Preservation of large tracts of habitat is often recommended for long-term population viability of area-sensitive species. Large tracts may not always be available. Smaller patches, though not able to contain a viable population individually, may contribute to overall regional population viability if within the small patches pairs could successfully reproduce. By definition, area-sensitive species should have a minimum patch size threshold of habitat below which they will not likely reproduce. Two potential causes for positive relationships between patch size and production are inverse relationships between patch size and brood parasitism and patch size and food availability. My objectives were (1) to determine the minimum patch size thresholds of reproductive success for golden-cheeked warblers (Dendroica chrysoparia), black-and-white warblers (Mniotilta varia), and white-eyed vireos (Vireo griseus); (2) to determine whether thresholds for occupancy, territory establishment by males, or pairing success were indicative of thresholds of reproduction; (3) to determine whether the proportion of pairs fledging brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) young was related to patch size, and (4) to determine the affects of patch size on food availability (i.e., arthropod abundance). The Vickery index of reproductive activity was used to determine reproductive activity of each male or pair and to quantify parasitism occurrences. I collected arthropods using branch clipping to assess the relationship between patch size and arthropod abundance. I found minimum patch size thresholds of reproductive success for golden-cheeked and black-and-white warblers, but not for white-eyed vireos. Minimum patch size of reproductive success was between 15 and 20.1 ha. Minimum patch size thresholds for occupancy, territory establishment by males, and pair formation were not consistent with thresholds for reproductive success. I found no relationships between patch size and cowbird parasitism or patch size and arthropod biomass. Conservation practices for target species based on thresholds of occupancy, territory establishment, or pair formation may not address issues of reproduction. The ability to identify thresholds of reproductive success for target species could be useful in conservation and management in multiple ways including setting goals for retention and restoration of a target species’ habitat patch size.

Preservation of large tracts of habitat is often recommended for long-term population viability of area-sensitive species. Large tracts may not always be available. Smaller patches, though not able to contain a viable population individually, may contribute to overall regional population viability if within the small patches pairs could successfully reproduce. By definition, area-sensitive species should have a minimum patch size threshold of habitat below which they will not likely reproduce. Two potential causes for positive relationships between patch size and production are inverse relationships between patch size and brood parasitism and patch size and food availability. My objectives were (1) to determine the minimum patch size thresholds of reproductive success for golden-cheeked warblers (Dendroica chrysoparia), black-and-white warblers (Mniotilta varia), and white-eyed vireos (Vireo griseus); (2) to determine whether thresholds for occupancy, territory establishment by males, or pairing success were indicative of thresholds of reproduction; (3) to determine whether the proportion of pairs fledging brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) young was related to patch size, and (4) to determine the affects of patch size on food availability (i.e., arthropod abundance). The Vickery index of reproductive activity was used to determine reproductive activity of each male or pair and to quantify parasitism occurrences. I collected arthropods using branch clipping to assess the relationship between patch size and arthropod abundance. I found minimum patch size thresholds of reproductive success for golden-cheeked and black-and-white warblers, but not for white-eyed vireos. Minimum patch size of reproductive success was between 15 and 20.1 ha. Minimum patch size thresholds for occupancy, territory establishment by males, and pair formation were not consistent with thresholds for reproductive success. I found no relationships between patch size and cowbird parasitism or patch size and arthropod biomass. Conservation practices for target species based on thresholds of occupancy, territory establishment, or pair formation may not address issues of reproduction. The ability to identify thresholds of reproductive success for target species could be useful in conservation and management in multiple ways including setting goals for retention and restoration of a target species’ habitat patch size.

