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Senior Independent Study Theses from 2015
Hopelessness and anxiety are suggested to decrease in depression induced by tryptophan depletion when combined with voluntary exercise in a rat model, Hannah Redding
Department: Neuroscience
Health Care for Everyone: Presidential Influence on the History of Medicare, Daniel Reese
Department: History
Ski Masks and Assault Rifles: A Brief History and Examination of the Violent Politics of the Irish Republican Army in the 1960s and early-1970s., Benjamin W. Robertson
Department: History
Imagining Spaces: Representations of Gender and Social Space in Modern to Contemporary Fiction, Colleen Robinson
Department: English
TOMSfoolery: A Neocolonial Deconstruction of the One For One Ideology of Giving, Ainslee Robson
Department: Philosophy; French and Francophone Studies
"I'm neither man nor beast, I'm something new entirely": The Evolution of the Contemporary Hero and the Justification of Violence in the Sons of Anarchy and Dexter Television Series, Bianca A. Rocco
Department: English
Say “I Don’t” to The Wedding Media: An Analysis of The Role of The Media On The American Bride’s Perception and Construction of The “Perfect Wedding”, Marina Rosales
Department: Communication Studies
Neophobic behavior but not aggression differs between urban and rural chickadee flocks (Poecile atricapillus and Poecile carolinensis), Elizabeth Ross
Department: Biology
Solo Voice Recital: Baroque to Contemporary, Sarah Roth
Department: Music
The Healthy Sounds of Music: Vocal Health in College Student Singers, Sarah Roth
Department: Communication Studies
A Modern Approach: Teaching Rape in Roman New Comedy, Samantha A. Rowe
Department: Classical Studies
The Economic Effects of Transnational Terrorism: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation into the Impact Which Terrorism Has Upon Economic Growth, Max Rubin
Department: Economics
Cervantes y Velázquez: Dos artistas revolucionarios y cómo exploraron los mismos conceptos en sus técnicas diferentes, Cathryn A. Rudawsky
Department: Spanish
The Domestication and Migration of Zea mays L. in Association with Holocene Climatic Variance, Kelsey L. Salmon Schreck
Department: Archaeology
The Temptations of Faith, Ellen Sandin
Department: Religious Studies
"A dark nail zips a ready reason": An Examination of Monolingual and Multilingual Listeners' Perceptions of a Spanish-Accented English Speaker's Speech in Semantically Meaningful and Semantically Meaningless Sentences, Julia Satoh
Department: Communication Studies
The Identity of Lilith: How Writers Shape and Use the Identity of Spirits in Modern America, William S. Schell
Department: Religious Studies
XH-π bonding in systems of indole and benzene using IBBCEAS and a bioinformatics analysis of protein secondary structure using graph theory, Meredith Schervish
Department: Chemistry; Mathematics
The Quantitative Determination of Antidepressants and their Primary Degradation Products in Pre and Post “Quasar” treatment and in Lagoon Sludge Destined for Land Application, Kristina M. Schiavone
Department: Chemistry
On Being: An Exploration of Wholeness Through Literature, Bridget Schmidt
Department: Religious Studies
“Water” You Waiting For?: A Narrative Analysis of How Charity:Water, Water.org, and Generosity Water Create Organizational Identities on Their Websites, Lauren C. Schoenewald
Department: Communication Studies
Let's talk about it! An Analysis of the Collaboration among Speech-Language Pathologists and Second through Fourth Grade Teachers who Serve Students with Language Impairments, Carly M. Schoenstein
Department: Communication Studies
Hearing the Needs of the Developing World: A Study of the Clinical Practices Used by Audiologists when Fitting Hearing Aids in Developing Countries, Hayley Schultz
Department: Communication Studies
A Summary and Reflection of the Percussion Repertoire for my Senior Recital, Christopher Scimecca
Department: Music
Thrills and Chills: Studying the Emotional and Physiological Responses of Listening to Pleasant and Unpleasant Music, Christopher Scimecca
Department: Psychology
The Modern Hydra: Assessing Counterinsurgency Success and Failure, Kimberly E. Seidell
Department: International Relations
On the Relationship Between Product Diversification and Firm Performance, Jay T. Selby
Department: Business Economics
Ought-Thenticity: A Restructuring of Understanding Why One Should Strive Towards Being An Authentic Human Being, Adam P. Seligson
Department: Philosophy
Interaction of nutritional content and temperature on larval growth rate in Pieras rapae, Rachel Sell
Department: Biology
The Cultural Effects of Federally Mandated, Off-Reservation Boarding Schools on North American Indian Women, Molly Sennett
Department: History
Cold War Hopes and Fears: Science Fiction Film in the Fifties, Meg Sharber
Department: History
"If You Want to Test a Man's Character Give Him Power" Abraham Lincoln's Character and Use of Strategic Action: An Analysis of Presidential Decision-Making, Hannah Sharfman
Department: Political Science
