AP Seminar - IMP Oral Defense

1. How did some preliminary information you gathered inform your research?

When I started my research, I thought nostalgia was just remembering the past fondly. But after reading Norberg's article about "False Nostalgia," I realized it was more complex, affecting history and identity deeply. This helped me focus specifically on how nostalgia affects Bahamians because they have a complicated colonial past.

What evidence did you gather that you didn’t include? Why did you choose not to include it?

I found interesting evidence about Nubian culture and tourism from Sherif and capitalism from Natali. I chose not to include this because it went too deeply into economic or tourism issues, and I wanted to keep my focus more on cultural identity and historical memory.

How did your research question evolve as you moved through the research process?

At first, my research question was very broad, about how nostalgia shapes cultures in general. As I researched more, I narrowed it down specifically to Bahamians after independence in 1973. This made my research clearer and easier to understand.

Did your research go in a different direction than you originally expected?

Yes. At first, I thought nostalgia was mostly positive. But after reading more, especially Norberg and Binney, I saw that nostalgia could also cause issues, like ignoring important historical facts. So, my research ended up showing both positive and negative sides clearly.

What information did you need that you weren’t able to find or locate?

I wanted specific studies or surveys on how young Bahamians feel about nostalgia and their identity. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find detailed research specifically about young Bahamians, which is a gap I noticed for future studies.

. How did you approach and synthesize the differing perspectives in order to reach a conclusion?

I organized different views into clear groups: history, culture, and economy. Then, I balanced the good and bad sides. For instance, I compared Binney’s idea about preserving history through stories to Norberg’s idea about nostalgia causing misunderstandings. My conclusion ended up balancing these perspectives, suggesting nostalgia can be helpful if managed carefully. I dived further into perspectives of colonized and colonizers.

What additional questions emerged from your research? Why are these questions important?

• How do younger Bahamians specifically view nostalgia’s influence on their identity?

• How can tourism based on nostalgia keep culture authentic?

• How do communities remember history accurately without losing their shared cultural pride?

What are the implications of your findings to your community?

My findings matter because they suggest we should be careful how nostalgia shapes our views of history and culture. In my community, this could mean rethinking how history is taught in schools or portrayed in tourism, ensuring all perspectives—including less popular or marginalized ones—are represented fairly.

How is your conclusion in conversation with the body of literature or other research sources you examined?

My conclusion matches what other authors said by showing both the positives and negatives of nostalgia. It agrees with Binney that nostalgia preserves cultural identity but also with Norberg that it can distort history. I suggested we should use nostalgia thoughtfully, as many of the authors did.

How did you use the conclusions or questions of others to advance your own research?

used Norberg's caution about nostalgia’s negative side to challenge my initial view. I used Brown & Humphreys’s ideas about identity to better understand how nostalgia affects culture. And Thompson & Dean’s study helped me focus on how nostalgia specifically applies to Bahamians, which guided my entire argument.