Spring Research Project:
Reflecting...
As this quarter comes to an end, it is time to look back on my research project and the course as a whole.
Challenges
When first choosing a primary source for my research topic, I really hoped to do a Disney animated film about a story in which animal characters were used to teach human characters a lesson. Two options were Ratatouille (2007) or The Emperor's New Groove (2000). However, I was held back by choosing these movies by the lack of secondary sources. I found lots of articles on these movies, but most of them were movie reviews. Unfortunately, movie reviews only summarize a film and provide an opinion about it; I needed articles that engaged with a scholarly conversation surrounding the themes within a movie.
Frustrated with my current topic, I began to think to myself about things that were relevant to me, specifically animals, and as I considered different animal-related things I asked, "Is this something I'm actually interested in researching?", because choosing a topic that is interesting to me is one of the most important things to consider for a project this large. I needed something I wouldn't get bored with halfway through.
Then I remembered Smokey Bear. Ah yes, I used to have a stuffed Smokey that sat on my bookshelf. Something about that bear in jeans who told me to prevent forest fires was very...respectable. As a child, I remember how Smokey seemed like a friendly authority figure with a great message.
Time to see if this is going to work as a topic: ...type "Smokey Bear" into LibSearch...loading...loading...over 5,000 results?!
I was truly excited to scroll through Lib Search, JSTOR, Google Scholar, etc. and find so many scholarly articles about Smokey Bear and his campaign. There were so many different ways that the campaign was written about, and by authors in various disciplines. This excitement has helped me continue through this project as I continuously uncovered new information about Smokey Bear and new ways in which to analyze his campaign.
Conducting Research
The research process itself was very fun and interesting to me. I had no prior experience of using databases, online libraries, etc. In high school I remember trying to do research for my AP Biology class, and I'd often come to a page and see "Abstract" and "Full," then I'd immediately leave because those words scared me. Those scientific scholarly articles seemed way too advanced for me. During my research about Smokey Bear, as I read through scholarly articles that memory came back to me and I realized how far I've come from my high school "research projects." I had a moment of excitement that I could finally understand the "Abstract" and the "Full," and I was doing much more than just understanding them -- I was analyzing them and creating an argument of my own.
This epiphany felt like a moment in which I realized I am a college student, which was a pretty cool thing to experience but also strange to feel that while in my home instead of my dorm. While being fully online made it difficult for in-class discussions, it did not hinder my ability to conduct research for my project. I am glad to have finally learned how to use the UCI Libraries website and search features, and also how to locate scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. This will definitely be useful to me in my future coursework and I'm glad I discovered a few things about myself along the way.
The Course Overall
I have loved taking Humanities Core because it introduced me to a variety of topics that I wouldn't know anything about if it weren't for this course. Personally, the curriculum for Spring quarter was my favorite. I have also found some things that we covered this quarter within my research (ex: anthropomorphism in Smokey Bear).
I can no longer read children's literature without psychoanalyzing it, and have a newfound interest in surrealist art. I have also stopped killing the bugs in my house and now opt to put them outside (most of the time) while also occasionally talking to them as if they can hear me. Watching movies is now an opportunity for analysis of cinematography, and I am more terrified of nuclear warfare than I was before.
Thank you Professor Short for a wonderful quarter! (And to all the other lecturers and instructors).