This was a capstone project for the Digital Humanities minor at UCLA. In a group of seven people, and with guidance from our advisor Anthony Caldwell, we examined the changing use of theaters in downtown Los Angeles from the 1900s to the present day due to the changing social, political, cultural, and technological landscape over the decades. Our findings are organized into an ArcGIS storymap containing digital visualizations such as timelines, interactive maps, and a Miro board.

The process for this project involved three key phases: brainstorming, gathering information, and crafting a narrative.

For the first few weeks of the capstone, we were taught a vast history of theaters in DTLA. After this period, we had a large expanse of information from which to derive a research topic. We compiled all the different aspects of theater history that we were interested in and eventually landed on the changing use of theaters as the connection between our different topics of interest. Given how broad this topic is, we developed a thorough project outline and divided the work per this outline.

As I collected more information, I began to draw research insights and organize my findings into a chronological narrative. I had to reallocate some of my findings to other sections of the project due to the wide scope of the topics I researched. Once I had a rough idea of the story I wanted to tell, I began crafting a narrative. I compiled relevant research findings and photographs into a story that illustrated the shift in the fabric of Los Angeles and how that shift manifested itself in theaters. Once all group members had completed their respective sections, everything was compiled into an ArcGIS storymap and we presented our site to our advisor at the end of the quarter.

This project was a final presentation for Special Topics in Digital Humanities, taught by Anthony Caldwell at UCLA. This course focused on learning the history of theaters in downtown Los Angeles and using Vectorworks, a 3D modeling software, to create architectural models of different aspects of the theaters. For this course's final project, I worked in a group of four to analyze design trends of the time and how they influenced the architecture of two major theaters, the Los Angeles Theater and the Tower Theater. I also developed a 3D model of the clock tower of the Tower Theater to further illustrate key aspects of its design.

The process for this project involved four key phases: brainstorming, researching, modeling, and crafting a presentataion.

There were only two restrictions on what topic we could choose to present— it had to relate to theaters in Los Angeles and needed to incorporate a 3D model in some way. These broad guidelines led my group to come up with three potential ideas. After consulting with our professor, we decided to go with a design analysis of two prominent theaters in DTLA and compiled the following research questions:

We then constructed a project outline, divided labor, and set checkpoint deadlines. UCLA Special Collections provided a vast array of primary sources including newspaper clippings, photographs, and theater blueprints. We also utilized internet sources for information about theater history and design motifs of the time.

For the 3D model, we chose to depict the Tower Theater as it had more comprehensive blueprints to work from. Two iconic features of the theater were indicative of the French Renaissance design trends of the decade in which it was built-- the marquee sign and the clock tower. I imported blueprints from UCLA Special Collections and used those measurements to build a to-scale model of the top of the clock tower in Vectorworks as part of the presentation.

This project was an independent research study carried out over an eight-week internship at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. It was part of a larger research project studying the psycho-socio-cultural factors impacting walkability and electric vehicle usage in four major Southeast Asian cities— Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Manila, and Jakarta.

I conducted a literature review of existing data on walkability and cultural analysis of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular. I compiled my findings into a paper and presented it to my advisor, Harvey Neo, as the conclusion to my internship.

This was a final project for the course Introduction to Digital Humanities at UCLA. This group project consisted of identifying and analyzing a dataset in order to answer research questions about a chosen topic.

Unfortunately, the site hosting this project has been taken down by the university and almost all of the content has been lost. The following image is the original title card and the only remnant of the site that I've been able to retain. However, I've provided a link to a map that I incorporated into our site, as well as a description of the associated dataset to provide insight into what the rest of the project generally looked like.

The process for this project involved three key phases: developing research questions, creating data visualizations, and compiling a website.

All my group members were passionate about the environment, so we chose to research climate change. We found a dataset that contained emissions data for the United States, and based on prior knowledge and the factors measured in the data, came up with a list of 12-15 research questions that would help us understand more about the effect US emissions on climate change.

Once we had a clear list of questions, we turned to the data for answers. We first cleaned the dataset, getting rid of any incomplete or unnecessary data, and then used the clean dataset to develop data visualizations. These primarily consisted of bar and line graphs, but also included visualizations like maps and timelines where appropriate, such as the map linked above. To construct that map in particular, I used a second dataset that broke down carbon emissions by state, as our primary dataset only had information for the US as a whole.

A major challenge we encountered was a group member going MIA halfway through the project. After multiple failed attempts to reach her, we communicated the issue with our professor and were able to negotiate a lessened workload compared to other groups that had the full number of people. This significantly alleviated the stress we were feeling in her absence, and we were able to reallocate the remaining work to ensure that we completed the rest of the project by the given deadline.

With the group back on track, we were able to analyze the data visualizations and develop insights relating to how the trends we observed impacted climate change in the foreseeable future. Using these findings, we constructed a comprehensive narrative. This narrative, along with a data critique and the most significant data visualizations, were all compiled into a website and published.