Working Post: My Missionary Project

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Originally, I was going to create a website for missionaries that come home early for my final project. I have created that website, and I like it. However, I have decided to convert that website into a blog because as I continued to do research and meet others that came home early through my website (and those who want to help) I realized that there are so many grey areas when it comes to missionary work. And although I had an experience with coming home early from a mission, I have realized that I am by no means an expert on the subject. I would like to become on though and I think a blog will be one of the best ways to get started.

So, I have decided to transform my website into a blog. By making it a blog, I will be able to receive feedback through comments and have a more approachable format for people to contribute their own stories through guest blogging. I can ask my readers what they would tell someone in a grey-area situation instead of trying to come up with a solution for the situation largely on my own. I can also talk about missionary work in ways more than just coming home early, although I do plan to have coming home early be a focus of the blog.

Main Purpose

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The main purpose of my blog will be two-fold: (1) Have a place for those that feel like "misfits" in the world of LDS missionary work to come and read stories from others and to receive advice on what steps they should consider taking next in their life and how they can still be missionaries even if they do not serve the typical full-time mission, and (2) To change the LDS culture surrounding missionary work. This is something the Church is already trying to do; missionary work is not just for full-time missionaries. We know this. But for those that want to serve, there are other options than serving full-time proselyting missions and these options need to be more well-known.

Initially, my blog will probably focus more on missionaries that come home early, but eventually I hope it'll include topics that go beyond coming home early from a mission and focus on other topics that need to be talked about but are generally ignored concerning missionary work. (E.g. Serving the full amount of time but still feeling like a failure, or that you could have done more, etc.). 

Preliminary Exploration
I have read blogs, articles, and gone to presentations regarding early-returned missionaries. (Yes, I know I said I hate that term and I would prefer it not to be used, and I still think it is a pejorative in LDS culture, but I hope to change that through my blog). I have written a lot on my website, and I will probably use what I have written there for my blog posts. I have also used Wikispaces to curate other articles and blog posts on the subject, as well as ideas for my blog both in subject matter and aesthetics. 

Relevance
My project relates to this class by using digital means to get something very important out there. Originally I tried to talk about this subject through traditional means, i.e. writing a book and getting it published through Deseret Book. That did not pan out, however, so now I'm trying to talk about it through digital means. I think this will be better for my audience since the topics will become more of an open discussion rather than me generalizing my experience onto others that go through similar experiences. I think that this more open format will help others a lot more than my book would have done.

Format
My format for this open discussion will be a blog. Eventually, I may create a website, but that will not be until I feel comfortable with the rhetoric of websites and feel like I know and understand enough about these difficult topics to create a website. Later on, I may rewrite my book and submit it for publishing again. But for now, my format will be a blog.

Outlet

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Professor Burton suggested I do a press release for my blog once it is ready. Does anyone know how to do a press release? Who should I contact?

Other thoughts I had were to do maybe a guest blog post on a more popular Mormon Blog site. I could contact whoever controls the Mormon Archipelago site and ask that my blog be included in the archipelago.  I could also contact reporters and see if they'd be interested in doing a story about my blog.

And, of course, I could definitely make a Facebook page for my blog. Twitter is also a useful option. In order for these two to be useful though, I'd need to do some advertising with the above outlets.

Curation

Samuel Adams in his movie Returning with Honor

My primary sources have largely been my own experiences. However, I have also read several blog posts  and articles online about coming home earlt and stored them in my wiki. I have a DVD that I borrowed from Dr. Burton called Returning with Honor that I plan to watch tomorrow, and probably write a blog post about (then put on my blog once the blog is set up). I watched a four minute clip of the movie here. I encourage anyone else interested in my project to watch the clip too. He does a good job of capturing what early-returned missionaries feel when they come home (at least, what I felt, and what others who I have met have felt). 

