Proposal

Have you ever wondered why the picture of the sorority quad from the sundial is so popular? I’m sure you know at least one person that has a picture of them and their friend standing in front of the wall looking down the quad toward McCracken Hall on their Facebook or Twitter. I know I can say I do. Why is this space so popular? It’s just a quad with grass right? Not so much. There are many discourses that play into the popularity of this picture.

I am asking you to considerer letting me research this space to find out why it is so popular. My plan is to sit by the sundial on a weekend day and a weekday to see which day would get the most traffic. I figure this is one factor that can contribute to the amount of pictures taken there. Next, I would like to find out is it students taking the majority of the pictures, or is it future students, or is it just people that happen to be visiting. Thirdly, what landscape discourses contribute to the appeal of this space? Is there something in particular that makes this space popular?  These are just some of the things I would like to research in this space to answer the question why is this a popular space to take pictures?

I think I am qualified to study this space because I live in the sorority quad (not in a sorority hall) and I notice quite often people take pictures there. I always think to myself, why out of the entire campus do people choose to take a picture there. Maybe they have taken pictures elsewhere but I do not notice that as often as I do in this particular space. I would like to answer this question and see if this has to contribute to a social following, or is it just coincidence.