Senior Independent Study Theses from 2024
Taking Bows and Batting Zero: An Inquiry into Mothers' Selfhood as Represented in Narrative and Film, Johnna Blystone
Department: English; Philosophy; Interdepartmental
Consuming our Future: The Ideology of Contemporary Fossil Capitalism and Related Ethical Concerns, Colin Curnow
Department: Environmental Studies; Philosophy
Tending to a Garden of Desires: Epicurus’s Contribution to the Discussion on Happiness and Well-Being, Liam Ertsgaard
Department: Philosophy
Garos: A Displaced Community’s Fight for Epistemic Justice, Aaron Huq
Department: History; Philosophy
Disentangling Purpose and Meaning: A Critical Analysis of Purpose Methodology and an Empirical Study of Purpose Orientations, Jack Krupa
Department: Philosophy; Psychology
How Should We Respond to Life’s Senselessness?: Absurdity, Stoicism, and Playfulness, Mary Neal
Department: Philosophy
In Balance with This Life, This Death: An Analysis of the Evil of Death and the Ways in Which Death Leads to Meaning, Gabriel Thomas
Department: Philosophy
The Thinking Machine: An Exploration of Consciousness and its Application to Artificial Intelligence, Simon White
Department: Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2023
Seeds of Liberation or Spheres of Domination: Role-Playing Games and Alternative Social Formation, Peter Barker
Department: History; Philosophy
Is it Absurd to be Ethical?, Alex Drummond
Department: Philosophy
Authenticity and Virtue Theory, David V. Dunn
Department: Philosophy
Polarized Insurrection? An Ethical and Empirical Analysis of the January 6th Insurrection and Surrounding Media Coverage, Noah D. Golovan
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
Agency: The Art of Human Choice - Finding Space Between Free Will and Determinism, Langston Hood
Department: English; Philosophy
Understanding Frantz Fanon’s "schéma épidermique racial": The Implications on Post-Colonial Black Consciousness and Identities, Taylor Danea Jackson
Department: French and Francophone Studies; Philosophy
Who We Are: Queerness Within Lockdown, Veda Christine Massanari-Thatcher
Department: Philosophy; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Utopia Across Time and Space: Could There Ever Be a "Perfect World"?, Ashini Patel
Department: English; Philosophy
Divinity's Secret Love Song: An Investigation Into the Relationship Between Humanity and the Divine Through The Lens of Sacred Narratives, Kevin Douglas Poe
Department: Philosophy; Religious Studies
The Necessary Inclusion of Historical Trauma in Trauma-Based Diagnoses and Subsequent Alternative Therapies Informed by Decolonial Philosophy: Indigeneity as a Philosophia Nata Ex Conatu, Alix Joseph Printup
Department: Philosophy; Psychology
Red Sword-White Canvas: The Past, Present, and Future of the Avant-Garde and Avant-Garde Aesthetics, Ben Read
Department: Art and Art History; Philosophy
How Should Self-Driving Cars be Programmed: Exploring Intuition, Utilitarianism, and the Moral Machine Experiment, Isaac Schwartz
Department: Philosophy; Statistical and Data Sciences
Explorations in Value Theory: The Case for Monism, Max Shiffman
Department: Philosophy
A Critical Theory of the Internet, Savannah Sima
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
Hope and Mourning in an Age of Immanent Extinction: Grief as a Framework for Revolutionary Ethics, Artemis Swanson
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
What Is a Good Investment: Finding the Balance Between Monetary Profit and Moral Obligations, Yuchen Yang
Department: Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2022
Moral Responsibility And Gendered Implicit Bias In The Workplace, Maryam Abdul Hye
Department: Philosophy; Psychology
Existence, Logic, Language, And Mathematics: Some Reflections, Muhammad Afaq
Department: Philosophy
An Inquiry In Human Flourishing: Alasdair Macintyre And John Dewey In Dialogue, Nicole Benya
Department: Philosophy
Ethical Considerations Of Wilderness Spaces, Sophia Cloyd
Department: Philosophy
Who Gets To Know? Combating Colonial Epistemic Oppression, Timothy J. Cotter
Department: Philosophy
Critical Theory As Critical Philosophy Of Self: Agency, Authority, And Emancipation Through Dialectical Imagination, Ryan Curnow
Department: Political Science; Philosophy
Our Questions Have Too Many Answers: A Rejection Of Formalism And Determinate Truth In Mathematics, Brendan Dufty
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Distributive Justice And Economic Inequality In The United States, Masani C. Francis
Department: Political Science; Philosophy
Ethnic Nationalism In Postcolonial Disputes: The Epistemic Re-Evaluation Of Interest-Driven Knowledge Claims, HahYeon Lee
