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Senior Independent Study Theses from 2017
The Efficacy of Regional Organizations to Mediate Durable Peace: A Comparative Case Study of Liberia and Sierra Leone, Parker Ohlmann
Department: Political Science
Philosophies of Faith and the Megachurch Phenomenon: A Personal and Academic Encounter with Kierkegaard, Royce, and a Changing Faith, Peter M. Olson
Department: English; Philosophy
A Machine Learning Approach To Understanding Against Party-Line Voting in Congress, John W. O'Neill
Department: Computer Science; Political Science
“Title IX … It’s All That, But It’s Not”: An Anthropological Perspective on Black Women in Sport, Dyese N. Osaze
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Incoherent Broadband Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy: Improving Sensitivity while Studying Solvent Effects in Benzene, Ryan W. Ostendorf
Department: Chemistry
An Analysis of the Erosion at Wooster Memorial Park near Wooster, Ohio, Sharron Osterman
Department: Geology
Child Maltreatment, Cortisol, and Neurodevelopment: How Home-Life and Cortisol Affect Mental Health, Jessica D. Packard
Department: Neuroscience
Assessing the Impact of Universities on Innovation and Economic Growth in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Michael Pappalardo
Department: Urban Studies
It's an Ant's Life: A Moral and Political Account of the Valuable and Meaningful Life, Isaac Parker
Department: Philosophy
The Mentality of Strength: A Study on the Effects of Grit, Self-Control, and Conscientiousness on Rate of Progress in Powerlifting, Robert L. Park
Department: Psychology
An Investigation of Debt Financing in Industrial Firms Pre-Post the Financial Crisis: A Theoretical and Empirical Study, Matthew Parmelee
Department: Business Economics
The Art of Function: An Exploration in Reclaimed Furniture Design, Abbey E. Partika
Department: Art and Art History
Measuring the Effects of Early Life Stress, Adulthood Chronic Stress, and Allopregnanolone on Spatial Learning and Memory in Female Sprague-Dawley Rats, Jessica C. Partyka
Department: Neuroscience
Rebuilding a Community: A Consideration of the Syncretic Healing Practices and the Symbols the Healers Manipulate, Emily M. Patterson
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Spatial Stories: Navigating Caverns, Cities, and Highways, Ransom Patterson
Department: English
Self, Identity, and Stigma: An Examination of the Chronically Ill Athlete, Kennedy C. Payne
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study in Music Composition: An Exploration of Loss, Victoria E. Peacock
Department: Music
The Efficacy of Osorb® as a Catalyst Replacement for Friedel-Crafts Acylation, Alex Pearson
Department: Chemistry
When it Rains it Pours: A Comparative Case Study of the Relationship between Climate Variability and State Security in the West African Sahel, Aleksi M. Pelkonen
Department: Global and International Studies
PTSD in VR: Building Empathy for Survivors of Sexual Assault Through Virtual Reality Video Game Playing, Alexandra Pereyra
Department: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Culture for Culture’s Sake: The Politics and Economics of the UNESCO World Heritage Brand on Tourism, Cara N. Peterson
Department: Global and International Studies
Effects of Mental Contrasting and Implementation Intentions on Life Skills Performance in the Context of Poverty, Phuong Nhu Pham
Department: Psychology
Nightfall, Quan Phan
Department: Music
Are Virtual Things Real? An an investigation into the nature of virtual reality, Zachary Phillips-Gary
Department: Computer Science; Philosophy
Help! My Technology has a Personality and I Don't Like It: Examining Undergraduate Students' Comfort Levels on Building Interpersonal Relationships with, and the Development of, Emerging Technologies, Jesse D. Phillips
Department: Communication Studies
Effects of Diet and Exercise on Stress Tolerance and Cognitive Processes involved with Mental Health, Ashley M. Pogue
Department: Neuroscience
The Scopes Trial of 1925, the American Press, and Multiple Public Spheres, Connor James Polak
Department: History
"Orange Is the New Black": The Skin-Tanning Phenomenon and Its Influence on Perceptions of Race, Class, and Gender, Madeleine Polovick
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Effect of Matrix Composition on the Photodegradation of Acetaminophen, Jake W. Polster
Department: Chemistry
Blinded by the Light: An Investigation of the Wave Propagation of Vector Modes of Light in a Spherically Symmetric Refractive Index Profile, Preston B. Pozderac
Department: Mathematics; Physics
Destroying the World to Save It: Nostalgia, Home, and the Apocalypse, Leah J. Prescott
Department: English
When to Move on: Generalist Insect Pollinators Exhibit a Temporal Decrease in Floral Fidelity Towards a Common Prairie Perennial, Echinacea angustifolia, Leah J. Prescott
Department: Biology
Running in Place: The United States War on Drugs in Colombia (1960-2003), Aidan N. Prien
Department: History; Global and International Studies
Cracking Fracking: Explaining Policy Differences Across States on the Marcellus Shale Rock Unit, Jacob Pries
Department: Political Science
