This paper represents an attempt to account for two projects completed during the course of the fall semester of 2009. It will ground and illuminate the projects, my experiences while completing them, and the program-space in which they were completed. Relying heavily on the narrativizing and working through of intimate personal experiences, the paper will conclude by suggesting that we rethink the value of silence in communication. / text

This report attempts to trace a path through my time in higher education, from an undergraduate degree in English to the completion of my Master's degree in Media studies. The report will focus on examining how school has differed from my expectations, and how my difficulties and struggles therein led me through various class models and modes of learning. In the course of retelling the projects and studies I worked on, I will compare different methods of pedagogy, from the typical grad school class to the free-form space of the ACTLab. I close by reflecting on how a report on my own time here at UT might be useful to others unsure of how grad school is supposed to go, much I was when I started out. / text

This dissertation looks at online and offline car culture in Central Texas. The online car culture observed is on Internet car forums and other Internet sources for car enthusiasts. Offline car culture deals with various types of car events around the central Texas area. These events include, but are not limited to, car shows, street races, and street meets. Cultural practices were observed in both types of environments and are analyzed by using hybridity theory, gender analysis and race analysis. / text