The Effect of Written Message Appeals in Advertisements on Attitudes toward a Weight-Loss Supplement and the Product Advertisement, Caitlin E. Shea
Department: Communication Studies
Mountains Stacked Against Them: An Investigation Into the Effectiveness of a Short-term Emergent Literacy Intervention for Children Attending Head Start in Rural West Virginia, Kendra Shehy
Department: Communication Studies
Cloning, Purification, and Analysis of an Aromatic Monooxygenase Protein Involved in the Production of Strain-Specific Phenazine Metabolites, Edmund W. Shi
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
A Fool's Comedic Cavalcade of Heads, Young Jae Oliver Shin
Department: Art and Art History
Laughter in Context: Theoretical Discussions of Humor and Stand-up Comedy, Peter S. Shirey
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Anglo-Saxon and Viking Ship Burials as Indicators of Status and Power, Meagan Shirley
Department: Archaeology; Art and Art History
Adam, Eve, & Lucy: An Ethnographic Study of How Two Museums Display Human Origins, Karina E. Shvets
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
African American English: Perspectives of Parents and Teachers, Shauntell Q. Simmons
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Preliminary Investigation of Arginine Kinase in Caenorhabditis elegans, Dempsey J. Simonis
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Music and Identity in Korean American Communities: The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Identity on Korean Americans’ Music Taste, Lara Sinangil
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Set Theory: Building Numbers From Nothing, Philip H. Sizek
Department: Mathematics
I Don't Play Chess: A Study of Chess Piece Generating Polynomials, Stephen R. Skoch
Department: Mathematics
Blood Status, "Wizard-Washing," and Heirarchy: A Study of Racism and Racial Relations Between the Wizard and "The Other" in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series, Ellen M. Skonce
Department: English
Topological Defects in Nematic Liquid Crystals and the Behavior Induced by Adding Polystyrene Microspheres to 5CB, Joseph R. Smith
Department: Mathematics; Physics
"I Wouldn't Wish That on My Worst Enemy" An Analysis of The Effects of Gendered Expectations on Women in Poverty Through Social Service Access, Molly Snell-Larch
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Can Pure Music Be Meaningful?, Nicholas P. Solem
Department: Philosophy
You've Been Greenwashed: A Study of Consumer Perceptions of Environmental Advertisements, Elizabeth M. Somsel
Department: Communication Studies
The Cool Kids at School: A Comparative Analysis of Native Education Policies and the Rise of the African Elite in Colonial Senegal and Kenya, Stephanie C. Sparrow
Department: International Relations; History
Solitons and their Symmetries: A Mathematical Analysis, Amanda Lynn Steinhebel
Department: Mathematics; Physics
The 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games: Altitudes Effects on the Performance Capability of Track and Field Athletes and Future Training Methods of Distance Running, Karl R. Stemen
Department: History
History in the Hand Through Functional Ceramics, Katherine E. Stephens
Department: Art and Art History
Analyzing Christianity's Eco-Conscience: A Study of God and the Environment, Emily H. Stevens
Department: Religious Studies
Sexually Incompatible: Female Solders and Social Change of the American Civil War, Emily Stoner
Department: History
The Big Bomb Theory: Using Neoclassical Realism to Understand the Obama Administration's Nuclear Strategy, Shelby Stone
Department: International Relations
Capturing Identity: A cross-generational photo project on Mapuche self-identification, Heidi Strike
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
'You Are Who We Say You Are': The Politics of Ethnicity in Post-Genocidal Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stephanie A. Sugars
Department: International Relations; Sociology and Anthropology
Synthesis and Characterization of Potential Antitumor Transition Metals, Donald J. Sullivan Jr
Department: Chemistry
“The Gang of Virtue”: Colonial South Africa, Congo and Kenya in British Imperial Literature and Media, 1870-1970, William Swank
Department: English; History
Bridging the Gap: A Study of the Effects of After-School Programming On the Social Inequalities in the System of Education, Elizabeth Sweeney
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Education
Violence without Verdicts: A Comparative Analysis of Social Movements and Race Relations in the United States and South Africa, Madison Swoy
Department: Political Science
A Screen for S. cerevisiae Mutants Hypersensitive to the P. sojae effector PsAvh172, Matthew J. Sydor
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Root Cause, Shannon M. Thanasiu
Department: English
Is Belief in Progress Delusional?: An Investigation of the Notion of Human Progress, James M. Thomas
Department: Philosophy
Who's Your Daddy? It Might Be Your Mom: Tracking Pollen Movement in a Population of the Coral Bean (Erythrina flabelliformis) in Southeastern Arizona, Carolyn Thornton
