StFX SCHOLAR
StFX Scholar is the official repository of St. Francis Xavier University (StFX), offering a secure and free platform to share publications, academic outputs, and other works of StFX faculty, staff, and students.
StFX Scholar is also the hub for exploring our digitized and digital collections. Our mission is to preserve and highlight the intellectual and creative achievements of the StFX community and the broader Antigonish region.
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Communities in StFX Scholar
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- StFX-affiliated works, including open-access (aka free) journal articles, books, and more!
- Digitized or born-digital theses and dissertations completed at StFX.
- Materials about StFX.
- The library's digitized and digital collections.
Recent Submissions
When The River Talks, We Listen: A Case Study on River Clean-ups as Environmental Adult Education
(St. Francis Xavier University, 2024) Franke, Skylar; Perry, Adam
There are many outdoor environmental volunteer actions individuals can take to address the growing climate and biodiversity crises. Environmental adult education (EAE) activities bring participants together around a shared solution and offer an opportunity to connect and reflect on relationships with nature and society. This qualitative case study examines the experiences of volunteers participating in river clean-ups in London Ontario. It examines what participants learned and how they made sense of environmental issues through outdoor environmental volunteer activities. An analysis of responses from nine interviewed participants revealed common themes. Participants shared that they found river clean-ups to be a source of connection to the land and to other people, and a way to process their emotions about climate change and biodiversity loss. They also highlighted the importance of being able to take action on an issue that seems too complex to address and affirmed their understanding of responsibility to solve environmental problems. Learners shared lessons from the experience, nature and other participants. A variety of learning modalities were reflected in the shared experiences of participants, including experiential, informal, incidental, and land-based learning. While the experiences evaluated in this study were from river clean-ups not intentionally organised as EAE activities, they provide insights that could inform development of future EAE curriculum applications. If river clean-ups are used as a EAE activity, it is suggested that providing intentional framing of the activity at the beginning and opportunities for reflection towards the end could solidify the learning of the activity.
Angus L. Macdonald Library’s John Stewart Collection
(2022) Estill, Laura; Cameron, Susan; Beaver, Dalton; DeEll, Jaime; Hubbard, Emily; MacDonald, Calum; O’Brien, Kate; Phillips, Danielle; Quigley, Ryan; Van Steinburg, Ben
This volume was created by the students of English 226: From Tablets to Tablets: Texts and Technologies, working with Professor Laura Estill and Susan Cameron, Special Collections Librarian, St Francis Xavier University.
Women, Menopause and Menopause Learning: A Critical Feminist Analysis
(2024) Blais, Alyssa; Coady, Maureen
Menopause, a significant biological event, has historically been medicalized and often associated with negative societal perceptions. The research study aimed to explore the lived experiences and understanding of menopause among women through a qualitative narrative inquiry approach, investigating how women learn about menopause and the influences that shape their learning. I was particularly interested in how and whether women’s narratives align with or challenge socially constructed perceptions of menopause. The research was guided by an interpretive/social constructivist theoretical framework and critical feminism, which recognizes women’s narratives and the body as sources of knowledge. The study, conducted in Canada, involved seven Canadian women aged 53 to 74. Purposive sampling was used to select information-rich cases. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and narrative analysis techniques were employed to identify themes and patterns in the participants’ stories. The study’s findings reveal that women’s perspectives on menopause are often shaped by patriarchal influences and societal perceptions of women. This can lead to a devaluation of their experiences. Overall, the women’s narratives shed light on the transformational experiences of menopause, thereby emphasizing the impact of societal conceptions, which result in stigmatization and a lack of open dialogue about this life stage. This research highlights the importance of women’s narratives in understanding their lived experiences, promoting positive conceptualizations of menopause and advancing a women-centred approach to supporting health and well-being. By acknowledging women’s stories and physicality as valuable sources of knowledge, we can gain a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of their unique needs.