SLC Undergraduate Writing Contest

Han Father, Minzu Children

Nat Begg — 2024-05-06

The People’s Republic of China recognizes fifty-six distinct nationalities (minzu) including the Han, who constitute 90% of the population, as well as fifty-five ethnic minorities. Understanding this enumeration of minzu as a recent phenomenon designed to meet state goals, I argue that the Han-dominated Chinese state has posed ethnic relations in starkly gendered terms. As seen in state communications from the Mao era to the present, the Chinese government represents ethnic minority subjects in feminized and infantilized poses in relationship to a masculine Han state. As a result of this, the Chinese government has encouraged particular forms of state-compatible minority femininity while minimizing minority masculinities yet posing Han men as natural extensions of the state.

Fireweed as a Gitxsan Clan!?

Audrey Heath — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Instructor Robert Bandringa's Indigenous Studies 332 course Indigenous Ethnobotany. The assignment asked students to investigate how First Peoples live in respectful relationship with plants and place. The paper uses MLA citation style.

Exploring the culture and protocols of the Gitxsan Nation in regard to its Clan system leads to a discussion about the unique decision to include Fireweed—a plant—as one of its four Clan crests. This analysis delves into the ethnobiological relationship between the Gitxsan Nation and Fireweed, investigating the biology, ecology, and cultural uses of this plant.

Civic Engagement

Carmen Campbell — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Laurent Dobuzinskis’ POL 210 course Introduction to Political Philosophy. The assignment asked students to choose a question from a provided list and form a well-researched stance, analyzing the philosophies of various political thinkers. The paper uses Chicago citation style.

Citizen participation in politics is a relevant topic which connects to social matters and impacts decision-making and laws within society. This subject harbours a rich history, ranging back to ancient philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, and has continued to evolve. Thinkers like Hobbes, Plato, and Nozick were dubious of civic engagement for reasons such as absolute sovereign authority and citizens’ predetermined societal positions. Conversely, Rousseau and Aristotle advocated for citizen participation with the rationales of the common good and collective deliberation being effective, since man has a natural aptitude for politics. Regardless, there are historical nuances to each outlook and to develop an opinion one must thoroughly examine the complex beliefs of each individual.

On Social Host Liability

Javier Burgos Oliva — 2024-05-06

This paper delves into the complex nature around the circumstances of what makes a host vicariously liable for the actions of an inebriated guest. Drawing on information from previous court decisions and peer reviewed articles, this paper analyses social host liability in Canada. The structure of this paper consists of discussing what kind of tort is being discussed, what is required to prove this tort, the connection between liability and the host, and some defences available to said host. The importance of this paper is to describe the current normative around social host liability which is an underdeveloped area of the law.

Media Analysis of “Nosedive” (Black Mirror):

Jaclyn Chan — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Kyle Willmott SA150 course Introduction to Sociology. The assignment asked students to write an essay applying the knowledge of sociological concepts learned in class to analyze a form of media. The paper uses Chicago Author-Date citation style.

The Rise Of Wooden Skyscrapers

Rigyaju Tripathi — 2024-05-06

Skyscrapers worldwide predominantly rely on steel-reinforced concrete, presenting challenges such as a carbon-intensive manufacturing process. However, there is a material which addresses many of these problems, not currently being used to its fullest capability. Cross Laminated Timber, or CLT is a refined form of wood much lighter than reinforced concrete yet comparable in strength. The purpose of this paper is to advocate the construction of wooden skyscrapers above 12 stories in British Columbia because of the structural, affordability and environmental benefits they provide to urban environments. This paper will outline why CLT-construction is a viable solution to many of the problems cities face today along with addressing flammability and environmental arguments commonly cited with large scale timber construction.

Wedded Cages and Better Places

Alayna Hillier — 2024-05-06

This paper is an examination of the extended metaphors present in the “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake in the Songs of Innocence and “The Jailor” by Sylvia Plath. The significance of these metaphors is explored and shows how both poets documented similar experiences of oppression and suffering, instilling blame in their works. Blake’s poem delved into broad themes of suffering and being trapped, while also questioning the institutions of religion, and Plath’s poem provides a more personal focus on her experiences and marriage, serving as a warning to women. The core emotion and imagery dissected in their works provided a comprehensive analysis for the similarities and differences that the authors established.

