The full text of Senior Independent Study Theses submitted during and after 2012 are available to download only by College of Wooster users. Unless listed as an exemplar, all other theses are restricted.

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Senior Independent Study Theses from 2023

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The Creation of Black Paradise: Exploring Wealth Accumulation, Racial Politics, and Resilience of Black Neighborhoods In Detroit's East Side Through Archaeological Reconstruction, Jada B. Green
Department: Archaeology; Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2022

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Examining The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Interventions And Opportunities, Najee Hardaway
Department: Africana Studies

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Afraid To Leave The Closet: An Exploration Of The History Of Heteronormativity Within The Black Church, Tracing The Effects On Gay Black Men, Rondell M. Mackey Jr.
Department: Africana Studies

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Crowns: An Exploration Of The Memories And Lived Experiences Of Black Women And Hair, Seven N. Townsel
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2021

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Snapped: Examining how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation and Food Access Impact Health Outcomes Among Low- income/Low-access (LILA) Populations in Georgia, Paige Clay
Department: Africana Studies; Political Science

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Whitewashing v. Blackwashing: Structural Racism and Anti-Racist Praxis in Hollywood Cinema, Alyssa M. Smith
Department: Africana Studies

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Colonial Roots: How Colonial Roots are Seen in Education, Entertainment, and Politics, Catalina R. Valdez
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2020

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“I want to know of love before I die”: Love, Intimacy, and Sexual Exploitation in the lives of Black Men, Kamal Morgan
Department: Africana Studies

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Before the Streetlights Come on: An Analysis of the Politics of Black Motherhood Within American Society, Alana Smith
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2019

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Black Historical Caricatures and how they led to Black Lives Not Mattering in America, Ariel A. Collins
Department: Africana Studies

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An Examination of the Senegalese Boat Migration, Ousmane Sy
Department: Africana Studies; History

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2018

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Elite African American Football Players’ Career Paths from College, Professional Franchises, and Post Professional Athletic Careers, Roger An
Department: Africana Studies

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A Bleak Hope For My Father: An Analysis of the Need For More Funding Earmarked towards Reentry Programs for African American Males, Derrius R. Jones
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2017

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In Support of Black Girlhood: An Analysis of the Disproportionate Punishment of Black Girls’ Identity Inside of Schools, Shar'da Hammett
Department: Africana Studies

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Black Women's Bodies and the Restoration of Glory: Understanding Beyonce's Lemonade as Political Resistance, Emerald Rutledge
Department: Africana Studies

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'Freedom for the Captives': A critical analysis of the movement to save the life of Troy Anthony Davis, Chadwick Smith
Department: Africana Studies; History

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"The Least of These": Towards an Integrated Queer of Color Critique of the Prison Industrial Complex, Jahqwahn J. Watson
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2016

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Queer (Mask)ulinities: A Comparative Analysis of James Baldwin and Frank Ocean Challenging Heteronormativity in Misogyny, Race and Religion, Ama Addo
Department: Africana Studies

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Perejil and Prejudice: A Theoretical and Historical Investigation of the Relationship between Haitians and Dominicans in the Dominican Republic, Ahlon A. Gonzalez
Department: Africana Studies

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The Glass Ceiling in Schools: An Ethnographic Approach to Understanding the Racial and Economic Inequalities in Selected Chicago City and Suburban Schools, MacKenzie Rae Love
Department: Africana Studies; Sociology and Anthropology

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2015

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The Impact of Neoliberalism on Urban Schools in Cities with Black Mayors: Cases in Newark, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., Miko J. Jones
Department: Africana Studies; History

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Black Women in the Academy: An Argument for Greater Inclusion, Samantha Muther
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2014

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‘Tewo Zamani’—Sickness of this Generation: The Feminization of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, Weyni T. Berhe
Department: Africana Studies

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Mass Incarceration: An Analysis of the Intersectionality of Oppressions and Its Effect on the African American Female during the War on Drugs, 1985-1991, Erica R. Bryant
Department: Africana Studies

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The “Right” Model for Educating Ghanaian Girls: Emerging Themes and Messages from Ghanaian NGO Websites, Eryn E. Greaney
Department: Africana Studies; Sociology and Anthropology

