Graduate Forum 2026

While the term “Mennonite” refers to a diverse Anabaptist religious tradition encompassing substantial variations of beliefs, practices, and ways of life, the definition in relation to tourism and the public imagination often presents a selective and recognizable image of Mennonite identity. Through ethnographic research conducted within the village of St. Jacobs, this study investigates how particular aspects of Old Order Mennonite identity, including plain dress, horse-and-buggy transportation, traditionalism, and notions of simplicity and rural authenticity, are selected, represented, and commodified. Drawing on theories of commodification, authenticity, the tourist gaze, and touristic borderzones, I argue that tourism does not simply represent an existing Mennonite identity but participates in producing a particular version of what “Mennonite” comes to signify for visitors. This process creates a specific rendition that is purposely curated to advertise the aspects of the Mennonite identity that are desirable and commodifiable, while omitting those that are less idyllic; simplifying the complex and diverse realities of Mennonite life. Mennonite and non-Mennonite businesses, residents, and visitors participate in negotiating which aspects of Mennonite identity are displayed, emphasized, or obscured. The thesis therefore considers both the economic opportunities and social consequences of making religious identity a resource within a tourism economy. 

Archaeological predictive modelling offers a way to identify areas with high archaeological potential while reducing the time and resources required for large-scale field investigation. This research develops a machine-learning approach to archaeological site prediction in Waterloo Region, Ontario, using a Random Forest classifier in ArcGIS Pro. Known archaeological site locations were combined with randomly generated background points and environmental variables. The model was trained to identify environmental patterns associated with archaeological site presence and to produce a regional map of archaeological potential. A secondary component of the research evaluates the usefulness of multispectral remote sensing, specifically Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and false-colour near-infrared imagery, for identifying vegetation anomalies that may indicate buried archaeological features. Regional NDVI showed limited value as an independent predictor, but targeted examination of high-potential areas demonstrated potential for finer-scale archaeological prospection. Together, these methods illustrate a two-stage approach in which machine-learning-based predictive modelling identifies broad areas of archaeological potential and remote sensing supports more targeted investigation. This approach has potential applications for Cultural Resource Management, municipal planning, and proactive archaeological heritage protection. 

Weaning is a process where non-breast-milk foods are introduced in the diet until the end of suckling. Learning about breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWPs) of ancient humans is a significant area of research in anthropology, as BWPs directly influence infant mortality, cognitive function, and the overall health of a population. However, we do not have any studies of weaning in ancient sites in the Levant. The aim of this research is to determine the age of weaning at Wadi Faynan 100, an Early Bronze Age IB (3,300-3,000 BCE) site in Jordan by analyzing changes in strontium /calcium and barium /calcium trace element ratios in tooth enamel. These ratios vary in a distinct manner during weaning and thus provide an accurate weaning history. Using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), I took samples across growth bands in enamel from 17 molars that signified dietary changes indicative of weaning.

This paper investigated the presence of trauma on individuals interred in a mass grave in northern Sri Lanka. Using forensic anthropology, I examined the variety of trauma inflicted on 52 individuals as a result of the Sri Lankan Civil War, a conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan government's military forces. I analyzed ballistic trauma, gunshot trauma, and other forms of peri-mortem injury indicative of violent armed conflict contexts. Analyses of the location and pattern of injuries pointed to the volatility of the conflict around these individuals' time of death. I also discuss the importance of considering the political and social contexts of the war and the benefits of forensic anthropology in relation to repatriation and reconciliation for descendant communities. 

This research studied large-scale fragmentary and commingled burials through the observation of human skeletal remains and X-ray imaging of bone reactions to disease or other stressors. The analyzed collection comes from Wadi Faynan 100, a complex archeological site located in southern Jordan. Wadi Faynan 100 is comprised of numerous structures from various periods of occupation; excavations in 2019 and 2023 focused on 18 burial structures with multiple interments (referred to as charnel houses) from the Early Bronze Age I B period or 3,300-3,000 BCE. All excavated charnel houses showed evidence of disturbance and looting with the recovered skeletal remains at various levels of fragmentation and degradation, complicating any analyses of this collection. Observational analysis found evidence of alterations and damage caused by burial conditions, non-specific bony reactions, trauma, osteoarthritis, and markers of occupational stress. X-ray imaging confirmed these diagnoses. This study thus argues that highly fragmentary and commingled burials can provide evidence of the pathological conditions and health of the examined population.

Since China’s marketization, gambling has been governed not only through legal prohibition and moral condemnation, but increasingly through therapeutic languages of self-control. This research examines how these modes of governing problematic conduct are reworked in the anti-gambling livestreams of Jieshe, a Chinese content creator who reads and comments on first-person accounts of gambling, debt, and excessive consumption. Drawing on discourse analysis, online observation, and audience interviews, I examine how Jieshe’s commentary produces what I provisionally call an “ontology of failure,” through which particular utterances and behaviors are treated as tokens of the Dugou (“gambling dog”) as a social type who may otherwise appear indistinguishable from those understood as “normal.” I then explore how his emphasis on wang sili guan—submitting oneself to intensive control by family and close relatives—both overlaps with and diverges from therapeutic approaches centered on self-management. Finally, I consider how singular “true accounts” are transformed into broader moral propositions through commentary, repetition, and shaming. The study shows how digital anti-gambling discourse operates as a vernacular form of moral intervention through which audiences learn to recognize, classify, and avoid becoming kinds of failed persons. 

In the Bayuda Desert in Sudan, lies Ghazali, a medieval Nubian monastery occupied between ca. 680–1275 CE. From the excavated monastic context, physical impairments have been recorded, but there has been no focus on how these individuals lived with these impairments or the type of care they may have received from their community. The Bioarchaeology of Care model, developed by Lorna Tilley, seeks to analyze an individual’s life course and identity in relation to their disability through four sequential stages of analysis, in which each stage builds on the information, inferences, and conclusions of the previous stage. The fourth century CE saw the development of a monastic healthcare system set apart from nonmonastic society. We also have evidence from historians that monks cared for the sick and elderly and provided inpatient care. Therefore, evidence of health-related care at Ghazali could suggest the presence of such behaviour, practices, and/or doctrines at this site. This research will expand on the initial insights of trauma and pathologies at Ghazali by probing deeper into the lived experiences of these individuals – with their impairment and/or “disability” – and the type/extent of care among the monastic community that resided at Ghazali. 

Canada is a major destination for international migrants, with South Asian migrants making up a highly visible population. Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario has played a large role in this by enrolling significantly more international students (mainly Indians) from 2020-2024. This consequently increased the college’s revenues by millions of Canadian dollars, through significantly higher international tuition fees. International students in the Kitchener-Waterloo area have diverse backgrounds, motivations, and perceptions of Canada. Economic advancement is not always the sole motivation for migrating. Other motivations include gendered independence/autonomy, safety, and education. While it may seem that the international student pathway offers migrants an objectively better, more desirable life in Canada, their realities are more complex than that. Through ethnographic research focusing mainly on Indian migrants, it is revealed that the possibility of a “better” life in Canada comes with precarity, which is shaped in various ways by gender, class, race, and immigration status. Living in Canada comes with unique tradeoffs related to economic uncertainty, racism, and other vulnerabilities. This deeper understanding of South Asian migrants in Canada can contribute to more empathy towards those who are increasingly racialized, victimized, and vilified.