During my time at Lewis & Clark, I’ve done a fair bit of dabbling. Studying subjects ranging from American suburban development to Indian hydroelectric projects, carbon tax equity in Portland to transnational peasants’ movements, my body of work isn’t exactly cohesive. Envious of my peers who seemed to possess a more definite academic trajectory, I’ve often felt that this wide array of subject matter reflected a somewhat troubling lack of focus. To some extent that’s probably true—part of what drew me to Environmental Studies in the first place was the breadth and flexibility that it allows.
But in spite of the varied subject matter, in many ways the past three years have like one long string of academic deja vu. A concept mentioned in a history of science class will loop around into discussions of urban architecture, which then bleed into ideas on neoliberal economic restructuring that themselves pop up in debates about urban-rural dynamics and the incessant march of Progress…. I feel like I’ve got a whole bunch of puzzle pieces floating around my head—the problem is that I’m not exactly sure how they fit together, or what the picture might turn out to be.
That said, I think what I’m looking forward to most about thesis is giving myself the time and space to sort through all the thoughts I’ve collected over the past four years—to really distill them down and pick out the exciting connections. I know there’s plenty of raw material in there for an interesting project, it’s just a matter of finding the right place to focus. My hope is that this will not only serve as a nice end-cap for my undergraduate experience, but will also produce an engaging piece of original scholarship. Whether I decide to pursue academia as a career path remains to be seen. But regardless of what I do after graduation, I have high hopes that this painstaking process of gathering, focusing and articulating my thoughts will serve as a great guide and jumping-off point.