To address my research question of “How has South Korea become a cultural world power in the past decade and how has it impacted the societies of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States?” I make the following claim: South Korean popular culture gained international popularity in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States in the past decade due to the effects of government regulations and the internet, which increased foreign tourism to South Korea and facilitated accommodations for global fans for greater access to the industry. First, I will need to compile my sources and provide an accurate definition of “Hallyu” or “Hallyu wave” (what the international spread and popularity of Korean popular culture is often referred to as and what I also will call it throughout my paper) and what components it is composed of. From there, I will then narrow the areas of the Hallyu wave to focus on things relating to movies, mainstream music and singers/bands, and dramas (T.V. shows).

South Korea’s culture and tourism industries benefited over the past decade as more tourists from East and Southeast Asia visit Korea. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Strategy and Finance, there has been increased government expenditures in culture and tourism in the years from 2000 to 2010. Celebrities are employed as cultural ambassadors to increase tourism to the country. The Korea Tourism Organization is currently using ten Korean celebrities to attract visitors for one of its events. The expansion in the number of departments in the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism since its establishment, especially in recent years, is also evidence of its growing importance. The general direction of South Korean government’s policy towards the development of cultural tourism has been laid out in a ten-year plan, which I will try to find. Also, more international students are going to Korea to study.

More exportation of South Korean popular cultural products indicates that there is a worldwide demand for these products. An easing of regulations in regards to the entertainment industry since the 1990s, as evident by government laws, allowed the national industry to open up more to the international field. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the 2000s, there has been a decline in the importation of broadcast programs and a growth in the exportation of broadcast programs. More international tours and fanmeetings are being held by celebrities to visit cities in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the United States to establish contact with their international fans.

The increased usage of the internet as a communication and  information medium has facilitated the rise in international fans. A look at the 2009 publication of the International Telecommunication Union’s “The ICT Development Index” shows the proportion of households with internet has increased in the regions of interest to my paper from 2002 to 2007. I would to find out the number of users registered on international fan forums and find if there’s a way to track yearly progress. In this section, I will also conduct audience research and ask how the participant was introduced to Korean pop culture.

To track the rise of South Korean popular culture, I will analyze the political economy of the Korean entertainment industry by investigating the relationship between the state economy and government actions. For the examination of popular culture, I will use a form of analysis employed in American pop cultural studies known as audience analysis. Audience analysis understands the audience response to a product by three primary means: surveys/opinion polls, focus groups, and ethnographic participant observation. I will be conducting audience research to discover the impacts of the Korean wave.

All phenotypic traits ubiquitous to a given species are considered to necessarily have evolved as adaptations in response to the environments in which they arose. A phenotypic trait introduced into a population, by virtue of what is proven by evolutionary theory, necessarily experiences selective pressures. In response to environmental factors, any novel trait in a given organism translates into one of three options for the organism’s reproductive success. It either increases decreases, or leaves it unchanged.

In the case that a trait results in a statistical decrease in offspring, it will over-time be removed from a population as generations go by and fewer and fewer individuals possess the trait. In the case that it leaves an organism’s number of offspring unchanged in relation to the rest of the population, the percentage of organisms displaying this characteristic in a population will remain static until in much likelihood it is removed or replaced in absence of selective pressure to keep it in place. Finally, in the case that a trait is introduced into a population and results in a statistical increase in viable offspring for those individuals possessing the trait, the percentage of organisms with that trait within a given population will increase over time until a point is reached (if it is reached) where it is no longer advantageous to the organism. Thus, it is possible to conclude that any trait observed as omnipresent within a species necessarily must have experienced positive selective pressure in response to the environment in which it evolved—the difficult and interesting part is to identify the details of such a mechanism as pertaining to the evolution of a specific trait.

To extend this discussion to humans, it is necessary to consider that the modern human phenotype has remained relatively unchanged for tens of thousands of years, which should not be surprising given that significant evolutionary changes typically occur over far larger time intervals. Thus any discussion of the evolutionary origins of an exclusively human phenotypic trait must consider the environment in which the trait arose and consequently how the trait presents a novel response to environmental conditions to the effect of the trait’s subsequent presence in a greater and greater proportion of the population.

