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Fanfiction\u27s Out of the Bubble
No full textThis project explores the best ways, and in part defines what that means by best, we can talk about fanfiction even outside of fanfiction spaces. More and more, fandom is being brought into the public conversation; it’s in our tv shows (I’m thinking about Kat’s introduction in Euphoria), we have major motion pictures that are clearly Harry Styles RPF (After, The Idea of You, etc.), fanfiction is being physically bound and put on Goodreads– it’s everywhere. What was once isolated in niche in-group communities is now a prominent part of the way the general public interacts with media. But even as fanfiction and fandom culture are being brought into the mainstream, not everyone knows how to talk about them. Fanfiction in general has its roots in being seen as lowbrow entertainment, and oftentimes even saying you read/wrote it was seen as taboo or embarrassing. That connotation still haunts how the general public interacts with fanfiction today. My project begins with a concentrated look at how that connotation shapes how fanfiction is talked about outside of the community, then leads into a discussion on what makes fanfiction so different from other written media (and thus why it cannot be talked about in the same way), and finishes with some possible rules of engagement with fanfiction in our broader cultural sphere, primarily focused on privacy and acknowledgment of context
Whatcom Million Trees Project Intern
No full textWMTP is a grassroots nonprofit that was founded with the mission of planting and protecting one million trees across Whatcom County. The organization has two major seasons of action: tree planting in the fall and invasive species removal in the summer. During the summer, the group focuses largely on removing English ivy, an aggressive invasive species that threatens the health of mature forests. English ivy can grow up tree trunks and eventually choke out the canopy, weakening and even killing trees over time. Since mature trees are one of our most powerful tools in sequestering atmospheric carbon, protecting them is just as crucial—if not more so—than planting new trees. The WMTP model recognizes this and uses the summer months to engage volunteers in ivy removal work parties across parks and forested public lands in Bellingham and surrounding areas
Eight of Cups
No full textThe Eight of Cups pictures a person walking away, their back turned as the moon lights their way. This card signifies abandonment, turning away, and leaving things behind when they no longer serve you. This collection tells the story of separation. Beginning with the reversed, the pieces in the first section illustrate a period of stagnation, restlessness, and uncertainty. A longing for escape. The before. Much like The Fool, poised on the edge of a cliff with a bundle over his shoulder, the narrator contemplates yet is unable to break away from cycles of familial responsibility, religion, and abuse. The following section– upright– focuses on the aftermath. The Fool has made her separation, yet not without consequences. The themes prevalent in these pieces include grief, trauma, haunting, and illness with the potential for joy, love, and freedom. The Fool’s journey ends with The World, a card representing fulfillment, achievement, and dance – a completion of the pilgrimage from innocence to enlightenment. The narrator is yet to be complete, but has been learning independence, growth, and her place on earth. She is learning to dance.
[An accessible transcript to the project is included as a supplementary file.
Finding My Rhythm: An original podcast exploring how Musicians of Color sustain their identities
No full textMusicians of color are active storytellers, sharing their vibrant cultural traditions and beliefs through their musical practices. However, musicians of color have been historically underrepresented in the performing arts, as their contributions are often overlooked and marginalized by the dominant culture. Despite facing these barriers, musicians of color have engaged in identity-centered performance, composition, and cross-cultural collaboration, enabling them to resist the dominant culture and honor their intersectional identities. This capstone takes the form of an original podcast, titled “Finding My Rhythm,” which highlights three women of color: Natalia Lafourcade, Chen Yi, and podcast producer, Anna Mei Hedrick. The concept of identity-sustaining pedagogy, or the practice of culturally responsive teaching, is the cornerstone of the podcast. Through musicological research and insightful commentary, Anna Mei Hedrick examines the life and work of each musician and shares her own story, as well. “Finding My Rhythm” serves to educate others about the importance of visibility and identity-affirming work for musicians of color, while encouraging listeners to engage in their own identity-sustaining practices.
[Accessible transcripts and fair use evaluations for the podcast episodes are included as supplementary files.
