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Recent Submissions
Marxism, Feminism and Epistemological Dissonance
(Socialist Studies, 2012-08) Bakan, Abigail B.
The analytical relationship between Marxism and feminism has engaged critical scholarship and leftist practice since the time of the foundational contributions of Marx and Engels. Socialist feminist analysis has profoundly advanced contemporary Marxism. However, some strands in Marxist theory and left practice continue to be resistant to feminist contributions. It is this resistance that animates this paper, which is theorized as epistemological dissonance. While not in any way universal, such dissonance is pervasive and suggests an epistemological framing. This is suggested to include four dimensions, regarding: (i) temporality; (ii) idealized masculinities; (iii) specific views of totality in relation to class, race and gender; and (iv) the relationship between activism and the academy. Collectively, these elements maintain and advance not only certain tenets understood as “knowledge”, but also generate a kind of problematic left common sense that can inhibit constructive Marxist and socialist feminist investigation.
The Niichii Project: Revitalizing Indigenous Language in Northern Canada
(Deakin University, 2021-11-30) Peterson, Shelley Stagg; Manitowabi, Yvette; Manitowabi, Jacinta
Two Anishnabek kindergarten teachers discuss four principles of Indigenous pedagogies in a project with a university researcher that created a context for children to engage in activities to learn their Anishnabek language and culture, and create positive identities. The university researcher sent a rabbit puppet named Niichii (Friend), who was assigned the role of an Anishnaabek child whose family was from their Indigenous community but had moved away. Taking the role of Niichii’s Kokum (Grandmother), the university researcher asked the child to teach Niichii the community’s language and traditional ways. The teachers describe and interpret the learning activities of the Niichii project in terms of four elements of Indigenous pedagogies: intergenerational learning; experiential learning; spiritual learning involving interconnections with the land; and learning about relationality. Implications for other bilingual and multilingual contexts include creating role play contexts where children are positioned as teachers and helpers to support an imaginary character’s language and cultural learning, building on children’s funds of knowledge and highlighting cultural connections to the local community.
Collaborative Action Research in a Northern Early Childhood Educator Program: Professional Learning of Instructors and Interns
(Nipissing University, 2024-05-16) Peterson, Shelley Stagg; McDonald , Erica; Simpson , Charlene; McGregor , Sarah; Eisazadeh, Nazila
This collaborative action research, carried out by early childhood education interns, with the support of their instructor and two university researchers, shows the empowerment of postsecondary students that occurs when they are responsible for designing and implementing research projects tailored to their placement contexts. The early childhood educator interns took up a stance as reflective practitioners who developed professional skills and knowledge in an area that was meaningful to them—teaching young children their Indigenous language. The interns shared responsibility for their learning with their instructor, who was also conducting research into her practice, gathering data to identify the impact of her new teaching approach on interns’ learning. The simultaneous use of collaborative action research methods at the instructor and intern levels provides research-based information for the larger professional field. Additionally, the college instructor and the student interns are positioned as research-practitioners who use action research to support their professional growth.
Expanding Digital Access to Literature by Black Canadians
(2022) Walsh, Benjamin
Academic library collections serve each broad discipline as either the raw material for research or the overarching
structure that places its scholarly production in context.
Within the humanities, the raw materials of research that are available to scholars are often biased towards a Western
literary canon. This is especially true of the digital humanities where scholarship can only reflect what it is possible for
scholars to see. Historian Kim Gallon (Making a Case for the Black Digital Humanities, 2016) describes a digital
humanities that frames human culture and society through digital library collections that lack equity in their
representation of Black experience. Black studies, she argued, cannot leverage the opportunities digital humanities
affords if this problem with digital collections remains.
This poster will first present an overview of the methods library staff used to assess the digital collections at a large
Canadian university library to identify the gaps that exist in its holdings of the literature of Black Canadians. Next this
poster will describe how these gaps need to be addressed both through traditional commercial acquisition and through
direct partnerships with publishers and authors to ensure this important work can be digitized, preserved, and shared.
Pneumatic-Vibratory Probe Compaction Inducing Horizontal Stress Increase in Collapsible Loess
(Canadian Science Publishing, 2025-03-28) Gao, Changhui; Du, Guang-Yin; Dong, Jianhui; Wu, Yankai; Bai, Mei; Yang, Yong
This study focuses on the horizontal stress changes induced by pneumatic-vibratory probe compaction (PVPC) in collapsible loess, aiming to reveal the mechanism through which PVPC reinforces loess foundations. Field tests with compaction grid spacings of 1.2 m, 1.3 m, and 1.4 m demonstrated that the collapsibility of the soil layer within an 8 m depth range was completely eliminated. Cone resistance and sleeve resistance increased by more than 100% on average, indicating significant reinforcement. Horizontal stress changes caused by the vertical vibration of PVPC are primarily influenced by the sleeve resistance ratio, with minimal dependency on the friction angle. The horizontal stress ratio (K1/K0) increased markedly in the upper 0~4.0 m, ranging from 4.0 to 8.0, and stabilized in the 4.0~7.5 m range at values between 1.9 and 3.1. Microstructural analysis revealed that PVPC reorganizes soil particles, increasing density, reducing internal voids, enhancing inter-particle bonding, and redistributing stress within the soil. These changes collectively explain the significant elevation in horizontal stress, which improves the stability and load-bearing capacity of loess foundations.