Thursday, November 26, 2015

10 Topic Ideas for Undergrad and Graduate School Research


AMAZING FANTASY WALLPAPER UP THERE *squirms around with happiness*

So I just found this random fantasy wallpaper on the internet...yeah, too bad I can't make cool stuff like this...

Anyway, here's a list of interesting stuff that might be worth researching.

1. Wikipedia's English side and Japanese side. I was just looking up about the textbook controversy of Japan for class (yes N. J. is still a student) and found differences in the English page and Japanese page which I think is very interesting. Wikipedia is like the only place (almost, because I could be wrong) that allows those differences to happen. It might be an interesting research to compare the two on different topics. Say, even chose your own country, why not? I heard the China Wikipedia is pretty interesting...

2. The start and evolution of Photoshop in *insert country here*. So obviously photo-editing or photo-manipulation has been around for a long time but Photoshop has become this recent normal and controversial thing. Photoshop is obviously something that some people made but now it's gotten so huge it's even a verb. "Did you get that pic photoshopped?" "Did you photoshop that cat into that pic there?" Well, you know what I mean. But at some point it became so popular it became the norm. I think even if this didn't turn out to be a serious study, it might be good for like, an undergrad paper.

3. How much religion plays a role in books and/or movies. Think of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials". Think of "Under the Dome". Those great potential book-to-movie adaptations taken out of the movie world just because they were "religious" or "anti-religious" in some sort of way. Perhaps if you research on a topic like this, you could choose two or three books that almost became popular movies but didn't because suddenly people noticed that they were depicting religion in a certain way. I mean, why the heck do people even care so much about religion in a movie? Can't they just sit back and relax and enjoy a good movie? Can't they just appreciate all the efforts it takes to make a movie? Anyway, that was my rant sort of at the end there. You don't have to take little old me so seriously.

4. How Japan solved it's pollution problem back in its industrial age and how China is trying (or not trying, or could be trying) to solve its own pollution problem. Yep, the old comparison topic. Japan's industrial age was so bad and there was so much smog that children had to go to school with masks on. Kinda like some places in China today. I saw on the news in mid October that there are rivers in China that are completely red or yellow or blue because of the chemicals in the water. Sometimes the sky is red and people walk around with special masks to keep themselves safe. If you search YouTube, you might be able to find a clip about that. There are probably documentaries, too. I would stick to National Geographic and BBC for trustworthy documentaries.

5. Ethics concerning pet shops and zoos. Like, are they really different? Some pet shops seem to be more for show than for sell especially if they have these really little puppies and kittens that look like they had just been placed there a few months after they were born.

6. And how about something big and large and wow. Like say, comparing World War One and World War Two in some aspect or other. Obviously they were different, yeah, sure, everyone knows that. But are there any similarities? This might be quite a big project but I think it'll be interesting.

7. The Greek people's view on Greek Mythology compared to the Americans' and the Japanese and/or Chinese and/or Koreans' and/or *insert your nationality here*'s view on Greek Mythology. Personally I'm quite interested in Greek Mythology. There's lots of crazy stuff happening and gods are giving birth to more gods and mortals get punished and become stars in the sky and all sorts of wacko stuff. But then, someone obvious wrote this so many thousands of years ago so it might not have been wacko then. I wonder what the Greek think of Greek Mythology? Do they see it as crazy but interesting or do they not care about it at all. This might be an interesting undergrad paper. Of course I haven't worded it right but if you reword the topic you might have something quite unique there.


8. Since when in *insert country here* did this common western style of t-shirt and pants/jeans become popular and why has it become such a universal trend? This is the not-so common fashion topic. Not many people seem to see the deeper side of fashion. In many countries it seems that a lot of people dress this common way. Call it the "common style" or something. T-shirts and pants/jeans. Doesn't matter the kind of pants/jeans but this style...I see it everywhere! Even in those small African communities that have been introduced with clothes wear these western-style clothes. It's like some common fashion or something. As long as you wear this, you are wearing the universal fashion, perhaps. Anyway, if you like clothes, this is the topic for you. Even if you don't, I still think it'll be interesting.

9. Compare the ideas on the gaming culture way back when and today in *insert country here*. My parents think playing app games everyday or just logging on to them everyday proves that I'm an addict. But today, everyone does it, right? The bar of "extreme" has shifted people! And, apparently what people thought of as heavy gaming back then and now are totally different. Yeah sure it's the old comparison paper but comparing things is interesting and you get to learn about both sides and it's good to learn to do that especially if you are an undergrad student.


10. Last one! Comparing views on ocean boundaries. Okay, so, when you think about it, you can't draw a line in the sea and claim which side is yours. Land boundaries are easy. Just draw a line in the dirt and say "This side is mine and that side is yours." Easy peasy. But the ocean is water (obviously *rolls eyes*) so you can't do that (obviously again *rolls eyes again*). I am pretty sure lots of scholars debated on this and just putting it all down in one paper would probably be very interesting. I for one think it's ridiculous to try to put boundaries on the sea. I mean, fish don't care and dolphins are mammals--which is beside the point--but they don't care either! Neither does the seaweed or the coral. So, why care?

Okay! That's all folks! (Cartoon reference)

See ya later, alligators!