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 :)