Graduate Theses

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    Re-setting the Table: Exploring the Counter-stories of Racialized Dietitians in Canada
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2023-10) Dhami, Gurneet Kaur
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    Religion and Immigration: Exploring the role of one religious institution in integrating Kerala Christian young immigrants in Canada
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2023) Thomas, Jeema
    The current research investigated religion and immigration by exploring the role of one religious institution in integrating Kerala Christian young immigrants in Canada. This study interviewed three men and three women belonging to six different families who immigrated from Kerala in the last six months to seven years with their families, including young children. They were regular attendees (at least twice a month) of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Two different sampling techniques— purposive sampling and snowball sampling were employed to select the participants who took part in the study. Understanding and interpreting the findings from this study were conducted according to Bronfenbrenner's Social Ecological Model (1977), as well as Bourdieu’s notion of Social Capital (1986). For the data collection, content analysis on publicly available resources such as the church website and social media sites were used followed by individual interviews. The framework for coding and examining the findings was thematic analysis. This research made use of In vivo coding without any preconceived themes, thereby ensuring the codes were developed from the words of the participants’ rather than previously fixed by the researcher. The results indicated that the religious institution named Holy Family Catholic Church, Halifax with its services and programmes has helped new immigrants and their children from Kerala, India in their integration into the wider Canadian society.
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    An Environmental Scan of Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Programs: Reshaping Masculinity
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2023-08) Davis, Alexander
    Intimate partner violence (IPV) and toxic masculinities plague our world more now than ever before. IPV is described as a series of violent acts or threats that cause emotional, physical, or sexual trauma to romantic partners (typically women), in both casual and committed relationships (Pereira et al., 2020; Webermann et al., 2022). It often involves coercion, social isolation, and reduction of freedom in the victim’s public and private life, including emotional, financial, and medical control (Pereira et al., 2020). Given that men are the predominant perpetrators (Donovan & Hester, 2008), and most violent tendencies are learned in childhood (via social learning), it is imperative that young adolescent males be educated about violence prevention to support a decrease of IPV in future generations. Through an environmental scan of 55 programs that exist to prevent intimate partner violence from occurring in the first place, and to help reshape masculinity it is clear not only that there are organizations and programs in existence already doing this work effectively. As well these programs often train their participants to become facilitators, thereby securing their sustainability. Programs also seem to be shifting towards a more unified model of education inclusive of sex education, IPV prevention, and redefined masculinities. While this is positive, more programs need to be created that not only meet the needs of their participants but encourage them to seek out new ways of thinking and avenues for positive relational and behavioral change. The overall goal is to reduce and eradicate IPV. When it comes to reshaping masculinity, what is evident is that while there may not be one set definition for what healthy masculinities look like, there is in fact a definition for unhealthy masculinities. The key is in education and curriculum that moves toward the development of masculinities that support and nurture rather than destroy and violate.
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    Promoting Early Literacy Through Play-based Learning: Supporting the Foundations of Early Literacy Through Child-Directed Play
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2023) Mohamed, Dina
    Learning literacy in the pre-school years is dominated by play-based practices, but as children enter the formal school system literacy instruction takes a more systematic and explicit form. There is a significant body of literature that acknowledges the numerous benefits of child- directed play that outweigh teacher-directed instruction, but despite the proven evidence of the benefits of play, there remains a tendency towards explicit teacher-directed instruction in the early years. Moreover, play is often regarded as spontaneous, chaotic, and an environment where learning is accidental and unplanned. This research study will investigate how intentional, purposeful literacy learning through child-directed play can support the foundations of early literacy. The research uses secondary qualitative data analysis guided by a constructivist approach to investigate the following research questions: 1. How can intentional, purposeful literacy learning through play support the foundations of early literacy? 2. How does the educators’ role influence the intentionality and purposefulness of play? The investigation involved reflexive thematic analysis of data, that consisted of images and discussions. Key findings highlight the foundational literacy building blocks that occur in a play-based environment, as well as underscore intentional practices of educators in the pre-primary program. Thus, drawing attention to the use of intentional purposeful play to promote the foundations of literacy which can have far reaching impact on literacy learning practices.
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    Persistence of Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya: A Case of Meru County
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2023-08) Kubai, Faith Kairuthi
    The goal to end FGM in Kenya by 2022 seems bleak since the practice persists in hotspot areas such as Meru County. This study discusses the persistent crisis of FGM by examining existing discursive practices using feminist content analysis on online content in three organizations that work in the county. The analysis demonstrates that despite having a clear goal to end FGM, there are internal divisions on the use of Do No Harm language, effectiveness of the anti-FGM law, structural gender inequalities fueled by patriarchy and the insider-outsider differences in the African-led movement to end the harmful practice. The divisions emanate from gendered functions of FGM relative to the economic, political, and sociocultural organization of the community that are further exacerbated by the historical positions of sexism, racism, and colonialism characterized by top-down approaches. These are noteworthy because they are key contributing factors in the inability of present approaches to stem FGM and they show that the problem necessitates a bottom-up approach where activists need engagement with what works in their community context and get support to eradicate the practice. Use of discourse analysis in this study helped to consider activists’ standpoints, and grassroots and funder community input that ultimately call for dialogue among stakeholders. The voice of activists is expressed through the content they post in the online media while the grassroots community standpoint is taken from their verbal and written content in the form of testimonies and quotes from anti-FGM campaign training feedback. The funder community as a stakeholder plays a part through the stipulations and recommendations for grantees. This study shows that more successful eradication interventions will depend on factors such as sensitivity to the insider/outsider perspective, dialogue about the FGM law with the community and a focus with more attention on the role of patriarchal power in maintaining FGM practice and on shifting structural changes through women empowerment especially economically.