Sebastian, I had a similar issue with narrowing the scope of my research, and continually finding more things I was interested in. I think what you mentioned about talking with others such as your faculty/graduate student mentor was super important for me as well!

What new ideas, challenges, or other issues have you encountered with regard to your project (this might include data collection, information that contradicts your assumptions or the assertions of others, materials that have enriched your understanding of the topic or led you to change your project, etc.)? How have these ideas or challenges shaped the bigger picture of your research? Has the scope or focus of your topic changed since you began this project? If so, how?

One of the big challenges I encountered during my project was determining a proper scope for my research. I started off with a very broad focus, which was the relationship between Chinese immigration and literature and film. I was not able to find a lot of resources in terms of film and literature for the time period I was looking at, so I decided to change it to a later and longer period. Another change I made was that I was originally planning to look at multiple films and literature, but in the end I decided to do a more in depth analysis of a single film and bring in the ideas from my readings. Overall, the scope of my project changed in that the time period became longer but the bodies of work studied became less.

What research resources have proven particularly useful to you as you continue your research? 

Reading bibliographies was a very helpful research tool for me. I highlighted many things I found interesting in books and articles that I read, and going back through and reading the sources where the information came from helped me figure out the similarities between things I highlighted. This ultimately helped me to narrow focus of my project and find what I was particularly interested in.

Erica, I really like the idea of a video documentary to accompany your research paper! I think that would be a great way to display what you’ve worked on in a more visual way than a paper would be able to show on its own.

For my final deliverable, I originally planned to write a research paper. However, I think it will be more feasible for me to write a film review. I need to do more research on what a formal film review looks like, but this style of writing will allow me to combine the books and articles about the time period that I have read with an evaluation of a specific film that I believe encapsulates my thesis. Eventually, I would like to write a more formal research paper on my topic as a part of a larger project, because there are many topics related to what I’m focusing on that I would like to look deeper into and bring together in a new way.

The question I am investigating is how films made during the Exclusion Era used portrayals of gender and sexuality to rationalize exclusionary policies towards Chinese Americans. This question is significant to study because it is important to understand how media can both reflect and create stereotypes about marginalized groups, as well as how this may influence the way that people perceive them. Being aware of how media, specifically films, can influence us in a political and social sense is important in combatting stereotypes we may be presented with. 

Tatum, I think that your point about not pressuring people you are engaging with in a research context is super important, and relevant in the humanities as well! In documenting lesser-known history, personal accounts can be really valuable and contribute a lot towards research. However, it is essential to respect people’s boundaries and understand what they are willing and not willing to share, or what studies they are willing to participate in.

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?

An ethical issue that has been important for me to consider is how my research topics still manifest themselves today, and being careful and cognizant of discussion of negative racial stereotypes and portrayals. For example, I have been reading a book on the practice of yellowface, or using makeup, costumes, and other props to imitate Asian people, specifically in the context of the period of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Even though it may seem like these stereotypes are very outdated and we would never encounter them today, the author provides occasional examples of modern yellowface. This signified to me in the importance of taking care when discussing history, especially American, because it is all much more recent and relevant than we may think at first glance.

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?

So far when focusing on films, I have mostly been looking at negative portrayals of Chinese Americans in films made by white and European filmmakers. However, an alternative viewpoint that I am looking forward to exploring is how films made by Chinese Americans presented a differing response to the exclusionary policies of the time period. This will enrich my project by showing how film was not only a medium used for gatekeeping and exclusion, but that more nuanced stories by a variety of individuals were also told through film in this era. By exploring this alternative side of filmmaking, my project will be able to discuss multiple sides of the same historical time period and events, which is something I think is very important when conducting historical investigations.

Tara, I really like how you brought in the idea of the physical building and its different affiliate institutions. I think this is a really interesting way to think about interdisciplinary research, because a lot of research happens because of funding from different organizations that are not always necessarily aligned with the same academic field or have the same exact goals. Your comment about creativity and innovation also connects to this, because when researchers come together and are provided with a larger wealth of resources, they are able to make great contributions to academia and society at large.

My project is interdisciplinary in and of itself, as I am looking at historical sources in comparison to film and literature. This will allow me to create a project that differs from other accounts of the same time period and historical events, as well as interacting with scholars from a variety of fields. In doing this, I hope to investigate the global challenge of how history is documented versus how individuals experienced it.

Despite the fact that my project is interdisciplinary, I felt at times that it lacked relevance. However, after hearing about other researchers’ projects, I was able to see that it can be tied to many fields, regardless of the time period or specific location that I am focusing on. For example, the study of immigration and assimilation has ties to sociology as well as human rights. Immigration is a very researched and debated issue today in many countries, and using the perspective of modern immigration policies could help me shape my research into something applicable to society today.

Overall, I think that having knowledge about other disciplines is necessary to facilitate communication and collaboration in academic fields. This can be done by simply asking others about their work and listening well, or from reading up on important developments in other disciplines. Without knowledge of the work of others, researchers and scholars cannot collaborate to create change.