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Articles by Ph. D. candidate
Two evicted women tell their story: ‘The landlords had no empathy.’
This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the original site. ___ Author: Alexandre Petitclerc, Ph. D. Candidate in Philosophy, Université de Montréal This article is part of our series, ‘Our cities from the past to the future.’ Urban life is going through many transformations, each with cultural, economic, social and political implications.
Two evicted women tell their story: ‘The landlords had no empathy.’
By Alexandre Petitclerc, Ph. D. Candidate in Philosophy, Université de Montréal When it comes to the housing crisis, little attention is paid to social relations. Understanding this crisis, and thinking about housing justice, requires an understanding of how the increasingly unequal relationships around housing manifest themselves. As a doctoral candidate in political philosophy at the Université de Montréal, I am interested in the housing crisis from the perspective of socio-economic rights.
The Benefits of Surrender
Source: Greg Rosenke/Unsplash By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph. D. Candidate and Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D. Surrendering is the act of giving up something. For our purposes, surrender means giving up on efforts to control your life or ensure specific outcomes in your life. But why surrender? Trying too hard to control our lives is stressful and ultimately fruitless (Cole & Pargament, 1999). Knowing when to surrender and being able to do so effectively is a helpful coping skill (Cole & Pargament, 1999).
The Benefits of Surrender - Tchiki Davis
By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph. D. Candidate and Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D. Surrendering is the act of giving up something. For our purposes, surrender means giving up on efforts to control your life or ensure specific outcomes in your life. But why surrender? Trying too hard to control our lives is stressful and ultimately fruitless (Cole & Pargament, 1999). Knowing when to surrender and being able to do so effectively is a helpful coping skill (Cole & Pargament, 1999).
Migration to the US is on the rise again - but it's unlikely to be fully addressed during the Summit of the Americas, or anytime soon
An estimated 6,000 Latin American migrants[1] are traveling together through Mexico to reach the U.S. by foot and car, marking the largest caravan yet in 2022 of migrants traveling to the U.S. border. Their journey coincides with the ninth Summit of the Americas[2], a regional meeting of country leaders from North, South and Central America that happens about once every three years.
Is Your CEO a Psychopath?
Volkswagen. Tesla. Uber. Theranos. What do these companies have in common? Bad decisions resulting in shame, scandal and a long, slow road back into the world’s good graces. It is easy to find examples in the corporate world of companies brought low by bad leaders. And all too often, each new transgression triggers salacious headlines decrying corporate leaders and accusing them of being a bunch of psychopaths. But what exactly does that mean?
Op-ed: Class canceled over police brutality
| TA and Ph.D. Candidate in the History Department This letter was written in response to the police shooting of 15-year-old Branden Leachman on Sept. 26, 2018, as a part of a broader pattern of violent, aggressive and racist police behavior in the city of St. Louis. I am a teaching assistant at Washington University and a resident of St. Louis City, and chose to cancel all of my classes on Friday, Sept. 28.
Does Postpartum Contraceptive Use Vary By Birth Intendedness?
Women with an unintended birth have an elevated risk of subsequent unintended pregnancy, and multiple unintended pregnancies could exacerbate any negative consequences of such births. It is therefore important to understand whether postpartum contraceptive use differs by birth intendedness. Data on 2,769 births reported in the 2011–2015 cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth were used to examine postpartum contraceptive use.
Connected Cars Can Lie, Posing a New Threat to Smart Cities
The day when cars can talk to each other – and to traffic lights, stop signs, guardrails and even pavement markings – is rapidly approaching.
Digital Jukeboxes Are Eroding the Dive-Bar Experience
Another increasingly common feature of these establishments threatens to further unravel the dive-bar aesthetic—the digital jukebox. More specifically, the TouchTunes digital jukebox. By no means the only digital commercial jukebox (other brands include AMI Entertainment and NSM Music), TouchTunes made itself a visible front-runner in a jukebox revival of sorts, in part because it allows users to choose music from their phones.
Opinion: How USG presidential candidates addressed issues of USG recruitment, communication, and senator accountability at sociology club presidential debate
Candidate Newlin once again referenced the responsibility of the USG Executive to fill senate seats that are unfilled through selecting senators. However, this is a half-truth at best; a misinterpretation of the constitution at worst.
Opinion: How presidential USG candidates responded to questions regarding academic reorganization at sociology club presidential debate
The Sociology Club’s question regarding academic reorganization cut straight to the core of the issues surrounding undergraduate engagement with the reorganization: “how can USG serve as an interpreter or intermediary for those students who find those proposals hard to understand?” I want to make a point of commending Ms. Lieberman on the question which, in my view, speaks to the responsibility of USG to ensure that the undergraduate student body is fully informed on the impact that this...