One such ubiquitous trait of the human species—indeed it is considered a defining one—is the phenomenon of religious behavior. Yet my use of trait in the preceding sentence is misleading, as there is no reason to suggest that in the evolutionary sense, religion is a trait at all, but rather more appropriately it is the end-product of a variety of traits. However once more, this is not to say that certain elements of the larger phenomenon of religion cannot be identified as individual traits and analyzed with respect to their evolutionary environment and the advantage which they conferred or perhaps continue to confer.

Perhaps the most fundamental element of human religiosity is the attribution of morality to an external and necessarily unfalsifiable (supernatural) source, along with a compulsion to publicly acknowledge this source through various ritualistic activities. Additionally, there is the expectation (and indeed a demand) that other members of one’s population participate in these rituals or perform their own. Further, while it is possible that these are multiple traits (as addressed earlier), I argue that they are integrally connected and react synergistically in several ways.

I contend that religious rituals are a means by which individuals confirm for other members of their population their attribution of morality to the same unfalsifiable source as everyone else. In this fashion, this instance of religious behavior is presented as an adaptation evolved in response to an environment that promoted cooperation among members of the greater population, beyond the familial cooperation that had been in place for millions of years in ancestral organisms.

In this view, attribution of morality to an external source, which necessarily requires unfalsifiability (lest it be proven false), and a subsequent acknowledgement of this attribution through ritualistic behavior is a means by which a population of humans was able to discern who among them possessed the appropriate moral principles to allow for altruistic behavior toward individuals who experience no direct personal gain by reciprocating.

Morality, in this sense, is defined as the function by which humans are able to judge the general permissiveness of various actions. In essence, morality is synonymous with an internal sense of fairness ingrained into the cognitive mechanisms of the human brain, and there is a great selection of evidence confirming the validity of this definition.

On the other hand, morality is a relatively recent addition to the human brain, in comparison to more primal survival instincts which generally act to inhibit an individual from sacrificing personal resources for the sake of unrelated others. Likewise, it can be a weak reinforcement of the need to reciprocate generous actions. This is where the discussed religious traits come in. By attributing morality to an external and unfalsifiable source, individuals confirm its existence and are forced to consciously confront it. By demanding that others participate in ritualistic behavior that acknowledges his source of morality, one is able to confirm that he isn’t alone in feeling a compulsion to behave altruistically. This affects the frequency of religious phenotypes in that irreligious individuals are systematically eliminated from a population until an overwhelming frequency of religious individuals dominates the gene pool.

These conclusions are drawn in response to an overwhelming degree of evidence from evolutionary science, cognitive psychology, anthropology, and ecology that seem to suggest that the preceding is a reasonable proposal pertaining to the evolution of specific religious behaviors in the species Homo sapiens. While it is generally impossible to prove such a theory definitively, I believe that in consideration of the latest in published science, this proposal is both scientifically and intuitively sound.

As a conclusion, I feel I must mention some key points about this intended thesis. While several of the details of this proposal are subject to change upon the discovery of additional evidence, it does hinge on several things that I believe provide for a solid foundation for the greater argument. To the best of my knowledge, these mentioned religious traits are a universal characteristic of the human species; morality as discussed above is indeed defined accurately; religious rituals have been demonstratively shown to increase cooperation and fitness of populations; and the evolutionary theories of group and individual selection converge to organize all of these elements into a coherent mechanism of selection. Additionally, I have conspicuously omitted statements regarding the specific cognitive processes that define the afore-mentioned religious behavior. It has been theorized that the attribution of morality to a supernatural source, for example, is a by-product of a cognitive process having no direct relation to the establishment of cooperation. While this may indeed be so, this does not counter the assertion that once-present, this moral attribution had an adaptive effect as described earlier. In any case, to conclude, I reiterate that this proposal aims to ultimately be no more than a likely scenario, given the available evidence, and I do not expect that concrete answers to evolutionary questions as complex as this will be available any time soon.

My thesis project aims to prove that living in New York City limits the ability to fully practice Judaism for the Jewish characters in novels by Jewish authors that take place from the Great Depression through the civil rights movement. In other words, I will analyze the relationship between loyalty to Jewish traditions and pressure to assimilate to city life during overall American times of hardship in these novels.

