Interview with Julia M. and Anastasia M. during Wednesday assembly, 24. 4. 2024

Anastasia M.: Julia, so we're all really interested to hear what your paper is about. 

So could you tell us a little bit about that?  

Julia M.: So essentially, I compared and contrasted five different cosmologies from around the world, which were the Yekuana in Mesoamerica, Ancient Egypt, geo-cosmology in Bali, the idea of the world tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, and also the Maya in South America. I found four common themes, you could say, I guess, throughout these four cosmologies. 

And I also looked at others and kind of noticed that they're somewhat universal across these different cultures. And those five themes, I actually wrote them down because my brain is stupid sometimes. So first of all, we have a connection between the physical and the metaphysical. Then we have something that explains and orders the universe. That can be either some sort of cosmological principle or a God or whatever you may believe in. Then also something that provides meaning for existence. And then at last the socio-political utilization of spirituality and all of these beliefs.  

And I essentially use those four themes to kind of create or write this framework that can be used to analyze other cosmologies. And then I also looked at why that is important because essentially our entire society is based on what we believe in. And if we don't, in my opinion, if we don't really study how other cultures interact and how our culture is built and how we interact with others, there's not really a way that we can actually collaborate to work on important progress or issues like climate change or global conflicts like war. So it's really important in my opinion. And that's essentially the crucifix of my paper. Though it's way more complicated, but that would take forever. 

Anastasia M.: Wow. I can't imagine how it would get any more complicated. Could you just briefly explain what a cosmology actually is? 

Julia M.: A cosmology itself is essentially the origin story of a world in a specific culture. And belief systems are essentially all the values, beliefs, myths, whatever a culture believes in. And based on these beliefs, most of the time, culture is structured like how different family members interact with each other, how you interact with others, your connection to nature. That's all dependent on those beliefs. 

Anastasia M.: Awesome. And why did you choose anthropology as your research subject? How did you get that idea? 

Julia M.: Okay. So, first of all, I think I have to kind of like say what anthropology is because I don't think that many people know about it. Anthropology, the way I understand it, is essentially the study of the human experience on earth, like at all times and in all communities. So you can look at anything from culture over linguistics, but also at, for example, the understanding of science or medicine in different communities. And at first, I had the idea when I did AP Art History, and I looked at these like ancient architectural buildings from different civilizations. And I was so fascinated by how these people structured their world according to their beliefs. Then I looked into that a bit more, and then I was even more fascinated by it. And I already knew I wanted to study anthropology so when I saw the opportunity to do like a research paper, I kind of just grabbed it. 

Anastasia M.: Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. And so why did you want to write a research paper and publish it? What was your motivation behind the process? 

Julia M.: Essentially at first, I really only wanted to write it because I found it really interesting. And I thought about maybe going into academia after university so it was kind of like a nice first step to see what it's actually like and if I actually wanted to do something like that. And then why I wanted to publish it, it mainly was when I talked to more people about it, they were like “This is really great for university applications. Because like you did something. It's actually academic. It's connected to what you want to study.” So it's really beneficial for university. And that was the final factor that kind of like brought me to overcome my fear of rejection and actually do it. 

Anastaia M.: Yeah, that's amazing. And so can you tell us a bit about the research process? What did it look like? 

Julia M.: So, for me, it was kind of weird actually, because I started with a very narrow idea that in the end didn't work out the way I wanted to, because it was just too narrow and too specific. But then I went broader again, and I narrowed down to my true idea, like those four common themes that I then explored through five case studies. Essentially, you just really have to read a lot. Like you start with the main idea, then you read and read and read. And oh, this is interesting. And this works well. And this makes sense. Until you find something that works out academically and that you like to research. And yeah, it's kind of pretty personal so it really depends on who you are as a person. It was like the way I'd like to start with one idea, and then it becomes a mind map, you know, I don't know if that makes sense. 

Anastasia M.: Yeah, it does. So what was the most challenging and most rewarding thing for you? 

