first semester honors independent study
Project Reflection
The Honors Humanities Independent Study Project entailed a lengthy process in which students had to choose one feature research question to base their research off of. For my research, I chose to focus on the question: To what extent is the treatment of animals, globally, morally justifiable?
The treatment of animals, ethically, is an issue that is very dear to my heart. I am an avid animal rights activist and I argue for the coexistence of animals and humans. The moral treatment of animals in the world today is a huge issue and it desperately needs to be addressed. With the animal entertainment industry booming, the high demand for ivory, and a consumer society disregarding the treatment of animals within the food industry, the hope for a peaceful coexistence is slowly fading away into the darkness. Through doing this project, I wanted to bring awareness to the public about this issue. The media does a good job of distorting the truth and I believe that if the issue of unjustifiable treatment towards animals was relayed to society, there would be a big enough movement to bring that hope of coexistence back into the picture.
Throughout this project I gained so much wisdom and learned so much about the extensiveness and severeness of ethically unjust actions taken against animals. I went into this project thinking that I already knew so much about this field of study, however what I knew was just the top of such an extensive and severe problem, in a way, this project inspired me even more to bring awareness and do something about this issue. One HOHAM that I used during this project was refinement. I came into the project with a set idea on animal rights and how animals were being treated in today's world, throughout the project I had to refine my idea and shape it so it had a clear thesis that really spoke to the issue of animal treatment. The most challenging part about this project was definitely compiling all my research and figuring out how to fit it into a three-page paper. There is so much evidence of unfair treatment towards animals that I wanted to include, however due to space and time I couldn't include and incorporate all the information that I wanted to into my paper. Through this project I learned that this is something that I am very passionate about and that I want to show my passion to the public. This also made me realize that this is something that I want to incorporate into my life path, into the career that I want to pursue, to bring awareness to this issue. I feel prepared for my senior year because I got the chance to create a project that I independently researched and prepared for. This is essentially what the senior project entails, except a little more demanding. However, I do feel as though I have gained additional independent research skills that I will be able to apply during my senior year.
During this project, I had to go through many stages of revision in order to produce a final product that evoked sophistication and refinement. One substantial revision process I made was in my essay.There is substantial growth from my first and final draft, I added more specificity to my writing and included more moral understanding of the topic, which was lacking in the previous draft. In all, I wish I had spent more time on the writing piece, I know that I could've added more of a moral standing into it. I would've done this through better time management. I would've also put more time and effort into my art piece since it did not turn out as sophisticated and beautiful as I wanted it to, I originally wanted to do something other than an art piece, but in the time frame that I had, it would've been very difficult.
An important thing to remember is that this is an independent study. Even though your teacher will be there to guide you through the endeavors of this journey, it teaches you about responsibility and developing an idea for yourself. I gained many new independent skills that will greatly help me in the future. Advice that I give to those that participate in the Honors program is to take advantage of these skills, for they are hard to come by. Make sure that you take the time to grow and learn through this experience and don't rush or wait until the last minute. It is important that this gives you skills and a learning experience you can't have anywhere else, take advantage of it and apply it to everything else that you do.
The Honors Humanities Independent Study Project entailed a lengthy process in which students had to choose one feature research question to base their research off of. For my research, I chose to focus on the question: To what extent is the treatment of animals, globally, morally justifiable?
The treatment of animals, ethically, is an issue that is very dear to my heart. I am an avid animal rights activist and I argue for the coexistence of animals and humans. The moral treatment of animals in the world today is a huge issue and it desperately needs to be addressed. With the animal entertainment industry booming, the high demand for ivory, and a consumer society disregarding the treatment of animals within the food industry, the hope for a peaceful coexistence is slowly fading away into the darkness. Through doing this project, I wanted to bring awareness to the public about this issue. The media does a good job of distorting the truth and I believe that if the issue of unjustifiable treatment towards animals was relayed to society, there would be a big enough movement to bring that hope of coexistence back into the picture.
Throughout this project I gained so much wisdom and learned so much about the extensiveness and severeness of ethically unjust actions taken against animals. I went into this project thinking that I already knew so much about this field of study, however what I knew was just the top of such an extensive and severe problem, in a way, this project inspired me even more to bring awareness and do something about this issue. One HOHAM that I used during this project was refinement. I came into the project with a set idea on animal rights and how animals were being treated in today's world, throughout the project I had to refine my idea and shape it so it had a clear thesis that really spoke to the issue of animal treatment. The most challenging part about this project was definitely compiling all my research and figuring out how to fit it into a three-page paper. There is so much evidence of unfair treatment towards animals that I wanted to include, however due to space and time I couldn't include and incorporate all the information that I wanted to into my paper. Through this project I learned that this is something that I am very passionate about and that I want to show my passion to the public. This also made me realize that this is something that I want to incorporate into my life path, into the career that I want to pursue, to bring awareness to this issue. I feel prepared for my senior year because I got the chance to create a project that I independently researched and prepared for. This is essentially what the senior project entails, except a little more demanding. However, I do feel as though I have gained additional independent research skills that I will be able to apply during my senior year.
During this project, I had to go through many stages of revision in order to produce a final product that evoked sophistication and refinement. One substantial revision process I made was in my essay.There is substantial growth from my first and final draft, I added more specificity to my writing and included more moral understanding of the topic, which was lacking in the previous draft. In all, I wish I had spent more time on the writing piece, I know that I could've added more of a moral standing into it. I would've done this through better time management. I would've also put more time and effort into my art piece since it did not turn out as sophisticated and beautiful as I wanted it to, I originally wanted to do something other than an art piece, but in the time frame that I had, it would've been very difficult.
An important thing to remember is that this is an independent study. Even though your teacher will be there to guide you through the endeavors of this journey, it teaches you about responsibility and developing an idea for yourself. I gained many new independent skills that will greatly help me in the future. Advice that I give to those that participate in the Honors program is to take advantage of these skills, for they are hard to come by. Make sure that you take the time to grow and learn through this experience and don't rush or wait until the last minute. It is important that this gives you skills and a learning experience you can't have anywhere else, take advantage of it and apply it to everything else that you do.
Documentation Binder
Art Piece