- Project Summary: In no more than 200 words, provide a brief description of your project, including the puzzle you intend to address, the key questions your project attempts to answer, and a brief discussion of how you intend on answering those questions.
Since the fallout of the “tequila party” in 2016, many students have expressed frustration about how the administration handled the event. Some fear that these cultural tensions will be buried without resolution, until the next incident. How can the Bowdoin community come to terms with sensitive aspects of the past, in productive ways?
Students have conducted academic research on the party, but it is not widely accessible on campus. Meanwhile, public events like panels have been shut down due to student resistance. Dana and I intend to preserve a collective retelling of the party and what followed, in a way that circumvents the obstacles of past attempts. We will consolidate sociological research from Pamela Zabala and the Diversity in Higher Education seminar, and possibly conduct additional interviews with students. Our goal is to produce this collective retelling in a consumable format, such as a journal article or podcast. We will reference Adaiah Lopez’s honors research to demonstrate how storytelling can catalyze conflict resolution. Ultimately, we hope to find new ways to preserve and analyze events that are conducive to future change.