- What are some of the ethical issues that you are grappling with in your research? What are some of the ways in which you are responding to these questions?
As I'm working on my research, I've begun to raise questions over how to best approach literature written in various languages, and where I can best place my own expertise in those fields. While I can read and speak both Chinese and English, I am far less familiar with more indigenous languages and dialects from Taiwan. Bridging that translation divide, as a result, has made me take a step back and reconsider the direction of my research, and instead decide to do as much as I can to learn from the languages I do know, and figure out the best ways to engage in direct conversations and interviews with authors who may write from perspectives and languages that I know less of.
- As you continue your research, have you considered alternative viewpoints in your investigation? If so, how have these alternative viewpoints enriched or changed your project?
This week particularly was a big turning point in the focus of my project. I think that I focused too heavily at first on making the main focus of my research to be based in social science and history, and understanding a specific example or development in Taiwan's history. As a result, I was left with an overwhelming number of Chinese-language history textbooks and archival records that were very difficult to parse through. I instead decided to consider more heavily the ecological literature side of Taiwan, and its own representation of Taiwan's diverse history. Now, I'm narrowing down the specific authors that I want to focus on, which I think will help me better engage with my research from the intended direction of the project.
- Where does your research take place? Take a photo of the place where your ideas and investigations are taking place, and post it to the Network!
I've been working at Blue Bottle, my room, libraries, and most recently, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library!