2012) concept of depression as a public feeling, the study examines how tapija can be understood as a way to engage with negative emotions as part of daily practice, cultural production, and political activism. The dissertation also reflects on how Pula's increasing touristification parallels processes of deterritorialization, where tourism acts as a force of dispossession, affecting the city's sense of place, livelihood, and stability. Using Laurence Ralph’s (2014) concept of social injury, the study considers how the wounds of social change manifest not physically but through changes in city space, heritage, and infrastructure. The work highlights how the experience and expression of tapija represent individual and collective responses to these socio-economic pressures, offering glimpses of concern and care for the community. Through examples such as complaints, small talk, graffiti, and walking paths, the dissertation demonstrates how locals inscribe and re-inscribe their connection to place, creating informal spaces to resist and navigate the injurious forces of tourism and economic change.
Open Access
Embodying the Image - Spect-Actorship and Virtual Reality
(2024-11-07) Justin Baillargeon; Janine Marchessault
"Embodying the Image: Spect-actorship and Virtual Reality" addresses spectator behavior and emotional engagement across various forms of virtual reality (VR) experiences, including seated, standing, and room scaled setups. Using a comparative methodology, the study addresses the spectatorial shift triggered by VR's resurgence in various cultural contexts, exploring both out-of-home and in-home experiences across artistic, educational, and entertainment objectives. Central to the investigation is the concept of the spect-actor, drawn from theorist and theatre practioner Augusto Boal, representing individuals who transition from passive spectators to active participants within narratives. Through comparative analysis, the present dissertation showcases VR's evolving affective characteristics and user engagement levels in three different kinds of VR experiences. By focusing on immersion in diverse reality environments, the dissertation aims to address a gap in VR research concerning the artistic, educational, and entertainment aspects of VR spectatorship. Immersion, defined as the extent of a system's ability to create a lifelike illusion of reality, is explored both technologically and psychologically. The dissertation underscores the importance of decision-making interfaces in the amplification of a spect-actor's sense of immersion. The dissertation argues that less mediated Artistic VR experiences provide greater user agency and spect-actorship, allowing enhanced control and influence over actions and experiences. It situates how Educational VR operates within structured frameworks, investigating the intersection of educational objectives, pre-defined learning outcomes, user agency, spect-actorship and embodiment. Finally, turning to Entertainment VR, the dissertation focuses on its synthesis of cinematic storytelling, user agency, authenticity, and spect-actorship to understand diverse approaches in delivering emotionally impactful narratives. This dissertation is the culmination of extensive research and dozens of interviews with VR developers exploring the dynamics of agency and embodiment across three different VR genres developed based on the works that have been selected for this research. Through in-depth comparative analysis of diverse VR works, several key findings have emerged, shedding light on the nuanced interplay between user agency, narrative structure, and spect-actor engagement. The study emphasizes the importance of user agency in fostering immersion and spect-actor engagement within VR experiences. Whether in more open-ended environments or structured educational settings, balancing user freedom with predefined objectives proves essential for maintaining engagement and enhancing the sense of embodiment. In navigating the diverse landscape of VR storytelling, developers must carefully orchestrate the interplay between narrative coherence, user agency, and emotional resonance to create impactful experiences that transcend traditional spectatorship. This dissertation sheds light on the pivotal role of embodiment in eliciting deep emotional responses from users across a range of contexts and genres.
Open Access
An Immigrant Experience on Indigenous Land: The Mennonites of Namaka Farm
(2024-11-07) Elizabeth Ann Jansen; Carolyn Podruchny
Beginning in 1925, thirty-six families, part of a mass migration of German-speaking Russian Mennonites (Russlaender), were settled on Namaka Farm, a large ranch in southern Alberta. With their arrival, the area became home to three disparate cultures and languages: Siksika Blackfoot, British colonial settlers, and Mennonite settlers. This thesis proposes that the experiences of these Mennonites prior to arriving in Canada influenced their adaptation. It shows how they were both marginalized and privileged within the existing colonial structure. Values they held tightly created unforeseen and inadvertent repercussions, including the perpetuation of systemic injustices and racism. Extensive oral interviews and primary document research illustrate how these immigrants formed relationships among themselves, with those in authority, and with their Siksika and “English” neighbours. The integration of Russlaender, Indigenous, and English voices has produced a coherent narrative conveying wisdom that can create thriving and sustainable intracultural, intercultural, and ecological relationships today.