In Wallace Markfield’s To an Early Grave, the foursome of 30-something Jewish friends struggle to make it to the funeral of their old friend. It is the 1960s, and keeping up appearances is important among their current society. The men simultaneously mourn the loss of a friend with whom they have not communicated in years and their long-lost sincere friendship.

Markfield’s Teitlebaum’s Window follows a young Jewish boy in Brooklyn from the 1930s through the 1940s, and how the changing climate of America and New York City affects his immigrant family. The impact of the Great Depression is physically evident in the evolving storefront signage in the boy’s window.

Philip Roth’s American Pastoral explores the theme of “wanting to belong and refusing to belong” (Reading Guides). The novel reflects the rebellious attitude of youth in the 1960s at a time of American civil rights and turmoil of the Vietnam War. There is a themes of the severing of ties religious and otherwise.

In Bernard Malamud’s The Assistant, Russian immigrant Morris Bober struggles to make a life for himself and his family in Brooklyn after World War II. He does not follow the laws of kashrut, he does not particularly observe the Jewish holidays and he faces anti-Semitism in his neighborhood. Being Jewish is almost a bullseye for perpetual suffering. Jonathan Rosen, in his introduction, says that The Assistant “should… be read as a provocative part of the literature exploring, and refashioning, America as a place where the true self is both lost and found” (Malamud xi). This implies that the conflicts the Jewish characters face in New York City threaten their inner Jewish core. At the same time, the Jewish characters grow to understand exactly who they are, no matter how much they adhere to this discovery.

Malamud’s The Tenants considers the relationship between a Jewish man and a black man living cooperatively in a tenement in New York City. Harry, the Jewish man, “believes he is sure of his own mature and defined identity, but his being is not complete without his less developed alter ego, Willie” (Spevack 35). This Jewish character’s identity is shaped by his inevitable encounter with a black man in New York City. The American civil rights movement makes the background for this story of mutual understanding.

