Showcasing research at ACERS 2018

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ACERS 2018 featured a number of exciting events, such as:

• Human Rights and Human Diversity Undergraduate Student Conference
• Digital Media and Journalism Research Colloquium
• History Program Research Colloquium
• User Experience Design Student Research Presentations
• Undergraduate Research Apprentice Presentations

In addition, the Creativity and Engagement Expo featured presentations of students' creative and engaged projects, including posters, visual arts, multimedia and recorded performances.

The Undergraduate Research and Academic Display Expo showcased 35 academic posters by 47 students, some of the best research produced by our undergraduate students. The top three research projects of the competition were given to the following students:

• First Place: "Windshield Survey: Downtown Galt Ontario" by Lindsay Walsh, Michelle Bisaillon and Makela Figueiredo
• Second Place: "Transgenderism During the Rise of Nazi Germany" by Erin McHarge
• Third Place: "Therapeutic Recreation at Landsdowne Children's Centre" by Cassandra Voets, Avril De Silva, Alexa Kovacs, O'Shai Jeffers-Penny and Jonathan Knowles

First-Place Presentation

Windshield Survey: Downtown Galt Ontario

Poster by Lindsay Walsh, Michelle Bisaillon and Makela Figueiredo.

Using an anti-oppressive framework we conducted an observational study of the Downtown Community of Galt, Ontario. Our objective was to critically analyze the accessibility of the community's businesses and services to see if individuals could independently manoeuvre within the community. We observed the community's accessibility by travelling around the downtown area independently using a wheelchair to access numerous businesses and community buildings.

For our research we wanted to see how well someone could access buildings independently if they were in a wheelchair in Downtown Galt. We tested this by trying to access the buildings in Downtown Galt with one of our group members in a wheelchair. From our research we found that a vast majority of the buildings in the four block radius were not accessible for an individual navigating independently. The buildings were not accessible by not having ramps, having ramps that could not be navigated independently or not having door opening buttons.

Therefore, as part of our research we created recommendations to help make the community accessible. These recommendations are: making it mandatory for buildings to have accessible entrances no matter the age of the building, helping business with funding to create more accessible entrances, as well as having more dialogue about accessibility and raising awareness around the lack of accessibility. This means that more can be done in communities to insure that individuals can live, work and play independently.

2018 Presentations

• Joseph Bishop, "The Japanese Balloon Bomb: A Failed Potential"
• Lindsay Gray, "Yōkai: Transforming Folklore into Popular Culture"
• Collin Newstead, "Gossip in the Workplace through Social Media"
• Erin McHarge, "Transgenderism During the Rise of Nazi Germany"
• Jensen Arsenault, "Undocumented Status and Youth in the United States and Canada"
• Avril De Silva, Cassandra Voets, Alexa Kovacs, O’Shai Jeffers-Penny, and Jonathan Knowles, "Therapeutic Recreation at Landsdowne Children’s Centre"
• Levi Furber, "What Challenges Do the 'Dreamers' Encounter When Pursuing Postsecondary Education in the United States? How Can These Challenges Be Overcome?"
• Brendan Williams, "How Japanese is Karate Anyway? Transnationality and History of Karate on Film"
• Lauren Holmes, "The 'Hundred Antiquities:' Chinese Ceramics and Korean Ch'aekkori"
• Angus Malcolm, "Trial and Error: British Tactics during the Great War and Modern Memory"
• Breanna Perrin, "Kinship Adoption"
• Brock Vaughan, "Combating Food Waste: Dumpster Diving as a Form of Consumer Resistance"
• Stephanie Haefling, Jennifer Fletcher, Marissa Gale, Sandra Martino, Taylor Chabot, "Windshield Survey: Listowel, Ontario"
• Eden Wiersma, "Defining Terrorism Using Six Traits"
• Kelly Warren, "Just War Theory and Aerial Bombing"
• Nicole Marrello, "Islamophobic Attitudes in North America"
• Heather Prest, "Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP)"
• Ariel Liu, "Examining Barriers Confronted by LGBT Adoptive Parents: Implications for Policy and Practice"
• Meghan Arbuckle, "Effects of Ecotourism in Flamborough Ontario"
• Stacey Lange, "Disney’s Depiction of Family"
• Lindsay Walsh, Michelle Bisaillon and Makela Figueiredo, "Windshield Survey: Downtown Galt Ontario"
• Shannon Laforme-Csordas, "OCPD"
• Jasmine Romany, "Video Game Violence and Autism"
• Stacey Lange and Sydney Dubber, "Media Free Camps: Helpful or Harmful?"
• Natalie DiGiandomenico, "McDonaldization's Effects Amongst Children and Young Adults via Family and Education"
• Shelly Hachey, Kaleigh Cameron and Richelle Ritchie, "Caring for First Nations Children: What You Need to Know"
• Brittany MacMillan, "Modern White Supremacy"
• Linda Caseros, "How Does Undocumented Status Affect the Lives of Immigrant Youth?"
• Patrick Mulligan, "Examining the Role of Courts in Canada’s Policy-Making Process"
• Jahdya Williams, "Sexualization of the Female Black Body – Past, Present, and Future"
• Angela Sault, Melanie Sauer, Hannah Bouman, and Natalie Fougere, "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: What Social Workers Need to Know"
• Megan Lanoue, "Eco-Criminology in Corporate Crime, Looking at Past Models and Future Solutions"
• Abigail White, "R. V. Malott: A Critical Analysis of Feminist Theory in Criminology at Work in Relation to Battered Woman’s Syndrome Developed in Canadian Case Law"
• Megan Gelata, "Are Students Taking the Trump Approach: The Constructions of Social Walls on an Open Campus"
• Kendall Smilde, "Cell Phone Hotel"

Faculty Research Rundowns

The Faculty Research Rundowns showcased current research projects of faculty members at Laurier Brantford:

• James LeClair and Tim Gawley, "Student Perceptions of Personal Safety in the Greater Campus Area: A Geographical Analysis"
• Kenneth Werbin, "Privacy Stories"
• Robert Feagan, "Global Engagement in El Salvador – Building Trust with Host-Communities"
• Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, "Framing Equity of Postsecondary Access: Data Collection and Human Rights in Ontario"
• Patrick Watson, "Making Sense of Police-Involved Shootings Captured on Video"
• Deana Simonetto, "Football Families: Understanding the "Concussion Crisis" in the Canadian Football League"
• Josephine McMurray, "Innovation and the Business of Aging"
• Judy Eaton, "Colour Me Calm (and Motivated): How Colouring Reduces Anxiety and Increases Perseverance"
• James Popham, "Where Does Cybercrime Begin?"

Future of Work: Strategies for "Millennials" in the Digital Age

This mini-conference provided a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about and discuss issues and trends in work in contemporary society. Nicole Cohen delivered a keynote lecture title, "Resisting Precarity" and James Cairns, Abby Goodrum, David Bush and Jodi Dean presented in a panel discussion, "Work, Working and Society: Contemporary Issues and Trends."