Still Saluting: An Exploration of the Identities of Veterans of the United States Military Who Pursue Protective Service Work Upon Reentry into Civilian Life, Lauren E. Pugliese
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Grasping the Void: Immersion Tactics Using Gesture Controlled Physics Interaction Systems in Virtual Reality, Avery Rapson
Department: Computer Science
Allelochemical Extraction from Soil Using Swellable Organically Modified Silica, Adrienne Reding
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Liebe, Leid und Rache: Die Wiederentdeckung des Mittelalters im 19. Jahrhundert und der daraus resultierende Einfluss auf den Anstieg des Nationalismus im Laufe des Jahrhunderts., Adrienne Reding
Department: German Studies
School Outside?: An ethnography of American forest kindergartens and nature preschools and how “nature” is used in these “classrooms”, Emily T. Reid
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Determining Flexible Behavior during Crisis Management: Comparing Presidential Crisis Leadership During the Cuban Missile Crisis and the U.S.S. Pueblo Crisis, Jason Phillip Rhee
Department: Political Science
Narrating Reality, Shoshana A. Rice
Department: English
Environmental and Epistemic Injustice in Ironbound, Stephany M. Rivera
Department: Environmental Studies; Philosophy
Jack In: An Exploration of Immersion in Virtual Environments, Lewis Roberts
Department: Computer Science
Development of Ruthenium (II)-Mesoionic Carbene Complexes for Investigation of Secondary Coordination Sphere Interactions in Homogeneous Catalysis, Lindsay L. Robinson
Department: Chemistry
Political Representation: Who Decides? An Analysis of the Media's Coverage of Women's Political Underrepresentation, Maeve Rogers
Department: Political Science
Investigating the Impact of Substituent Positioning on the Photochemistry of meta and ortho Aminobenzoic Acid Derivatives, Haley A. Rossiter
Department: Chemistry
Unleashing Potential: An Investigation of the Social Effects of Pediatric Autism Assistance Dogs, Julia B. Rothschild
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
What the Hell is Happening?: A Critical and Creative Examination of Hell in Pop Culture, Mallory J. Rozakis
Department: English
What is Privacy? The Threat of Surveillance and Blackmail in the 21st Century, Harrison S. Ruprecht
Department: Philosophy
Black Women's Bodies and the Restoration of Glory: Understanding Beyonce's Lemonade as Political Resistance, Emerald Rutledge
Department: Africana Studies
The Prince of Labrador, Aaron C. Salzman
Department: English
Understanding Mental Causation in the Enlightenment of Top-down Causation in the Physical Systems, Ziyi Sang
Department: Philosophy; Physics
Gods and Guns: Examining the Effects of Shared Religious Plurality on Military Expinditure, Marco A. Sapien
Department: Political Science; Global and International Studies
¿(In)Dependencia? La crítica social en la novela Cien años de soledad de Gabriel García Márquez, Hallie S. Scanlon
Department: Spanish
Once Upon a Recital: Vulnerability Represented in Music Inspired by Fairy Tales, Laura EG Schneider
Department: Music
How Long Can We Tolerate This? Understanding the Wallace Vote, Racial Backlash in the Metropolitan North, & the Emergence of the Modern American Right, Frederik W. Schoenfeld
Department: History; Political Science
Growing Up: American Idiot and the Role Music Plays in Society, Stephen T. Schreiber
Department: Communication Studies
The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Ambivalence, and Relationship Outcomes within Romantic Partnerships, Victoria J. Schriber
Department: Psychology
The Individual, Social, and Cultural Perception of Non-native Phonemes: A Neuroscientific and Linguistic Study, Marie Louise Schroder
Department: French and Francophone Studies; Neuroscience
@RealDonaldTrump in the 2016 Presidential Election: A Rhetorical Analysis of a "Great" Spokesperson for the Paranoid Style, Tyler D. Schuch
Department: Communication Studies
The Effects of Teaching Methods on Children’s Concept of Living Things, Lydia E. Schwartz
Department: Psychology
Immigration Policy Demanders: The Influence of U.S. Interests Groups and the American Electorate on Major Political Party Platforms, Scott D. Sears
Department: Political Science
The Impact of Confidence and Doubt on The Effect of Social Pressure, Larissa Severns
Department: Psychology
Once Upon a Regime: Nazi and Soviet Propaganda in Children’s Literature in the 1930s and 40s, Grace Shannon
Department: German Studies; Russian Studies
Disaster Discourse in Official Chinese Media: An Analysis of Media Response to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquakeake and the 2015 Tianjin Explosions, Marie Sheehan
Department: Chinese Studies; Political Science
Biophysical Characterization of the Cofactors in the NicAB Complex from Bacillus niacini, Laura A. Sherer
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Role of the Adipokinetic Hormone Precursor (AKH-I) in Regulating the Blood feeding Behavior of Female Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes, Gitika Shriyan
Department: Biology
A Cooperstown Controversy: An Analysis of the Debate Surrounding Alleged Steroid Users' Candidacies for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Jordan E. Shusterman