“Conflicted” succinctly describes Ernest Hemingway. He had a strong desire to make his parents proud of him but this was in constant conflict with his need to tell a story, warts and all. Of particular importance is his relationship with his mother and the crippling effect it has on his relationships with women. Hemingway’s life becomes a series of dysfunctional relationships that fail to meet his needs, leaving him perpetually searching for the right woman. Kert posits that Hemingway’s contempt for women is related to his inability to make the transition from lover to husband, fueled by Hemingway’s belief that his father surrendered his manhood to Grace Hemingway. Ernest, haunted by his parents’ relationship continues to associate negative connotations with the term “husband,” leaving Hemingway in constant fear of becoming his father, poisoning his marriages, and coloring the relationships Hemingway depicts in his short stories. Evident across the arc of Hemingway’s short stories is an evolution in his skill as a writer, but also in the development of his female characters. Over his career, Hemingway develops a female voice that rings true, and he skillfully uses it to portray female characters who are evolving into strong self-reliant women. In these stories, there is a gradual shift in the dynamics of the relationships as Hemingway’s fictional women struggle to climb from under their man’s domination. Yet, these strong self-reliant women are not fully accepted by Hemingway’s male characters, leaving a palpable tension between Hemingway’s fictional men and women. This tension can be attributed to Hemingway’s ongoing love/hate relationship between himself and the self-reliant women in his life. Hemingway never recovers from the emotional damage inflicted by his mother, evident in his personal life and in the dysfunctional relationships in his short stories. He remains vigilant and is concerned that he will end up like his father and be controlled by a domineering bitch. However, Hemingway exerts so much control in his relationships and becomes a version of his mother as he dominates his significant others. In his life, he transitions from an angry resentful child-man to a young husband, a reluctant parent, a ladies’ man, and an adventurer. Likewise, his perception and portrayal of women in his short stories keeps pace with his personal experiences. These female characters sometimes reflect the women in his life and sometimes reflect Hemingway’s insecurities as a man, and often a seamless melding of both.

There is a dearth of literature to guide the development of community-based HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) prevention and sexual health promotion programs within Inuit communities. The aim of this research project was to create a dialogue with Inuit women to inform future development of such programs. This study employed Indigenous methodologies and methods by drawing from Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and postcolonial research theory in a framework of Two-Eyed Seeing, and utilizing storytelling sessions to gather data. Community-Based Participatory Research Principles informed the design of the study, ensuring participants were involved in all stages of the project. Nine story-sharing sessions took place with 21 Inuit women ages 18-60. Participants identified several key determinants of sexual health and shared ideas for innovative approaches that they believe will work as prevention efforts within their community. These research results build upon the limited knowledge currently available about perceptions of HIV and STI among Inuit women living in the remote north. / Graduate / 0573 / jenny.r.rand@gmail.com

