Bridge 5: Final Reflection

Final Reflection

 

When I heard the topic “Body Politic” and “The Politics of The Body,” I even could not understand the terms.  I read the explanation and examples of the terms again and again.  However, I have gotten the sense of the concept gradually throughout the semester.  Researching or discovering something related to the concept was the first step of my Seminar class.  I chose Korean military sexual slavery issued by Japan during WWII as my sub-topic of the bridge project of Studio and Seminar class, and my discovery continued.  Although I have known the military sexual slavery issue in Korea as a “comfort women” issue since I was a high school student, I could get more information and deeper knowledge of the issue, while I was searching about the issue.  Researching the topic made me feel more furious about the issue due to the horrible stories and cruel deeds by the Japanese soldiers.  Meanwhile, I started to become concerned about how can I could design something based on this sensitive topic.  So that, I had to focus on research more and more in order to express the issue effectively.  Too much information on the Internet overwhelmed me.  RefWorks was a very useful tool for the organization of the information.  I eliminated repetitive information and gathered the necessary sources in my RefWorks account.  The organized resources let me think clearly and gave me ideas.  Therefore, the discovery in Seminar class led me to embody the frustrating stories of the survivors in my design project in Studio class, because during my research, the ideas were more organized in my mind.  Sources such as statistic studies, many scholars’ opinions and perspectives, positions of Korea, Japan, and Allied nations, etc. inspired me to create my design.  The interview videos and unbelievable testimonies of the survivors were powerful, and they were included in my final video.  The video sources were not literal resources; however, I could find them when I started to research in ProQuest.

This is not only an assignment for my Seminar and Studio classes, but also this is a mission in my life.  I posted my video on YouTube and some people already made comments and emailed to argue against me.  Their opinions were flawed; however, they were enough to make people confused about the truth.  I was upset when I argued against them, but I felt I must know more in order to convince people who have doubts about the survivors.  I cannot convince people with my emotions.  I should obtain deeper and clearer knowledge about the military sexual slavery issue.  I am planning to visit the organization of former comfort women in Korea—the survivors live together in an institution—and I will make videos in diverse languages and post on public websites, like YouTube, to let people know about the issue.  I was surprised because many people still do not have very basic information about the comfort women issue.  I live in New York and I can meet people from various countries, so that I have an advantage in terms of languages.  I can ask my international friends.

I made a book on the issue to expand my project because a book is a great medium to convey ideas with images and words.  I showed this to my other classes to inform them.  So far, I have a blouse, an essay, a video, and a book.  I will photograph the survivors when I visit the institution. I will continue research, study, and act for the military slavery issue in Korea and other countries, and I will study sex trafficking as well.  Moreover, I want to study the contemporary military sexual slavery issue, such as the women sexual slaves in South Sudan.  In these wars, women and children can become victims easily, and this fact is unacceptable.

 

Final Reflection

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