Topic Ideas

The past week I have been thinking of potential topics for my paper. I have the broad topic idea of Mexican Churches, but I know that I need to focus and be more specific. I probably will want to focus on churches from the colonial era/Baroque style of architecture.

Questions to consider:
-What area of Mexico to focus on?
-Was there one main architect?
-What is the meaning behind the church architecture?
-When did the Baroque style begin?
-How was the church influential in converting natives to Catholicism?
-Is their a political/government role involved with the churches today?
-Does the church architecture play the same role as it did when built?

Trying to find a narrow/specific topic is very tricky. I like the idea of questioning how the church the church has influenced the people. How much did the style of architecture play an important part in converting natives?

Having been inside some of the churches in Mexico, I am amazed and astonished by how much gold and details were put into the churches.

For me I find Mexican Barque churches to have elements of the European Barque style except it is on steroids. I am very fascinated by this and want to further explore the elements that make up this style of architecture.

Researching

As I begin researching further into my topic for my senior capstone, I would like to write down different different research techniques/resources that both worked in the past and those that haven't worked. From prior experience I know that it is best not to wait to do your research. I will admit that I am a procrastinator, which is something that I have improved upon throughout college, and waiting until the last minute for your research doesn't work at all. Research takes time. I have used the Interlibrary Loan Service before and it is wonderful. I love the fact that you can get a book from another library; however, you must request the book well in advance because it could take a couple of weeks to get to you. I will definitely be using this service for my project.

I am pretty familiar with JSTOR and have used it for most of my research papers. I have started to look for articles on my topic, but I probably will have to use more books than articles if I do decide to write about Mexican Churches. I have not been able to find tons of articles pertaining to the topic, but I will keep on researching.

From the last class, I learned about Zotero and was really intrigued by it. I have made an account and have been saving my articles that I find on JSTOR. It is a wonderful website! I really wish that I would have know about this sooner. I think that it will help me with my project and keeping track of the different resources that I am using. In the past, I  have lost a citation that I have needed and had to go back through and try and find it. I really would like it avoid that happening.

I am still continuing my research on Mexican Churches, focusing on those from the colonial period and Baroque style. I am not sure what direction I want to go with this topic. I hope that my research will help me find a more specific topic to focus on.

Opening Reflections- Questions & Commitments

Senior Seminar in Art History

Project Journal

Fall 2012

At the beginning of my undergraduate career, I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in or exactly what I wanted my future career to be. I ultimately decided to major in History with a minor in Art History. After my first semester at my previous college, before I transfered to Columbia, I switched my minor of Art History to my major. I no longer was satisfied with History as my major because I wanted to associate visual images with the history. I planned on pursing my master's degree in Library Science, but I am not sure if that is still what I would like to do. I hope that this capstone course will help me decide if that is what I would really like to do. 

Through my previous coursework, I have discovered that I am really fascinated by colonial art and religious art and architecture. I am interested in exploring how images set within colonial culture and religion have shaped the cultural ideal and what is accepted as a cultural norm. I would like to find meaning in how religious art has shaped a culture's beliefs. I have found that I also am interested in European Baroque, but even more Baroque Architecture in Mexico. I wonder if the churches from earlier periods still have the same influence in the culture as they once had. 

In the Senior Seminar Capstone, I hope to further explore methods of art history and how to research certain types on imagery. How do we decide what type of image is more valued than another? Does it depend on the time and place the object/image was made? I hope that my path in this capstone will help to answer some of these questions that I have. I also hope to find a topic or specific art/artist that I would like to further explore on a deeper level.