Neil Croy
April 24, 2015
Neil Croy
Colleges: Liberal Arts and Honors College
Majors: English and Creative Writing
Minor: Philosophy and American Studies
Why did you choose Purdue?
I chose Purdue after attending a recruiting event for honors students during high school. Everyone I talked to from the College of Liberal Arts and the honors program convinced me that Purdue could offer the best of both worlds with the rigor of a large research university and the community of a smaller liberal arts college.
What is your passion and why do you do what you do?
I really love reading and writing, both fiction and criticism, and I’m always up for learning new things. My current interests include studies in media such as film and video games, but I’ll also never say no to a good twentieth century novel. I think that by studying and experiencing a wide variety of cultural productions we can learn things about society and ourselves that will change the way we view the world.
Why did you choose to graduate with Honors? What was the main benefit for you?
I decided to join the Honors program partially because I wanted to undertake the process of writing a senior thesis that would cap off my undergraduate career. It was the perfect opportunity to do research that was more extensive than anything I had done before, and I knew it would prepare me for similar work in the future.
Explain your thesis/scholarly project.
For my thesis, I did a close play-through of the military shooter video game Spec Ops: The Line, and analyzed it using a combination of game theory and postcolonial literary analysis. My primary claim was that Spec Ops, a game that takes place in post-apocalyptic Dubai, followed a pattern of misrepresenting the Middle East known as “Orientalism,” which was coined by the Palestinian-American theorist Edward Said.
How did you get into this research?
I took a seminar in research and thesis-writing during the spring semester of my senior year with Dr. Nancy Peterson, head of Purdue’s English Department. During that time, Dr. Peterson encouraged me to pursue research in an area that I hadn’t gotten to delve into in classes (game theory) while still drawing on my academic influences (literary criticism).
What were some of the highlights during your college career?
Being a member of the Dammon Dean’s Scholars learning community my freshman year was incredible, and has left me with a group of lifelong friends. I also adored being able to be a mentor in the Honors College’s sustainability project for first year students when I was a junior. Finally, my thesis research, as I never could have dreamed I would have been able to study video games in English at Purdue!
What was your favorite Honors course and why?
I think Bob Lamb is everyone’s favorite English professor, and his honors courses are especially superb. I took Great American Books with him during my sophomore year, and there was never a dull moment in any of our discussions.
Tell us about a few of your extra-curricular activities that played significant roles during your time at Purdue.
I’ve been involved in Purdue’s Student English Association since my freshman year at Purdue, and that has been another source of really meaningful friendships with people who enjoy books and movies as much as I do. In addition, I’ve edited the undergraduate literary magazine, The Bell Tower, each year, which has shaped my understanding of fiction and poetry.
What’s next after graduation?
After graduation I plan to work and take some time off from school, but I also plan on continuing my education in graduate school in the not-so-distant future.
What is one word to describe your overall Purdue experience and why?
My word would have to be “growth.” I know it sounds like it could describe anyone’s college experience, but no single word could describe my experience more fully than that.
