MSVU e-Commons
The MSVU e-Commons is the institutional repository for Mount Saint Vincent University. It allows MSVU faculty, students, and staff to store their scholarly output, including theses and dissertations. Works in the e-Commons have permanent URLs and trustworthy identifiers, and are discoverable via Google Scholar, giving your work a potential local and global audience.
In addition to free storage, the e-Commons provides Mount scholars with an open access platform for disseminating their research. Depositing your work in the e-Commons complies with the requirements for open access publication of work supported by Tri-Agency funding (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC).
If you would like to deposit your work in the e-Commons, or you have any questions about institutional repositories, copyright, or open scholarship, please contact the MSVU Library & Archives.
Communities in DSpace
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Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender, and Social Justice Celebrating Writing Week Department of Aging and Family Science Department of Applied Human Nutrition Department of Biology Department of Business Administration and Tourism Department of Chemistry Department of Child and Youth Study Department of Communication Studies Department of English Department of History Department of Mathematics Department of Modern Languages Department of Political & Canadian Studies Department of Psychology Department of Sociology & Anthropology Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management Department of Women and Gender Studies Faculty of Education Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection This is a collection of essays MSVU students have written using source texts from MSVU Library's Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection.Library MSVU Art Gallery MSVU Senate MSVU Theses Nancy's Chair in Women's Studies Open Educational Resources SE space/L’Espace ES
Recent Submissions
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The Role of Animals in Early Modern European Witchcraft Trials: In the Village, In Demonology, & In Folklore
(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-06) Spikings-Taylor, Samantha
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Proposal for a Public History Display in Halifax: Commemorating Dr. John Slayter Following the McNab’s Island Cholera Outbreak of 1866
(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-06) Strickland, Courtney
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Patient Satisfaction and Knowledge Following Gestational Diabetes Online Education in Atlantic Canada
(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-06) LeBlanc, Julianne
The rising Gestational Diabetes (GD) prevalence has strained the capacity of Atlantic Canada’s largest Diabetes in Pregnancy clinic. Preliminary semi-formal interviews with clinic dietitians revealed perceptions that glycemic index (GI) education was not integrated fully in GD standard care in alignment with Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines recommendations (2018). Despite this potential gap, their transition to ‘home-based’ online follow-ups had reduced workload compared to in-person visits. However, the unanticipated full shift to online education amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 raised concerns about the quality and effectiveness of care in the absence of in-person interactions.
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Transnational Motherhood and the Challenges of Grandparenting
(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-05) Emaikwu, Ene
This thesis examines the lived experiences of Nigerian transnational mothers living in Canada whose children remain in Nigeria under the primary care of grandmothers. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five Nigerian mothers who had at least one child residing with a grandmother in Nigeria. Guided by transnationalism and attachment theories, the study explores how these mothers understand and enact motherhood across borders, maintain emotional bonds with children, and interpret grandmothers’ caregiving roles within broader migration projects.
Analysis generated three overarching themes: experiencing and making sense of motherhood across distance; emotional bonds, guilt, and cultural expectations; and caregiving arrangements, relationships, and safety. The findings show that motherhood is not suspended by migration but reorganized into a transnational, technologically mediated practice, as mothers structure daily life in Canada around children’s routines in Nigeria and use phones, messaging apps, and, in some cases, surveillance technologies to sustain connection and oversight. Mothers navigate significant emotional labour and moral scrutiny, drawing on faith, future-oriented narratives, and selective engagement with Nigerian and Canadian parenting norms to “give themselves grace” in the face of ambiguous loss and shifting attachment relationships. The study also foregrounds grandmothers as everyday mothers in a risky context, highlighting their extensive caregiving work, health strains, and central role in sustaining family life amid concerns about children’s safety and Nigeria’s social conditions.
By centring Nigerian mothers’ perspectives in a Nigeria–Canada context, this thesis extends scholarship on transnational motherhood, attachment, ambiguous loss, and intergenerational care. It underscores the need for policies and supports that recognize the emotional, temporal, and intergenerational work involved when mothers care “in two places at once,” including services that attend to the wellbeing of both migrant mothers and the older women who raise their children.
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Is Nova Scotia shifting from a risk-based to a child well-being system? A critical content analysis of the child and family well-being practice framework in Nova Scotia
(Mount Saint Vincent University, 2026-05) Wokoma, Orinari Francis
The child welfare policy landscape in Nova Scotia has been subjected to significant criticisms for its reliance on risk-based protectionist paradigms. In response, the provincial government introduced the Child and Family Well-being Practice Framework (CFW, 2025) as a shift towards a holistic well-being practice. This study adopts a two-pronged design. First, a scoping review that synthesizes peer-reviewed and grey literature from 2014-2026, to better understand the discursive orientations shaping contemporary child welfare policies and practices in Nova Scotia. Second, a qualitative document-based analysis that critically examines the CFW (2025) practice framework and its policy manual to assess the extent to which it represents a substantive paradigm shift from a risk-based approach to a holistic child well-being paradigm. Using interpretive critical content analysis, the study examines if the CFW (2025) reflects a paradigm shift that prioritizes child’s rights and wellness. Research findings are categorized into three interrelated dimensions: structural (legislative governance), procedural (culturally responsive practice), and systemic (governance and child and family well-being). The analysis reveals that the CFW (2025) and its policy manual reflects a hybrid governance model characterized by a partial paradigm shift in Nova Scotia’s child welfare system. The shift towards a holistic well-being paradigm is constrained by the embedded legislative authority and risk-based governance structure. The study concludes that achieving a substantive transition from a risk-based child protection model to a culturally responsive child and family well-being approach requires structural and legislative reform of the child welfare system, alongside alignment between policy discourse, institutional practice, and legislative frameworks in Nova Scotia.