Department: Communication Studies
Projection of Groundwater Pumping Sustainability in Volta Wildlife Refuge, Merced County, CA, Helen Siegel
Department: Geology
It Is Not About How Much You Pay, But How You Pay It: The Motivational Effects of Compensation on Worker Effort Using Self-Determination Theory, Unnati Singhania
Department: Business Economics; Psychology
Modeling the Commitment to Senescence Through Mitochondrial Fusion and Chromosomal Restructuring, Herbert Sizek
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The Role of New National Monuments on the American Religious Understanding of Land, Herbert Sizek
Department: Religious Studies
The Cicada's Lullaby: Myth and Media in Feminism and Appalachian Culture during the Kennedy Years, Lucas R. Skoglund
Department: Film Studies; History
Attitudes Toward the Police, Danielle Marie Slichenmyer
Department: Psychology
Senior Independent Study in Music Composition by Bridget R. Slone, Bridget Slone
Department: Music
Priestess of Potnia: A Story of Women, Cult Practices, and Mycenaean Society in the Bronze Age Aegean, Bethany K. Smith
Department: Classical Studies; History
'Freedom for the Captives': A critical analysis of the movement to save the life of Troy Anthony Davis, Chadwick Smith
Department: Africana Studies; History
Get You a Girl That Can Do Both: A Feminist Economic Analysis of Parental Leave Policies and Labor Force Participation in the United States, Germany, and Turkey, Heather Smith
Department: Economics; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Show Me the Money: A Study of Interrelationships between a Regional Theatre's Revenue and Location, Rebecca Snedeker-Meier
Department: Theatre and Dance
99 Bottles of Wine on the Wall: How the Commodification of Terroir Impacts Small Producer Viability in a Global Economy, Christina Solazzo
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Stereotype Threat as a Mechanism by Which Intelligence-Based Tasks Impair Black Children’s Performance, Jason E. Solinsky
Department: Psychology
From Life Circumstance to Cultural Competence: Understanding Barriers to Health Care Access Among Spanish-Speaking Populations in the United States, Elena M. Soyer
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Beach Haven: A Photographic Exploration of Long Beach Island, Theresa M. Spadola
Department: Art and Art History
Picture Perfect Communication? Sign Me Up!: An Investigation of Picture Exchange Communication for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anne R. Spector
Department: Communication Studies
Firing the Classics Canon: Combining Latin Language Learning and Social Studies Pedagogy in a First-Year Latin Classroom, Alexis Spencer
Department: History; Classical Studies
Effects of the invasive plant species, Rosa multiflora and Alliaria petiolata, and deer browsing on native plant species in a Ohioan second growth forest, Mallorey R. Stack
Department: Biology
Blight and Brutality: A Study of Housing and Police in Relation to the 1967 Detroit Uprising, Giancarlo M. Stefanutti
Department: History
Short Term Missionary Work in Haiti, Maria C. Steinert
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Analyzing H7 as a Possible Structural Determinant of Negative Cooperativity within the Phosphagen Kinase Enzyme Family, Katie Stock
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Investigating the Relationship Between Self-Interaction and Function of the Viral Suppressor of RNAi Expressed by Maize Chlorotic Dwarf Virus, Ben R. Stromberg
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Where are you from and why are you here?: A Study of Negative Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes' Effect on Public Support for Syrian Refugees', Sarah C. Strum
Department: Global and International Studies
A Boolean Modeling Approach to Understanding Synergies Between Cell Phenotypes in Early Neurogenesis, Nathan R. Sundheimer
Department: Biology; Neuroscience
One Fish, Two Fish: Genetic Differences in Carotenoid Deposition and Pigmentation, and their relation to the Immune Responses of Red and Blue Betta splendens, Taryn E. Szalay
Department: Biology
You've Got a Friend in Me: An Analysis of the Social Deficits in Elementary Students With Language Disorders, Heather L. Szymanski
Department: Communication Studies
Genetic Engineering of the GFP Coding Region for Expression of Fusion Proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Jenna S. Taira
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The State of Corruption: Crony Capitalism Negatively Impacts Economic Output at the State Level, Alex H. Tench
Department: Economics
Assessing the Life Modes of Conodonts within the Decorah Shale (Late Ordovician of Southeastern Minnesota and Northeastern Iowa), Dean E. Thomas
Department: Geology
Differentiation of Anthraquinone-based Dyes and Pigments using Fluorescence, Madeline Rui Thomas
Department: Chemistry
Perceptions of Mental Illness in Ghanaian Metropolitan Areas and the Effect of Public Education and Open Discussion., Akosua Thompson
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Bermuda's Impact on the Relationship Between England and America, Simon P. Thompson
Department: History