My method of research, at the moment, consists of researching literary publications available through JSTOR. My findings are primarily book reviews, though I have been lucky to find some research articles. There is one publication that seems wonderfully appropriate to my research, but I cannot find a full-text version available online. From what I have found so far, researchers in the field of Jewish literature appear to analyze the texts themselves in addition to a variety of other research papers. I plan to read many literary analyses of the novels I am in the process of reading.

~~~

Works Cited

Rosen, Jonathan. Introduction. The Assistant. By Philip Roth. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. vii-xi.

Spevack, Edmund. “Racial Conflict and Multiculturalism: Bernard Malamud’s The Tenants.” MELUS. Vol. 22, No. 3, Varieties of Ethnic Criticism (Autumn, 1997), pp. 31-54. 26 Sept 10 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/467653>.

Unattributed. “Reading Guides: American Pastoral by Philip Roth.” Bookbrowse LLC, 2010. 26 Sept 10 <http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfmbook_number

=1683>.

I. Abstract

The following is an examination and recommendation of the legal restructuring necessary for Iceland to emerge from the current financial crisis with a strong economy structured around the restoration of- (1) fishing stocks,  (2) wetlands, and (3) the implementation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. While addressing the most profitable and sustainable approaches to rebuilding Iceland’s economy, this paper will simultaneously identify the challenges that emerge, and the legal framework that is necessary to ensure minimal exploitation of Iceland’s natural resources.

II. Introduction

(a) Restate Thesis with topic summary

III. Wetlands Restoration

(a)    Challenges – Abundant scholarly research, but policy incentives to conserve wetlands are lacking at present.[i]

(b)   Legal history[ii]

(c)    Recommendation for Iceland to restore drained and degraded wetlands as means of reducing carbon, nitrous oxide and methane from the atmosphere. Also a proposal of an additional way for countries to meet their EU ETS mitigation commitments.

IV. Fishing Stock Restoration

(a)    Challenges – public opposition. In order to restore fishing stocks, there must be strict government regulation.  But citizens and politicians are also wry of outside intervention in national fishing matters, and fears are often publicly expressed that joining the EU will cause outside intervention in national quota laws[iii]. Public distrust is exemplified by a long history of fishing “wars” with the United Kingdom, most famously the Cod-wars[iv]. Currently, Iceland is engaged in a dispute with Scotland and the Faeroes over mackerel.[v]

(b)     Legal history[vi]

(c)     Recommendation to restore fishing stocks through stricter regulation, while simultaneously ensuring that national laws are in place which protect Iceland’s fishing interests before the country joins the EU.

V. Hydro- and Geothermal energy “exploitation”

(a) Challenges

(i) Public opposition to joining the European Union. There is fear of outside regulation, especially of regulations on fishing quotas and whaling. But joining the EU could ensure vital legal restrictions on excessive external exploitation of geothermal extraction[vii] through the full implementation of the EU Environmental Trading Scheme (ETS).[viii] Fully implementing the EU ETS would also give Iceland further incentive to ease their dependency on renewing business contracts with ALCOA, and the planned expansion of aluminum smelters throughout Iceland[ix], which have devastating impact on local farming communities. However, Iceland will not join the EU unless Icelanders support it in a referendum which may be held in late 2011 or early 2012. According three polls conducted by Gallup between May and September 2010, between 54 and 69 percent of those asked oppose Iceland joining the EU.[x]

(ii) Iceland applied for membership to the EU in July 2009, negotiations started in July 2010 and the EU has opened accession talks. The European Commission recognizes that Iceland has already assimilated two-thirds of its national laws in accordance with EU laws. But progress has halted because the EU has demanded that Iceland resolve the continued dispute with the UK and the Netherlands over the money lost when the online Icesave bank collapsed in 2008.[xi] (Icelanders rejected a payment plan in a referendum held in March 2010. The UK and Dutch governments want Iceland to reimburse $5billion which they paid as compensation to Icesave investors.)[xii] The EU expects Iceland to implement more regulations on the financial system in order to qualify for membership. [xiii]

(b) Legal history[xiv]

(c) Recommendation for Iceland to join the EU, fully implementing the European Union  Emissions Trading Scheme as a way to both profit from the extraction of natural resources, and regulate the amount of exploitation.

VI. Conclusion

[i] 1. “Third Informal Dialogue on LULUCF,” Landbunadur.is, accessed September 14, 2010, http://landbunadur.is/landbunadur/wgrala.nsf/key2/hhjn7etf6x.html

2. “Wetland Restoration; A Proposal for an Amendmentto Decision 16/CMP.1 on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry adopeted by Decision 11/CP.7, “Ministry for the Environment,” www.coford.ie/iopen24/pub/workshop-Iceland.pdf

3. “Informal Data Submission on LULUCF to the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Fuerther Commitments for Annex I Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP),” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, accessed September 14, 2010, http://unfccc.int/files/kyoto_protocol/…/awgkplulucficeland081209.pdf

[ii] “Legislation,” Ministry for the Environment, accessed October 5, 2010, http://eng.umhverfisraduneyti.is/legislation/

[iii] “Why Is Britian Braced for a Mackerel War?” BBC World News, accessed August 25, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11062674

