From Study Abroad to Honors Thesis
Article by Jaycelin Eyre
Tala Alnasser is an Honors student double-majoring in Public Relations and French, and the current BYUSA Vice President. This summer, she joined the Global Faith and Belonging Study Abroad on a trip to France, England, and Italy. For one of her courses, Tala chose to complete a special project that has springboarded her Honors thesis topic: the Christian Gaze. Below, her fellow study abroad member and Honors student, Jaycelin Eyre, interviews her about her experience.
[Jayci] I’d love to start off with some fun facts you’d like people to know about you. What would be good in a “highlight of Tala”?
[Tala] For me, probably that I was born in Jordan and have moved more than six times. I speak three languages, and I love cooking and chess.
[Jayci] I thought it would be cool to do a skills of inquiry themed story, because that's one of the four Honors Program mission pillars. Developing our skills of inquiry is how we learn to ask and answer questions. In short, Honors students aim to interrogate ideas through hands-on research and experience. Tell me about your question for your study abroad project.
[Tala] For my special project, I wanted to find an answer for the question, “What is the Christian gaze and how does it manifest differently in our understanding of world religions?”
[Jayci] Okay, so what process led you to develop that question?
[Tala] I think what led me to think of that question was a couple of different things. First, being at BYU, religion is constantly in the discussion. That got me thinking about my own religion [Islam]. Then, one of the classes that I took was Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. We talked about the white gaze—this idea that whiteness is the norm, and everything else is a deviation away from it.
[Tala] And then I started thinking about it more. What if there was a Christian gaze, where Christianity is seen as the norm, and everything else is a deviation away from it? I started seeing it more and more—in the news, media, social media, the conversations we have, [and] the language that we use. That led me to develop my question, what is the Christian gaze? What are its different components? Where do we see it? How do we see it manifesting in different mediums?
[Jayci] Did your question change at all as you learned more on the study abroad?
[Tala] I don’t know if it changed so much, but it did narrow down a lot more because I was able to make it more concrete. If I don't articulate my thoughts, then do I really know what I'm saying, right? On the study abroad, I developed the vocabulary [to] talk about religion within the context of identity or media. Learning terms such as ‘civic identity’ or ‘the secular hymn’ really helped me conceptualize [my question] a lot better.
[Jayci] So, it's not necessarily that your question changed a ton, but you discovered more in answers to your question. Talk to me about some of the answers that you found.
[Tala] One thing I learned was that the Christian gaze manifests into civic identity. Think of [how] people have Easter or Christmas break off, even though it's a secular country. These Christian holidays are seen as a part of the culture, instead of a religious celebration.
I also learned how the Christian gaze is seen in government-owned spaces, [like] the placement of kings in replacement of Jesus. So, when we went to the Pantheon in France, you could just see a statue of one of the French leaders on the church altar. Another example is using Christian art colors when they're painting monarchs and emperors. So, a lot of blues, a lot of gold. Those were previously used in Christian art to depict divinity.
Another thing that I noticed is what role the Christian gaze has played in perpetuating ‘othering.’ Examples of this include contemporary Islamophobia and its traces to the Crusades, and anti-Semitism. There's a quote that was in one of the museums where Hitler said something like, ‘I want to turn this into a garden of Eden,’ referring to the elimination of Jews.
Even the everyday terminology that we sometimes use, like the term ‘religion’ in and of itself, you know, was created in reference to other religions [outside of Christianity]. So those are just a few things that I learned about during the trip.
[Jayci] I admire how much you noticed and picked up on. How did you see those patterns and observations? Did you just know the question that you had and looked for things that matched up? Did you talk to people about it?
[Tala] There were certain ‘aha’ moments that I would look for, where I'm reading something, and it just clicks. Then I think more about it. What I used was actually a method that I learned in PR for how to separate or how to organize…by question. I would notice patterns between different images and places, like thinking, ‘Oh, I remember seeing a similar thing in the Pantheon.’ And then that would start generating patterns in my head.
[Jayci] I love that. I remember you talking to me about how this is going to be leading into your thesis work, which will be about the Christian gaze, right? Can you tell me a little bit about how you’r your study abroad experience helped you prepare for your Honors thesis?
[Tala] I think the study abroad helped me prepare for my Honors thesis because it gave me the opportunity for the first time to put the idea on paper and test the waters with preliminary research without having too much at stake. [And] when you read about depictions of different religions, it's a lot different than seeing it in front of your eyes. Getting that hands-on experiential learning has really helped me learn how to find a pattern where it seems like there is none. Moving forward, it's going to be a lot easier for me to find components of the Christian gaze in other mediums, because I have a good foundation from the study abroad.
[Jayci] Obviously, this story is very relevant to you and your own identity as a Muslim. Is there anything you’d like to share about your experiences and faith?
[Tala] I’m a Muslim, and Jordanian and Palestinian. What has led me to pursue this project is, number one, the number of stereotypes that exist about Muslims and Arabs, and how much those two are seen as synonymous. When I meet a person for the first time, I end up spending the first 20 minutes explaining what Islam is not.
I would say that I am very much a person that advocates for having your personal experiences and biases play an active role in the research that you do, instead of a passive role. I am not trying to be objective here. When people try to be objective, it doesn’t make any sense. When authors, writers, and researchers are actively engaged in what they're writing, it’s a lot more personal and relevant, I think. I'm a Muslim researcher, and I think that doesn't discredit me—it empowers me.
[Jayci] I remember a conversation we had previously about your philosophy about learning and asking questions. I think it’s something that would be great for other Honors students to hear.
[Tala] Okay, my philosophy on learning is actively engaging in the material. What that looks like may be asking the person who's teaching a question that might seem controversial, but really it might just enhance the learning experience. That's what I try doing. I try asking hard questions sometimes, because putting yourself in uncomfortable situations is how you learn. Internalizing the material helps a ton, even if you don't agree with it. Understand the methodology: how you got there, how the other person got to that answer using what logic, and being able to articulate ‘why’ helps you understand why the person thinks differently than you do. It helps you see the strengths and weaknesses in their argument.
Something else that I try to use is active recall, whether it's journaling by myself, or talking to someone—like explaining it to your friend when you're talking to them about your day. That’s what I found most useful when I’m trying to retain information.
I'm of the belief that if you get the urge to do something, then some part of it is meant for you. So, anytime I have the little urge to poke a bit, I do it—because why not? —and it always ends up being awesome. I've never been in a situation where I regretted asking a question.
[Jayci] Thank you, Tala!