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Seeking to navigate and explore diasporic identity, as reflected in and by transatlantic narrative spaces, this thesis looks to three very different novels birthed out of the Atlantic context (at different points of the Atlantic triangle and at different moments in history): Our Sister Killjoy or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (1977) by Ama Ata Aidoo, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969) by Paule Marshall and Crossing the River (1993) by Caryl Phillips. Recognising the weight of location – cultural, geographic, temporal – on the literary construction of transatlantic identity, this thesis traces the way in which Aidoo, Marshall and Phillips use fictional texts as tools for grappling with ideas of home and belonging in a world of displacement, fracture and (ex)change. Uncovering the impact of roots, as well as routes (rupta via) on the realisation of identity for the diasporic subject, this study reveals and wrestles with various narrative portrayals of the diasporic condition (a profoundly human condition). Our Sister Killjoy presents identity as inherently imbricated with nationalism and pan-Africanism, whereas The Chosen Place presents identity as tidalectic, caught in the interstices between western and African subjectivities. In Crossing the River on the other hand, diasporic identification is constructed as transnational, fractal and perpetually in-process. This study argues that in the absence of an established sense of terra firma the respective authors actively construct home through narrative, resulting in what Erica L. Johnson has described as terragraphica. In this way, each novel is perceived and explored as a particular terragraphica as well as a fictional lieux de mémoire (to borrow Pierre Nora’s conception of “sites of memory”). Using the memories of transatlantic characters as (broken) windows through which to view history, as well as filters through which the present can be understood (or refracted), are techniques that Aidoo, Marshall and Phillips employ (although, Aidoo’s use of memory is less obvious). Tapping into various sites of memory in the lives of the fictional characters, the novels themselves become mediums of remembering, not as a means of storing facts about the past, but for the ambivalent purpose of understanding the impact of the past on the present. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ’n poging om diasporiese identiteit te karteer en te ondersoek, betrek hierdie verhandeling drie uiteenlopende romans wat in die Atlantiese konteks, naamlik vanuit die verskillende hoeke van die Atlantiese driehoek en verskillende geskiedkundige Atlantiese momente, ontstaan het. Die drie romans sluit in: Our Sister Killjoy or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint (1977) deur Ama Ata Aidoo, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969) deur Paule Marshall en Crossing the River (1993) deur Caryl Phillips. Deur die belangrikheid van plek – kultureel, geografies en temporeel – in die literêre konstruksie van transatlantiese identiteit, te beklemtoon, spoor hierdie verhandeling die manier waarop Aidoo, Marshall en Phillips fiktiewe tekste aanwend na om sin te maak van idees oor tuiste en geborgenheid in ’n wêreld van verdringing, skeuring en (ver)wisseling. Deur die impak van die oorsprong op, asook die weg (rupta via) na, die verwesenliking van identiteit vir die diasporiese subjek te toon, onthul en worstel hierdie tesis met verskeie narratiewe uitbeeldings van die diasporiese toestand (’n toestand eie aan die mens). Our Sister Killjoy stel identiteit as inherent vermeng met nasionalisme en pan-Afrikanisme voor, terwyl The Chosen Place identiteit as tidalekties uitbeeld – vasgevang tussen westerse en Afrika-subjektiwiteite. In Crossing the River word diasporiese identifisering egter gekonstrueer as transnasionaal, fraktaal en ewigdurend in ’n proses van ontwikkeling. Hierdie studie voer verder aan dat die onderskeie skrywers tuiste aktief deur narratief konstrueer in die afwesigheid van ’n gevestigde bewustheid van terra firma, of onbekende land of plek. Die gevolg is ’n voortvloeiing van wat deur Erica L. Johnson beskryf word as terragraphica. Vervolgens word elk van die romans gesien en verken as ’n spesifieke terragraphica asook ’n fiktiewe lieux de mémoire, gegrond in Pierre Nora se konsep “sites of memory”. Die benutting van transatlantiese karakters se herhinneringe as (gebreekte) vensters waardeur die geskiedenis bespeur kan word en filters waardeur die hede verstaan (of gerefrakteer) kan word, is die tegnieke wat Aidoo, Marshall en Phillips aanwend – alhoewel Aidoo se gebruik van geheue minder ooglopend is. Deur verskeie terreine van geheue in die lewens van die fiktiewe karakters te betrek, ontwikkel die romans tot mediums van onthou, nie in die sin van feite van die verlede wat gestoor word nie, maar met die dubbelsinnige doel om die impak van die verlede op die hede te verstaan.

In the increasingly diverse context of North American schools, cross-cultural understanding is of fundamental importance. Most teachers are mono-cultural – typically white, middle class women. To inform teaching practice, these educators draw primarily from personal cultural backgrounds often to the exclusion or detriment of other cultural ways of knowing brought to the classroom by students. Teacher education programs are challenged to interrupt the norms of their conventional practices in order to help dominant culture teachers become more sensitive and insightful towards issues of cross-cultural pedagogy. In particular, the needs of Canadian Aboriginal students require close attention. Indigenous ways of learning and teaching are rarely included in school curricula. This dissertation argues that not only is an indigenous pedagogy useful for Aboriginal students, it also serves to support learning for all students in a multicultural classroom. This phenomenological narrative study looked at the experience of non-Aboriginal preservice teachers enrolled in a university course taught by instructors from several First Nations of Canada. The course took place on Lkwungen Coast Salish territory and provided direct access to indigenous knowledge as the participants worked with earth fibre textiles. The wisdom keepers created a place for the preservice teachers to participate extensively in a cultural approach to learning that was quite different from their previous educational experiences. While engaging in the indigenous handwork, the preservice teachers carefully observed both their own processes as learners and the ways in which the wisdom keepers in the course acted as teachers. The insight gained through this reflexive work troubled the participants’ deep-seated Eurocentric perspectives. Reflecting on personal shifts in attitudes, values and beliefs about the twinned processes of learning and teaching, the participants reported changes in their teaching practice with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. Significant themes in the data revolve around issues of personal and social intent, reflective and reflexive practice, spirituality, the endogenous processes of the learner, learning in community, and teachers’ faith in the learner. The data suggest that implementing an eco/social/spiritual framework is useful in cross-cultural learning and teaching environments as well as in the context of educational research.