Essay On Miscegenation In Colonial Latin America

My research project began with a broad topic: miscegenation in colonial Latin America. Professor Ray gave us the freedom to choose a specific colonial context in which to explore the themes of gender, race, and sexuality. The previous semester, I did a research project on enslaved women in the Caribbean, so I knew I wanted to explore Latin America to learn more about that specific colonial context. In order to find primary sources that would help me narrow down my project further, I went to the research help desk in the library and worked with Melanie to find a the Slave Trade in Spanish America collection. In the archives, Chloe helped me to request the collection which I was able to browse, even though I decided to to use it in my final …show more content…
This project taught me that research papers can be really enjoyable if the process of researching and writing starts early. Not only was starting early on this project advantageous in completing the paper on time, I also realized that starting early gave me more time to really explore my interests. Because I had so much freedom throughout this process, I found the process more enjoyable overall than any other research paper I had done. Choosing my own research and guiding myself was really rewarding, and I felt more invested in the product of my work. I also had a tremendous amount of institutional support throughout the process which helped the process feel less overwhelming. I used to be scared of reading and writing history, but Professor Ray and the multiple employees at the library who assisted me for this project made me feel more confident engaging with history. Until I did this paper, I was not aware of all the systems in place to support undergraduate students doing research. In the future, I will be more willing to access all the resources available to me. I also found a strategy for researching and writing that works really well for me that I can implement in the