Brock University Digital Repository
Brock University's Digital Repository is an online archive showcasing and preserving the Brock community's scholarly output as well as items from the Library's Archives & Special Collections. Researchers can disseminate their work by depositing it in this Open Access repository, which provides free, immediate access to users while also allowing Brock scholars to track downloads and views of their scholarship. The Digital Repository is also the home of the Brock University E-Thesis Portal.
For more information, see the repository's policies and procedures.
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Recent Submissions
Recognizing Whiteness: An Autoethnographic Examination of Whiteness in My Life
(Brock University) Beres, Jacqueline L.; McGinn, Michelle; Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education
The purpose of this research was to examine whiteness not merely as an individual attribute but as an ideological and structural system that organizes everyday life and grants privilege to those perceived as white. Using a blend of critical and evocative autoethnography, I wrote stories about my life experiences. I drew on critical whiteness studies and critical race theory to expose how whiteness operates as a normative force in institutions, social interactions, and academic knowledge production. The analysis I undertook helped me understand how I was welcomed in public spaces like libraries whereas racialized individuals in similar settings have been left questioning whether they were being excluded. My analysis also illuminated how my whiteness insulated me from developing a rich understanding of Black culture, particularly the cultural significance of Black hair. This work prompted me to question the extent to which my conception of “safety” while travelling was, in fact, a coded interpretation of white superiority. In hopes of appealing to a general audience beyond academia, I adopted a non-traditional dissertation format. I used footnotes to deviate from the expected in-text citation system and create an additional, co-occurring text, which I offer as one (albeit very minor) form of action aimed at disrupting white dominance within academia. My research adds to the collection of work, and particularly critical whiteness studies, completed in response to the calls from racialized authors, scholars, and activists for white people to engage in anti-racist action. By weaving personal narrative with systemic critique, my aim is to contribute to dismantling white supremacy and promote sustained, justice-oriented action among white readers committed to anti-racism. Given that white people have a critical responsibility to identify whiteness and eradicate the oppression that we collectively perpetuate, I hope my findings can help white readers as they progress on their personal racial justice journeys. For racialized readers, I hope my study offers additional insight into how white people recognize—and often, fail to recognize—whiteness, along with how we attempt to dismantle whiteness and fight for racial equity.
“Disability is not a bad word” – A Discursive Analysis of Imani Barbarin’s Activism on TikTok
Faith Lokaisingh
This project examines how Imani Barbarin—a disability justice advocate, scholar, and
content creator—strategically employs humour and rhetorical critique to challenge
dominant narratives on disability, race, and systemic oppression. Analyzing her work
across TikTok, blogging, and public speaking, I explore how these different mediums
interact to form a multifaceted activist praxis. Drawing on intersectional feminist and
disability justice frameworks, I examine how Barbarin’s humour functions as both
resistance and reimagination, disrupting ableist logics. Through critical discourse
analysis (Fairclough, 1995; Wodak & Meyer 2009), I trace shifts in her tone, types of
audience engagement, and her use of affective shaming techniques, to highlight how
her short-form TikTok videos, in particular, demand audience participation to unpack
systemic critiques (Billingsley, 2021; Carlson & Peifer, 2013). I argue that Barbarin’s
activism extends beyond disability representation to actively re-shaping disability
discourse, using humour as a means of both survival and disruption (Pickens, 2019;
Mitchell & Snyder, 2020). Additionally, I reflect on my own relationship to Barbarin’s
work, considering the role of emotional investment in scholarship (Ahmed, 2017) and
the complexities of studying activist media as both a researcher and participant in the
online disability justice sphere. By situating Barbarin’s work within broader discussions
on humour, activism, and digital media, this paper demonstrates how online platforms
serve as sites of critical resistance, knowledge production, and community-building
(Berlant, 2011; Broderick & Ne’eman, 2021).
The World Beyond Cloud Models
(2025-06-10) Fink, John; Ribaric, Tim
Presentation material for the Lightning Talk session entitled: The World Beyond Cloud Models from the Generative AI in Libraries (GAIL) Virtual Conference, 2025 rendition.
