For what it's worth, here's my thesis proposal. It's all over the place but it's my best stab at what I'm really passionate about...

Apathy is Domesticated Madness:
Counterculture Arts as the Fuel of Activism

Apathy, defined for the purpose of this exploration as indifference to one’s surrounding society, is a concept closely associated with youth in many areas throughout the world. Yet some of the most passionate and powerful movements in history have been spearheaded by youth, from the Civil Rights movement in the US to the Soweto riots in South Africa. The foundations of these movements were not built from dry political debates that apathetic youth ignore, but rather from artistic protest: musical and theatrical demonstrations rejecting subordination and seeking justice.

Warning: This is another of those blogs you don't want to read. It's just me going on about possible thesis topics...

Man oh man. Senior year is tough, huh. I've been barely sleeping and still I'm running ridiculously behind on everything, most notably a decision on a thesis topic. The one professor who knocked my socks off in my two semesters at Pomona is on sabbatical, so the search for readers hasn't been so hot either. But hey, how bout I outline my various ideas for ya and maybe everything will come together. By the by, my major is Social Activism through Media & the Arts (MS/Politics/Theatre), so my thesis is gonna be leaning in that direction:

Thursday at lunch in Oldenborg there is a ridiculously interesting talk on hikikomori in Japan. The hikikomori are hundreds of thousands of men (and some women) in Japan who have locked themselves in their rooms in their parents homes, starting as early as age 13 or 14, and some staying their entire lives without further social contact with the world. It's not a movement, it's more of a syndrome, and like anorexia in western cultures it only sprouts up in areas with certain social pressures. In Japan, young men are pressured to succeed in school and come out on top of the stagnant economy. Countercultural sentiments are looked down upon, leaving youth who would normally turn to goth, punk or hardcore in american culture feeling alone in their distance from mass culture.