Truth be told, I’m having a bit of a difficult time choosing potential topics for this project because there are so many topics out there to choose from. I’m still getting back into the swing of being a student and thinking critically in an academic context, and the broadness of the prompt is a little overwhelming because I’d like to create a meaningful project and narrowing down topics that aren’t covered enough in academia has proven itself to be a challenge. I’m afraid I will choose a topic that’s too complex to meaningfully reflect on and make a solid argument for.
That being said, a major topic I always consider making an argument for is police abolition. I don’t think police reform and the systemic problem that is modern policing has gone undiscussed in academia, but in the sake of maintaining a peaceful relationship between professors and students and campus police, I believe discussions about the police don’t go far enough. I thoroughly believe there is no meaningful reform as long as police are allowed to continue patrolling our streets. Holding whichever cops today’s news cycle focuses on accountable for their actions (with lesser sentences than a citizen would get, might I add) is not enough; it does not prevent the same brutality happening again and again. There is no restorative justice as long as the aristocracy’s hound dogs continue to maintain a system of institutionalized racism, oppressive anti-POC laws, and modern-day slavery through our archaic criminal justice system. But how to capture that sentiment in a photo? How do I make that argument without multiple photos and pages upon pages of reflection on police abolition?
Another topic that I’ve considered is Puerto Rican statehood. Currently, I don’t have a stance on this topic because I don’t know enough about it, but it is something I’ve always been interested in and would like to learn more about. I do know that there is a referendum on Puerto Rican statehood in November of this year, and that 52% of folks living on the island support becoming the 51st state of America, but I’m not aware of their reasons for supporting it. Furthermore, 52% leads me to believe that the debate is pretty neck-in-neck, and I’m sure both sides of the argument have very valid reasons as to why they may support or not support becoming a state. As a cis white male that lives in Massachusetts, I understand that if I select this topic to pursue, I need to be sure that I am not attempting to speak for anyone, and rather present the arguments as they’ve been presented to me. Personally, I would really like to see Puerto Rico gain statehood, but I understand that that has many implications that will not impact me, but definitely will impact the citizens of Puerto Rico. I’m actually going to be in Puerto Rico for a long weekend starting on Thursday, and I figured it was the perfect opportunity to bring my studies with me and be able to engage with class material while still enjoying a mini vacation.
Ultimately, what I ended up deciding on was hunting as a means of wildlife conservation. I realized I was thinking too hard, and reaching too high in my initial project ideas. It would be nearly impossible to make meaningful photo essays about either of those initial topics with the amount of time we had, and the hunting as a form of conservation idea was already floating around in my head due to a Radiolab episode I had recently listened to. I think I made the right decision in reconsidering these topics for something more approachable. Wildlife conservation is also something that exists on the micro and macro level, so finding source material wouldn’t be nearly as hard.