To start my Research Paper journey, I would like to record a log of some topics of interest. Being an Earth System Science major, I would love for my Humanities Core Research Project to align to my passions and field of study. Below you will see my perusings for possible topics:

Nowadays, Luke Howard is the “Godfather of Clouds,” the “namer of the sky.” 

But, before that came to be, he was an amateur meteorologist with a broad interest in science, and even more so an essayist and thinker with a skill for writing science in a reflective, almost poetic way. Howard, with a passion for meteorology, made comprehensive recordings of the weather in the London area for close to 40 years. In his essay, "On the Modification of Clouds," published in 1803, he gave names to the clouds in the sky, detailing them not just scientifically, but artistically portraying the meanings of their names, the way they moved, and the way they looked. 

-->Interestingly, though this work should hypothetically be entirely scientific, the Third Edition includes not only his writings, but a poem written by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and various pages of landscape artwork by Edward Kennion. 

This makes for an interesting interdisciplinary work, not just scientific, but humanitarian, a fulcrum between science, poetry, art, and the human experience of the natural world. 

The act of naming clouds feels like a form of worldbuilding. Before Howard categorized them, put names to their forms, they were transient things, constantly changing, never quite understood. By giving them names, he was able to organize them, make them known, and built and changed the way humans see the sky, impacting art, literature, and science. 

I also feel that there is an interesting idea in the ways humans seem to always desire to name, to understand, to be the organizer, as if it is some way to claim epistemological control over something previously unknown and unbuilt in our mind’s conception. 

I think this work presents interesting questions: 

• How does Luke Howard classify clouds in a way to build a new understanding of the world of the sky?

• And what does this need to name clouds reveal about human desires to categorize and control nature?

• How did this alter other artistic representations and understandings of the world and its atmosphere?

Secondary Sources on Luke Howard and On the Modification of Clouds:

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/1go3t9q/alma991028948719704701 

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_crossref_primary_10_1175_1520_0477_1989_070_0381_CCBLH_2_0_CO_2 

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_scopus_primary_2_s2_0_85106884820

This Japanese animated fantasy film is a visual beauty, capturing weather events in gorgeous, cinematic sequences, but also features a rich storyline that comments on climate anxiety and climate change, addressing humanitarian themes of choice and obligation, as well as happiness of the individual vs. the wellbeing of society as a whole. 

Being a work of fantasy, the film itself engages in worldbuilding, imagining a Tokyo hit by a torrential rainstorm and a girl who has the power to control the weather. 

However, I also think it asks interesting questions about whether the world is worth saving, and what sort of world must we be forced to confront amidst worsening climate change. 

The movie is also very much a product of the culture of Japan, showcasing Japanese anxieties about natural disasters and weather events which pose a threat on the island nation, however, their simultaneous embrace and reverence of nature in Shinto and Buddhist traditions and ancient Japanese folklore.  

This film is rich in visuals, and a beautiful commentary on climate change and human involvement within it. It specifically focuses on the experiences of Japanese people, a population that is often climate-vulnerable. There is an interesting incongruity between fearing nature and admiring its beauty. 

I think that I could utilize a film analysis approach to dive into the film: answering questions such as how Weathering With You envisions a world struck by instability using weather and climate both literally and metaphorically, and also how cultural contexts shape a society’s perception of nature itself. 

Scholarly Analyses of Weathering With You:

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_scopus_primary_2_s2_0_85124290871 

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_doaj_primary_oai_doaj_org_article_ff04530f67fe48d3a5167a7da0b297ca 

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_unpaywall_primary_10_17576_3l_2023_2903_20 

March 2011 was a devastating time in Japan: a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region, which also triggered a deadly tsunami and a hydrogen explosion in the third nuclear block. 

Wago Ryoichi, a poet who lived in Fukushima, Japan, took to Twitter as an alternative method for sharing his poetry in real time. Receiving public reception from all across the country and the world, it was later compiled into an anthology: “Pebbles of Poetry.” In heartbreaking, intense, resonant, yet simple lines, Wago elucidates the experience of surviving and witnessing the aftermath of a widespread destruction. 

Wago, in a heartbreakingly tragic time, uses poetry to build a world following his loss. He pieces together broken fragments of language, broken reflections of nature, and broken sorrows and memories to create a narrative of his survival. It follows a simple, ordinary man, attempting to build back his world after it has been utterly destroyed, and showcases poetry as a way of healing. 

I will employ a literary and rhetorical analysis of this work, drawing in the historical context of the earthquake, tsunami, and the other disasters that followed. This work offers a look into the human experience of grieving and processing trauma, putting together the pieces of a life that must continue. 

• How do people rebuild their lives, and their world, after a disaster? 

• How does poetry and language help shape this rebuilding process? 

Scholarly Analyses of Pebbles of Poetry:

https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/u4evf/cdi_scopus_primary_2_s2_0_84902734304