On the Optical Properties of the Misfit Layer Compound (PbSe)1+δ(NbSe2)n
(Brock University) Respicio, Paul Carlo; Reedyk, Maureen; Department of Physics
Misfit layer compounds (MLCs) are layered materials that consist of two different sublattices with a mismatch in at least one of their lattice parameters. This incommensurate mismatch along with charge transfer between the constituent sublattices gives rise to interesting properties and can potentially be tuned for practical applications. These systems can be understood using the framework of rigid band model and the changes in band filling depending on the extent of interlayer charge transfer.
This thesis presents the optical properties of (PbSe)1+δ(NbSe2)n and their evolution as the number of NbSe2 layers, n, are varied. NbSe2 is a known transition metal dichalcogenide superconductor and PbSe is a semiconductor with a rocksalt structure. NbSe2 and n=1-3 samples were synthesized via chemical vapour transport and characterized via X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Further characterization from resistivity and magnetization measurements showed a decrease in the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, with decreasing n. Reflectivity measurements were analyzed using the Drude-Lorentz model and reveal a shift in the plasma frequency to lower energies as n decreases along with the broadening of their interband transitions when compared to pure NbSe2. This behaviour is consistent with increased band filling due to charge transfer from PbSe to NbSe2. Optical conductivity functions were obtained using Kramers-Kronig analysis confirm decreased conductivity for the MLCs and follow a similar pattern found in the resistivity measurements. Finally, frequency-dependent scattering rate and effective mass were obtained from the extended Drude model. Results show a region of purely Drude response in the scattering rate for the MLCs and a trend of decreasing mass enhancement with decreasing n at low wavenumber.
Determining the Roles of the Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Enzymes 5 and 6 during Icewine and Table Wine Fermentation in a Commercial Wine Yeast Using CRISPR-Cas9.
(Brock University) Ott-Peon, Nadine; Inglis, Debra; Centre for Biotechnology
Canada is known for Icewine which is fermented from grapes naturally frozen on the vine. Grapes are harvested below –8°C and pressed while frozen, trapping ice crystals inside the
berries and releasing juice highly concentrated in sugars and acids. The high sugar juice environment (40°Brix) causes hyperosmotic stress for yeast, resulting in water loss, triggering
glycerol production to act as an internal osmolyte to draw water back into the yeast cell, resulting in an NAD+ imbalance. Icewine has significantly higher acetic acid versus table wine, where acetic acid production may be used to reduce NAD(P)+ to NAD(P)H via NAD(P)+-dependent aldehyde dehydrogenase proteins (Aldp). Previous research linked the NAD+ redox imbalance during Icewine fermentation with ALD gene expression patterns indicating a role of Ald3p encoded by ALD3 in elevating the acetic acid whereas in table wine, ALD6 expression
dominated. In the overall research program from our laboratory, the goal is to remove all five of the ALD genes, individually and in combination, from a commercial yeast genome using
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. The objective of this project is to remove three (ALD6, ALD5, and ALD4) of the five ALD genes individually from the genome of a commercial wine yeast K1
V1116 using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to assess the roles of the aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes in acetic acid production in both Icewine and table wine using these commercial yeast
deletion strains. All copies of ALD6 and ALD5 were successfully knocked out of K1-V1116. The ald6Δ yeast had a significant impact on the acetic acid production with an 86% decrease in acetic acid production during Icewine fermentation and an 85% decrease during table wine fermentation in comparison to the wild-type control yeast. The ald5Δ had a significant but
minimal impact on acetic acid production during table wine fermentation and no impact on acetic acid during Icewine fermentation. Under table wine conditions, ald5Δ had a 16% decrease in acetic acid production. One allele of the ALD4 gene was successfully knocked out of K1-V1116, creating a heterozygous ALD4 mutant. This heterozygous mutant was not evaluated in
fermentations.