Graduation Year
2021
Date of Submission
5-2021
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environmental Analysis
Reader 1
Char Miller
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
The thrill of surfing is indescribable and otherworldly, yet the activity is grounded in nature and physics. As the wave’s force takes control, the sloping crest catches the surfboard’s fin, then pushes me on a continuous ride via inertia. In that moment, effortlessly gliding forwards on a surge of water, I feel weightless. Force couples with the board’s buoyancy, and I seem to defy the laws of gravity. The wave’s unrestrained power can easily drag me down to the bottom of the ocean floor and tumble me in its unpredictable hold. Mother Nature’s capacity for forcefulness challenges my mind and body to harness its energy into one seamless dance across the wall of water. There are no analogous guiding steps or fixed rhythm in surfing as in dance; each samba varies. The wave’s conditions and my stylistic adaptations to those conditions determine my composite ride.
Recommended Citation
Franklin, Jennifer, "Waves of Colonialism and Whitewashing Legacies: A Critical Analysis of Race in the Dominant Surf Narrative" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2783.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2783
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
