Bye Bye Binary: Exploring Non-Binary Youths\u27 Experiences of Mental Health, Discrimination, and Community Belongingness

In recent years, there has been an increase in research focusing on the impacts of social exclusion and discrimination on the mental health of transgender populations. Despite this, few studies have focused on the experiences of gender non-conforming, or “non-binary” individuals. This community-based participatory research (CBPR) study (N = 10) used the arts-informed method of body mapping, individual interviews, and group discussions to examine non-binary young peoples’ experiences of discrimination in relation to mental health. Participants consisted young people (ages 16-25) living in Waterloo, Ontario. A visual analysis, thematic analysis, and member-checking session were employed to analyze collected data. In the following thesis document, I present two manuscripts where I share a) a methodological reflection of engaging with qualitative and arts-based approaches, and b) results pertaining to mental health, discrimination, and community belongingness. I describe how I, a non-binary researcher, grappled with my positionality within the research context, theoretical frameworks, and commitments to undertaking research with and for community. Implications for institutional policy, curriculum, and pedagogy within post-secondary institutions are discussed

Automated Transit Networks (ATN): A Review of the State of the Industry and Prospects for the Future, MTI Report 12-31

The concept of Automated Transit Networks (ATN) - in which fully automated vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways provide on-demand, primarily non-stop, origin-to-destination service over an area network – has been around since the 1950s. However, only a few systems are in current operation around the world. ATN does not appear “on the radar” of urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers when it comes to designing solutions for current transit problems in urban areas. This study explains ATN technology, setting it in the larger context of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT); looks at the current status of ATN suppliers, the status of the ATN industry, and the prospects of a U.S.-based ATN industry; summarizes and organizes proceedings from the seven Podcar City conferences that have been held since 2006; documents the U.S./Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Transport; discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems; explains the opportunities and challenges in planning and funding ATN systems and approaches for procuring ATN systems; and concludes with a summary of the existing challenges and opportunities for ATN technology. The study is intended to be an informative tool for planners, urban designers, and those involved in public policy, especially for urban transit, to provide a reference for history and background on ATN, and to use for policy development and research

Narratives of resistance: (Re) Telling the story of the HIV/AIDS movement – Because the lives and legacies of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities depend on it

Centering the narratives of the intersectional struggles within the HIV movement for Indigenous sovereignty, Black and People of Colour liberation, and LGBTQ rights tirelessly fought for by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities legitimates their lives and legacies within the movement; and the relevance of a focused response to the HIV epidemic that continues to wreak devastation in these communities. The recent political push for a post-HIV era solely centers the realities of middle-class white, gay men and has genocidal implications for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities

Single-Inclusive Jet Production in Polarized pp Collisions at O(alpha_s^3)

We present a next-to-leading order QCD calculation for single-inclusive high-p_T jet production in longitudinally polarized pp collisions within the ``small-cone'' approximation. The fully analytical expressions obtained for the underlying partonic hard-scattering cross sections greatly facilitate the analysis of upcoming BNL-RHIC data on the double-spin asymmetry A_{LL}^{jet} for this process in terms of the unknown polarization of gluons in the nucleon. We simultaneously rederive the corresponding QCD corrections to unpolarized scattering and confirm the results existing in the literature. We also numerically compare to results obtained with Monte-Carlo methods and assess the range of validity of the ``small-cone'' approximation for the kinematics relevant at BNL-RHIC.Comment: 23 pages, 8 eps-figure

Inclusive Dijet Production at HERA: Direct Photon Cross Sections in Next-To-Leading Order QCD

We have calculated inclusive two-jet cross sections in next-to-leading order QCD for direct photoproduction in low $Q^2$ $ep$ collisions at HERA. Infrared and collinear singularities in real and virtual contributions are cancelled with the phase space slicing method. Analytical formulas for the different contributions giving the dependence on the slicing parameter are presented. Various one- and two-jet distributions have been computed demonstrating the flexibility of the method.Comment: 30 pages, latex, 11 figures appended as uuencoded fil

