Spring 2013 research
exploring peace journalism
The Research proposal
Spring is not only a season of rebirth, flowering and transformation, but it also entails discoveries both of the mind and the self.
My introduction to 21st Century Studies course, the intro course for my newly declared minor at Virginia Tech, unveiled the inter-wiring of various platforms of information that revolved around ways to better understand and thrive in the next 100 years.
As undergraduates, our class was challenged to dive into these sources and discuss how they are interconnected and what we should pull from them while drafting a research proposal before trekking across Morocco, Turkey and Sri Lanka during the summer. We were to use our coursework to inspire and guide us down particular rabbit holes in relation to whatever we wanted to study further on our study abroad then turn our findings into a creative research final at the end of our upcoming fall course.
Freedom of topic choice turned out to be more daunting than exciting at first, however. As a communications major, I wanted to unearth a topic that could aid my aspiring international journalism career, but even in my major's classes, there was nothing that hooked or teased my mind enough to launch me closer to what I am pursuing in the field.
I unexpectedly read upon an alternative media genre called Peace Journalism. Finally, I was reading about a reporting style that fit the pieces of my career puzzle or perhaps ladder that I am attempting to put together then climb.
As the semester progressed, I narrowed my research proposal to defining PJ and laying out the network that an effective peace journalist can work within. Below is my proposal, which also includes the methods I intend to use to gather information from the field of Morocco, Turkey and Sri Lanka with particular focus on the Sarvodaya organization in Sri Lanka.
Cheers to mine and others' future rabbit holes.
My introduction to 21st Century Studies course, the intro course for my newly declared minor at Virginia Tech, unveiled the inter-wiring of various platforms of information that revolved around ways to better understand and thrive in the next 100 years.
As undergraduates, our class was challenged to dive into these sources and discuss how they are interconnected and what we should pull from them while drafting a research proposal before trekking across Morocco, Turkey and Sri Lanka during the summer. We were to use our coursework to inspire and guide us down particular rabbit holes in relation to whatever we wanted to study further on our study abroad then turn our findings into a creative research final at the end of our upcoming fall course.
Freedom of topic choice turned out to be more daunting than exciting at first, however. As a communications major, I wanted to unearth a topic that could aid my aspiring international journalism career, but even in my major's classes, there was nothing that hooked or teased my mind enough to launch me closer to what I am pursuing in the field.
I unexpectedly read upon an alternative media genre called Peace Journalism. Finally, I was reading about a reporting style that fit the pieces of my career puzzle or perhaps ladder that I am attempting to put together then climb.
As the semester progressed, I narrowed my research proposal to defining PJ and laying out the network that an effective peace journalist can work within. Below is my proposal, which also includes the methods I intend to use to gather information from the field of Morocco, Turkey and Sri Lanka with particular focus on the Sarvodaya organization in Sri Lanka.
Cheers to mine and others' future rabbit holes.
| giles_research_proposal.pdf |
