Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
The topic of my thesis is Louis Armstrong and his influence on society and the Civil Rights Movement. The intent is to demonstrate how Louis Armstrong aided the Civil Rights Movement by using his music to promote social justice and racial equality. The focus will be on the context of African-Americans, their social status, and rights from the early 1900s to the mid-1900s. I will connect this to important events in that time such as the fight against Jim Crow Laws and how Louis Armstrong played a role in ending segregation. He accomplished this by pushing the movement forward through speeches, fund-raising events, and his innovation of jazz. Armstrong’s gift was a form of swing jazz that advanced improvisation and emotion of music.
He was criticized for playing to segregated audiences and was thought to keep offensive stereotypes alive. However, Louis Armstrong battled against these conspiracies by performing fund-raising events and through public political stances against the oppression of African-Americans. As an example, he was outspoken about his disapproval of government and the public for their treatment of the nine African-American students enrolled at Little Rock. This resulted in the first time the school would be unsegregated between whites and blacks. Louis Armstrong worked hard in the fight against segregation and used his mastery of jazz to advance the civil rights movement. Finally, I will make a proposal as to how society can learn from Louis Armstrong and how to inspire new innovative forms of positively influencing society to help the less fortunate.
Every day, the boys drive past Merlin’s Magic Shop on the way back from school. Today when Timmy and Ben ride past the store, Timmy sees something new in the window. It appears to be an old box. Wooden, a little worn in, but it still looks like something special.
The boys go inside to ask someone about the box. Towards the back of the store there is an older gentleman stocking the shelves. The gentleman sees the boys looking his way and he begins to head towards Timmy and Ben.
“How do you do?” the man asks. He can tell they are stealing glances at the box, too nervous to ask about it. He points towards the object in the window and says, “You know, that was my old magic box when I was a boy. I thought it looked like it might need a new home.”
Timmy thinks for a moment. The man seems a bit odd—could this really be magic or is he tricking us? By the way he talks, it’s as if he already knows what people are thinking. He knew right away that we wanted that box. He can be standing in the middle of an aisle and in the blink of an eye, he’s gone! Is he magic himself? The store is odd too. You won’t find more than two of an item in there. The store is full of wands and hats and capes, but none of them look the same. Nothing comes in packages or pretty boxes—everything comes as it is, as if it has been used before.