[iv] The Cod wars, or Þorskastríðin, was a series of territorial confrontations in the 1950s and 1970s regarding fishing rights in the Atlantic between the United Kingdom and Iceland. In 1976 Britian deployed naval vessels within the disputed waters and Iceland treatened to close the major NATO base in Keflavik—the dispute ended shortly thereafter. “1975: Attack on British vessels heightens Cod War,” BBC News, accessed September 22, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/11/newsid_2546000/2546045.stm

[v] 1. “European Parliament Could Take Action In Mackerel Fish Row,” BBC News, accessed August 30, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11126330

2. “Faroes and Iceland urged to back down over mackerel,” BBC News, accessed September 10, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11199799

3. “Scottish fishermen are to boycott a meeting in the Faroe Islands over the host country’s decision to unilaterally increase mackerel quotas,” BBC News, accessed September 10, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11199799

[vi] “Lagasafn,” Althingi.is, accessed October 4, 2010, http://www.althingi.is/vefur/lagasafn.html

[vii] “Forsetar Raeddu Orkumalin,” Morgunbladid,” accessed September 19, 2010, http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2010/09/19/forsetar_raeddu_orkumalin/

[viii] “Establishing a Scheme for Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Within the Community and Amending Council Directive 96/61/EC,” Official Journal of the European Union, accessed September 14, 2010, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:275:0032:0032:EN:PDF

[ix] “Power Struggle,” The National Geographic Magazine.,” accessed September 22, 2010, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/iceland/del-giudice-text.

[x] “Many Icelanders Keen on Adopting Euro, Mixed on EU,” Gallup,” accessed October 5, 2010,  http://www.gallup.com/poll/118381/icelanders-keen-adopting-euro-mixed.aspx

[xi] “Grimsson Says Iceland Seeks Solution in Depositor Spat: Video,” Washington Post Online, accessed September 24, 2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/09/14/VI2010091407299.html

[xii] “Iceland panel wants charges over 2008 bank collapse,” Reuters, Accessed September 12, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68A1JP20100911

[xiii] “EU Enlargement: The Next Eight,” BBC World News, accessed September 14, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11283616

[xiv] “Legislation,” Ministry for the Environment, accessed October 5, 2010, http://eng.umhverfisraduneyti.is/legislation/

I am defining a film genre that I call “boys’ school.”  These are films in which the narrative and cinematic action is centered on boys at single-sex educational institutions, wherein the primary characters and the primary relationships are all male.  As an only girl between two brothers, and having grown up in a community where all-male spaces are clearly defined, I have long been interested in the all-male experience; in this way, the boys’ school film is an antidote to my female innocence.  Beginning with Boys Town [1938] and culminating most recently with History Boys [2006], the boys’ school has been represented in film as a space in which conflict and camaraderie grow among the men and boys, as do systems of surveillance and discipline, at the hand of a penetrating, all-male gaze (there is a noticeable absence of female characters in these films).  These are the prominent propellants of the films’ narrative and emotional engagement with audiences.  Certain secondary commonalities exist among some of the films (i.e. Catholic, religious instruction, or the presence of an eccentric or “cool” teacher figure who relates to the students) and bolster genre resemblances among the films.

—

As of yet, there has been no previous formal grouping of these films, and I intend to characterize some sort of category for them.  The issue of genre is heavily debated, from its definition to its merit, but what remains is that people have a natural tendency to classify and to organize.  Film scholar Daniel Chandler provides a solid survey of genre theory in a chapter entitled “An Introduction to Genre Theory,” explaining the types of groupings and the motivations for them.   Chandler sets out various film theorists’ approaches to genre, and explains the importance of genre analysis, which is basically contextualization.  In turn, this allows for a broader understanding of whatever the material is.

—

I will assess whether what constitutes this genre is intrinsic or extrinsic.  In other words, is this a genre defined by setting, subject matter, plot, or emotion?  Or is it a grouping delineated for critical purposes?  My tendency is towards a fluid definition of genre, and towards a synthesis of internal and external markers for boys’ school films.  I believe that the physical setting (though not relegated to a geographical or historical place) of the boys’ school film— its hallways, classrooms, and grounds— creates specific opportunities for interactions, activities, and relationships unique to this environment, particularly intense moments of fighting and of friendship.  I also maintain that there are certain common elements among the plots of these films that elicit certain emotions from audiences (i.e. the absence of females; some kind of punitive abuse, whether physical or psychological, that draws forth pity, anger, and frustration).  Ultimately though, I am outlining this genre for a critical purpose: through studying the filmic representations of these all-male institutions, I want to bring attention to the construction of male relationships in society and how certain patterns of behavior are perpetuated and portrayed.

—-

