Zoom Link
https://muw.zoom.us/j/99008156381
Department
Languages, Literature, & Philosophy
Format of Presentation
Oral Presentation
Research Category
Humanities
Description
Hope is a universal concept, but based on cultural and historical backgrounds, its presentations can change across cultures. Within this presentation, I will discuss a three-phase qualitative project in which my classmates and I put works from artists such as Fernando Botero, Joan Miró, Edward Hopper, and Minoru Yamasaki through a process called thematic coding. In preparation for the project, we learned about the cultural and historical backgrounds of the two artists from Spanish-speaking countries including Miró from Spain and Botero from Colombia. We also improved our historical knowledge of the artists from the U.S.A. With our acquired knowledge, we moved into phase one, where we began the coding process by closely examining each individual piece and selecting one of four primary forms of hope. We chose either hope in tragedy, hope for the future, collective hope, or spiritual hope, and we explained why we chose each code. During phase two, we analyzed the most common code selected for each work, and we each wrote about why it may have been chosen. Through using these choices and written observations as qualitative data during phase three of our project, I discovered patterns in the way hope was discussed in the context of Spanish-speaking countries compared to in the United States. Within my presentation, I will discuss in detail the convergences and divergences of how hope is displayed across the two cultural groups, as well as the historical and social contexts that shaped those comparisons and what they reveal about hope itself.
Recommended Citation
Carlisle, Olivia Reese, "Hope in Culture: How Hope is Present in Spanish-Speaking Countries and the U.S." (2026). Undergraduate Research Conference. 2.
https://athenacommons.muw.edu/urc/2026/arts-and-humanities-oral-presentations/2
Hope in Culture: How Hope is Present in Spanish-Speaking Countries and the U.S.
Hope is a universal concept, but based on cultural and historical backgrounds, its presentations can change across cultures. Within this presentation, I will discuss a three-phase qualitative project in which my classmates and I put works from artists such as Fernando Botero, Joan Miró, Edward Hopper, and Minoru Yamasaki through a process called thematic coding. In preparation for the project, we learned about the cultural and historical backgrounds of the two artists from Spanish-speaking countries including Miró from Spain and Botero from Colombia. We also improved our historical knowledge of the artists from the U.S.A. With our acquired knowledge, we moved into phase one, where we began the coding process by closely examining each individual piece and selecting one of four primary forms of hope. We chose either hope in tragedy, hope for the future, collective hope, or spiritual hope, and we explained why we chose each code. During phase two, we analyzed the most common code selected for each work, and we each wrote about why it may have been chosen. Through using these choices and written observations as qualitative data during phase three of our project, I discovered patterns in the way hope was discussed in the context of Spanish-speaking countries compared to in the United States. Within my presentation, I will discuss in detail the convergences and divergences of how hope is displayed across the two cultural groups, as well as the historical and social contexts that shaped those comparisons and what they reveal about hope itself.
https://athenacommons.muw.edu/urc/2026/arts-and-humanities-oral-presentations/2