Let's take this all the way back to my time at TCU. There, I took a course the fall of my 3rd year called Mass Media and Culture, taught by my advisor and incredible professor Dr. V. The subject matter of that course, combined with her incredible teaching ability, challenged me more than I expected but at the same time lit a flame underneath me that would ultimately lead me to purse this master's in Digital Anthropology. My semester project for Mass Media and Culture focused on gender within the rock climbing industry, and whether my initial argument that the sport and industry overall was significantly less gender-bias than other sports--and if this was confirmed via the advertisements in magazines. Given that I have always had an affinity for the outdoors, I did not even think of this project as school work. Instead, it was something I was passionate about that I got to frivolously work on and culminate in a large research paper. And now, I'm about to undertake the biggest academic project of my life so far--this dissertation.

When I arrived at UCL it was safe to say I was overwhelmed immediately. There is such a large scope within anthropology as a discipline that it can be hard to nail down one specific area, let alone one specific argument that you want to make. I found myself constantly being pulled in various directions because I suffer from being-interested-in-everything syndrome. I soon became caught in the hullabaloo around blockchain technologies and initially thought that would be the focus of my dissertation. I did extensive research around the subject, but when I sat down to discuss with my advisor dissertation options I froze. I realized right then and there I wasn't passionate about blockchain. In the short span of three seconds, I came to understand that I was not here to pursue areas that might make me marketable post-graduation, or be interesting to other people. I was here to pursue what I was passionate about. So on the fly I reverted back to my original interests, which is the outdoors. It is one of the few things I have held near and dear to my heart since I was a child and there was no reason not to spend six months reading, researching, and rewarding myself with a huge project that revolved around nature. So, here I am.

After nervously broaching the subject with my advisor, she was all for it. Immediately she was supportive and provided a number of authors to read to get my foundation going. I could not have been more relieved in that moment. Talk about getting a massive weight off my shoulders. Right after walking out of the meeting I knew I had to decide on a fieldsite where I could get outside, get back to my roots, and be in one of the most beautiful parts of America. It was an easy decision: Big Bend National Park.

Obviously there was going to be some bureaucracy involved--it is a national park and thus 'owned' and operated by the United States Federal Government. I went to work writing up a research proposal and submitting that to the NPS, which a month and a half later I was contacted to ask a few more questions as they had never seen a proposal like this before. Big Bend is one of the most fascinating geologic areas in Texas, in addition to having an incredible level of biodiversity. AKA, it is usually biologists/geologists/archaeologists that conduct research in the park. That being said, I was approved! The permit was finalized and I have been granted access to conduct my fieldwork in the park. 

Now that I know where I'm doing research, I can hone in on the literature portion of my dissertation. Currently I have been reading James Igoe, William Cronon, and some other authors. As of now my initial thoughts about a debate to intervene in are regarding 'prosumption', the idea of nature as spectacle, and 'wilderness'. I know that this will evolve in the end but I feel it is a good starting point. 

 

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