Research

To see what some graduates of our program have done after graduation please check out our Graduates page.

Completed Theses and Major Research Papers

Justine Henhawk-Bomberry (2011) "'Everybody's watching': Media Representations of Six Nations and the Caledonia Crisis." (Major Research Paper)(Supervisor, Dr. Michael Ripmeester, Supervisory Committee Member: Dr. Susan Tilley)

Jodie Lynn Harrison (2011) "At Home at School: Building Stronger Indigenous People through Cultural Resurgence in Ontario Public School Contexts." (Thesis) (Supervisor, Dr. Janet Conway, Supervisory Committee Members: Dr. Margot Francis,  Melissa St. Germaine-Small.

Jessie Ray Short (2011) "All of My Blood is Red: Contemporary Metis Visual Culture and Identity." (Thesis) (Supervisor, Dr. Margot Francis, Supervisory Committee Members: Dr. David Fancy, Dr. Keri Cronin)

Carolina Avarado (2010) “Canadian Media discourse on Mexico, Mexican Agricultural Migrant Workers and H1N1.” (Major Research Paper) (Supervisor: Dr. Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Members: Dr. Jonah Butovsky, Dr. Hijin Park)

Malaika Baxter (2010) “Student Apathy and Activism in Neoliberal Times: A Case for Contextualizing Political Behaviours.” (Major Research Paper) (Supervisor: Dr. Dennis Soron, Supervisory Committee Member: Dr. Mary-Beth Raddon)

Meagan Bowman (2010) “Sexual Harassment is “a big deal”: A Theoretical Exploration of links between Interpretations of and Resistance to Discourses of Gender and Boys’ Sexual Harassment of Girls.” (Major Research Paper) (Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Raby, Supervisory Committee Member: Dr. Shauna Pomerantz)

Alison Richards (2010) “The Role that Privilege can play in Informing Experiences for Participants in International Service-learning Initiatives.” (Major Research Paper) (Supervisor: Dr Shannon Moore, Supervisory Committee Member: Dr. Rob Alexander)

Nikita Cox (2010) 'The normalization of Speciesism: An analysis of the Food Network" (major research paper) (Supervisor: John Sorenson, Supervisory Committee Member: June Corman)

Amos Nkrumah (2010) "Gender Relations and Microcredit in Rural Southern Ghana" (major research paper) (Supervisor: Kate Bezanson, Supervisory Committee Member: Ifeanyi Ezeonu)

Emelia Ayipio (2010) China's Involvement in Ghana: A Case Study of Chinese Manufactured Goods in Accra, Ghana." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Ifeanyi Ezeonu, Supervisory Committee Member: Kate Bezanson) 

Nadia Sukul (2010) "Constructing Racial Identities in Hollywood Film: An Application of Racial Triangulation to Rush Hour (1998)." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Susan Spearey, Supervisory Committee Member: Hijin Park)

Renee McKinley (2010) “Childcare by Choice or by Default? Examining the Experience of Unregulated Home-Based Childcare for Women in Paid Work.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Kate Bezanson, Supervisory Committee Members: June Corman, Ann Duffy)

Megan Martens (2010) "Perennial Negotiations/Elemental Encounters: Autoethnographic Perspectives on Approaching Food Sovereignty." (thesis) (Supervisor:  Adam Dickinson, Supervisory Committee Members: Susan Spearey, Margot Francis)

Rahaina Tahiru (2010) “Women's Experiences and Ethnic Conflict: The Case of Northern Ghana.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Susan Spearey, Supervisory Committee Member: Bonny Ibhawoh)

Nana Miladinovic (2009) “From Socialism to Capitalism?  Critically Evaluating Competing Discourses on the Causes of Dissolution of Former Yugoslavia, 1981 - 1991.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Murray Smith, Supervisory Committee Member: Tamari Kitossa)

Suzanne Narain (2009) “The Re-branding Project: The Genealogy of Creating a Neoliberal Jane and Finch" (major research paper) (Supervisor: Tamari Kitossa, Supervisory Committee Member: Ebru Ustandag)

Arusa Shafi (2009) "Constructed Spaces of Vulnerability and Disaster: The Case of Kashechewan." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Mike Ripmeester, Supervisory Committee Member: Ana Isla)