To what extent did Indigenous peoples manage clam gardens along the intertidal zone on the coast of British Columbia?

Sophia Herd — 2024-05-06

While Indigenous knowledge has existed and sustained populations for thousands of years, it is only recently that Western science is beginning to scratch the surface on understanding Indigenous ways of life. Through developing this understanding, much Indigenous knowledge is being acknowledged as scientific. One of the many examples is the presence of Indigenous built and maintained clam gardens off the coast of British Columbia. These clam gardens were built by Indigenous peoples for the purpose of having a reliable and sustainable food source. This study serves as an analysis of the given Western and Indigenous scientific literature pertaining to clam gardens and how the given findings relate to Indigenous clam gardens being viewed as scientific. The results of the analysis illustrate that Indigenous people’s maintenance of clam gardens has been so extensive that it has ultimately increased marine production and biodiversity and can be dated back nearly 3.5ka off the coast of British Columbia. These findings are significant as they can go a long way towards countering the erasure of Indigenous peoples from the land and aiding in gaining land back.

Black Media Literacy and the Pedagogy of Healing

Balqees Jama — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Jennesia Pedri Communications 120W course Creativity and Communication Across Media. The assignment asked students to apply their knowledge of media literacy to address or intervene in a specific issue. The paper uses APA citation style.

This paper explores the transformative potential of media literacy as a liberatory tool for Black communities in North America. Media literacy offers a protective mechanism for Black media consumers of all ages, acting as a shield against the pervasive internalization of harmful stereotypes perpetuated in mass media. Proficiency in media literacy and production strengthens Black communities’ self and group esteem by providing agency to create empowering counter-narratives through authentic self-expression, subverting dominant narratives. Media literacy serves as a tool to combat internalized anti-Black racism and enrich the pedagogy of healing.

It's Giving Syntactic Shift

Christine Borillo — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Heather Bliss’ LING 282W course Writing for Linguistics. The assignment asked students to investigate a research question based on previous writing assignments into an experimental or argument paper. The paper uses APA citation style.

Past findings have shown that the syntactic category of slang terms often have a tendency to shift and deviate from the standard variety of the language. For example, one study exploring the syntactic category of the slang diminutive suffix “-ie” shows that when added to a verb, it forms a noun such as “munchie”—the feeling of hunger after smoking marijuana—from “munch”—to eat snack foods (Gallová, 2021). While this highlights a specific aspect of syntactic variation in slang, further research on the linguistic properties of other slang terms remains warranted. The present study shares a similar focus, aiming to determine the type of syntactic shift shown by the slang phrase “it’s giving X”, with “X” being any particular modifier of the direct object. Specifically, the inquiry addresses whether “X” adheres to a subject-verb-indirect object-direct object (S-V-IO-DO[1]) or simply a subject-verb-direct object (S-V-DO[2]) sentence pattern. To explore this, three Gen Z participants, proficient in Standard Canadian English, performed a test for syntactic distribution. The test involved using their judgment to assess whether the modifier “X” could be plugged into nine sentences featuring the subject “it’s”, the verb “giving”, with or without the addition of the term “me” as the indirect object and “vibes” as the direct object, while maintaining grammaticality. Results indicate that the modifier “X” grammatically conforms to both S-V-IO-DO and S-V-DO sentence patterns, which shows its versatility in syntactic structures.

[1] S-V-IO-DO refers to Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object

[2] S-V-DO refers to Subject-Verb-Direct Object

Karma Police, Arrest This Artist!

Nava Karimi — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Alexandra King’s PHIL 321 course Topics in Moral Philosophy: Ethical Issues in Art. The assignment asked students to write a 2,500 word paper engaging with the course texts which were on various ethical issues in art. The paper uses MLA citation style.

In this paper, I argue that cancellation is an effective method for “punishing” immoral artists when we aim at “deplatforming” them, or in other words, removing their ability to influence and reach individuals on a widescale. I first describe my conception of cancellation, platforms, and immoral artists before explaining why it is untrue that cancellation fails to accomplish our goals and why “deplatforming” will result in a precedent for future artists, decreasing harms caused by those in the public eye.

