Pictures of Culture: Photographic Objects as Sites of National Identity

This thesis paper examines specific bodies of work by three Ontario-based emerging artists, Meryl McMaster, Basil AlZeri and Kristie MacDonald, who explore questions of depicting national identity in a culturally diverse country like Canada. Focusing on the passport, the postcard and the ethnographic portrait as objects of cultural significance, the artists and their works appropriate these sites of photography, and, in turn, their embedded histories, as ways to renegotiate them. The specific representations taken up by McMaster, AlZeri and MacDonald portray a variety of culturally specific perspectives and histories in relation to Canada. The artists in “Pictures of Culture” trouble the ideological imperatives of national identity by rethinking photographic representations as signifiers of inclusion, recognition and participation that arise from their distinct subject positions as Indigenous sovereign citizens or immigrants within national borders

Examining Psychological and Physical Health Indicators of Individuals Diagnosed with Diabetes

The purpose of this study was to describe a sample of rural residing individuals diagnosed with diabetes as well as to examine the psychological and physical health indicators associated with their diabetes diagnosis. In addition, the potential moderating role of social statuses on the relationships between diabetes and mental and physical health indicators was investigated. Health indicators examined were: individuals’ self-reported or subjective health, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and body mass index (BMI). Data were drawn from a larger health assessment project spanning nine counties in rural central Texas. Descriptive statistics of the sample demonstrate that diabetics tended to be older, poorer, more overweight, and experiencing more depression and anxiety symptoms. A logistic regression model was conducted to examine whether depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and BMI predict diabetic status. Results indicate poor predictive power of the logistic regression model tested. However, marital and caregiver statuses appear to be protective factors in the relationships between diabetes and depression, anxiety symptom endorsement. Results also indicate that Black diabetics have higher BMI scores while females have lower BMI scores

Gender Matters: The Influence of Acculturation and Acculturative Stress on Latino College Student Depressive Symptomatology

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between acculturation-related variables with depressive symptomatology among Latino college students and the extent to which acculturative stress mediates the association. The extent to which gender moderates these relationships was also examined. Participants were 758 Latina and 264 Latino college students from 30 colleges and universities around the United States. Participants completed measures of acculturation, acculturative stress, and depression. Multigroup path analysis provided excellent model fit and suggested moderation by gender. Acculturative stress mediated the acculturation–depression relationship. One indirect effect was moderated by gender with effects stronger for men: Heritage-culture retention to depressive symptoms via Spanish Competency Pressures. Acculturation and acculturative stress contribute to depression differently for male and female Latino college students. Future research should note the influence of gender socialization on the acculturation process and mental health

It Was in the Air, As They Say : Erika DeFreitas

"; IT WAS IN THE AIR, AS THEY SAY., is a continued exploration of working through issues of loss and ritual collaboratively with my mother. In this new body of work, we address both loss and ritual through examining our different relationships to Catholicism and the quiet tension that hovers between us." -- Publisher's website

Sonny Assu : A Selective History

"A stunning retrospective highlighting the playfulness, power, and subversive spirit of Northwest Coast Indigenous artist Sonny Assu. Through large-scale installation, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and painting, Sonny Assu merges the aesthetics of Indigenous iconography with a pop-art sensibility. This stunning retrospective spans over a decade of Assu’s career, highlighting more than 120 full-colour works, including several never-before-exhibited pieces. [...] Exploring themes of Indigenous rights, consumerism, branding, humour, and the ways in which history informs contemporary ideas and identities, Sonny Assu: A Selective History is the first major full-scale book to pay tribute to this important, prolific, and vibrant figure in the Canadian contemporary art world." -- Artist's website