Independent Studies
This collection consists of a selection of theses completed by students as part of the requirements for the 3- and 4- year Bachelor of Independent Studies degrees. The theses included here were submitted to UWSpace by Independent Studies administrators upon the program’s closing in 2016.
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Leveraging Transmedia Communication Strategies to Improve Engagement and Foster Collaboration in Citizen-Science Projects
(University of Waterloo, 2017)Citizen science is the term used for the practice of harnessing non-expert, volunteer efforts to further scientific research using a crowdsourcing approach to collect, record, and analyze data and to fulfill other task ... -
Quantum Indefinite Spacetime
(University of Waterloo, 2017)We combine the principle of superposition from quantum theory and the principle of dynamical causal structure from general relativity to attack fundamental questions in quantum gravity. We generalize the concept ... -
Byron and Swinburne: Propagandists of the Risorgimento - The Manipulation of Historical Sources in Twin Dramatizations of Doge Faliero and Venetian Republicanism in 19th Century Italy
(University of Waterloo, 2016)This essay will argue that Lord Byron manipulated historical sources on his fourteenth-century protagonist, Doge Faliero (died 1355), in order to write his historical drama, Marino Faliero: Doge of Venice (published 1821), ... -
Salacious Sade and Perverted Poe: Perversity and the quest for knowledge from 1740 to 1895
(University of Waterloo, 2014)The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of perversity within the Self as a quest for individual knowledge. Libertine and Gothic literature will be characterized as an individualized reflection on society’s ... -
Arab-Jewish Cooperative Coexistence in Israel/Palestine
(University of Waterloo, 2005)The current conflict between Arabs and Jews in Israel/Palestine has ruptured relations between the two peoples, and essentially divided them along geographic, economic, cultural, political, and sociological lines. Yet up ... -
Writing to Tell, Telling to Live: Reading the Storyteller in Alistair MacLeod's Short Fiction
(University of Waterloo, 2008)This essay examines the way Alistair MacLeod‘s short fiction formally and thematically invokes the presence of Walter Benjamin‘s oral "Storyteller" figure/and culture, elaborated in his 1936 essay, in order to ask broader ... -
Game Design Concepts
(University of Waterloo, 2009)The term “game design” is not well defined; it is used to mean many different things which oftentimes are only peripherally related to the actual design process, and many books purportedly on the subject do not adequately ... -
I Don't Care Whose Fault It Is! Or, An Introduction to the Short-Term Forecasting Theory, Implementing Fuzzy-logic and Neural Networks
(University of Waterloo, 2006)In contradiction with much conventional economic theory, this thesis argues that successful short-term forecasting is both possible and practicable. Beginning with the assumption, and widely-held belief, that there are ... -
Fermion Doubling in Loop Quantum Gravity
(University of Waterloo, 2015)For the last 20 years, it has been known how to couple matter to the theory of loop quantum gravity. However, one of the most simple questions that can be asked about this framework has not been addressed; is there a fermion ... -
Maps of Human Communication: Science and the Arts
(University of Waterloo, 2009)The purpose of this thesis is to examine the function of language as a map that navigates the perception of human reality. In the thesis, attention is paid to the structure of speech, and whether or not it accurately ... -
For the Long Haul: Challenging Ideologies of Social Movement Participation through Counter-stories of Activist Burnout
(University of Waterloo, 2015)It is a widely accepted truth, in the academic and activist literature alike, that burnout jeopardizes the sustainability of social movements and their actors. More disputable is whether its cause, or blame, lies in ... -
Justice that is Healing: Responding to Domestic Violence in Aboriginal Communities
(University of Waterloo, 2011)All Aboriginal communities are dealing with the effects of domestic violence. This thesis includes an exploration of the magnitude, outcomes and conditions that have been exacerbated by domestic violence with the goal of ... -
Imagination: A Tool with Potential
(University of Waterloo, 2012)This thesis deals with imagination as a tool in light of two academic disciplines: philosophy and education. In the history of philosophy, imagination appears as an intentional tool for cognizing, and in education, the ... -
Building Student Centred-Communities for Canada's Growing Population of Undergraduate Students
(University of Waterloo, 2014)Over the past decade, Canada’s rising post-secondary student population has resulted in the “studentification" of many university towns. Such unprecedented growth requires new strategies focused on supporting undergraduate ... -
The Write Choice
(University of Waterloo, 2009)This paper compares and contrasts movies, television, and video games from the perspective of the writer. This is done in order to determine which is the superior story telling medium. It is accomplished by examining how ... -
Dissocation of Subjective and Objective Health Status in the Chinese Population
(University of Waterloo, 2011)As the general Chinese population becomes more overweight, pressure mounts to explore the reasons behind this trend. Pooling four waves of the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) into two groups—2004 with 2006 and ... -
Performimg Education: The Utopian Potential of Creative Peer-to-peer Sexual Health Education for Queer Youth
(University of Waterloo, 2012)In this cultural moment, young queers are struggling to imagine themselves and find community. A significant component of enabling a youth's self-discovery is providing access to inclusive and culturally-relevant education ... -
Mending the Broken Telephone: Moving Forward from Theory to Practice in Supporting the Well-being of Sensitive Children
(University of Waterloo, 2016)This project examines current and historical research in developmental psychology and neuroscience to support the idea that nurturing familial and school relationships will create empathic, compassionate and creative future ... -
Citizenship for a Modern Democracy: Youth Perspectives on the Canadian Multicultural Reality
(University of Waterloo, 2009)This paper explores the links between citizenship and multiculturalism in the Ontario secondary school curriculum Grade 10 Civics course and among Ontario youth. Contemporary citizenship theory suggests that a progressive ... -
Evolving Conceptions of Time and Selfhood in Three Novels by Urula K. Le Guin: The Dispossessed, Always Coming Home, and Lavinia
(University of Waterloo, 2014)Since the 1970s, Ursula K. Le Guin has been widely recognized as an author who uses fiction as a means to address fundamental philosophical, political, and ethical questions. Of the many scholarly analyses of her work, ...
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