Patricia Burlison

Hello!

My name is Patricia Burlison. I grew up in Mānoa Valley and moved to lower Makiki in my early teens. I graduated from McKinley High in 1977. Between then and now, I've attended LCC, UH-Mānoa and then HCC where I received my Associates degree in Early Childhood Care and Education. Several decades later I arrived here at UH-West O'ahu. I will be graduating with my BA in Creative Media with a concentration in General Creative Media. If I were an artistʻs tool, I would be a loom, where various threads are woven in and slowly the patterns are revealed until eventually it becomes a whole.

Research Topic: Loneliness

Research Question: Does Social Media have the dominant role in the reported rise in loneliness as popular culture claims, or are there accompanying and/or contributing factors deserving of attention that have been obscured by those claims?

Capstone Project: Podcast

Title: Loneliness and Us

Abstract

Each new generation faces new challenges from ideas and innovations that are seen as dangerous to the mental, physical, and social health of the communities in which they appear. The rise of Social Media within the last decade has become linked to a rise in reported loneliness that has been seen in the same time period, making Social Media the just the latest, but not the last, attention getting new technology. News media in particular have emphasized a connection between the two. While an increased interest in understanding loneliness and reducing any negative aspects inherent in the condition is welcome, linking it to Social Media use limits how deep and widespread that understanding will be. Fortunately, there are several studies that are looking at the causes, conditions, and solutions surrounding loneliness and its effects, both with and without the social media connection and this research project looked at several of these.

CREATIVE PROCESS:

The concept of creativity has come a long way. The Old Greeks would call those creative forces muses, other religions referred to them as God. Today people still mostly treat creativity as an aha moment outside the area of influence. However, just by looking at the creative process one can tell, that creativity and creative work is more than just that one "Aha-Moment" (insight). It is clear that generating ideas demands planning and preparation, identifying something of interest like a problem, an opportunity or a challenge, doing research. This then leads to thinking of a solution, allowing time to incubate and iterations before arriving at something “complete.” Students learn that hard work is what makes their ideas come to life and sticktuiveness is what helps them get better.