The orgasm gap and what sex-ed did not teach you
There is a clear disparity between men and women when it comes to achieving orgasm; a phenomenon scientists call the orgasm gap. Studying orgasms is no easy task. We work as psychology of sexual behaviour researchers in the lab of Dr. James Pfaus at Concordia University and were interested to explore the “controversy” of clitoral versus vaginal orgasms. We conducted a literature review on the current state of the evidence and different perspectives on how this phenomenon occurs in women.
What life is like for deportees in Mexico
Arrest of undocumented immigrant. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) Ray was born in Mexico and moved to the United States with family members at age 10. He told me in an interview in 2014, “I’m just a regular American like everyone else.” In middle school, Ray (a pseudonym to protect his identity) learned the Declaration of Independence and memorized all the presidents in order. His first job was replastering swimming pools in Phoenix, Arizona.
Ask a Scientist: How do spiders handle the winter weather?
We’ve all heard the legends…“We’re always within 10 feet of one.” That one’s more of a myth.“We swallow 8 each year while we’re asleep.” That’s a myth too (thankfully).
Opinion: All but one of the USG presidential candidates failed to answer questions on diversity at sociology club presidential debate
The Sociology Club’s question on diversity was rooted in the mission statement of the university. Specifically, the Sociology Club asked if the methodology that the university was using aligned with the mission statement of SIU and with the mission of USG. Further, the Sociology Club wished to know what each candidate planned to do to achieve diversity. All but one of the candidates failed to answer the question actually asked.
Finding Better Ways to Get Hydrogen Fuel from Water - ECS
With hydrogen power stations in California, a new Japanese consumer car and portable hydrogen fuel cells for electronics, hydrogen as a zero emission fuel source is now finally becoming a reality for the average consumer. When combined with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst, hydrogen releases energy and bonds with the oxygen to form water. The two main difficulties preventing us from having hydrogen power everything we have are storage and production.
How China’s Male Sex Workers Mix Business With Pleasure
When I went to China in May to study “money boys” — male prostitutes providing sexual services to male clients, known colloquially as MBs — I imagined that I would be seeking entry into a world of darkness, violence, and suffering. In China, the word “prostitution” seems to conjure up a rather specific image in people’s minds.
Disconnected: Can universities surpass brand image to make their social media relevant?
Universities fail to exploit social media’s most compelling features, tending to broadcast their brands instead of engaging students and the public online, new research suggests. Visualise this: smiling students and successful faculty. In the background, beautiful buildings framed by blue skies. These are the ways that Canadian universities choose to represent themselves on social media. This picture is somewhat accurate, but a tad misleading. Social media are a staple of Canadian universities.
Making flexible electronics with nanowire networks
A smartphone touchscreen is an impressive piece of technology. It displays information and responds to a user’s touch. But as many people know, it’s easy to break key elements of the transparent, electrically conductive layers that make up even the sturdiest rigid touchscreen. If flexible smartphones, e-paper and a new generation of smart watches are to succeed, they can’t use existing touchscreen technology.
South Sudan crisis deepens as main rebel groups fragment and realign
South Sudan’s protracted political crisis has increased in complexity as the the main actors fragment into factions or form new alliances and the dynamics of the conflict change. This means that the search for lasting peace will have many more players around the table. Andrew Edward Tchie scopes out the landscape following the defection of yet another senior general to opposition ranks. Can you give some background on the rebel groups or militias fighting Salva Kiir’s government?
Civil Rights Lawyer and Activist Bryan Stevenson Awarded 25th Wallenberg Medal
On the evening of March 7th, 2017, the 25th Wallenberg Medal, the most distinguished award given by the University of Michigan, was presented to civil rights lawyer and social rights activist Bryan Stevenson, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit organization working to guarantee a legal defense to every inmate on death row in Alabama, in 1989.
How South Sudan's warlords triggered extreme hunger in a land of plenty
A man-made famine? That question has been on the lips a lot in recent days after it was declared in South Sudan. The last time this happened in Africa, or anywhere, was in Somalia in 2011. The classification of a famine as man-made is applied to severe hunger arising from a set of foreseeable, and therefore avoidable, circumstances.
Lessons from The Gambia to end the impasse in South Sudan
Not for the first time, South Sudan appears on the International Crisis Group watch list of the world’s most volatile conflicts to watch. This is on top of climbing to second on Transparency International’s index of the most corrupt countries. The world’s newest nation is bedevilled by multiple conflicts and faced with major challenges to establish peace and stability. The most recent UN mission report warns of a conflict that’s reached “worrying proportions”.
Health promotion by stealth: active transportation success in Helsinki, Finland
The promotion of active transportation (AT—utilitarian trips including walking, cycling, and public transit use), represents a well-recognized opportunity for increasing physical activity. This study examines the strong AT success achieved in Helsinki, Finland (in 2013, the share of daily trips in Helsinki completed by AT was 77 per cent) from a political perspective.