Kaysia Saliba (2009) “Analyzing Postfeminism in the Media:  The Consumption of a Young Star." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Member: Michelle Webber)

Jody Toetenel (2009) "Fitness to Stand Trial: How Discourses of Rationality, Reasonableness and Culpability Inform the Law and Psychiatry to Create Standards of Normal." (thesis) (Supervisor: Voula Marinos, Supervisory Committee Member: Shannon Moore)

Terry Trowbridge (2009) "The Clemente Course in the Humanities and Critical Pedagogy: A Comparative Analysis of Earl Shorris and bell hooks on Poverty, Racism, Imperialism and Patriarchy" (thesis) (Supervisor: Michael Driegder, Supervisory Committee Member: Dennis Soron)

Kate Williams (2009) "Medicalization and Women: O, The Oprah Magazine Diagnosed through Critical Discourse Analysis (thesis) (Supervisor: Dr. Dan Malleck, Committee Member Dr. Margot Francis).

Lindsay Adams (2008) "The Shifting Terrain of Feminist Theory and Activism: University-Based Women's Centres and Third Wave Feminism." (thesis) (Supervisor: Nancy Cook, Supervisory Committee Member: Margot Francis)

Theresa DiClemente (2008) "A Dialectical Social Analysis of Hamburgers: The complex and multifaceted interplay of exploitations." (major research paper) (Supervisor: John Sorenson, Supervisory Committee Member: Dennis Soron)

Anna Lise Domanski (2008) “Righteous Sounds and Reproductive Justice: The Influence of Ani DiFranco's Music for Reproductive Rights Activists.” (thesis) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: David Fancy)

Aaron Franks (2008) "A Minor Theory of the Transit of Materiality into Discourse via Campesina. " (thesis) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: Mary Beth Raddon) 

Maureen Kihika (2008) "A Critique of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal - 'To Combat, Reduce and Halt the Spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya by 2015'." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Hevina Dashwood, Supervisory Committee Member: David Butz)

Nelson Lara (2008) "The Legacy of the Cuban Revolution: Blueprint for Socialism?" (major research paper) (Supervisor: Jonah Butovsky, Supervisory Committee Member: Dennis Soron)

Priscillia Lefebvre (2008) "Antidepressants, the new opiate of the people: Resisting the medicalization of alienation with the biopsychosocial model."  (thesis) (Supervisor: Dan Malleck, Supervisory Committee Members: Shannon Moore, Andrew Dane)

Betsy MacDonald (2008) "Imagining Alter-narratives: Discourse, "Atlantica" and Globalization." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Catherine Chaput, Supervisory Committee Member: Janet Conway)

Sara McLean (2008) “The Compassionate 'Terrorists': Terrorism Rhetoric, Anti-Terror Legislation, and the Implications for Animal Advocacy Movements.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: John Sorenson, Supervisory Committee Member: Janet Conway)

Matthew Reimer (2008) "Gendered Inequality in Academia: Exploring Women's Experiences During the Pre-Tenure Stage of their Academic Career." (thesis) (Supervisor: Michelle Webber, Supervisory Committee Member: Ann Duffy)

Jessica Soul (2008) "Interconnections and Contradictions: An Eco-feminist Perspective on PETA." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Ana Isla, Supervisory Committee Member: Dennis Soron)

Jennifer Whitten (2008) "Post-Monogamy." (major research paper) (Supervisor: Mary Beth Raddon, Supervisory Committee Member: Nancy Cook)

Cheryl Athersych (2007) “Women’s Social Networks in Niagara: The Experience of Homelessness and Poverty.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Kate Bezanson, Supervisory Committee Member: June Corman)

Sylvia Bawa (2007) “Advocating Recognition and Redistribution in Poverty Alleviation Programs in Ghana: An Examination of State and NGO Programs and Policies.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Bonny Ibhawoh, Supervisory Committee Members: Hevina Dashwood, Kate Bezanson)

Julie Gregory (2007) “Dancing Politics: Connecting Women's Experience of Rave in Toronto to Ageism and Patriarchy.” (thesis) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: Rebecca Raby)

Erin Kaipainen (2007) “Graffiti, Memory and Contested Space: Mnemonic Initiatives following Trauma and/or Repression in Buenos Aires, Argentina.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Mike Ripmeester, Supervisory Committee Member: Ana Isla)

