http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries.html Discoveries in the Making en-ca Copyright University of Ottawa Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:39:28 -0500
The rise in popularity of reality as entertainment is a symptom of a larger socio-cultural change, a phenomenon that is being researched by Fernando Andacht, an associate professor in the Department of Communication.

By consuming such natural, expressive behaviour through reality programming, which is closer to the physiological than to the intellectual, audiences expect to find the self as the ultimate evidence of the truth, a modern equivalent of the soul.

The academic is wrapping up a three-year research project funded by the Brazilian National Center of Research on the representation of the real at the age of its media spectacularization.

Andacht has used Charles Peirce's semiotic model to account for the impact of reality television program, and for the depiction of daily life in contemporary documentaries. The findings will be used for a broader approach which will include mock news programs.]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_154.html Fri, 7 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The findings of University of Ottawa biology professor Vance Trudeau and PhD student Maxine Croteau, who is co-supervised by David Lean, are significant to humans in that frogs are an ecological indicator species and a decline in their health reflects the health of the ecosystem on which we all depend.

The researchers at the Centre for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics have found that exposure of tadpoles to environmentally relevant levels of UVB radiation can significantly delay and even prevent metamorphosis. When combined with octylphenol, a common pollutant, animals have increased levels of mortality and exhibit more developmental abnormalities. Common developmental abnormalities seen in this lab-based research are tail-kinking and bloated abdomens, which make it difficult for the tadpoles to swim.

Therefore, an increase in UVB, possibly due to ozone depletion, could contribute to upsets in the development of frogs. This disturbance to frog health indicates a larger negative impact on our living environment and potentially on human health.

Vance Trudeau
Department of Biology
Tel: 613-562-5800, ext. 6165
E-mail: trudeauv@uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_153.html Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Investigating the past and present of this type of travel � referred to as "abortion tourism" � in Canada is now the responsibility of Christabelle Sethna, an associate professor cross-appointed to the Institute of Women's Studies and the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Sethna has previously conducted research into the history of sex education and contraception, receiving SSHRC funding to investigate the impact of the birth control pill on young, single women in universities in Canada between 1960 and 1980.

Through her work, Sethna has discovered that women who have class, racial and linguistic privileges, who can access education and professional opportunities, and who live in urban areas with access to medical care are able to take control of their fertility in ways that women without these advantages cannot.

Christabelle Sethna
Tel: (613) 562-5800, ext. 2356
E-mail: csethna@uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_152.html Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Luc Bonneville, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication, is researching the impact of these technologies on the medical field. Among other objectives, he examines how health professionals adapt their clinical work to using ICTs, and how doctors and nurses relate to their patients under existing technology structures.

His work sheds light on the daily behaviours of health professionals dealing with ICTs, while placing these behaviours in the context of a global sociological or socio-historical framework.

It allows for a better understanding of the links between the powers-that-be in a complex organization like a hospital.

The research is crucial to understanding the mechanisms that are favourable to the improvement of medical work conditions within the information technology context. It questions the different dimensions of medical tele-technologies in order to understand how they modify health services, and the health professional's work.

Luc Bonneville
Department of Communication
Office: 562-5800, ext. 2518
E-mail: luc.bonneville@uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_151.html Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Strong brands have strong identities, according to Michael Mulvey, assistant professor of marketing in the Telfer School of Management. Trying to win over consumers has become an identity contest where people make choices based on identity concerns and the nature of the emotionally-charged consumption experience promised by the brand.

In order to create an effective representation, an appropriate image must be identified for the brand, the consumer, and the consumer-brand relationship. Marketers need to become "symbol-minded" and draw upon archetypes to use as models of identity. Success requires an alignment between customer and brand archetypes to create a coherent whole.

The meaningfulness of competing brand identities is sharpened when put into a system: compare Pepsi's youthful exuberance with Coke's stoic traditionalism.

