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So this week was actually... pretty productive. I realized that Twitter had sort of turned into a source of anxiety with the constant news about Coronavirus, so I've had to figure out other ways to spend my time and apparently that made me super motivated to work on this project. Silver lining I guess.
The biggest thing this week is that I read the Shuri comics series by Nnedi Okorafor, and I LOVED it. The plot was great and well-paced, and I love Shuri's character and all the awesome crossovers that happened. This series also highlighted themes and concepts like the important roles women have in Wakandan society and politics and also Shuri's existence as somebody who enjoys making connections and working with people outside of Wakanda. These ideas are also present in the Black Panther film, and I think are ripe for exploring in a fic set after Shuri has been put in charge of a worldwide outreach program.
I also read this academic article by Bibi Burger and Laura Engels discussing the Coates Black Panther comic series. It was a really helpful primer on Afrofuturism and the history of the Black Panther character and does a really good job breaking down the socio-political conflict that happens in the series.
On the neuroscience/psychology side of things, my research this week was focused primarily on PTSD symptoms and current treatment options, and also I did some reading on current technologies for prostheses. For both of these topics, I was mostly reading review articles as a starting point because these areas are not my specialty. I also looked at some articles presenting models of describing mental health conditions dimensionally rather than categorically. That is, putting more focus on the presence and severity of particular symptoms, rather than giving it a specific label. The mental health care field is shifting more and more to this type of model, and it's something I imagine Wakanda would already be doing.
I'm sure I'll still be researching as I plan and write, but as of now, I feel like I have a solid foundation to start outlining the story, so I'm very excited!
What I accomplished this week:
The biggest thing this week is that I read the Shuri comics series by Nnedi Okorafor, and I LOVED it. The plot was great and well-paced, and I love Shuri's character and all the awesome crossovers that happened. This series also highlighted themes and concepts like the important roles women have in Wakandan society and politics and also Shuri's existence as somebody who enjoys making connections and working with people outside of Wakanda. These ideas are also present in the Black Panther film, and I think are ripe for exploring in a fic set after Shuri has been put in charge of a worldwide outreach program.
I also read this academic article by Bibi Burger and Laura Engels discussing the Coates Black Panther comic series. It was a really helpful primer on Afrofuturism and the history of the Black Panther character and does a really good job breaking down the socio-political conflict that happens in the series.
On the neuroscience/psychology side of things, my research this week was focused primarily on PTSD symptoms and current treatment options, and also I did some reading on current technologies for prostheses. For both of these topics, I was mostly reading review articles as a starting point because these areas are not my specialty. I also looked at some articles presenting models of describing mental health conditions dimensionally rather than categorically. That is, putting more focus on the presence and severity of particular symptoms, rather than giving it a specific label. The mental health care field is shifting more and more to this type of model, and it's something I imagine Wakanda would already be doing.
I'm sure I'll still be researching as I plan and write, but as of now, I feel like I have a solid foundation to start outlining the story, so I'm very excited!
What I accomplished this week:
- Read the Shuri comics run
- Read Burger & Engels article about Coates run
- Read PTSD symptoms and treatment
- Read on current prostheses technology
- Outline at least the first half of the fic