For secondary sources, I have looked at the Church's website and read more about missionary work to find out what are cultural expectations and what are the Lord's expectations. I wrote about what I found throughout my website and stored the articles in my wiki. 

For community, I went to a presentation from Dr. Kris Doty and her team of students that for two years studied the effects of coming home early from an LDS mission. At this presentation Dr. Doty and her students reported their findings. I emailed Dr. Doty and her lead assistant after the presentation to see if I could publish her findings on my website after she and her students had written them up, but I haven't heard back from either yet. Perhaps once my blog is more established, I'll email her again.

Social Proof
I've used Facebook to gather initial social proof regarding my subject as evidenced in my blog here. I have also left comments on blogs and reached out through Twitter to gain social proof for my subject. So far, I have received enthusiastic replies about my project from both early-returned missionaries and others who wish to help early-returned missionaries. I have also received enthusiastic replies from those I have told about expanding my project to encompass more than just early-returned missionaries, although the number of people I have told about that so far has been significantly smaller.

I made a good connection too with someone who is excellent at blogging and using Twitter. She is in one of my editing classes and initially I hired her to be an editor for my website until deciding to turn it into a blog. When I told her about my decision to turn it into a blog, she supported my decision and told me that if I would like to do a blog consultation with her, she'd be happy to meet with me. She thinks we make a great team and would love to continue working with me. That made me very happy (and relieved to have an expert at blogging and Twitter want to work with me!). I made an appointment to meet with her on Monday for an hour and a half. To prepare for the appointment, I have been looking at LDS blogs, self-help blogs, and personal blogs to gauge what I like and don't like about blogs and to get a better idea of what I want my blog to look like and sound like.

Next Steps
My next steps are to meet with my blogging consultant, get the blog set up, and then write like crazy. I'll probably get 3-4 blog posts ready to go to post as soon as the blog is up. I won't wait until the blog looks perfect before I get it going, but I will want to wait until I think it looks at least professional and presentable before I start advertising it through different outlets. 

I'm also debating about the name of my blog. Should I should still use my domain earlyhomecoming.com for the blog's url and name the blog "Early Homecoming," or should I change it to something else to better encompass other issues within missionary work? Any thoughts? 

Educational Fandoms

1. Working Thesis Statement: The value in fandoms come from their ability to reignite the original flame of literary education; by creating a desire to study, engage, and think critically about the text enabling a remarkable academic experience without all of the pressures and stigma of academia.

2. Preliminary Research: I've written about the subject in a few different places: The Fandom Project, Curation Via Pinterest, Youth Online, Fandoms, Hipsters and Longtails, Entertainment, Make Something
Not all of these have to do specifically with fandoms within education, but they all talk about different aspects of fandom culture (such as hipsters, or whether or not something is entertaining) or about some of the important things fandoms help people do (such as making something to make the world better or identifying yourself online.)

3. Relevance: This subject is relevant to the community because of the general feeling of disconnect between academic research about literature and the public as well as the stigma that comes with being part of a fandom. Both of these groups of people can consider themselves outcasts from every day members of society, but they both bring great good to this world through their research and creation. I'm hoping that this paper will help them see that they aren't so different from each other, and if fandoms can be channeled to create content that is as respected as academia then maybe academia might be able to make their research more enjoyable and able to connect with people that may not have their elevated understanding of literature. As such, I will specifically be targeting members of fandoms more than those in academia. I'm hoping to inspire and help them reach for everything that they can be. I know that because of the rigidness of academia many members might dislike my idea that fandom can be scholarly, so I'm hoping that my audience will be able to prove them wrong.