Michael Mulvey
Telfer School of Management
613-562-5800, ext. 4571
mulvey@telfer.uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_150.html Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500
As Research Director at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Citizenship and Minorities (CIRCEM), she is particularly interested by francophone minorities and the effect of the environment on social practices and political identity.

Gilbert is essentially preoccupied with the impact of these minorities on social practices and cultural identity. From 2002 to 2006, she undertook extensive field work in order to better understand the processes leading to the vitality of francophone communities across the country. She is currently working on a book about the various dimensions of the communities' dynamism.

In the next few years, she will closely examine the representation of the francophone community in the Ottawa region.

Anne Gilbert, Department of Geography
Office: (613) 562-5800, ext. 1045
agilbert@uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_149.html Thu, 1 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0400
Some long-term homes have designed special units to help reduce these disruptive behaviors and increase residents' quality of life.

Designs often include barrier-free rooms and corridors, homey environments, common living rooms to encourage interaction, safe outdoor areas, and kitchens with open access to residents.
Linda Garcia, the Director of the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Program, is involved in a study aimed at demonstrating the extent to which architectural design features relate to the levels of disruptive behaviors in patients with dementia. The goal is to develop a theory about whether the social and personal environments found within these settings promote greater positive interactions among residents, staff, and visitors. The study is set in locations in Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa and was funded by the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

Garcia and her research partners measured the behavior and severity of dementia, gathered information about architectural design features, looked at incidence reports and staffing levels, examined communication skills between staff and residents, gauged noise level, conducted focus groups and observed residents in these environments. The data is still being analyzed, but so far Garcia and her colleagues have found that one of the most important elements for improved quality of life relates to the approach and consistency demonstrated by the staff.]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_148.html Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400
Associate professor Penelope Simons' work examines international corporate governance and, in particular, the regulation of the human rights impacts of transnational corporate activities and the intersection between human rights, international economic law and transnational corporate activity.

Simons co-authored a paper examining the international legal responsibility of home states for violations of human rights by transnational corporate actors operating in other countries. Presently, Simons is working on a manuscript for a book with University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin and Georgette Gagnon, a Toronto human rights lawyer. The book is due to be published in 2008 and investigates the governance gap in relation to the accountability of transnational corporations operating in conflict zones or repressive regimes for violations of international human rights standards, and develops a case for home state regulation.

The original research was funded by a grant from the Law Commission of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

In addition, Simons is currently writing a paper examining the relationship between right to adequate food, the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture, and transnational corporate activity in agricultural markets.

Penelope Simons, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section and member of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre
Tel: 613-562-5800, ext. 3071
E-mail: Penelope.Simons@uOttawa.ca]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_147.html Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has completed only 33 cases since trials began in 1997 and has spent about $1 billion. National courts, though cheaper and faster to run, would still take over 100 years to try all those suspected of involvement in the 1994 mass killings.

The government created popular courts based on a traditional mechanism known as gacaca, whereby the accused are judged and sentenced by non-jurists in their own communities � a controversial move.

Stephen Brown, an associate professor in uOttawa's School of Political Studies, is researching transitional and traditional justice in Rwanda as part of a larger project led by Professor Chandra Lekha Sriram, director of the University of East London's Centre on Human Rights in Conflict, and funded by the British Academy. The project investigates post-conflict peace building, focusing on the rule of law. It's particularly interested in the international community's contributions.

Brown previously conducted research in Rwanda in 2004 on behalf of the International Development Research Centre.

Stephen Brown, School of Political Studies
Tel.: 613-562-5800, ext. 1896
E-mail: brown@uOttawa.ca

The International Day of Peace is September 21.]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_146.html Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400
Mathew Paterson, associate professor, School of Political Studies
Tel.: 613-562-5800, ext. 1716
Email: mpaterso@uOttawa.ca

Professor Paterson's most recent book can be found at http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521870801.

The International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer is on September 16.
]]> http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/discoveries-details_145.html Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400