Senior Independent Study Theses from 2017
An 'Answer to Hopes and Dreams': Utopianism, Progressivism, and the American Spatial Tradition in the New Deal Resettlement Community of Greenhills, Ohio, Jared M. Berg
Department: History
"A New Weapon - A New Monster - The Walkout": The East Los Angeles Student Walkouts of 1968, Camille G. Christenson
Department: History
“Marching Mothers”: The Battle for Desegregation in Cleveland Public Schools, 1957-1976, Theresa Dunne
Department: History
On Degree Bound for Syzygies of Polynomial Invariants, Zhao Gao
Department: Mathematics
Paradojas de la narrativa colonial: Representaciones de la gente indígena en el arte indigenista y la obra plástica de Enriquestuardo Álvarez, Erin Gass
Department: Spanish
Saint or Politician: A Gendered Analysis of Catherine Benincasa’s Letters, Jacob Hailperin-Lausch
Department: History
Beyond an Uncertain Future: Vietnamese Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Their Needs for Social Support, Khue M. Hoang
Department: Communication
Laughing Against White Supremacy: Marginalized Performance of Resistance Comedy, Caren Holmes
Department: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Building a Course Recommender System for The College of Wooster, Nan Jiang
Department: Computer Science; Mathematics
The Soul's Response to Surveillance: A Foucaldian Investigation Into the Economy of Power Created by Contemporary Surveillance Techniques and the Conditioning of the Post 9/11 Subject, Jack Johanning
Department: Political Science
La Fiebra Telenovela: Audience Perceptions of Telenovelas and their Representation of Economic Disparity, Brenda Khor
Department: Communication
All Hands on Deck: The Role of Ship Burial Reentry in the Maintenance and Construction of Narrative in the Vendel and Viking Periods, Gina Malfatti
Department: Archaeology
"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
Grasping the Void: Immersion Tactics Using Gesture Controlled Physics Interaction Systems in Virtual Reality, Avery Rapson
Department: Computer Science
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
What is Privacy? The Threat of Surveillance and Blackmail in the 21st Century, Harrison S. Ruprecht
Department: Philosophy
The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Ambivalence, and Relationship Outcomes within Romantic Partnerships, Victoria J. Schriber
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
Projection of Groundwater Pumping Sustainability in Volta Wildlife Refuge, Merced County, CA, Helen Siegel
Department: Geology
For Country, Liberty, and Money: Privateering and the Ideologies of the American Revolution, Scott D. Wagner
Department: History
"The Least of These": Towards an Integrated Queer of Color Critique of the Prison Industrial Complex, Jahqwahn J. Watson
Department: Africana Studies
La (re)presentación de las mujeres en la sociedad puertorriqueña: Un análisis comparativo de las obras de Rosario Ferré y Ana Lydia Vega, Gina B. Williamson
Department: Spanish
Politics of the Apolitical: A Study of Operational Autonomy and International Non-Governmental Oganizations (INGOs), Rachel Wilson
Department: International Relations
La Transgresora Fetichista: Los Efectos de la Dictadura Franquista en la Evolución del Discurso Sexual Español, Marisa Lee Iola Yerkes
Department: Spanish
The Search for GTO: Determining Optimal Poker Strategy Using Linear Programming, Stuart Young
Department: Mathematics
The Role of Ethnic Enclaves on the Integration Process of Modern Immigrants: Case Studies in Columbus, Ohio and France, Caitlin Ziegert McCombs
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2016
Amassing Subsistence: Creating an Environment Through Objects and Time, Matilda J. Alexander
Department: Art and Art History
The Problematical, The Cave, and The Maya: A Theoretical Discussion and Ethnoarchaeological Investigation, Haley N. Austin
Department: Archaeology
Fronteras entretejidas: Texto, textil, y la formación de una narrativa mestiza en las obras de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Gloria Anzaldúa, y Sandra Cisneros, Claire R. Billingsley
Department: Spanish
La Trahison et la honte : Le rôle du gouvernement de Vichy dans la rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv’ et sa mémoire aux yeux de la société française, Olivia Bolek
Department: French and Francophone Studies
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No, it’s Just My I.S.: An Historical Exploration of Superheroes and American Identity, Caroline G. Breul
Department: History
When Do Black Lives Matter?: An Experimental Analysis of White American Support for Black Social Movements, Latrice M. Burks
Department: Political Science
A Comparative Analysis of Photon and Electron Wave Functions in Spherically Symmetric Potentials, Michael Bush
Department: Mathematics; Physics
The Groundwork for Food Criticism: How Normative Aesthetic Judgments Are Possible with Regards to Tastes, Jacob Caldwell
Department: Philosophy
