Undergraduate Research Reports: Yuqi Tian on Decentering Humans through Interactive Experience Design

We're so pleased to provide undergraduate research opportunities! Yuqi Tian worked with Yangyang Yang on a project exploring anthropocentric worldview's contribution to environmental degradation. From Yuqi:

Through the course of the semester, I was able to practice my skills in literature review, graphic editing, and usage of animation and graphic design softwares. At the beginning of the semester, I helped Yangyang organize theoretical writings on topics such as the more-than-human world, anthropocene, as well as ecofeminism. We then moved on to reviews on papers and projects around human computer interaction, ai ethics as well as understanding animal behavior and scientific education through ai. In the last part of the semester, we focused more on practices on graphic design, 3d modeling, and photo editing. During these few weeks, I assisted Yangyang in works such as testing animation softwares, converting videos to frames, as well as selecting and editing photos.

During the BCNM Undergraduate Research Fellowship, I learned things such as what organizing a larger project or exhibition entails, how to effectively search for and analyze scientific and theoretical materials, as well as more technical skills such as graphic design. Moreover, I was introduced to many different animation and modeling softwares that will be useful in the future, among other things such as teamwork, effective communication, as well as critical theoretical analysis.