What I've Learned

Thesis is hard! My thesis project vision has changed so many times. I have found it difficult to find contemporary sources. Most pieces look at black hair in the larger scope of black society rather than targeted stories. I have also found that most academic papers on black hair are written by black men, which can be insightful but not as concentrated as I need. Looking on project muse has been a great help as I have found more contemporary pieces of women analyzing how black hair from societal and intellectual scope.

As of now, my goal for my thesis is to explore how black hair shapes black women through the scope of college students. My target demographic are college aged women that are apart of the new chapter "Campus Curls" on campus which explores natural hair and provides a safe space for black women. The end goal will be a transcribed oral history interviews that can be donated to the RIT archives. Black women and their experience on this campus is one that is extremely underrepresented and creating something that can be recorded and documented for future students is important!