Cruising The Borderlands: Queer Latinx Creating Space in Lowrider Culture, Elisia I. Campos
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
From Fried Bologna Sandwich to Butternut Squash Prosciutto Flatbread: Examining Food Culture as a Multivocal Dominant Symbol in the Wessex, Ohio Restaurant Foodscape, Clare T. Carlson
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Prisons for Profit: Neoliberal Rationality's Transformation of America's Prisons, Kelsey Clark
Department: Political Science
Opportunity and Empowerment in Female Prison Reentry in Wooster, OH, Zoe E. Cunningham-Cook
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Making and Mindfulness: How Process-Oriented Tasks Encourage Reflection and Lead to Recovery, Devin DeLaney
Department: Art and Art History
Optimal Placement of Family Planning Centers, Kiera Dobbs
Department: Mathematics
Policies and Clinical Practices Regarding Candidacy and Auditory Treatment for Hispanic Pediatric Patients in Cochlear Implant Centers in the United States, Matthew Ehrenburg
Department: Communication; Spanish
Fuerzas narrativas femeninas en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, Margaret Fishback
Department: Spanish
“You Can’t Change What You Were”: Liminality and the Process of Role Exit Among Former Amish, Kathryn Foster
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Thoughts on Poetry, Alexandra B. Gustafson
Department: Philosophy
"Hello my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!" Messaging Effects on Support for Violent Non-state Actors, Alexandra D. Haines
Department: International Relations; Political Science
Insurgency in the Late Bronze Age Levant: A World-Systems Analysis of Three Egyptian Garrison Sites, Eric T. Hubbard
Department: Archaeology
Victims of Downing Street: Popular Pressure and the Press in the Stoddart and Conolly Affair, 1838-1845, Sarah E. Kendrick
Department: History
Creating The Middle-Class: The Impact Of Class Based Identity Appeals In Presidential Campaigns, Lois Kimmel
Department: Political Science
Custom Framing: An Analysis of Camille Pissarro's "Les Turpitudes Sociales" within a Base-Superstructure Model, Robin S. Klaus
Department: Art and Art History
The Puzzle of Post-Conflict Justice: Identifying Factors That Influence State Selection of Mechanisms, Taylor V. Knoop
Department: Political Science
Is This Thing On? An Investigation of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge of Hearing Technology, Marissa M. Kobylas
Department: Communication
Attempted Identification of the Calcium-Dependent Sodium Channel Gene in Paramecium tetraurelia using RNAi, Gwendolyn Kuzmishin
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The Production and Manipulation of Nonseparable Spin-Orbit Modes of Light Under Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference Conditions, Maggie E. Lankford
Department: Physics
La France et le plurilinguisme: deux opposés qui s'attirent? Une étude de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage des langues étrangères en France., Rachel L. Lorch
Department: French and Francophone Studies
Joyce's Musical Doublespeak, James May
Department: English
Uisce: Compositional Explorations for Various Ensembles, James May
Department: Music
In Black and White: The Sociopolitical Rhetoric Surrounding Anti-Miscegenation Attitudes in Ohio, Sarah McCrea
Department: History
Factors that Influence Device Selection by Parents of Pediatric Cochlear Implant Candidates, Zachary W. Moore
Department: Communication
Legalization of Prostitution and its Impact on the Market for Human Trafficking, Varunavi Newar
Department: Business Economics; Mathematics
Microaggressions, Trigger Warnings, and the Fight to Redefine Free Speech: An Analysis of the Judiciary's Response to Campus Speech Codes Through Liberal and Communitarian Perspectives, Madeleine G. O'Neill
Department: Political Science
"Don't Read This!": Lemony Snicket and the Control of Youth Reading Autonomy in Late-Nineteenth-Century Britain, Brittany A. Previte
Department: English; History
Phoenician Colonization of Nuragic Sardinia: A World-Systems Model of Periphery-Semiperiphery Interaction, Jade Robison
Department: Archaeology
Art Making as an Ecofeminist Exercise in Understanding Species Extinction and Animal Farming, Adrian Rowan
Department: Art and Art History; Environmental Studies
Just Let Them Move: Refugee Economic Integration and Conflict Spillover, Mohammad Sarhan
Department: International Relations
Subaltern Realities and Cultural Identities: The Emergence of Creolization through Analysis of an Archaeological Assemblage at Betty's Hope Plantation, Katelyn Schoenike
Department: Archaeology
China-Taiwan Relations: The Persistent Deadlock Amid Cycles of Stability and Change, Jordan E. Shremshock
Department: International Relations
Conceptualizing Female Punk in the Theatre: The Riot Grrrl Revolution as a Radical Force to Inspire a Devised Solo Performance, Summit J. Starr
Department: Theatre and Dance
