USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal

Editorial Board and Acknowledgements

2024-06-20T11:22:26-06:00

Cover Artwork

2024-06-20T12:51:01-06:00

Warsha Mushtaq is an honours student, majoring in history at the University of Saskatchewan.

Artwork

2024-06-20T10:18:44-06:00

As an undergraduate student studying Interactive Systems Design, my work explores a variety of mediums – in which a focus on the creative aspect of perspective is carried throughout my work. With my complementary interests in art and technology, I have a preference and aptitude for experimenting with graphic design, digital illustration, and photography, as well as finding ways to work with a combination of these mediums in my projects.

The first work I have submitted is titled "Our Prairie Skyline," a digital print I created using Adobe Photoshop. I created this piece as a part of the ART 136 Digital and Integrated Practice Foundations course, in which the work features a selection of my Saskatchewan sky snapshots in a digitally edited composite. This piece was also showcased at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery in March 2023 as a part of the Indigenous Student Achievement Pathways (ISAP) Exhibition.

The second work I have submitted is titled "The Unaccompanied Violin", which is a 22" x 30" graphite pencil drawing I also created as a part of the ART 136 course. After creating the piece, I later created an accompanying ekphrastic poem for the drawing as part of the ENG 120 Introduction to Creative Writing course. This piece was also showcased at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery in March 2023 as a part of the Indigenous Student Achievement Pathways (ISAP) Exhibition.

Artwork

2024-06-20T10:18:44-06:00

Erin Baril is an honours student, double majoring in biology and biochemistry at the University of Saskachewan.

Perceptions of Canadian radiology residents regarding competence by design

2024-08-21T10:48:49-06:00

Purpose: This study sought to evaluate the perceptions of Canadian Radiology residents on Competence by Design (CBD) and to identify areas in which further information and guidance is required.
Methods: Radiology residents at five Western Canadian Radiology programs were eligible to participate in this online survey. The survey contained an assortment of question formats, including 5-point Likert-scale responses, multiple-choice questions, and free-text response. The questions assessed understanding of resident perspectives on feedback and coaching, learning and gaps in knowledge, and quality of training and preparedness within the CBD model.
Results: Twenty-one residents from each of the five radiology residency programs and across each year of training participated in the survey. The majority of residents reported they disagreed (43%) or strongly disagreed (19%) that the CBD model will be more beneficial compared to the traditional training model. 90% reported their overall perspective of CBD as indifferent or negative. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs), milestones and promotions decisions and committee review were the top 3 areas residents required further information on. Residents identified timely and direct feedback as a positive aspect of CBD but expressed concern over time management within the new curriculum.
Conclusion: This study identified specific areas of concern that may contribute to the overall negative or indifferent perception towards CBD by residents. Addressing resident concerns and gaps in knowledge during the early stages of CBD implementation may encourage long-term engagement and provide an opportunity to address the overall negative or indifferent perception of CBD.

Transgender and Gender Diverse Healthcare in Canada

2024-09-22T19:29:05-06:00

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals have been found to be disproportionately exposed to prejudice within the Canadian healthcare system. This paper analyzes Canadian studies conducted throughout the past decade with themes pertaining to gender-diverse issues in healthcare. This analysis found that a lack of TGD-specific healthcare education, as well as discrimination towards TGD individuals within the healthcare system, act as barriers to health-seeking behaviours in TGD persons. A lack of nation-wide standardization in policies and services offered to TGD patients, particularly in gender-affirming care, also acts as a barrier to proper treatment of TGD patients. Implementing federal policies specific to gender-diverse needs may aid in standardizing and normalizing the treatment of TGD patients. In addition, mandating TGD-specific education in medical schooling could also act to improve TGD healthcare in Canada.

Monstrous Lessons

2024-06-20T10:18:45-06:00

On October 31, 1589, Peter Stumpp was executed as a sorcerer and werewolf. Short pamphlets and print artworks were distributed through-out Germany and into England following Stumpp’s execution making him one of the most infamous werewolves in history. Through discussion of contemporary world events, development in printing technology, and the necessity of public teaching tools, the reason for Stumpp’s infamy becomes clear.

"No Glove, No Love"

2024-06-20T14:47:12-06:00

The emergence of AIDS in Canada in March 1982 demanded a change in approaches to sexual education. Past practices of abstinence-only education were no longer sufficient as both queer and heterosexual populations grappled with the devastation brought by the disease. When Canadian federal and provincial government institutions failed to act, the queer community came together to introduce the modern, now-commonplace idea of safer sex. This form of education was driven largely by the experiences of gay, bisexual, and queer men in the early years of the pandemic and has now become a core element of queer identities. The evolution of sexual education and the politics of sexuality have been shaped by the experiences and work of queer communities throughout the AIDS epidemic.