Beyond investigating genre theory, I will watch the films which seem to fit this proposed genre (watching as many films as possible, that may or may not be exact fits will help inform my genre criteria).  I will compare the employed narrative and filmic devices which emotionally engage viewers.  Other relevant literature that I will examine includes film critiques, theory pieces, and philosophical works on these specific films; on the all-male gaze operating in the films; on the emotional impact of film in general; and on relevant pedagogic and disciplinary traditions.  Though I am embarking on this research with a Foucauldian slant (with an eye towards issues of surveillance and discipline as brought forth in Discipline & Punish and issues of boys’ amorous relationships as explored in the History of Sexuality, specifically the “Boys” chapter in Volume III), I am not sure if that will continue to inform my specific genre study.

—

Through this examination of boys’ school films, I would like to bring forth both a personal and a public understanding of the gendered space that is a boys’ school.  While the genre study will help group together a family of similarly set films, it will also help contextualize the individual works within larger issues of male-male interactions— both positive (supportive) relationships and negative (punitive) ones.  The basic question to be answered is: how do certain features of these environments (as shown to us in narrative films) perpetuate certain patterns of male behavior?  I hope that we will gain a broader understanding of these patterns in a way that provides some sort of corrective— if not in behavior, then at least in thought— to negative patterns.

Research Question: How do the peaks in the evolution of Fairy Tales show their fairy tale interpretations to be a reflection of the social context in which they are created?
There are many sources out there dealing with fairy tales and the settings in which they were written. Since I’m coming into this topic wholly anew, the first source was a great starting source from which I could branch out:

“The Moral of the Story.” Current Social Issues| Moral Values | Health Care, Science, Environmental News | Vision Media. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=153

The source offers insight into the major peaks of fairy tale evolution and offers support of my research question. For example, Charles Perrault in 18th century France had an interpretation of Cinderella where she drops the slipper on purpose and the source mentions how sexuality and social mobility into aristocracy was prevalent in those times (i.e. kings having relations with their servant girls). Consequently, it points to a possible claim that the French Cinderella does in fact represent the ambitious poor girl of the time. If we look at the Grimm Brothers in 19th century, their fairy tale interpretations run alongside the Romantic period of 19th century, where religion and Christian morality played a large role. It was most interesting, however, to read that 18th century England began to mass-produce fairy tales for children, paralleling a shift in society where literacy and “a budding children’s culture” was on the rise. It seems that 18th century France and England had radically different fairy tale interpretations, French being overtly sexual and the English being much more focused on communicating morals to children. So if more research is done about both cultures of this time the link between Fairy Tales and their social context can be established even more so.
In addition, if the claim that fairy tales, such as Cinderella, reflect the moral values of the society at the time, this claim could be extended to contemporary time. For example, 1997’s adaptation of Cinderella, where she is African American, reflecting the prevalent racial issues in American society, and perhaps their gradual resolution.
The second source is a more critical examination of fairy tales and how researchers perceive them:
Weber, Eugen. “Fairies and Hard Facts: The Reality of Folktales.” Journal of the History of Ideas 42.1 (1981): 93-113. JSTOR. University of Pennsylvania Press. Web. .

The source mentions the high mortality rates of women especially during childbirth in 19th century Germany, paralleling Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella, which deal with child neglect and a wicked stepmother, respectively. It was interesting to learn from the source that the Grimms’ opening lines to about half of their fairytales points to the tie between the stories and real life: “In days of yore when God Himself still walked the earth, the land was much more fruitful that it is now” (96) and “In days of old when wishing still did some good, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful…” (96). This contrasts to the conventional start “Once upon a time…” which suggests that the story is going to be wholly made-up. This could be an interesting piece of evidence to look into in support of my claim that the Grimms did want to include significant religious overtones in their fairy tales to reflect the time period.
What was interesting in this section was his mention of Hansel and Gretel, a fairy tale of German origin (Grimms), and his drawing a parallel between it and the occurrences of the time not only in Germany but in France. He gives an anecdotal example about Jean-Roch Coignet, a well-known French soldier, who wrote about Restif de la Bretonne’s father who widowed and then remarried. What followed was a story a lot like Hansel and Gretel where the stepmother took his children to the forest and left them there. The significance of this anecdotal case that it shows that perhaps Fairy Tales have components that are general enough to be applied to universal matters (orphans, mean stepmothers etc.). So the extent to which each major peaks’ fairy tale interpretations mirror the time period and culture isn’t clear-cut, so it would be more rewarding to look at the specific changes that took place from peak to peak and how those changes reflect the society.

