Two of the six recent graduates who are winners of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Thesis and Dissertation Prize are doctoral recipients from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).
“The research conducted and presented by these wonderful graduates represents countless hours of hard work and dedication to their respective fields,” said Tom Loebel, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. “I am incredibly proud of their achievements and, on behalf of the graduate community at York, I thank them for their immense research contributions.”
The Thesis and Dissertation Prizes are distributed by FGS to celebrate exceptional master’s and PhD theses from the previous calendar year. This year’s recipients will be invited to the FGS Scholars Reception in November where their work will be showcased and recognized.
LA&PS Doctoral recipients
Manfred Becker, Communication and Culture
The Frankenbite: Ethics and Reality in the Post-Production of Factual Programming
Becker’s dissertation explores the intersection of ethics and editing in visual programming. Steve Bailey, graduate program director in Communication and Culture, noted “frankenbiting” as “the process of selectively extracting pieces of video and reassembling them, often with significant consequences as to the meaning.” Through interviews with approximately 50 editing professionals, Becker was able to provide a detailed analysis of this phenomenon and its implications at a critical juncture of modern programming.
Becker recently joined the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University as an assistant professor with a full-time faculty position, and previously taught editing and story editing at York University and Ryerson University, as well as at Seneca and Humber College.
Bryan Nelson, Social and Political Thought
Democracy Against: The Antimonies of Politics
Nelson’s research examines theories of radical democratic politics in contemporary continental philosophy, specifically Jacques Rancière, Claude Lefort and Miguel Abensour. His research and analysis in this area provide insights on how democracy is critiqued, and is a commendable contribution to political theory.
Associate Professor of sociology Brian Singer noted the dissertation as “an exceptional piece of work, both in exposing three thinkers who are not sufficiently known in the English-speaking world, and in drawing out, on the bases of their thought, a deeper consideration of the uncompromising, ever-renewed resourcefulness of democratic principles.”
Learn about all six award recipients in YFile.