Undergraduate Honors Thesis

The focus of my Honors Thesis creative project surrounds the cultural group that I identify with; I am what is known as a “Third Culture Kid” (TCK), which is a term used to describe unique individuals who were raised in cultures outside of their parents’ home culture for a significant number of their development years. In my case for example, I was born in Australia, to American parents, but was raised in England where I lived for 14 years. I have now been in America since 2017 when I began college, but I had never lived in the United States prior, despite being an American Citizen since birth. With this diverse background, it has often been difficult to immerse myself in the American lifestyle, and the culture shock of moving here was a difficult transition for me. I often lose the idea of where home is as my parents continue to travel and move, and when asked the question “where are you from?” , I struggle to answer. My cultural experience therefore often vastly differs to those around me, and this experience has drastically shaped who I am as a person, today. However, many of the people in my life have never left Colorado, or have had very limited travel and cultural experience. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, I have found that there is an extreme difference in life experience between those people who have never left Colorado, and those who are also TCK’s like I am. Therefore, the inspiration behind my Thesis project came from my interest in exploring the cultural differences between people like myself and others who are perhaps not as culturally experienced. As a result, I conducted a visual investigation of personal and cultural experience, considering how these two factors coincide, and how they can impact a person’s identity.

I truly believe that your environment and culture shape who you are, therefore, I decided to visually represent the differences between personal and cultural experiences through the production of three main outcomes: a video, photographic portraits, and a “personal portrait” for each participant that I interview.

Outcome 1: The Video

As the main element of my creative project, I conducted an interview with my carefully chosen participants, and recorded their responses to a series of questions surrounding their culture, as well as some personal questions about who they are. The participants that I chose to interview included four of my friends that identify as TCKs, whom I met through the research study in 2017, and 14 other people who are very close to me and are my personal friends, roommates, or family members.

My intention with this video was to evoke emotion and gain reaction, therefore, leading up to their interview, I did not share the list of questions with any of the participants, as I wanted to capture an authentic and natural response.

Outcome 2: Photographic Portraits

Following each interview, I took a close-up portrait photograph of each participant with the original intention of these portraits being printed on a large scale, and mounted on a gallery wall in the exhibition I had hopes to host. However, with COVID-19, I was not able to secure a location for my exhibition.

The purpose of these portraits is to display an image of every person I included in my video in a very simple and plain manner, displaying the most basic and surface-level representation of who they are; their face.

I am incredibly proud of the work I have produced for my Honors Thesis, and am so grateful for this opportunity to create something I wouldn’t have been able to, otherwise. The experience of working on a self-led, semester-long creative project is something I have never done before, and while it did come with some challenges like trying to stay motivated and on top of my own deadlines, I have gained so much from this opportunity, beyond the fact that I successfully produced a great piece of artwork. I am elated with how my Honors Thesis turned out, but more importantly, I learned more about myself as an artist, all while getting to know even more about my dearest friends and family.

1. Can you say and spell your full name please? | 2. Tell me a little bit about yourself

CULTURAL: 3. Where are you from? | 4. Where is home? | 5. How do you feel when I ask you about home? | 6. Who feels like home to you? | 7a. How many different places have you lived? | 7b. How long did you live in each of those places? | 8a. Where is your favorite place that you have lived? | 8b. Why is that your favorite place? | 9. Tell me about your favorite part of where you live now? | 10. Do you live in the same place as your parents? | 11. Do you wish you could live somewhere else? | 12a. What does the phrase “culture shock” mean to you? | 12b. Can you tell me about a time you have ever experienced culture shock? | 12c. Can you describe the feelings you felt when you through that culture shock?

PERSONAL: 13. What is something that excites you? | 14. What is your best quality? | 15. Can you describe a challenge that you have overcome in your life, or are currently working through right now? | 16. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given? | 17. What is something that you really value in your life? | 18. Is there anything you wish you could change about yourself? | 19. What is your favorite part about yourself?

Academic References

• Pollock, David C, Pollock, Michael V, and Van Reken, Ruth E. Third Culture Kids: Growing Up

• Among Worlds. 3rd ed. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2017.

• Quick, Tina L. The Global Nomad’s Guide to University Transition. 1st ed. Great Britain: Summertime Publishing, 2010.

Other References

• “How to Shoot an Interview Tutorial | Lighting & Tips”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twNP0OLp_1

• “How to Film an Interview with no Lights - Cinematic Tips & Tricks”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiKlTQcCjSE

• “Shooting Interviews solo with TWO cameras”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfa5AcNSBqg

• “10 PREMIERE PRO tips you SHOULD KNOW! Tutorial from Beginner to Pro”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnWhWVarfqM

• “Top 10 Best Effects in Adobe Premiere Pro”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jydPlFQFf1M

• “HOW I FILM EPIC PIZZA B ROLL | Behind the Scenes”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3SWSm97-I