Framework

Up until today I was fairly worried that all of my research that I have done has been somewhat irrelevant to my actual project.  As I have mentioned previously, my mentor for my project has been out of the country for the past few months and I have kind of been shooting in the dark.  Each class period I have been required to come up with a source (such as a book or article) that is "related" to my project in some way.

Luckily, for me, there is a fairly decently sized collection of Mormon Mexican History within the BYU Library, which means that I have been able to do some research on what the basic history of Mormons in Mexico, as well as the history of several of the original Mormon colonies.  There is, however, quite a lack of readily available information concerning what I will actually be doing my project on, that is, Irapuato's Mormon history. Without my mentor here to guide me to the right information, or at least methods of searching for it, I feel like I have been hitting all around the target with my research, but have yet to get a bulls-eye shot.

In class today, though, I was able to take a closer look at the research that I had completed and what it tells me.  Because I have been, as I said, hitting all around the mark, and now that I have taken a step back I can better see what I have been missing in the middle.  I can now better define what I need!  I knew what I had been aiming for all along, but sometimes it's rather hard to define until you frame it and determine what it is not; "eliminate the impossible and what remains must be the truth!" as my good friend Sherlock put it.

So what am I looking for now?  I'm still getting the idea, but from what I understand, I am looking for things like: historical documents from Irapuato itself, statistics concerning religious affiliation during the time period of the first Irapuato Mormons, church records concerning early members of the church, and dates and names of the first appearances of Mormons within Irapuato. Where am I going to find this, and similar information? Well...

"You know my methods, Watson"

El Desconocido: Or A Sketch of The Unknown

So I've discovered that planning for my project is a rather interesting challenge. I know so little about what is actually going to happen that sometimes I feel like I am shooting in the dark. I have discovered, however, that I can sort of map out what I do know and get an idea of what where I am headed. It's kind of like being given a blank canvas and being told to create a masterpiece. Where do you even start? But I suppose that if I start sketching some ideas in pencil that something will come to me. I mean, I don't have to fill in all of the shading and color until I am there in the field right? So here's a rough sketch...

I kind of have two halves of my painting that I have started sketching, the first is my look into the interest that I have, which I will discuss more in another post. The second aspect of my parameters and requirements though I have thought through a little more, so here goes a quick dumping of my mind art into black and white letters on this blog.

First I must first ask myself if I am bound by the interview techniques and specified outcome that my Mentor Señor Grover uses in his research. Will my findings be in collaboration with his work, or just tailored after that manner? If I do follow his structure completely then that gives me a greater sense of direction and I am not shooting in the dark as much. On the other hand, I don't even know to a full extent what the finished outcome of his work looks like. I may have to adjust my plans and my interests.

If I do work in tandem with Grover's work, then what do I have to work with? I do not yet know what the structure of his work looks like, nor have I seen an example of the finished product. He is currently on sabbatical leave right now, but should be coming back soon in February and I will be able to get a clearer idea of his work. But for now I only can speculate, which doesn't always provide accurate results.

If I mentor with Grover, but do a work separate in style and function from his, then I also need to consider my options. However with more options to consider it may be harder to decide on matters. I will also have the challenge of making sure that my project retains academic experience and fits within the requirements for the ORCA scholarship (which I have applied for and am hoping to receive).

As you can see there is a lot to think through, and so far this is just considering what I may or may not be required to do. I still need to consider what I would like to do, and the practicality of those views. But instead of starting with oil paint or pastels on the canvas, I have definitely found it helpful to create a few rough sketches on some scratch paper and see what I like.

Ahhh, art. :)