"Dance and Make Revels"

2024-06-20T10:18:45-06:00

Did prostitutes in medieval London have agency? This paper examines a new transcription of a medieval chancery bill concerning a woman accused of dressing in men's clothing and attempting to seduce a merchant at Hanse precinct in London. Rather than assessing this accusation as a potential expression of identity, this paper assesses Joan White's use of male clothing as a method of asserting limited agency over the lived experience of a medieval prostitute. By drawing on the work of Veronica Franco, another medieval courtesan, whose writings also suggest that she was accessing a certain type of agency, this article posits that while participants in the medieval sex trade did not necessarily have agency, they were able to access an "economy of makeshift" through which they could create limited facets of agency for themselves.

Reserved Parking

2024-10-08T18:02:20-06:00

This essay challenges the notion of some critics that “Borders,” by Thomas King, ends with the triumphant defeat of racist colonial institutions through the courage and determination of the mother in the story. Instead, I argue that the experience of the boy and mother, as they are stranded in the parking lot of a duty-free store, is an allegory King uses to critique the reserve system in Canada. This essay considers historical scholarship that illuminates the narratives which shaped 19th century reserve policies and juxtaposes these with the attitudes of colonizers and colonial institutions in King’s short story.

Object and Practice

2024-10-22T13:26:32-06:00

Throughout In the Skin of a Lion, which was published in 1987, Michael Ondaatje portrays forms of labour that blur the boundaries between work and art, and thus between high and low culture. The text's blurring of these boundaries shows how the text reflects both postmodernist values and Marxist theory. Raymond Williams wrote in 1973 that the “true crisis in cultural theory,” during the time in which both he and Ondaatje were writing, was between the view of “art as object” and the alternative view of “art as practice” (1349). Throughout In the Skin of a Lion then, Ondaatje expresses how labour is both worthy of celebration, as it constitutes a sort of art in itself, but also how readers can be critical of the forms of labour depicted, as they reveal brutal aspects of capitalist society.. In his depictions of the forms of labour that Nicholas as a builder, Alice as a performer, and Patrick as a caregiver partake in, all of which trouble the distinction between work and art, Ondaatje questions whether art is a practice or an object and dually refuses to draw stark divisions between the two.

Current Directions in Managing Invasive Lionfish Populations to Protect Reef Biodiversity

2024-10-23T20:29:44-06:00

Invasive lionfish pose a significant threat to reef biodiversity in coastal Atlantic regions through their aggressive feeding habits, lack of predators, and overall hardiness in a wide range of climactic conditions. Their impact has resulted in targeted human efforts to manage and reduce invasive populations where possible. It is important to identify the current methods being employed such as manual culling and traps and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally looking at non-human interactions between lionfish and their ecosystems and how they’ve developed may influence how management is approach, such as the effects of grouper non-consumptive pressures. By learning from relevant approaches we can look towards integrating them into a holistic plan that targets lionfish at multiple levels from multiple angles and formulate incentives to gather greater support from organizations and people to participate in preserving reef biodiversity through economically and environmentally feasible options.

Voices Unheard

2024-10-21T23:53:20-06:00

This paper examines the role of women's testimony in extradition cases between Canada and the United States from 1868 to 1923. In Canada, only 35 women testified in court in a total of 407 cases. In most instances, the women testifying were married and testifying to their husband's innocence or guilt. In these cases, their husband's extradition, conviction, and liberation were often determined by what they said. Women who testified as victims of crimes, often assaults, saw far more ambiguous success. Ideas about the purity of women influenced whether the courts listened to the testimony of unmarried women and girls or allowed them to testify in the first place. Finally, in rare instances, women appeared in these transnational court cases in a professional capacity (often as doctors or secretaries). While married women were treated with respect and single women with some suspicion, divorced women were scrutinized heavily. This divergence, especially in the Canadian courts, emphasizes the uneven ways the border influenced married life. Divorce was illegal in Canada at this time, and marriage was viewed as the building block of Canada's new society. As such, many divorced women who came from the United States were belittled and overly questioned compared to married women from Canada. As a result, this paper argues that Canadian and American attempts to punish criminals who fled across national borders prioritized looking at a woman's marital status above all other factors when assessing whether a potential witness might have valuable information for the courts.

Retracted:

2024-10-23T20:33:04-06:00

"RETRACTED: Alteration of the Endocannabinoid System in Human Alzheimer’s Disease Brain." USURJ: University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal 9.2 (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.32396/usurj.v9i2.659

After this article was published, one of the co-authors contacted USURJ indicating that they had not been involved with the article or its submission to USURJ. This is in violation of USURJ’s publication agreement, which the corresponding author had signed. Additionally, the article made use of data that the corresponding author was not authorized to share. The journal determined a retraction was appropriate following the COPE Retraction Guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines).

As the data was not meant to be public, the article has been removed, and the removed contents are no longer available with a Creative Commons license.