Architecture of a Past Thesis Web Site: Fixed Gazes on Grotesque Gorging
This web site, Fixed Gazes on Grotesque Gorging, was created in 2013 to accompany an English (or English-ish) thesis on cannibalism tropes in zombie comics and movies, with special attention paid to The Walking Dead. The front page jumps directly into the research conducted by the student, with a couple of slides from her presentation materials included, to help explain some of her core theoretical content. The primary navigation for this site is through the slider menu at the top, and includes a set of pages (there aren’t really any “posts” here) that discuss her topics in a way that’s meant for a general audience, a full copy of her thesis, and some biographical data.
How does this site accomplish what it sets out to communicate? I think it uses the slider, more than anything, as its primary organizational tool. How well this works is an open question. It’s very visually appealing, but it doesn’t always seem to have a grasp on its audience (or it is trying to serve multiple audiences).
How do the different sections of this site relate to one another? Again, some of them seem to be for scholarly audiences, some not. There was an effort here to make the site a place where people could dip their toes into the topic or jump all the way into the pool.
What other possible audiences could there be for this site? I think that the visual media could attract the material’s fan base and help them learn something about the tropes the student is examining in her thesis.
What are this site’s greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses? It’s strength is its visual appeal. But I think the question of just who the audience is didn’t get fully addressed.
2 Comments
Laura Ayala
March 16, 2014This was actually the thesis project that encouraged me to take up the thesis colloquium. I appreciated the uniqueness of her topic as well as the way in which it was presented. I do agree that her target audience is questionable, but I was drawn in–as a horror film fan, avid comic book reader, and English major with a taste for the grotesque…so I guess that answers that question.
If I could take anything away from this website, it’s that I want to create something even more interactive, that not only rehashes what I already addressed in my written thesis but builds upon it in an attractive and interesting way. In response to the ongoing discussion of whether or not we should post our papers online, for my purposes I might post snippets that directly correspond to the content I am publishing with contact information in case someone (who won’t steal my work, cross their heart and hope to die) wishes to read the whole thing.
L. M. Freer
March 17, 2014Oh, I completely agree with you about the value of this project, and I do think this web site is really cool, in a lot of ways. I was the ITF for this site, so I was certainly invested in the outcome. And I do not want to discourage you from including pieces of your written thesis in your final digital project as appropriate.
Whitney’s site is a strong contender, absolutely. It’s more that it exemplifies the past structure of the thesis colloquium course (where the digital project was more of an add-on), and was trying to be a site that could reach multiple audiences. We will definitely use this as inspiration as we think more about who the audience is (or should be!) for each digital project.