Firefighter Shift Work, Sleep Disturbance, and Trauma Susceptibility
No full textSleep disturbance plays a large role in the challenges of being a firefighter. For firefighters, sleep disturbance is often caused by shift work that requires working in 24-hour increments. One key consequence of sleep disturbance is an increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sleep disturbance and PTSD have a bidirectional relationship, which can create a hard-to-escape cycle of the demands of shift work and trauma exposure for firefighters. Unfortunately, there is limited research on how different shift patterns affect sleep disturbance, and in turn, how sleep disturbance affects PTSD risk. The current study examined the relationship between shift work patterns and sleep disturbance and between sleep disturbance and trauma susceptibility in firefighters, with a focus on the amount of time off between work shifts. Firefighters from Washington State and Wisconsin were administered a comprehensive online questionnaire to better understand these relationships. While the study results showed no difference in the relationship between sleep disturbance and two groups of shift work patterns (24 hours off or more than 24 hours off between work shifts), there was a positive relationship between sleep disturbance and trauma susceptibility. This implies that the amount of time off between work shifts may not impact sleep disturbance, but that restful and restorative sleep is a protective factor that can improve the health and well-being of firefighters
What\u27s the Worst That Could Happen?
No full textClimate change is a hotly debated issue with life-changing effects set to occur in nearly every part of the globe, with some even occurring today. There is debate over if it is occurring, if it is anthropogenic, and if those changes are bad. This study reviews recent literature from a variety of fields related to climate change to understand why uncertainty is so prevalent and how best to reduce uncertainty as a society. The uncertainty surrounding climate change enters the debate in two main areas. The first is in the physical realm of modeling the future changes and predicting climatic conditions at a given time in the future. The second is in the social realm where the differences in political and moral values among individuals give rise to a variety of actions in response to challenges faced by humanity. While uncertainty surrounding climate modeling is certainly a big problem that should continue to be studied, the scientific consensus is that climate change is anthropogenic and will have disastrous consequences for a large portion of the population if no action takes place. However, due to the social uncertainty, the inherent biases among people shift the public debate into skepticism over the science behind climate change. Instead, action should mainly be focused on tackling the uncertainty present in social areas to get as many people as possible motivated to take action to reduce the threat of climate change and global warming
The Power of Food: Recipes to Fuel the Body and Soul
No full textThe Power of Food” explores what I have identified as the three fundamentals to success in the kitchen- science, connection, and creativity. A collection of personal recipes is woven throughout to help demonstrate these forces in action. Within each chapter, a detailed explanation of the corresponding category is provided as well as a variety of recipes that I felt best fit. Each of the recipes are my original work and they all hold some significance in my life. This may be in the form of a traditional family comfort dish, a childhood favorite of mine, or a dish that evokes specific memories from my life. In addition to the important role of food and the culinary arts in my life, I truly believe food is a universal language. Food has the power to unite people and cultures, while also carrying a story. Through this cookbook I discuss the power of food and its impact on the world as a whole, but also its influence on my life so far. My hope is that these recipes inspire others to feel free in the kitchen, to feel connected to the food we eat, and to appreciate the power of food
Unmapping The Map
No full textMaps are ubiquitous in day-to-day life, yet they are often viewed as objective representations of reality rather than tools created by people within social contexts. In interviews with nine students and faculty on Western Washington University’s campus, I investigate the roles of institutional authority and social knowledge in the creation and interpretation of maps, as well as the conflict between those two aspects. Many participants identified weaknesses that the maps they used had, but they still found those maps to be reliable on the whole. However, when asked to create maps, they expressed that inaccuracies jeopardized the usefulness of the map as a whole. Social knowledge is at times more useful when it comes to navigating spaces, and yet it is often delegitimized, both by more “official” maps and by the people who hold that knowledge
GIS Lab Undergrad Assistant
No full textMy primary responsibility was to download datasets from federal websites that I deemed to be at risk of deletion due to political reasons. For the first few weeks of my internship, my workflow mainly consisted of downloading datasets from federal websites, then uploading them to OneDrive. By late July, however, I had begun cataloguing the datasets in a spreadsheet for documentation purposes, which often involved some degree of data analysis and processing
USGS Glacier National Park Fisheries Intern
No full textTo start, the main goal of my job was to preserve native populations on Westslope Cutthroat and the endangered Bull Trout. This was done through a multitude of different projects and fi eldwork, ranging from electrofi shing, gill netting, biopsy sampling, to even EDNA. Within the larger realm of Glacier National Park Fisheries, the main focus is to protect and preserve the native Bull Trout. This species of char is endangered due to multiple reasons, but mainly it is due to overcompetition. Starting in the early 1900s, lake trout were introduced to the Flathead River drainage, the headwaters of the Columbia River basin, and have out competed the native populations of fi sh. Due to this stage of aquatic war between two apex salmonids, I was able to experience fi rsthand what it meant, along with how to preserve this native species through conservation. This was done through my gill netting experience at Logging Lake