Department: Biology
“We don’t need her anymore”: An Ethnographic Analysis of the Relationship Between International Aid and Non-Government Organizations with Child Vulnerability in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Taylor S. Thorp
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Melville in the Anthropocene: The Ecological Ethics of Moby-Dick, Jesse H. Tiffen
Department: English; Environmental Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
"I feel like we're the Indians in the corner": Addressing Native Cultural Identity Formation in Education, Eleanor K. Tompkins
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Constituents on the Cutting Room Floor: An analysis of the relationship between redistricting processes and malaportionment in the United States House of Representatives, Luke F. Tonat
Department: Political Science
The Value-Added Tax as an Optimal Solution: The Effect of VAT Use and Structure on the Distribution of Social Welfare, Eric G. Tonian
Department: Economics
Sacred and Mortuary Landscapes in Iron Age Cyprus: A GIS Analysis, James P. Torpy
Department: Archaeology
Stopping Segregation: Using a Mathematical Model to Racially Balance Schools in the 1970s, Paula Trautvetter
Department: Mathematics
Exploring the Neuroprotective Effects of EGCG and Green Tea on the Vestibular System, Caitlyn F. Trullinger-Dwyer
Department: Biology; Neuroscience
Effects of a growing substrate on secondarily tiered cornulitids of the Waldron Shale: Middle Silurian (Wenlockian) of Indiana, Christian P. Tulungen
Department: Geology
A Study of College Students' Family Background and Perceptions of Family Television, Emily Turnbull
Department: Communication Studies
On the Effects of Guru Avatars as Forces Encouraging Social Welfare Activism, Will Turner
Department: Religious Studies
Our Crimea or Our Can of Worms? (Крым Наш или Нам Крыш?): A Russian media portrayal of the 2014 Crimean crisis, Katherine B. Tuttle
Department: Russian Studies
The Effects of Short-Term Starvation and Subsequent Re-Feeding in The Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium Castaneum, Chase Ullman
Department: Biology
Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Effect of Unemployment Rate on an Employee's Decision to Quit, Kenneth F. Vance
Department: Business Economics
Entering Stage Left: An Examination of Masculinity and Education Among Black and Latino Adolescents, Emilio A. Vargas
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Man vs Wild: An Anthropological Examination of Big Game Hunting Culture within the United States, Emilie Vermilyea
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Mental Game: An Analysis of Game Theory and Baseball, Ian M. Vernier
Department: Mathematics
“Forgiving The Unforgivable”: An Exploration of Post-Ethnic Conflict Peacebuilding and The Effects On The Durability of Peace, Casey Diane Wade
Department: Political Science
The Institutionalization of Social and Ethnic Divisions in Democratic States, John K. Wagner
Department: Political Science
Avalanches on a Critical Conical Bead Pile: Exploration of Tuning Parameter Space and Mathematical Foundations, Elliot Wainwright
Department: Mathematics; Physics
How Do We Get There From Here, Emily Watt
Department: English
"Women are not just reproductive beings": A Qualitative Analysis of Sexual and Reproductive Rights in India, Leslie A. Weaver
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Turkey's New Islam: A Study of Religious and Political Identity in the Kemalist Political State, Nathaniel D. Weaver
Department: History; Religious Studies
Development of Azobenzocrown Ethers as Selective Photoresponsive Supramolecular Host by way of a Novel Photoassisted Synthetic Step, Lucas C. Webber
Department: Chemistry
The Scope of Fractals: Geometry, Iteration, Application, Sebastian E. Weber
Department: Mathematics
Planting Seeds, Growing Youth: An Ethnographic Study of the Role of Urban Agriculture in the Dudley Neighborhood of Boston, MA, Alissa Elaine Weinman
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Extended Vocal Technique: An Instructional Guide for Beginners, Victor J. Welsch
Department: Music
Long-Term Experimental Evolution of Environmental Microbes to Degrade the Antidepressant Venlafaxine (Effexor®), Maxwell Werman
Department: Biology
Pittsburgh Steel: Cultural Identity in the Mill Towns of Pittsburgh, Jonathan McLaren West
Department: History
An Exploration of the Relationship between Personality and Play Behaviors in Captive Red Ruffed Lemurs (Varecia variegata rubra), McKenzie G. Witzke
Department: Biology; Psychology
The Steady Path to Prominence: World War One and the Development of U.S. Global Engagement, William Wojtkiewicz
Department: History
The Effects of Paternalism and Conditional Giving On Prosocial Behaviors, Stephanie Rachel Woodring
Department: Communication Studies; Economics
The Use of Data and Statistical Analysis to Predict an Outcome, Colin G. Woodward
Department: Mathematics
"The Living Tree": a Conservationist Journey Through J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, Robert C. Worrell
Department: English