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Internalized Racism, The Nadir, and Lynching: A study of George Schuyler’s Black No More and Countee Cullen’s “Heritage”, Randie D. Henderson
Department: Africana Studies; English

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The New Niggers: A Historical and Contemporary Exploration of the Use of the "N-Word" in the African-American Community, LaTricia Mitchell
Department: Africana Studies

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Oppositional Looking: A Critical Interrogation of The White Female Gaze in "Orange is the New Black", Tiara L. Patton
Department: Africana Studies; Sociology and Anthropology

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The Destructive Consequences of President Barack Obama's New Tradition of Black Political Rhetoric and Post-Racial Discourse on the Black American Community, Amy E. Rice
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2013

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Education Movements in the South: Choice Education in the 20th and 21st century, Marcel Baugh
Department: Africana Studies

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The Aesthetic Spaces Between Artistic Freedom and Cultural Traditions: New Methods For the Curation of Contemporary African Art, Isabelle Briggs
Department: Africana Studies

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The Severed Relationship Between Black/Africana Studies and Black Communities, Gabrielle Hughley
Department: Africana Studies

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Toward a New Approach: The Harms of a Racially Colorblind Education System and the Creation of a Positive Racial Identity at the College of Wooster, Jocelyn Kopfman
Department: Africana Studies

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Gallery of a Colored Girl: How Black and White Perceptions of the Black Female Body Affect the Ways Millennial African American Women Perform Race and Gender On and Off Stage, Jasmine Verreen
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2011

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"Hope I'm Funny...": An Exploration in the Performance of Black Masculinity By African American Male Standup Comedians, Yassamin Davoodi
Department: Africana Studies; Sociology and Anthropology

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Who Do You Think You're Foolin'? Barack Obama and the Crisis of Multiethnic Identity, Timothy Rice
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2008

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Fire in His Wake: Mobutu Sese Seko and Zaire in the 1970s, Benjamin Joseph Downs
Department: Africana Studies

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A Revealing and Remarkable Transformation: An In-Depth Analysis of the Complex Life and Evolution of Malcolm X, Andrew Paul Garnett
Department: Africana Studies; History

Senior Independent Study Theses from 2000

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Rap, Race, and Reaganomics: Political Dynamism in Hip-Hop Culture, Caitlin A. Pine
Department: Africana Studies; Political Science

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1998

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Role of Hegemonically Based Racial Constructs in the Social, Political and Economic Interactions of Developing Countries: Hispanola a Case Study, Jana T. Harris
Department: Africana Studies; Spanish

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1993

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Role of the Black Mother in Two-Parent Black Families: Lower- and Middle-Class, LaSonya Crawl
Department: Africana Studies

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West African Religious Cultural Retentions of the Antebellum Period in the South Carolina and Georgia Sea Islands, Jennifer Duncan
Department: Africana Studies

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Phillis Wheatley in Context: A Critique of Ten Poems Within the Socio-Historical Constraints of Her Life-Time, Erik B. Haakonsen
Department: Africana Studies; English

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1991

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Blacks in the Media: a Critical Analysis, Dionne Ousley
Department: Africana Studies

Theses/Dissertations from 1989

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Race and Class as Divisive Factors in the Women's Liberation Movement: Black Women and Feminism, Catherine White

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1983

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Study of Black and White Female Criminality in Selected Cities in the United States: A Case Study of Atlanta, Georgia, Glenda Jones
Department: Africana Studies

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Sickle Cell Disease in the United States: High Prevalence, Low Priority, Rodney McCalister
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1982

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Power Dilemmas of Black Mayors of Major American Cities, Gary C. Adkins
Department: Africana Studies; Urban Studies

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Public Policy, Poverty, and Socio-Political Factors Contributing to Collective Urban Violence, Susan Lee
Department: Africana Studies

Senior Independent Study Theses from 1979

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Civil Rights Movement in Perspective: "Where Have All the Protestors Gone?", Derrick Cherry
Department: Africana Studies

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Effect of Education on the Economic Mobility of Black Americans in Ohio, 1940-1970, Herbert L. Simmons
Department: Africana Studies