Booyah.

So, school has let out. Graduation occurred. Prep for Grad school began. But more (most?) importantly:

THESIS DONE.

The day I never thought would be here has come and gone. The thesis bell was rung and there was great rejoicing! Which, for an honors kid, translates into eating a sleeve of Oreos and marathon-watching House, MD. on Netflix.

For those who asked, I have included a PDF copy of my thesis. Currently, it is being uploaded to the Ball State Honors Thesis Archives and will be available through Ball State. Please read, comment, enjoy, but please do not produce this or use it/claim it as your own. I've busted my butt on this and it's my baby. :)

Thanks for following me on this fun little journey and hopefully there will be more things in the future!

Fun fact: There is NOTHING more rewarding academically then finishing a huge project/thesis. Seriously, better than cupcakes and fairies.

Until next time,
Emily
Ethically Unethical: A Thesis by Emily Rapoza

I Can See The Light!

ALMOST DONE.

Thank the powers that be (oh merciful thesis gods), I'm almost done with my thesis. about 6 pages stand between me and sweet, thesis-free life. I had a meeting with Dr. Blackwell last week (4/14) and we finally figured out how to relate all these "random" Nazi topics together.

Basically, here's the forumla:
Buchenwald offers a chance for me to utilize my creative writing and allows for me to write about the U.S. soldiers finding the camp and then discovering discrepancies and abnormalities in the medical records. This creates a time warp that allows my readers to be sent back into time to look at the medical concept of T4 as well as insights into specific scientists/people invovled.

As far as the people in my papers are concerned, Brandt is the "normal nice Nazi." (Disturbing, but bear with me). Because of who he was, I have situated his piece in between Pfanmuller (a deranged chile killer) and Wirth (a psychopathic streamline killer). By ending with Wirth, I can then explain how the Nazi science project died out, almost purely because it was so out of control (like Wirth) that the Nazis had no other choice but to kill it.

This organization calls for a few extra pieces for me to complete. The intro into Buchenwald (done!), the interconnecting pieces between each separately researched paper, and then the final conclusion. The hardest issue I'm facing right now is figuring out how exactly I want to connect each piece to another. In realizing this is a lot more analytical work, I'm understanding that this is actually the thesis portion of the project.

What I mean is anyone can compile research, especially when they have a year to do so, but there is true analysis and intellect involved in figuring out how these seemingly random case studies and biographies fit together. This is the creation of the bridge, the evolution of a true, individual strain of thought. Sorry for the intellectual tangent here; I really have been thinking a lot about what truly a thesis does and what it does to students (besides cause sleep deprivation, anxiety, stress, binge eating, and Netflix obsessions).

So that's about it. I'm almost done and I couldn't be more excited...Well, that's a lie. I WILL be more excited when this damn thing is done. I love the topic and I think there is a plethora of information out there, but dear god, I never want to write a thesis on this again. EVER.

Fun fact of the day: Your thesis advisor will refer to you as his "nazi chick" on most occasions, without any notice to you. Just smile, shake hands, and kindly explain that no, you don't have a swastika tattoo on your arm. :)  

Quite Honestly- OOPS!

So, it's been WAY too long (like 4 months too long) since I've actually been able to post. Wow. That's no bueno. However, a lot of good things have happened since then!

In December, I met with Dr. Blackwell and talked about the first draft of my project. We decided to focus more upon the euthanasia and medical side of the project, which meant that I cut out the segments about Dr. Heisenberg and about America's involvement in eugenics. Honestly, I'm only upset about the latter because it was so fascinating to learn about (sorry Werner, just not that into you!)

In order to fill the void of the two removed segments, I've decided to research another psyhatrist, Dr. Christian Wirth and add an explanation as to what the T-4 program was and what exactly I am referring to when I discuss euthanasia in the thesis. The process I am discussing is NOT the medically induced doctor-aided suicide or the "mercy killings" of the 1900's. Euthanasia under the Nazis is the medical murder of those deemed "not good enough" to survive in Hitler's ideal world. Scary, huh?

Right now, I've completed all the research I can muster (*gasp*) but I will still be adding in a slight introduction (my topic proposal with a few tweaks) and a wrap up of the overall implications of knowing all this information...I would also like to submit a psych report...I am getting to the point of almost becoming numb to all this due to the vastness of the devastation.

Well, that's all I have for now! Up to 36 pages! Whoo-hoo! Might attempt to add a digital portion to the final project as well (we shall see...)

Fact of the day: If you're a teaching assistant and the kids in your class hate history, tell them this is your thesis topic...for some, it piques their interest. For others, they're even more terrified of you and history in general :)

Happy happy Monday!