4. Format: Probably a research paper, maybe an academic article if I can make the tone and research right.

5. Outlet: Digital Humanities: And Beyond

6. Curation:
a) Curation of Content: I created a secret Pinterest board (so I don't both my followers with school related things) called "fandoms" I don't know if people will be able to see it (since it is secret) but I'll link it here anyway: Fandoms. I also have another pinterest board that I will no doubt be drawing upon. It doesn't just have to do with fandoms, but is my personal board of nerdy things I love: Nerd
b) Curation of Secondary Sources: For secondary sources I'm gathering everything from scholarly articles and blog posts to tumblr blogs, pins on pinterests and general discussion on twitter, facebook, and tumblr. Some of the fabulous research was done by my friends who helped me with my topic and can be found here, here and here (though this last one wasn't meant for me, it was still helpful)
c) Curation of Community: Youth Online by Angela Thomas, Twitter #fandoms (and @Matt Bodinham who is apparently doing a dissertation on fandoms) Tumblr blogs: missmegrose and mrshaleydeanwinchesterackles

7. Social Proof: I have found many people on tumblr that are dedicated to fandoms. I'm going to contact them and ask them what they think about fandoms in academia (one is currently going to college and another is a college graduate. I have also received responses from facebook and google+ on whether people think fandoms have inherent value. Several people have expressed interest in my project, though ironically most of them have told me offline, rather than online. One of my side research projects will be to figure out why people are willing to tell me they are nerdy and enjoy fandoms offline but keep that part of themselves hidden while they are online.

8. Next Steps: The next steps for me will to be organizing my thoughts and research in order to write my paper. As I get more information from the people I've contacted through twitter and tumblr I'm hoping I'll be able to organize other fans thoughts into the paper to make it more connected to fandoms as a whole. The majority of my work this next week will be drafting and writing up the paper and stringing my thoughts together. I also need to make sure I have all the research I need to back up my claims. If I start writing and realize that I'm making up most of my points, I'll know I made a wrong turn somewhere along the way.

Research for Kristen Reber

In my research for Kristen's topic, I have been increasingly interested in the effects of "labeling." In simply searching for these effects, it was immediately apparent to me that the effects of labeling are predominantly and inherently negative. Because of the abundance of research, I have decided to direct this research through the lens of it

This blog is interesting because it directly calls attention to the ways in which the professional world regards titles. It specifically calls out to English majors and the way that we should use language to efficiently connect with our intended audience. Another reason I liked this article is because it emphasizes the importance of being sensitive to titles and labels.

This article addresses labeling as causing intellectual and self-esteem hindrances. Although most of the article mentions racial stigmas, I think there is relevancy in its description of language causing negative impacts on many people of circumstance.

This last scholarly article is interesting because labeling is discussed in regards to shame and denial. The examples demonstrated regard reactions to addictions or unhealthy behaviors such as lack of debt management. We can both agree that coming home with honor is not wrong in any way. However, I do believe one of the purposes for your project is to cater to individuals struggling with the frustration, self-doubt, and confusion resulting from returning early for medical issues.

Kristen, I hope this is helpful to you. Unfortunately after the funeral last week, I have been sick and am rather behind so I wish I had gotten this to you sooner. Good luck!!

Outlets for Research

I have many ideas for outlets for my research on missionaries that come home early. Here are a few ideas:

1) Guest blog on an appropriate blog. This would probably be a blog like Times and Seasons or Forward Walking or any other blog that seems appropriate in the Mormon Archipelago.

2) Interview with a friend of a friend for a magazine/newspaper publication. My friend knows people who work for The Universe and a Utah Magazine (not sure which one). She said these people would probably love to interview me. Let's hope so!

3) I've already created a Twitter called @EarlyHomecoming. I don't actively use it yet, but it has a few followers. I plan to use it more once I launch my website.

4) Possibly Digital Humanities Now, but I'm not sure if my website is exactly what they are looking for.

And I think all of my teammates would benefit from submitting their papers to the Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature or Re: Humanities. I especially think Re:Humanities is looking for what they  have to offer. They'd have to hurry to make the December 1st deadline for Re: Humanities, but Re:Humanities does accept and consider late submissions. There is some travelling involved if they get accepted to one of these conferences, but it would be a fun experience if they could manage it!