Proposals, of the Academic Sort

Today is the second of October, and yet I'm already having to research my term papers. Not just conceptualize them or toss ideas about in my mind, oh no. I have to find the articles I plan on using, read said articles, and write up reviews of those articles regarding their use towards my thesis. Might I mention that these papers are not due until December, and we've had only a month of classes. I'm not even sure what to expect from the courses at this point, much less figure out a thesis that is relevant to the course materials.

Can I start pulling hair out yet?

All that said, I actually do have an idea of what I want to write about; I just haven't found the necessary scholastic material to beef up my proposals. Here's what my two term projects look like at the moment:

For Culture, Space, and Politics I've been assigned a group (composed of some pretty awesome folks). Our plan is to write a blog (surprise!) about our experience with geography in Kelowna. Me? I'll be bringing my Cultural Studies side to this project, likely looking at issues of social structures and power relations. Sources? Zero of three.

For Geography of Tourism Development I have to write a traditional term paper. Right now I'm considering writing about the Maori of New Zealand, and how their culture (a phrase I have trouble with, as the culture shown in ads isn't really Maori culture, but a construction of what traditional Maori culture should be to interest tourists) has been appropriated to be a tourism commodity. Sources for this one are a little more promising, with one definite article and two others possibly coming from the course packs of two other classes (I love overlap).

Now, what do apples have to do with geography research assignments? Actually, you'd be surprised. But I'll spare you those details, and instead say this: spot the metaphor. It's a pretty basic game, I hope you can do it!

apple photo by me