This collection of interconnected essays explores the author’s personal obsession with two separate disappearances—that of Amelia Earhart, famous aviator who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, and that of 19-year-old Danielle Wright and the crew of The Nina, a sailing vessel that went missing on the Tasman Sea in the summer of 2013. As the author sifts through the remnants of these disappearances, the collection begins to uncover the realities of what it means to disappear—all the many ways a person can, both willingly and unwillingly. The essays explore what it means to be lost, what it means to lose things you cannot get back, what it means to find something you thought was gone forever, and ultimately, what it means to be found.
","abstract_html":"<p>This collection of interconnected essays explores the author’s personal obsession with two separate disappearances—that of Amelia Earhart, famous aviator who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, and that of 19-year-old Danielle Wright and the crew of The Nina, a sailing vessel that went missing on the Tasman Sea in the summer of 2013. As the author sifts through the remnants of these disappearances, the collection begins to uncover the realities of what it means to disappear—all the many ways a person can, both willingly and unwillingly. The essays explore what it means to be lost, what it means to lose things you cannot get back, what it means to find something you thought was gone forever, and ultimately, what it means to be found.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Harsha, Sofie Ellen"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jen Howard"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z","subjects":["disappearance","creative nonfiction","sailing","Amelia Earhart","Tasman Sea","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/53","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jen Howard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Harsha, Sofie Ellen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-07-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["disappearance","creative nonfiction","sailing","Amelia Earhart","Tasman Sea","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/53"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This collection of interconnected essays explores the author’s personal obsession with two separate disappearances—that of Amelia Earhart, famous aviator who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, and that of 19-year-old Danielle Wright and the crew of The Nina, a sailing vessel that went missing on the Tasman Sea in the summer of 2013. As the author sifts through the remnants of these disappearances, the collection begins to uncover the realities of what it means to disappear—all the many ways a person can, both willingly and unwillingly. The essays explore what it means to be lost, what it means to lose things you cannot get back, what it means to find something you thought was gone forever, and ultimately, what it means to be found.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["If I Disappear"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jen Howard"],"dc:creator":["Harsha, Sofie Ellen"],"dc:date.available":["2015-07-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This collection of interconnected essays explores the author’s personal obsession with two separate disappearances—that of Amelia Earhart, famous aviator who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean in 1937, and that of 19-year-old Danielle Wright and the crew of The Nina, a sailing vessel that went missing on the Tasman Sea in the summer of 2013. As the author sifts through the remnants of these disappearances, the collection begins to uncover the realities of what it means to disappear—all the many ways a person can, both willingly and unwillingly. The essays explore what it means to be lost, what it means to lose things you cannot get back, what it means to find something you thought was gone forever, and ultimately, what it means to be found.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/53"],"dc:subject":["disappearance","creative nonfiction","sailing","Amelia Earhart","Tasman Sea","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["If I Disappear"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z"}