Evolving Standards of Decency: The Intersection of Death Penalty Theory and Supreme Court Jurisprudence, Rachel S. Sullivan
Department: Political Science
The Somewhere We Wish Were Nowhere: Dystopian Realities and (un)Democratic Imaginaries, Benjamin B. Taylor
Department: English; Political Science
The Queen’s Serpent: An Examination of the Serpent Vessel from Burial 61 from El Perú-Waka’, Sarah Van Oss
Department: Archaeology; Art and Art History
Beyond the Binary, Petr Wiese
Department: Art and Art History
Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge of Treatments Used to Remediate the Vocal Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, Angela M. Wiley
Department: Communication
From Fantasy to Virtual Reality: An Exploration of Modeling, Rigging and Animating Characters for Video Games, Sarah K. Williams
Department: Computer Science
Euskaldunak or Amerikanuak: An Introduction to the Folklore of the Boise Basques and its Contribution to the Basque-American Identity, Leah Zavaleta
Department: English; Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2015
Metamorphosis and Persona in Ned Rorem's Poems of Love and the Rain, Jacob Boca
Department: Music
Learning Emotions: A Software Engine for Simulating Realistic Emotion in Artificial Agents, Douglas Code
Department: Computer Science
Masculine Space: The Final Frontier; A Historical Analysis of the Spatial Politics of Gender through the New Woman’s Access to Brassieres, Bicycles, and Higher Education in the United States from 1890-1930, Shelby Kirst Goldman
Department: History
The Effectiveness of the Strategies Interest Groups Use to Influence Health Care Reform in The United States: A Case Study Analysis of President Clinton, Bush, and Obama's Health Care Reforms, Jacquelyn E. Hannan
Department: Political Science
Beyond ß: An Analysis of Alternative Risk Measures, Jai Kedia
Department: Business Economics; Mathematics
Tuteo o Ustedeo: un Estudio de las Formas de Tratamiento en las Publicidades de Escaparates / Tutoiement ou Vouvoiement: une Etude des Formes d'Adresse dans les Publicités des Vitrines, Charlotte M. Klein
Department: French and Francophone Studies; Spanish
The Role of Political Culture in Understanding Inconsistencies between International and Domestic Privacy Law in France and the United States, Mallory Kruper
Department: French and Francophone Studies; International Relations
***Blksavage: A Study On The Elements of Traditional Radical Black Political Theories & Their Contributions To Contemporary Black Political Thought, Jestin B. Kusch
Department: Political Science
Liberty, Security, and Judicial Review in the War on Terror: An Analysis of Supreme Court Approaches to Deference in a Post-9/11 Context, Jacob Oppler
Department: Political Science
The Domestication and Migration of Zea mays L. in Association with Holocene Climatic Variance, Kelsey L. Salmon Schreck
Department: Archaeology
A Summary and Reflection of the Percussion Repertoire for my Senior Recital, Christopher Scimecca
Department: Music
"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
I Don't Play Chess: A Study of Chess Piece Generating Polynomials, Stephen R. Skoch
Department: Mathematics
History in the Hand Through Functional Ceramics, Katherine E. Stephens
Department: Art and Art History
'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
Violence without Verdicts: A Comparative Analysis of Social Movements and Race Relations in the United States and South Africa, Madison Swoy
Department: Political Science
Sacred and Mortuary Landscapes in Iron Age Cyprus: A GIS Analysis, James P. Torpy
Department: Archaeology
Armed with an Easel: Understanding Artistic Political Praxis Through the Works of Theodor Adorno and Chantal Mouffe, Evelyn Yu Yu Swe
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2014
The Moroccan Example: “Coming Movements,” Communities, and Lived Experience in Contemporary Protest, Paige I. Ambord
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Youth Unemployment Crisis Facing Welfare Regimes: How States Develop New Social Policy, Andrew C. Campbell
Department: Political Science
A Not-So-Silent Spring: The Impacts of Traffic Noise on Call Features of The Bloody Bay Poison Frog (Mannophryne olmonae), Catherine G. Clemmens
Department: Biology
Dueling For Their Votes: A Study on the Impact of Presidential Debate Rhetoric on Public Opinion, Daniel J. Cohen
Department: Communication; Political Science
The Effect of Ethnic Microtargeting on Latino Americans' Political Identity Perception, Emma Flanagan
Department: Political Science
Does the Trend Need a Mend? The Effects of Herding Behavior on the Returns to Higher Edcuation, Amy K. French
Department: Business Economics
Valuing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: A Defense of Countercultural Environmentalism, Mae Manupipatpong
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
The Effects of Hospital Consolidation on Hospital Financial Performance and the Potential Trade-Off of Hospital Consolidation for Society, Aaron W. McKee
Department: Business Economics