As a double major in Biology and Philosophy it is no surprise that I have had the longest and most through exposure to material pertaining to these two areas of study. Biology, to me, has always been about memorization and philosophy, about contemplation. In many cases, philosophy has no specific answers and this is where abstract thinking about hypothetical problems comes in. I find both majors immensely interesting but I’ve always had a knack for being revolutionary and learning about something completely different (like photography). Being in Macaulay Honors College, I was lucky enough to be exposed to many other areas of study in the seminar classes: Genetic Engineering, Homelessness, History of Yellow Fever in Bay Ridge, and diverse art and literature in CHC 1. It was an amazing feeling learning about things I either thought about but never had the time to learn or never even though about in the first place.
When Professor Natov asked me to intern in a CHC 1 class three years after I took it I was thrilled. It was a chance to experience the class again, which out of all four seminars was my favorite. Unlike my experience in CHC 1, this one had a slightly different focus, which included fairy tales. The class read Beauty and the Beast and The Frog Prince and it was fascinating to see how the fairy tales as we know them today were completely different centuries ago. I conversed with Professor Natov and a close friend who took Professor Natov’s Children’s Literature course and was almost shocked to find out what a close tie fairy tales had to the social context in which they were composed. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more in-depth about fairy tales. Originally, however, I decided to take a slightly different approach to them and look at them from a philosophical perspective (i.e. what philosophical issues and morals do they convey). In formulating my thesis I soon realized that the values that are conveyed in fairy tales have changed over time, as fairy tales themselves have changed. So it is essential to look closer at
these changes and the social context that accompanied these changes.
The senior-thesis class is my chance to address this task. After much research, it was clear that fairy tales started off as one thing and centuries later ended up as we know them today from, perhaps, Walt Disney. They began as oral narratives, and after being documented, underwent a series of significant revisions. It would be almost impossible to look at every single interpretation since the beginning of time due to the () of material (i.e. almost every culture has their own Cinderella). However, there are certain peaks in history that are vital in the evolution of fairy tales, such as 18th century Charles Perrault in France, 19th century Grimm brothers in Germany, and 20th century Walt Disney, to name a few. Currently the questions I seek out to answer are 1) When and where were the significant milestones of fairy tale evolution? 2) What were the changes that the fairy tales underwent (in a more general sense, the underlying themes)? 3) How do these various interpretations of fairy tales reflect the social values and morals that were relative to the culture and time period in which they were made? And 4) How do Snow White, Cinderella, and The Little Red Riding Hood serve as prime examples of fairy tale evolution (closer analysis)?
In presenting my topic I see myself as assuming the role of communicating to my readers something they may not know and may find interesting about the evolution of fairy tales. In addition, I seek to partially assume the role of a scholar in answering the question of what influenced the evolution of fairy tales throughout specific points in time to increase my audience’s understanding of the topic (especially if part of it already has some knowledge of the topic). I imagine that some of my readers are scholars as well and I seek to provide sufficient and relevant evidence in addressing my thesis and answer any questions they may have. In doing so I will also increase the understanding of the general readers who perhaps don’t know much about
the topic.

I’ve waited on lines at midnight. I’ve won trivia competitions. I’ve debated theories on the internet and I hate the movie adaptations. In short, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Unlike those who claim Harry Potter got them into reading, I was always a voracious reader. I didn’t love the books because I had never read anything like them before, on the contrary, J.K. Rowling’s books sat on my shelf next to well-worn copies of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum. I was no stranger to intricate mythical worlds, precocious teenage heroes and magical adventures, and for many years, the Harry Potter series was simply that, an enjoyable fairytale.

As I got older, however, the books got progressively darker, and I began to suspect there was more to the series than just an exciting plot. The tension between magical and non-magical people looked suspiciously similar to race and class divisions in our reality. Both the “good guys” and the “bad guys” could rightfully be called terrorists or freedom fighters, depending on a character’s allegiance. The magical government seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere…almost as if authorized by a Patriot Act of their own. The parallels to our own society were impossible to ignore, but I was content to acknowledge J.K. Rowling’s political subtext without wondering how or why she was able to integrate social critique while leading readers through Harry’s adventures.

The last book was released in 2007, just a few months after I graduated from high school. Although I was still active in the online fan community, I went to college with a sense of closure – no more wondering which characters would live and which would die, who would be betrayed and who would do the betraying, or if Harry and his girlfriend would ever get beyond the occasional kiss. (They had three children.) I moved into the dorms and on with my life, not really expecting to take another look at the series until I read it with my own kids. I certainly didn’t expect a class I took last year to inspire me to dive back into the series in the name of academia, instead of leisure.

