Dearest Reader,
On behalf of the editorial and design team, I am proud to present to you the 9th Volume of Occam’s Razor. Each year, the OR staff work diligently to illuminate the diverse voices of Western undergraduates through publication. This year we are pleased to publish academic works of Translation, Literary Analysis, Critical Theory, Political Science, Bio-politics, Bio-logic, Anthropology, and Women’s and Gender Studies. As academics, we are often so deeply involved with our own field interest, that we do not engage with the work of students from other departments and faculties. OR has given many of us the opportunity to share work from numerous departments with the greater Western community. The editors have had the privilege of reading work from a variety of disciplines through our submission process, and now they pass on to you the research that they found most compelling. While the subjects, research methods, and writing styles for the essays that follow are dissimilar, the individual pieces are woven together by common threads of place—whether physical environment, metaphoric, or symbolic—humanity, and calls for socio-political change. All of these themes represent the topics of many discussions that continue to take place, both in and out of the classroom, at WWU. We encourage you to not only read the works within these pages, but to continue the conversation with classmates, friends and family. It is here that I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all those who made this issue possible, the wonderful editorial team Jordan Herrick, Ally Remy, and Megan Troupe; as well as our Lead Designer, Katie Robinson, and her Assistant Designer Kayley Sonheim for the physical manifestation of Vol. 9. Lastly, I would like to thank our Faculty Advisor, Christopher Patton, for his consistent support throughout this year. Please enjoy. On behalf of the Occam’s Razor staff,
Grace Dunbar-Miller Editor-In-Chief
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