Today marks the day that I officially have completed my first round of research and have sent off my essay drafts to Blackwell for his input and his thoughts! I finally just get to sit and relax (for a short while)!

WHOO HOO!!!!

Also, there has been a story written (by yours truly) that will be featured in Ball State's News & Notes publication, which is produced by the Honors College. Once that comes out, I'll be linking that on here! I'm super excited to be able to share my work and some encouraging thoughts with students facing this daunting task!

Fun fact of the day: Mondays are INFINITELY better when you don't have a thesis to work on. :)

-Emily

Jeez time flies, huh? I am SOOO sorry about the lack of postings! I could come up with an awesome excuse like how I've been thoroughly immersed in the research or how I got lost and wrapped up in the library after finding an awesome first-hand account but I'll be straight up.

I have other classes.

*GASP.* I know, right? I've just been so darn busy writing 3 other papers (all 10+ pages, I might add) plus tests and other shorter papers on the side. Quite frankly, thesis gets to take a backseat while I'm dealing with all this other stuff.

Regardless, I've now had meetings with both my honors thesis advisor (Blackwell on 11/14) and the liaison between the honors college and the history department (Suppe on 11/15). Both went extremely well, and now I just have to figure out how on earth these five segments come together and what to do with them after I find a combining strand. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I'm concerned that my research isn't quite up to where I would like it to be... ah well, there's always more time to research!

I've recently also had to focus upon how I'm creating my "creative/interactive" portion of my online museum. I don't know a whole lot about this type of creation so I'm searching and trying to see what I can come up with. If all else fails, maybe making a lesson plan and/or creating an actual, tangible exhibit...hmm...thoughts??

Thanks for bearing with me! Today's fun fact: Heisenberg, the physicist behind the Nazi Atomic Project had no moral dilemma with the Nazis. He did not subscribe to their thought process/nor did he claim to be anti-Semitic.  The Nuremberg Trials did not see this at all: his involvement was cause enough to be charged.

Research (Almost) Done...Now What?

Okay, so here's the dealio-

This whole thesis thing began in May 2013, and I continued to research throughout the semester, which, quite frankly, I should have done a lot more, but life kinda gets in the way...so does working full-time. Regardless, once school started up in August, I began to heavily research and started writing my 5 researched topics. Currently, I've got 4/5 papers written (Heisenberg and the Atomic Project, you're goin' down) and I think this is a great point at which to consider what I want to do with this.

Initially, I wanted to just write a 40000+ page saga (no really, I did) but I soon realized that I could split up the work into 5 overall categories, write those specifically and then figure out some sort of way to combine them together...generally that was done under the broad heading of "Nazi Science."

Looking back, maybe there was a better way to set this up...

Regardless, right now, I'm planning on taking all this information and potentially putting together an online exhibit in which people can access images, sound bites, and researched goodies. The issue? Currently the United States Holocaust Museum has a touring exhibit entitled "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race." So now I have to distinguish myself from that exhibit.

This process is delicate, especially considering the subject matter, but including creativity is an obstacle in itself. You can't exactly make Nazi science and genocide "fun and interactive".... So I'll just keep hanging out with my Nazi books until an idea dawns on me!

-Emily :)

Fun Fact: If you spread out Nazi books and Nazi propaganda, no one will try and sit at your table in the library...or anywhere near you actually...

Disclaimer, Explaination, Other Odd Musings

Alrighty, let me start by explaining what all this nonsense is to be about. I'm currently a senior history major who is attempting to finish her thesis. Sounds pretty normal, right? Most people write about their favorite war, or an influential person in history, or write about an internship program...Me? I'm writing about Nazis.

HOLD UP. 

Before you run away in fear or contact my parents and campus police, let me clarify: I'm writing about Nazi science and what went on in different aspects of eugenics. This means I'm researching specific doctors, certain concentration camps, American involvement in Nazi science (yeah, that's a doozy...) as well as the German Atomic Project. Feel a little better, now? I promise, all this is done purely because I find is fascinating to chart and discover these things out, especially because Nazis tend to be grouped under the concept of "Hitler was bad" and nothing more is said.

What I'm hoping this blog will do is accurately help me document what I'm doing, as well as give me a place to share fun (and not so fun) facts and things I'm learning, both in the thesis writing world, as well as in the realm of Nazi Science.

Now, this post comes a bit late, I understand (considering I started my project....in May 2013...whoops) but I promise, I'll do an interactive catch-up to get us to where I am now! Feel free to comment/like/share ect

-Emily

Fun fact: Checking out more than one book with "Nazi" in the title gets you very concerned stares in an elevator.