South Sudan: why the international community needs to act urgently
The international community is focused on defeating ISIS, dealing with the Syrian conflict and the refugee crisis on their doorsteps as well as home grown terrorism. But, now more than ever, it needs to be actively engaged in South Sudan or the situation could rapidly deteriorate.
South Sudan's apprehensive future
In July last year opposing forces loyal to South Sudan president Salva Kiir and his then first vice-president Riek Machar engaged in heavy fighting in the capital Juba. The date marked nearly five years since South Sudan had secured formal independence from Sudan. The fighting in Juba may have come as a surprise to many. But it had long been expected among people living and working in the world’s newest state.
Does being wealthy make you more charitable?
Each year, the average American family donates approximately 3.4 percent of its discretionary income to charity. Most of these charitable contributions are made from October to December, known as the “giving season” in the nonprofit sector. So what inspires individuals to donate to charity? Given the incredible cost to solicit donations – US$1 for every $6 collected – understanding the answer to this question is critical. The recent election means the stakes are even higher.
They're common in the developed world, but do minimum wages work in developing countries?
In the closing scene of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Police Commissioner Gordon tells his son that Batman is “the hero Gotham deserves but not the one it needs right now” (video). This quote provides an interesting policy analogy with minimum wage increases. The benefits of raising minimum wages are something we believe workers deserve: better pay. Unfortunately, the costs tend to involve higher unemployment, which no country needs right now.
Croire à votre libre arbitre vous rapprochera de votre moi profond
Possédons-nous un libre arbitre ? Voilà une question que les intellectuels ont discuté pendant des siècles et qui fera certainement débat pendant les siècles à venir. Ce n’est pas une question dont j’ai la réponse, mais ce qui m’intéresse est ceci : qu’advient-il si nous avons foi (ou pas) dans le libre arbitre ? En d’autres termes, la croyance dans le libre arbitre compte-t-elle dans notre vie quotidienne ?
seeking conservative cred and kissing babies
Editor’s note: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered an economic policy speech on August 8 in Detroit that called for aggressive sanctions against U.S. trading partners, a rollback of environmental regulations and large tax cuts. He offered a few new policy proposals but primarily sought to contrast himself with rival Hillary Clinton, who he said wanted to redistribute wealth and add new layers of regulation.
GMOs lead the fight against Zika, Ebola and the next unknown pandemic
The shadow of the Zika virus hangs over the Rio Olympic Games, with visitors and even high-profile athletes citing worries about Zika as a reason to stay away (even if the risk is probably quite low). The public’s concerns are a striking example of the need to rapidly combat emerging infectious diseases.
Moving exoskeletons from sci-fi into medical rehabilitation and therapy
Chances are, you’ve seen a person using a powered exoskeleton – what you might think of as a sort of bionic suit – but only in the movies. In the 2013 movie “Elysium,” for example, Matt Damon’s character has an exoskeleton that makes his body stronger and faster than it would otherwise be. Simply described, they are devices that can be externally worn, resembling the skeleton of the body part they are attached to and able to provide support in many ways.
What Black Lives Matter means beyond policing reform
After the killing of five police officers in Dallas last week by a lone gunman, where does the Black Lives Matter movement go?
Most Americans believe we should have gun regulation. Here is why those who don’t are winning the debate.
There is a segment of the American population who believes passionately that guns are critical for personal protection against both violent individuals and governmental intrusion. They believe nothing should prevent them from getting the guns they need to do that. There is another, larger group of Americans who believes passionately that we have created an environment that makes it far too easy for those who intend to kill to have access to all the firepower they want.
What's lost when we photograph life instead of experiencing it?
At a conference earlier this month, Facebook’s head of operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa predicted that the social networking site would be “all video” within five years. “We’re seeing a year-on-year decline of text,” she said.
Bartering for science: using mobile apps to get research data
There’s a transaction that happens every time you load a website, send an email, or click “like” on a friend’s post: You get something you want in exchange for some data about your actions and interests. Entire business models depend on the premise that the data we generate in this way have value, and massive databases have been assembled with this in mind. Can we harness data collection of this kind for research?
SCO welcomes 15th Birthday, highlighting China's diplomacy
On June 23, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opened its 16th meeting of a two-day Council of Heads of state in Tashkent, Uzbekistan , which coincided with celebration of its 15th anniversary. The SCO continues to mature, while demonstrating outstanding achievements of China's diplomacy. The SCO is a business card with Chinese characteristics, which is the only organization named after a Chinese city with its headquarters there and Chinese diplomacy rising in influence.