Dialogues of Disruption: Confronting Oppression in the Academy

Within academia in recent years, there has been a concerted effort to re-center the perspectives and rights to free speech of the status quo at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of queer, trans, racialized, and Indigenous communities.  Historically, critical race scholars have identified the centering of freedom of speech as an exercise by the old-guard in white supremacist culture to repurpose and repackage language about political freedoms in an effort to retain white settler control of a society that has long outgrown stunted ideologies about binary gender norms, and the continued oppression of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities. Through our hard-fought lessons learned from often painful lived experiences as queer, trans, and Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) scholars and activists, this paper aims to: 1) Archive and document the testimonies and experiences of multiply-marginalized students and emergent faculty in the field of community psychology in a mid-sized Canadian university; 2) Utilize critical and intersectional analyses in unpacking the layers of violence and harm expressed and experienced through case examples; 3) Use our experiences to share strategies on the successful navigation of white supremacy in the academic spaces in which we work and learn; and 4) Call academic disciplines, including community psychology, to action by identifying their ethical responsibility to cultivate non-violent spaces for BIPOC people

Dialogues of Disruption: Confronting Oppression in the Academy

Within academia in recent years, there has been a concerted effort to re-center the perspectives and rights to free speech of the status quo at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of queer, trans, racialized, and Indigenous communities.  Historically, critical race scholars have identified the centering of freedom of speech as an exercise by the old-guard in white supremacist culture to repurpose and repackage language about political freedoms in an effort to retain white settler control of a society that has long outgrown stunted ideologies about binary gender norms, and the continued oppression of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities. Through our hard-fought lessons learned from often painful lived experiences as queer, trans, and Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) scholars and activists, this paper aims to: 1) Archive and document the testimonies and experiences of multiply-marginalized students and emergent faculty in the field of community psychology in a mid-sized Canadian university; 2) Utilize critical and intersectional analyses in unpacking the layers of violence and harm expressed and experienced through case examples; 3) Use our experiences to share strategies on the successful navigation of white supremacy in the academic spaces in which we work and learn; and 4) Call academic disciplines, including community psychology, to action by identifying their ethical responsibility to cultivate non-violent spaces for BIPOC people

The Developmental Significance of Adolescent Romantic Relationships: Parent and Peer Predictors of Engagement and Quality at Age 15

From a longitudinal sample (n = 957; 49.9% male; 77.3% White/non-Hispanic) of participants studied from infancy through age 15, adolescents’ depth of engagement in, and quality of romantic relationships were predicted from early and contemporaneous parent–child interactive quality and peer social competence. High quality maternal parenting and peer experiences prior to and during adolescence tended to be negatively associated with the depth of engagement in this domain for the full sample, yet positively associated with the quality of adolescents’ romantic relationships for the sub-set of individuals currently dating at age 15. Results reconcile contrasting views of the origins of romantic relationship engagement and quality and the positive versus negative developmental salience of romantic relationships in adolescence

Ultimate attainment in the use of collocations among heritage speakers of Turkish in Germany and Turkish–German returnees

In this paper we show that heritage speakers and returnees are fundamentally different from the majority of adult second language learners with respect to their use of collocations (Laufer & Waldman, 2011). We compare the use of lexical collocations involving yap- “do” and et- “do” among heritage speakers of Turkish in Germany (n = 45) with those found among Turkish returnees (n = 65) and Turkish monolinguals (n = 69). Language use by returnees is an understudied resource although this group can provide crucial insights into the specific language ability of heritage speakers. Results show that returnees who had been back for one year avoid collocations with yap- and use some hypercorrect forms in et-, whilst returnees who had been back for seven years at the time of recording produce collocations that are quantitatively and qualitatively similar to those of monolingual speakers of Turkish. We discuss implications for theories of ultimate attainment and incomplete acquisition in heritage speakers