It's a warm April afternoon. The sun is turned on full blast, its intensity melting away midterm stress and post-Spring Break blues. Flip-flop-clad feet stroll across the freshly-cut grass on the Lawn, where Frisbees outnumber books and a lazy nap under a tree is suddenly a better idea than doing schoolwork.
With graduation quickly approaching, fourth years may seem especially vulnerable to the fresh air of spring -- whether they choose to frolic among newly-fallen dogwood petals or skip classes in favor of sunbathing in the Amphitheater.
But like it or not, the school year surges on. In fact, with final exams only weeks away, academics are still in full swing for most students -- including fourth-year College student Karen Butowsky. Butowsky, an anthropology major, recently opted to take advantage of the less-than-crowded Cocke Hall computer lab to print out a rough draft of a year-long project -- her distinguished major thesis.
Now 85 pages in length, Butowsky's thesis is hardly a document that came together after a few cups of coffee and an all-night session in Clemons. It was more than a year ago that she initially decided to attempt to research and write such a document.
"It was overwhelming at first," she said. "It seemed like a long process to undertake."
This process, which combined her study abroad opportunity with her anthropological experience, started somewhat by coincidence. Although Butowsky said the thought of writing a thesis was always in the back of her mind, it was when she was preparing to leave for a semester abroad in Florence, Italy that an idea came to her. She read something in her materials that intrigued her -- that Italy has one of the lowest birthrates in the world.
"I wondered what political forces and cultural constructions were at play," Butowsky said.
Just before leaving the U.S. in early January 2002, Butowsky contacted Anthropology Prof. Susan McKinnon about her potential topic. Having previously taken McKinnon's kinship class, Butowsky was encouraged by her professor's positive response and felt "ready to go."
McKinnon said only about 10 undergraduate anthropology majors undertake writing a thesis each year.
"It gives students a chance to explore a topic in depth," she said.
Though writing a thesis is not required of anthropology majors, McKinnon stressed that composing this 40 to 100 page document allows students to "struggle with issues" and "pursue their own interests."
Based on the completion of her thesis and an overall evaluation of her coursework, Butowsky will be eligible for honors distinction.
Regardless of the honor Butowsky receives, McKinnon emphasized the importance of the thesis writing process.
"The fact that Karen went to Italy was good because she could draw on her own experience and use her linguistic skills," she said.
Butowsky admitted, however, that her decision to study in Italy was somewhat unplanned.
"There really wasn't too much thought behind it," she said. "I knew I wanted to go abroad, and Italy just seemed romantic to me."
What started as chance decisions, however, materialized into a meaningful experience for Butowsky. Besides walking on the beaches of the Amalfi coast, indulging in silky smooth gelato and staring at Michaelanglo's "David" for hours on end, she said she began to get a feel for life in Italy beyond just good pasta and fine wine.
"I focused on absorbing the culture and developing language skills," she said, noting that her stay in Florence was an important time for developing contacts with Italians that she would later interview as part of her thesis research.
"The experience was stellar," she said.
Butowsky's study abroad experience did not end when she returned to the United States Instead, she has continued to share advice with students considering studying abroad by interning in the International Studies Office.
Interns are "our ambassadors," said Murielle Kervizic, assistant director of study abroad. Kervizic emphasized the importance of being exposed to different perspectives.
"It allows students to become more mature and flexible and to develop cross cultural skills," she said.
Spending a semester in Italy helped Butowsky to share this awareness with other students.
"She does a great job," Kervizic said. "She's enthusiastic and she brings a lot to the office."
Though passionate about studying abroad, Butowsky's own experience also dealt her challenging situations, and she said interacting with Italians sometimes had low points. Specifically, she remembered detecting blatant racism in some of the people she met, especially toward Albanian immigrants in Italy.
"People were concerned with the 'purity' of the Italian population," she said, "and that gave me the drive I needed to examine these issues more closely."
Motivated by her experiences in Italy and armed with a "game plan" from McKinnon, Butowsky began the tedious process of reading and research last fall. She examined the connections between two different phenomena -- the decrease in Italy's birthrate and the increase in immigration, exploring how these topics are linked in interesting ways that talk about the fate of the Italian nation.
"A lot of people say a trend toward smaller families is a crisis," she said. "They want to have fewer immigrants and more babies that are 'made in Italy.'"
Encouraged by her research, Butowsky decided to return to Italy to find out what Italians thought about her findings. She was awarded a $500 research grant from the Center for Undergraduate Excellence which helped cover her travel expenses when she returned in January 2003.
"I wanted to hear what Italians had to say instead of formulating my own opinions," she said. "I feel like it helped me to represent them more accurately."
Because of her background in anthropology, Butowsky said she realized the difficulty of conducting fieldwork and the challenge of intermingling her own opinions and perspectives with those of the people she was studying.
"I found it hard," she said. "I tried not to make generalizations or pass judgment on Italy, but I know I'm still an outsider."
One thing that helped Butowsky combat these limitations was having previously established contacts with Italians. In fact, she traveled to the town of San Pidio near Naples this January to interview family members of a friend she met while in Florence last year.
"They were accepting and warm people who were really excited to talk to me," she said, though she acknowledged that time constraints did not allow her to interview as many Italians as she had hoped.
Nevertheless, back in the States, it was time for Butowsky to compile her research and attempt to create a coherent document.
"It has been a huge time commitment," she said, "and I always feel like there's more to say."
Even so, Butowsky said the experience of writing a thesis has significantly contributed to her undergraduate experience. She is grateful for the opportunity it gave her to explore another culture and work in the academic realm.
"It has definitely opened my eyes to the world of research," she said.
Spending over a year thinking about and working on her thesis, though, has not been all positive for Butowsky.
"I've definitely struggled a lot," she said. "I can't imagine going through the process alone."
Butowsky named the enormous amount of effort and insight that McKinnon has given her as integral to her thesis experience. She also emphasized the value of having a second reader, Anthropology Prof. Hanan Sabea.
"I'm lucky to have had support and people to push me through it," she said, adding that she expects to bind her thesis in the next couple weeks and finish it for good.
For Butowsky, the final document will indicate the culmination of cultural immersion, intense research and a little bit of love -- blooming just in time for spring.
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