In a bid for the perfect profile pic, young men are increasingly turning to steroids
The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that around 60,000 people are using steroids to gain muscle, to become leaner and fitter, or to get stronger. But academics and experts who work with steroid users believe the real figure is much higher – probably in the hundreds of thousands. Needle-exchange clinics across the UK report that steroids users are a growing group and, in some cases, even exceed other illegal drug-using groups.
Should women be forced to register for the US draft?
The military draft has surfaced again as a source of national debate, as it has throughout American history. On June 15, the Senate passed a proposal to require women to register with the Selective Service. In the same bill, senator Rand Paul took the opportunity to introduce an amendment to eliminate the draft entirely. As a PhD candidate studying constitutional history in the North during the Civil War, I see the extension of the draft to women as something new.
Graphene isn't the only Lego in the nanoelectronics materials-science toy box
Posted: Jun 15, 2016 Graphene isn't the only Lego in the nanoelectronics materials-science toy box (Nanowerk News) You may have heard of graphene, a sheet of pure carbon, one atom thick, thats all the rage in materials-science circles, and getting plenty of media hype as well. Reports have trumpeted graphene as an ultra-thin, super-strong, super-conductive, super-flexible material. You could be excused for thinking it might even save all of humanity from certain doom. Not exactly.
Irrésistible montée du narcissisme, la faute à la télé-réalité ?
Les journalistes et les psychiatres partagent cet avis. Ils qualifient Trump de « remarquablement narcissique », de « cas d’école du trouble de la personnalité narcissique », et même de « parfait narcissique… qui va détruire les États-Unis ». Si l’ascension politique du milliardaire en a surpris plus d’un, elle ne devrait pas étonner les spécialistes qui ont étudié les évolutions de la personnalité au cours de ces dernières décennies.
Can The Avalanches flourish in a pop music world remade in their own image?
Legendary Melbourne-based band The Avalanches are returning with a new record – 16 years after their only major release. Their first album, 2000’s Since I Left You, has been dubbed a modern classic. A joyous, witty and funky melange of more than 3,500 samples, taken from vinyl albums bought in op shops, it sold more than 600,000 copies and influenced a generation of musicians. The Avalanches' brand of sample-saturated electronic music was unique in 2000.
Obsessed with reality TV? You may be a narcissist
In early May, with Donald Trump on the verge of solidifying the Republican nomination, his opponent Ted Cruz ranted to the press: Journalists and psychiatrists have agreed with his characterization of Trump. He’s been called “remarkably narcissistic,” “a textbook case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder” and even “a total narcissist … who will be the destruction of the United States.” The rise of Trump has surprised many.
Family matters: how video games help successful aging
Sitting quietly in the corner, we watch a daily family ritual: in the living room awash with soft afternoon light, a six-year-old boy is sitting on the floor, controller in hand, eyes firmly on the television screen. His fingers expertly guide the colorful character in Skylanders, from time to time glancing over his shoulder and grinning at the figure on the sofa, his 68-year-old grandmother.
Could the mystery of the meow actually be solved by a new talking cat collar?
Imagine you’re a cat, and, every time you meowed, the loud voice of a snooty-sounding British gentleman kindly informed your human guardian of your every thought and feeling (well, the thoughts and feelings you had before you were terrified by the sound of the voice).
Could the mystery of the meow be solved by a new talking cat collar?
Imagine you’re a cat, and, every time you meowed, the loud voice of a snooty-sounding British gentleman kindly informed your human guardian of your every thought and feeling (well, the thoughts and feelings you had before you were terrified by the sound of the voice).
La corruption, facteur aggravant de la pollution de l’air à Mexico
Le 15 mars dernier, Mexico a connu sa pire crise environnementale des dix dernières années. Un brouillard gris contenant des polluants atmosphériques nocifs s’est déployé sur toute la zone urbaine deux jours durant. Les véhicules ont été interdits de rouler et les habitants invités à rester chez eux. La solution proposée pour lutter contre cette pollution atmosphérique a été rendue publique deux semaines après cet épisode, attirant l’attention des médias du monde entier.
How do you design a home for someone with autism?
What if every time the bathroom fan buzzed, you became unhinged? Or you lived in a place where it felt impossible to avoid curious neighbors whenever you went outside? Or where the location of kitchen appliances made it feel like a combat zone every time you tried to cook a meal? Only then might you start to feel like the many autistic adults who struggle to live in homes that don’t accommodate their needs.
How corruption is hurting Mexico City’s efforts to tackle air pollution
On March 15 this year, Mexico City encountered its worst environmental crisis of the last decade. A gray fog, comprising noxious air pollutants, cast a shadow over the sprawling metropolitan area for two days. Vehicles were ordered off the roads, and people were asked to remain indoors. The solution sought to redress the city’s pollution problem was presented two weeks later and has already attracted considerable attention from the international media.
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