Heather Maguire (2007) “Citizen Jane: Exploring The Relationship Between Gender and Cellular Phones in Societies of Control.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Catherine Nash, Supervisory Committee Members: Dale Bradley, David Butz)

Stacey Byrne (2006) “Benefits, Challenges, and Limitation of Fair Trade as a Social Justice Movement.” (thesis) (Supervisor: John Sorenson, Supervisory Committee Member: Ann Duffy)

Jillian Ditillio (2006) “What's So Special about the Special Diet Allowance? A Critical Discourse Analysis.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Jonah Butovsky, Supervisory Committee Member: Mary-Beth Raddon)

Karen Hofman (2006) “Production Under Glass: Working Conditions and Class-consciousness of Niagara Greenhouse Workers.” (thesis) (Supervisor: June Corman, Supervisory Committee Member: Murray Smith)

Allison Jensen (2006) “Romancing Orientalism: Reading Racialised Masculinities in Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooter Series.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Amanda Glasbeek, Supervisory Committee Member: Rob Alexander)

Lorraine Pannett (2006) “Finding a Liveable Life in Translation: Doing Justice to Migrant Life History and Identity.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: Mary-Beth Raddon)

Meredith Pilling (2006) “Queer Encounters: Exploring Experiences of (Gender)Queers in Women's Public Washroom Spaces.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Member: Catherine Nash)

Tomee Sojourner (2006) “From Periphery to Centre: An Exploratory Study of One Black Lesbian's Intersecting Identities and Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Members: David Butz, Catherine Nash)

Allison Burgess (2005) “Disrupting Heterosexual Space? The Implementation of a Campus Positive Space Campaign.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Members: Mary-Beth Raddon, Catherine Nash)

Sara Cumming (2005) “'Welcome to my Life': The Experiences of Single Mothers who are the Recipients of Multiple State Provided Benefits.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Kate Bezanson, Supervisory Committee Member: June Corman)

Sarah Fuller (2005) “Theology, Social Struggle, Economic Justice and Churches in Canada.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Mary-Beth Raddon, Supervisory Committee Member: Susan Spearey)

Erica Kelly (2005) “Poetries of Community: Africville Recollected.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Mike Ripmeester, Supervisory Committee Member: Marilyn Rose)

Elizaveta Kozlova (2005) “Representations of Russian Immigrants in Canadian Newspaper Discourse.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Susan Spearey, Supervisory Committee Member: John Sorenson)

Lysanne Louter (2005) “Free Speech and Reporting on Rights: Canadian Newspaper Treatment of Bill C-250.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: Rob Alexander, Supervisory Committee Member: Susan Spearey)

Samah Sabra (2005) “(Re)Writing the Other/Self: Autoethnography in the Transcultural Arena of Representation.” (thesis) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: Susan Spearey)

Lisa Sharik (2005) “WaterCan: One Man's Vision, Millions of Lives Saved.” (major research paper) (Supervisor: June Corman, Supervisory Committee Member: Ann Duffy)

Brigitte Cecckin (2004) “The Impact of Social Welfare Reform and Workfare on Lone-Parent Female Headed Households in the Niagara Region.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Ann Duffy, Supervisory Committee Member: June Corman)

Emily Eaton (2004) “Niagara Alternative Food Systems: Networks, Discourses and Nature.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Karen Krug, Supervisory Committee Member: Deborah Leslie)

Rebecca Jansen (2004) “Power, Resistance and Spanish Residential School.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Mike Ripmeester, Supervisory Committee Member: Carmela Patrias)

Cynthia Nyarko (2004) “Canada/US Border Crossing Facilitation and Constraint.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Jane Helleiner, Supervisory Committee Member: Anna Pratt)

Melissa St. Germaine-Small (2004) “Native Women, Theory and Research: Contexts and Contestations.” (thesis) (Supervisor: Ann Duffy, Supervisory Committee Member: David Butz)

Katherine Zavitz (2004) “International Volunteers at a Costa Rican Organic Farm: Sheepish Volunteers, Proud Tourists and Unwitting Developers.” (thesis) (Supervisor: David Butz, Supervisory Committee Member: June Corman)