Embedded Files
Header image: Radiohead's OK Computer album cover designed by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke
Hello!
I hope you are doing well as you are reading this. This spring quarter, students enrolled in humanities core will be working on a 10-12 page research paper on a topic of their choice that relates to worldbuilding. For me, this is a really daunting task as this is our capstone project, and it’s also worth a substantial amount towards our grade.
Thankfully, humanities core places a big emphasis on the writing process, so I feel like there is breathing room during this whole undertaking.
I’ve always thought the interaction between humans and digital technology has been fascinating, so I am thinking about possibly working on an episode from Netflix’s Black Mirror. The series is an anthology so every episode is different, so I have a lot to choose from there. The whole show’s aim is to extrapolate possible realities with digital technology and comments on social issues using technology.
While working on Black Mirror sounds fun, I am not sure if that will be my final selection because I am familiar with most of the series and I want to challenge myself. The medium of music has always been something that interests me. Radiohead’s album OK Computer seems like a fascinating choice. I would not necessarily call myself a huge Radiohead and I don’t know the ins and outs of this album, so this could be an fascinating choice. I’ve always known about this album. In fact, a song from this album plays at the end of an episode of Black Mirror, so I could possibly tie the two together. The idea of possibly using this primary source came to me at the end of last quarter after seeing it on the class playlist.
Another possible primary source I’ve been thinking about is an app called Zombies, Run! I’ve never been an avid runner, but I’ve used this app a few times to help get me going. Zombies, Run! is a mobile fitness app that has users act as a character running from zombies in an apocalypse to encourage running. I think this could be interesting as I’ve never done research on this medium before and I feel like it appropriately ties into our theme of worldbuilding.
I can’t wait to update you guys on my quarter-long research journey!
*all included primary sources should be hyper-linked in bold :)
Here is a Spotify link to Radiohead's OK Computer! My favorite song on it is "Exit Music (For a Film)"
If you're not familiar with Netflix's Black Mirror, I highly recommend checking out this episode trailer. If you're into Star Trek, you'll definitely enjoy this episode.
The idea to possibly use Zombies, Run! as a primary source came to me as I was looking through my camera roll on my phone. This picture was taken while I was on a run in the Philippines and I decided to use the app for a little extra motivation.
Page updated
Report abuse