Chase Terranova

title

(pending)

My thesis explores what gets passed down in families, both genetics/ancestry as well as stories/memories and where those aspects overlap.

For my seminar research I am exploring things that get passed down in families. I am looking at the more abstract aspects of what gets passed down through generations, like stories and memories. I am also investigating the scientific side of ancestry by learning about the genetics that make us who we are. The places where these aspects overlap is what most interests me.

Family has always been extremely important to me, and I love learning about family history. Both family stories and more concrete ancestry are things I’ve always loved hearing about. Using senior seminar as an opportunity to learn more about my own family history as well as how family histories are made is helping me to learn about myself, and about people in general.

Over the summer, I took a biology course that focused heavily on genetics. I am also taking a social science course called “The Family,” at Endicott College which explores dynamics and adaptations of the American Family. These classes are providing me with a source of more information to fuel my seminar exploration. In the Spring I will be conducting an independent study focusing on writing that will allow me to further explore and represent some of the stories, memories, and information that I am digging up in my research and investigation.

So far, I have begun using family photo albums as a way into some of my family history. I have boxes of meticulous albums kept by my late grandmother and have begun indexing them as a place to start, and a source of “data,” so to speak. I have made pedigree charts in my class at Endicott that will translate into my work for seminar as well. I have explored other ways to display family histories in a graphic way as well. To give myself more information to work with, I ordered a DNA test from 23andMe.com, which provided me with genetic reports about many aspects of myself and my ancestry. I plan to incorporate some of this information into my final thesis exhibition.

I think that using graphic design and designing information systems to demonstrate the ways that people become who they are, especially because of their families, will be an important part of my final thesis. I am exploring data visualizations and information graphics and in the end, would like to have a finished informational system that incorporates both hard data and more intangible family memories or stories, not only visually but with language and writing as well.

That final product may be a book, or a series of pieces that are all connected by a central index. The index will most likely not be a traditional index but something that is tailored to the different types of information on display. The show would contain different things that have made me, me, because of my family/genetics, and could be observed, travelled through, and interpreted in different ways. The actual format will probably change a lot in the months to come, but it will explore these themes of family, history, and self, as a result of those things

November 15, 2016
 

For my seminar research I would like to explore things that get passed down in families. I want to look at the more abstract aspects of what gets passed down through generations, like stories and memories. I also plan to look at the scientific side by learning about the genetics that make us who we are. I think the places where those aspects overlap is what most interests me, and that’s where I think I’d like my thesis to focus.

Family has always been extremely important to me, and I love learning about family history. Both family stories and more concrete ancestry are things I’ve always loved hearing about. I think using seminar as an opportunity to learn more about my own family history as well as how family histories are made is something I would really enjoy. I have begun using family photo albums as a way into some of my family history. I have boxes of meticulous albums kept by my late grandmother and have begun indexing them as a place to start, and a source of “data,” so to speak.

Over the summer, I took a biology course that focused heavily on genetics. I am also taking a social science course called “The Family,” which explores dynamics and adaptations of the American Family. These classes are have given me a groundwork from which to start my seminar exploration, and I have made pedigree charts in my class at Endicott that will translate into my work for seminar as well.

I have also ordered a DNA test from 23andMe.com, which will provide me with reports about many aspects of myself and my ancestry when I receive the results. I plan to incorporate some of this information into my final thesis exhibition.

I think that using graphic design and designing information systems to demonstrate the ways that people become who they are, especially because of their families, will be an important part of my final thesis. I am exploring data visualizations and information graphics and in the end, would like to have a finished informational graphic or piece that incorporates both hard data and more intangible family memories or stories.

That final product may be a book, or a series of pieces that are all connected by a central index. The index will most likely not be a traditional index but something that is tailored to the different types of information on display. The show would contain different things that have made me, me, because of my family/genetics, and could be observed, travelled through, and interpreted in different ways. The actual format will probably change a lot in the months to come, but it will explore these themes of family, history, and self, as a result of those things.

October 5, 2016
 

For my seminar research I would like to explore things that get passed down in families. I want to look at the more abstract aspects of what gets passed down through generations, like stories and memories. I also plan to look at the more scientific side by learning about the genetics that make us who we are. I think the places where those aspects overlap is what most interests me, and that's where I think I'd like my thesis to focus eventually.

Family has always been extremely important to me, and I love learning about family history. Both family stories and more concrete ancestry are things I've always loved hearing about. I think using seminar as an opportunity to learn more about my own family history as well as how family histories are made is something I would really enjoy. It's a very broad area to explore, but I think once I begin researching it, I will find more specific topics to look at in depth. I'd rather not rule anything out yet that could become more significant as I work.

Over the summer, I'll be taking a biology and genetics course so that I can learn more about the subject. In the fall, I'll also be taking a social science course called "The Family," which explores dynamics and adaptations of the American Family. I think these classes will give me a good background from which to conduct my seminar exploration.

During the initial exploration phase, I will start to try to identify more specific approaches to my work, as well as other angles to look at and questions to ask. Another important thing I will be looking out for are the ways in which graphic design (and data visualization) can help structure and define my work while also learning more about design in general throughout my process. It will be important for me to find a way to incorporate graphic design into my final seminar product and I think that somewhere along the way I will find a problem that could be solved with a design solution, or a gap that could be filled. I think that coming up with a way to synthesize the information I gather throughout my research process will help me begin to figure out what the final product will look like. Figuring out a way to combine the most important pieces of information and how to turn them into something meaningful and interesting will be the goal for my thesis show. I look forward to exploring all of these options, thank you for the opportunity.

May 2016