Julia M.: The most challenging, in my opinion, was definitely getting into that, like academic writing flow, because it's really different from what you usually write, like how you write even essays for school. So that definitely took like some effort. But once you're in it, it's not that bad. Also time management. I wrote it in the summer in five weeks, and 8000 words in five weeks is a lot, especially when you also want to like enjoy your holidays and everything. So time management was also an issue. And the most rewarding, I would say, was definitely kind of like seeing something that I did evolve from this really bad first introduction, like my first draft, to then something that's actually good enough to get published. It's just, it's really amazing to like see that evolution, both academically and also as a person. 

Anastasia M.: Wow, I can imagine. And could you also tell us where did you find the resources that you could use for your actual paper? Because as fellow IB students, we're obviously all writing our EEs, our IAs, and there's quite a similar process, I believe. 

Julia M.: Yeah, so I mainly use JSTOR. I love the website. It's amazing. And I mean there's also Google Scholar, and it's really good. But personally, I'm not the biggest fan. And I don't even know why, I just I don't really like it. So JSTOR is definitely amazing. And there's also this one website called Connected Papers that I use a lot, where you essentially put in a keyword or like an article or an author, and it shows you essentially all the other articles connected to that one main idea. So it just makes a lot of work easier, because you don't have to individually search for different keywords and different articles, you can just type in one and it shows you everything that may somehow be in connection to it. 

Anastasia M.: 

That sounds really helpful. I think we will definitely try to put those links into the chat sometime later. So how does the publishing process work? 

Julia M.: The publishing process is very lengthy. Like you first submit your paper, then you wait, like months, sometimes I heard from some people they would even wait years, then you either like get a message like “congratulations, we will publish you” or you're like “no, sorry, better luck next time”. And then you have to do revisions. So since like actual academic journals do peer review, when more different people, actual experts in your subject area, like read your paper and judge what is good, what is bad, what do you need to change. 

And then you essentially get a list of all the stuff you have to revise. And at first, it's really painful, like it was very kind of like harsh to have something that you really like, and that you put hours of your life, even days sometimes, into. And suddenly there's people tearing it to shreds, because this is wrong, and this is wrong, and this is wrong. But then you do those revisions, and they were really needed in my opinion. So it was really good feedback. And then you send it again. And then either it's like yes or no once again. And in my case, there was also a grammatical revision, which I think is kind of typical, because even though the grammar wasn't wrong, it was not as concise as possible at times. So just like a like purely linguistic revision is also needed most of the time. And then you submit it, and then it's getting published. Like it's essentially just a lot of waiting and revising. 

Anastasia M.: Wow, well, it sounds like it's a whole different world there. So if you were to do the same thing again, what would you do differently? And what advice could you give to others who are maybe also considering undertaking this journey? 

Julia M.: So what I would do differently is definitely better time management. And also, I know it sounds really cliche, it is very cliche, but just like believing that you can do it. And I mean, I think there's a reason that it's so cliche, because it just is true to some extent. At first, I really doubted myself, like, can I even write this? It's way too difficult. Like, at first, I had no idea what I was even talking about. But you learn through the process. So that's incredibly important. And also, my advice is to not do it over the summer. It’s a bad idea. I mean, during school, it's stressful as well. But it was definitely a challenge to like juggle all of that. 

But also just, you know, if you want to do it, if you're interested in it, just do it. Like, if it works out, amazing, if not, then yeah, at least you have the experience of being able to say “I did this, it didn't work out, but I did it at least.” So yeah, that's pretty much the most important thing. 

Anastasia M.: Of course. Wow. Well, thank you so much for telling us about your paper. And it does sound absolutely amazing the way you underwent so much research and so many hardships, but still managed to get it done all the way. It's, I think, really amazing. So thank you, Julia, for letting me interview you. 

Julia M.: Thank you so much, Anastasia. Thank you so much to all of you and to the wonderful teachers here for giving me the time to talk about it. It's amazing. Thank you.