UNC senior’s thesis goes beyond the books

Sarah Booker started her honors thesis at UNC. But unlike many comparative literature honors theses, it took her well beyond a book list and Wilson Library.

Instead, it landed the UNC senior 2,400 miles away in Otavalo, Ecuador.

Last summer, Booker traveled to Ecuador for Inti Raymi, or the Sun Festival, to study indigenous music as a form of resistance.

Eric Downing, Booker’s thesis adviser, said students who write an honors thesis in comparative literature usually work off of a summer book list. But Booker wanted to pursue her project in the field.

And he said Booker excelled at it.

“She’s extraordinary,” he said. “She really pulled it off — one of the most accomplished workers and thinkers that I’ve had the pleasure of working with here at Carolina.”

Booker said her interest in travel and alternative forms of literature inspired her to pursue the project.

By attending the festival, which is centered around the music of the indigenous people, she was able to observe indigenous music firsthand.

“The music is very much the way that they define themselves, way more than we see here,” she said.

“It was amazing,” she added. “It was totally different than anything else I’ve ever experienced.”

Her thesis compared the work of a theater and its performances, which reacted to the Argentinian government’s Dirty War of 1976-83, to the use of indigenous music as a form of resistance in present-day Ecuador.

“They’re not necessarily trying to stop outside influence,” she said. “They’re just trying to maintain their own roots as well.”

Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, Booker’s faculty adviser and an anthropology professor, said he’s glad Booker was able to reach outside of Chapel Hill for her research.

“It was a great collaboration, and it really is the model that anthropological research tries to follow,” he said.

Booker said she applied for many grants and received four, including a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) for $3,500.

Downing said Booker presented him with five new pages each week, along with revisions. Her final thesis totaled more than 100 pages.

“She’s a very mature, motivated and conscientious scholar,” he said. “It was her project. It was what she wanted to do, and she did it.”

Booker will graduate in May with a double major in Spanish and comparative literature. In September, she will travel to Spain to teach English for a year. She then wants to attend graduate school at the University of Iowa and work for a Masters of Fine Arts in literary translation.

“We’ll see where I end up going with it,” she said.

Booker said undergraduates should look into research opportunities.

“UNC has a lot of opportunities and a lot of funding for people to do a lot of worthwhile, neat things to learn outside of the classroom, to travel wherever,” she said.

“I don’t think people take advantage of it enough, and I think that they should.”

Colloredo-Mansfeld agreed and said students should find something that interests them and pursue it.

“(Booker) shows you how far you can go with a good idea, a lot of work and a little luck,” he said.

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