[ April 5, 2013; 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] Date: Friday, April 5, 2013

Time: 10:00am

RE-COLLECTIONS: AURATIC ENCOUNTERS WITH DATABASE AND ARCHIVAL ARTWORKS

Committee

Chair: G. McCarron
Senior Supervisor: J. Marontate
Committee Supervisor: K. McAllister
Internal-External Examiner: Z. Druick

Abstract

This study considers Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura in the context of new media. Drawing from Benjamin’s writings as well as scholarly interpretations of his work, I argue that aura has not been eradicated despite technological advancements [...]

[ February 8, 2013; 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] Date: Friday, February 8, 2013

Time: 10:00am

Gender and the Games Industry: The Experiences of Female Game Workers

Committee

Chair: Frédéric Lesage
Senior Supervisor: Alison Beale
Supervisor: Catherine Murray
Examiner: Leslie Regan-Shade (Associate Professor, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto)

Abstract

In the digital games industry women are statistical and cultural outliers. Using a cultural studies lens, this thesis examines the experiences of women game-makers in order to more [...]

[ September 19, 2012; 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ] Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Time: 1:00pm – 4;00 pm

The Concert Hall as a Medium of Musical Culture: The Technical Mediation of Listening in the 19th Century

Committee

Chair: Martin Laba
Senior Supervisor: Andrew Feenberg
Supervisor: Gary McCarron
Supervisor: Shane Gunster
Internal Examiner: Barry Truax
External Examiner: Hans-Joachim Braun, Universitat der Bundeswehr, Hamburg

Abstract

Taking the relationship between musical culture, media history, and the philosophy of technology as its starting [...]

[ August 16, 2012; 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. ] Date: Thursday Aug 16, 2012

Time: 6:30–9:00 pm

Alternative Media Centers at Summits and Spectacles

Committee

Chair: Zoë Druick
Senior Supervisor: Zoë Druick
Supervisor: Enda Brophy

Abstract

This project is a comparison of alternative media centers (AMCs) set up as part of the 2010 anti-Olympic convergence in Vancouver and the anti-G-20 protests in Toronto in the same year. It is made up of two parts: a video [...]

[ August 14, 2012; 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. ] Date: Tuesday, Aug 14, 2012

Time: 10am–12pm

From Arterial Integration to Segregated Lanes: A 1988–2011 Case Study of Cycling Routes in Vancouver, British Columbia

Committee

Chair: Fiona Jeffries
Senior Supervisor: Zoë Druick
Supervisor: Peter Chow-White
Examiner: Kay Teschke (Professor, UBC School of Population & Public Health)

Abstract

After more than two decades of cycling transportation planning, Vancouver’s first segregated bike lanes represent a new, and perhaps temporary stability in [...]

[ August 13, 2012; 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. ] Date: Monday, August 13, 2012

Time: 10am-1pm

Nerds! Cultural Practices and Community-Making in a Subcultural Scene

Committee

Chair: Alison Beale
Senior Supervisor: Gary McCarron
Supervisor: Shane Gunster
Supervisor: Stuart Poyntz
Internal Examiner: Cindy Patton ( Canada Research Chair in Community, Culture & Health, Department of Sociology and Anthropology)
External Examiner: Bart Beaty (Professor, Department of English, University of Calgary)

Abstract

For thirty-five years or so, the press has periodically announced the “revenge [...]

[ July 19, 2012; 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. ] Date: Thursday, July 19, 2012

Time: 10am–1pm

Reflections on Cooperative Experiences in Rural Yunnan: 1942 – 2010

Committee

Chair: Shane Gunster
Senior Supervisor: Robert Anderson
Supervisor: Yuezhi Zhao
Supervisor: Pat Howard
Internal Examiner: Jan Walls (Professor Emeritus, Department of Humanities)
External Examiner: Christina Gilmartin (Associate Professor, History, Northeastern University) – In Absentia

Abstract

The thesis has a double focus: on the one hand, it deals with instances of cooperative economic [...]

[ July 6, 2012; 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. ] Date: Friday, July 6, 2012

Time: 1pm-4pm

Public Gaming: eSport and Event Marketing in the Experience Economy

Committee

Chair: David Murphy
Senior Supervisor: Stephen Kline
Supervisor: Dal Yong Jin
Internal Examiner: Richard Smith

Abstract

This thesis situates organized competitive digital gaming (eSport) in the context of historical sport, the rise of the computer and video games industry, event marketing, and the experience economy. It argues that the oftentimes misattributed [...]

[ June 28, 2012; 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. ] Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012

Time: 10am-1pm

An Inquiry into Animal Rights Vegan Activists’ Perception and Practice of Persuasion

Committee

Chair: Kathi Cross
Senior Supervisor: Gary McCarron
Supervisor: Robert Anderson
Examiner: Michael Kenny (Anthopology, SFU)

Abstract

This thesis interrogates the persuasive practices of Animal Rights Vegan Activists (ARVAs) in order to determine why and how ARVAs fail to convince people to become and stay veg*n, and what they might [...]

[ June 22, 2012; 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. ] Date: Friday, June 22, 2012

Time: 11am-2pm

Peacing Together Conflicted Identities: Cultural Dominance, Affectivity and Bridgebuilding Amongst  Moderate Israelis and Palestinians

Committee

Chair: Bob Anderson
Senior Supervisor: Rick Gruneau
Supervisor: Gary McCarron
Supervisor: Stuart Poyntz
Internal Examiner: Martin Laba
External Examiner: Michael Real (School of Communication and Culture, Royal Roads University)

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to enhance the study of conflict resolution by building on literature which [...]