Like, Whatever

Olivia Yung — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Heather Bliss’s LING 282W course, Writing for Linguistics. The assignment asked students to expand, elaborate, or adapt one of their earlier Linguistics writing exercises or assignments into a short experimental or argument paper. This required that students identify a research question for which a methodology could be designed and implemented to elicit results that confirm (or disconfirm) a hypothesis. The paper uses APA citation style.

This paper seeks to illuminate the syntactic contribution of the morpheme, like. Although like has been validated as constituents of several syntactic categories, such as verb, noun, adverb, and preposition (Montell, 2019; McWhorter, 2016), it has been defined as a meaningless filler word when it appears as casual interjections in speech. In this study, we posit that like is not a meaningless filler word, but a flexible constituent that can move within and across phrases. We analyze like through the lens of the pop culture canon, drawing examples from modern English (American, British, Irish) and extracting six sound bites from movies, television, and music from the past twenty years to represent current patterns of speech from speakers of all ages and genders. Using various syntactic constituency tests, including movement and omission, we uncover the syntactic contribution of like, revealing that while it is omnipresent in speech, like performs a very important communicative function: as an emphatic discourse marker at the beginning, middle or end of a syntactic phrase. By parsing like and identifying its purpose in dialogue and the ways in which it is very much hedged by syntax, we can deduce its universality in speech across languages and discover how these similarities can influence and shape cultural identity and cross-linguistic landscapes.

Marian Miracles at Constantinople and Lepanto, 1422 and 1571

Isaac Schoeber — 2024-05-06

This paper compares the miraculous actions of the Virgin Mary during a 1422 siege of Constantinople and 1571 Battle of Lepanto. Avoiding secular skepticism against miracles, it centers the perspectives of fourteenth and fifteenth century believers by reading their accounts as faithful and accurate. From there, it defines three categories of miracle – direct-action, manipulation of human actions, and indirect, ambiguous actions that connote absolute power – and closes by questioning such categorizations altogether.

Evaluating the Need for a National Pharmacare Program in Canada

Nazafarin Esfandiari — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Lauren Currie’s HSCI 305 course The Canadian Health System. The assignment asked students to discuss the evidence supporting and opposing establishing a national pharmacare program in Canada, as well as potential challenges associated with the implementation of this program. The paper uses APA citation style.

In the absence of a national pharmacare program, Canada’s fragmented approach to funding prescription medications imposes significant out-of-pocket costs on many Canadians. Evidence supporting the implementation of a national pharmacare program is substantial, suggesting that it can improve access and adherence to prescriptions and reduce inequities. On the other hand, evidence opposing the implementation of such a program is primarily concerned with its costs and potential damages associated with cost controls. Implementing a national pharmacare program will not be without major challenges. Gaining support from the public, clinicians, and policymakers poses difficulties, with the most significant challenge being managing the pharma-private insurance alliance. Despite these opposing arguments and challenges, implementing a national pharmacare program is an efficient and equitable way to improve access to prescription medications and enhance health outcomes at the population level.

Placemaking or placekeeping?

Gabrielle Wong — 2024-05-06

This paper was originally written for Dr. Eugene McCann’s GEOG 362W, Gentrification & Urban Change. The assignment asked students to research and critically analyze an example of gentrification and urban change. The paper uses APA citation style.

Artists have a reputation as harbingers of gentrification. However, the arts are not monolithic, and many artist-activists use cultural production as a method of creative resistance to gentrification in their neighbourhoods. This paper investigates the dual role of the arts in the gentrification of Manhattan’s Chinatown. The arts facilitate the neighbourhood’s gentrification through high-end art galleries that physically displace lower-income residents by driving up rents and pricing them out of Chinatown. Galleries also culturally displace residents through creating feelings of alienation and non-belonging. Businesses and planners have exacerbated these effects through ‘creative placemaking’ principles that co-opt the arts to support profit-making. On the other hand, the arts are a powerful tool of resistance. Through an analysis of the work of the Chinatown Arts Brigade, a longstanding arts-activist group in Manhattan’s Chinatown, I demonstrate the potential of the arts to empower tenant voices, contest ‘creative placemaking’, and hold other artists accountable for their role in gentrification. I conclude with a discussion of the ambivalence of the arts, demonstrating that the binary between ‘gentrifier’ and ‘non-gentrifier’ is, in fact, quite blurry.