Doomsday was an honors seminar dedicated to examining our culture’s fascination with apocalyptic belief. We read a variety of apocalyptic fiction and analytic nonfiction about the pervasive effects of millennial electism on our society. The Harry Potter series, with its emphasis on the triumph of good over evil, explores many of the social and political consequences of this hierarchical worldview. The series, naturally, borrows heavily from the traditional apocalyptic myth and narrative established by the Book of Revelation. I chose to do my thesis on apocalypticism in the Harry Potter series because I want to study how J.K. Rowling appropriated St. John of Patmos’s text both to create a hugely popular book series and further her own social agenda. I want to help the readers of my research better understand the social significance of the Harry Potter series as more than just an exciting story about a boy wizard.

I expect my readers to be generally familiar with both apocalyptic belief and the Harry Potter series as cultural phenomena. Since apocalypticism is so pervasive in our society and Harry Potter has become a household name, I hope to incite readers’ curiosity by combining two such popular subjects. I want to explore how the books portray specific themes within the apocalyptic belief system (i.e. “us” vs “them” mentality, gender panic, authoritarianism, etc.). Hopefully, I will be able to support general discussion of these themes with specific examples of symbolic details in the books. On the other hand, I’ll have to be careful to avoid getting too caught up in the minutia of the apocalyptic significance of each detail. That would be boring for readers familiar with the books as well as those uninterested in the series.

I’ll be the first to admit I grew up with Harry Potter. He was eleven in the first book and seventeen in the last; I was nine when I took my first ride on the train to Hogwarts and eighteen when the series ended. I’ve been a member of the online fan community since I was twelve, going to Wizard Rock concerts since I was fifteen, and this past summer, at twenty-one, I went to Orlando to attend a fan convention and visit the new amusement park. Obviously, my story continues as I enter my senior year and start thinking about graduate school. There will not, most likely, be any more books following Harry through his twenties and beyond. Nonetheless, I’m not leaving him behind just yet. Through my research, I hope to join the small-but-growing community of scholars who have begun to study this series at the university level.

One of the exciting parts of this course has been participation in this annual Conference. It is highly competitive, but each year a few members of the class have been accepted. This year it will be in Ithaca, NY, at Ithaca College, so it will be easy to get there and well worth it.

Please go the Conference site at: http://www.ithaca.edu/ncur2011/
and look around. Abstract submission may be done between Oct. 4 and Nov. 19, so we will be working on Abstract preparation in a few weeks.

The Proposition Paper: Drawing the Bridge Between Show and Life’s Box of Chocolates

What is the relationship between “Method Acting” and living with a method?

Offering Additional support and confirming unsupported claims as such:

James Allen’s As Man Thinketh might be true, but I can offer evidence to show that it is with the scientific conclusions by Paul Ekman, and the highly applicable methodology devised from psychosomatic empirical observations by neurology teaming with the sources in David Kraner’s anthology Method Acting Reconsidered.

Applying a claim more widely:

Ekman correctly applies his research on human reaction to immediate events, but it can be applied to a grander scope of planning and even to the realm of the theatricals. Likewise, he claims that his research is true in the immediacy of behavior, but I can show it’s true in general and for future occasions.

Contradictions of kind:

Certain members of the theatrical community, expressed in Hare’s book, claim that the Method is a fraud, but it is not entirely. Similarly, many claims try to distinctively shape the system when all it accomplishes it is creating a branch.

Sources would argue against the validity of James Allen’s work, that it is a kind of fraud, but it is not.

Part-whole contradictions:

Most of these types of contradictions are in the definition of “Method Acting”, some say it is one way, others create another way, some are against the principle, others base schools on it.

Just because Ekman teamed with the Dalai Lama to interpret certain concepts, some say that the relationship invalidates his scientific standing, but it certainly doesn’t.

Developmental or historical contradictions:

Many people say the Method is not changing, although I am referring to the Method of Acting, this mode of conservatism can just as easily be applied to the Method of Religion, some say it is not changing, but it is, and it has been and will continue to be.

External cause-effect contradictions:

Ekman claims that appraisal of events causes only reactions, but it can also cause a new appraisal.

Contradictions of perspective:

The Bulk of the paper: Ekman discuses appraisals as being the base of reaction to events, but the new context of methodology from theatrical and behavior studies can modify appraisals and thus reactions to events before they occur. James Allen is back up by seeing his work from the perspective of Ekman in thought influencing state of being which is again seen from the point of view of those in David Hare’s anthology tackling Method Acting.

[1]  Paul Ekman, Emotions Revealed,  rev. ed (New York: Owl Books, 2007)

2 David Kraner, Method Acting Reconsidered, David Hare, ed. (St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y), 4.

3 James Allen, As Man Thinketh. America: Create Space, 2010.