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
Thomas Aquinas And Participation Metaphysics, Nathaniel Hunter Olson
Department: History; Philosophy
Dichotomous Logic And The Failings Of Girlboss Feminism: Multiplicity Beyond Man's Episteme, Grace Susan Robinson
Department: Philosophy
"Pretty Privilege" And Survival: Recognizing The Difference In Social Treatment, Most Notably In Healthcare, Towards Those Who Are Highly Attractive., Julia Alana Weisberg
Department: Philosophy
Women, Autonomy, Authenticity, And Motherhood, Rebecca Wu
Department: Art and Art History; Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2021
The Flourishing Financial System: The Foundations of an Economic Doctrine that Promotes Social Equality, Jacob Mansfield Abramo
Department: Philosophy
Liberty and Justice for All*: certain exclusions may be applied, Madelyn A. Cobb
Department: Philosophy
Derivative Intentionality & Gricean Meaning, Alex Lee Cohen
Department: Philosophy
Knowledge of Intentional Action as Essential for It: An Epistemological and Action-Theoretical Investigation, Alex Fiander
Department: Philosophy
Normative Bastardy, Max Kent Gregg
Department: Philosophy
The Effects of Meditation, if Any, on Pain Awareness, Sosna Hailu-Chanyalew
Department: Neuroscience; Philosophy
Just War Theory and Cyber Warfare, Orlando Jones
Department: Philosophy
Contextual Questions: The Worldly Implications of an Insufficient Philosophical Stance, Serigne-Abdoulahad Kebe
Department: Philosophy
Abstract Unity in Material Diversity: An Introduction to Category Theory and a Phenomenological Defense of Mathematical Realism, Micah Taylor Phillips-Gary
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2020
On The Relative Long-Term Future Importance of Investments in Economic Growth and Global Catastrophic Risk Reduction, Pedro Adami Oliboni
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Divine Madness: Examining Love Through a Philosophical Lens, Hannah Appleman
Department: Philosophy
Combining Phenomenology and Moral Particularism: A Trilemma of Moral Truth, Alejandro Arriaga
Department: Philosophy
Saying "Yes," East and West: A Comparative Analysis of Meaning and Affirmation in Nietzsche and Mahayana Buddhism, Scott Gordon
Department: Philosophy
“Big Time” College Sports: Amateurism, Exploitation, and Predicting Attitudes Regarding Student-Athlete Compensation, Malik Jordan Hearst
Department: Philosophy; Psychology
A Cognitivist Conclusion in Metaethics: The Value of a Realist Notion of Ethics in Fighting Injustice, Henry C. Lehmann
Department: Philosophy
Women Like Her Aren't Supposed to Run for Office: A Philosophical Unpacking of Resistance in the American Political Sphere and a Rhetorical Analysis of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Tweets, Grace O'Leary
Department: Communication Studies; Philosophy
Just Cyber Warfare? An Exploration into the Ethics of International Cyber War, Katie Reese
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
“To Thine Own Self Be True”: Deconstructing the Ideal of Authenticity, Brianna Lee Schmidt
Department: Philosophy
The Genuine Option: What Religious Studies is Missing Concerning William James, Peter F. Schopen III
Department: Philosophy; Religious Studies
Defending Preservation of the Environment While Considering Wild Animal Suffering, Shay Steele
Department: Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2019
Insurrecting Purity: Creativity as Resistance in Somatic Ambiguity, Margy J. Adams
Department: English; Philosophy
Tying Truth's Shoes: The Value of a Realist Notion of Truth Within Democratic Discourse, Emma Arvedon
Department: Philosophy
Says Who? A Feminist Challenge of Moral and Epistemic Authority in Advocacy, Coral Ciupak
Department: Philosophy
Towards a Phenomenological Study of the American Criminal Courts, Robert Dinkins
Department: Philosophy
Ethics in Computing, David Edward Hale
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
America’s Best Idea: Arguing for Bears Ears National Monument Through Leopold’s Land Ethic, Olivia Hall
Department: Earth Sciences; Philosophy
Rethinking Humans Through Genetic Enhancement: The Ethics of Choosing Children, Lizzy Hemann
Department: Philosophy
Revisiting Love in the Modern Era: the Need for the Flourishing of Universal Love, Eungyeol Kwon
Department: Philosophy
The Lakota: On the Importance of Community and Selflessness, Wyatt Ogden Linde
Department: History; Philosophy
Moral Obligations-Towards a Just Sytem of Immigration, Mayra Lopez
Department: Philosophy
A Few Clumsy Lines: Ramifications of Philosophical Shifts in Neo-Confucian Philosophy to Ming Governance, John Martin
Department: History; Philosophy
Inviting Others In: How Oppression Affects the Self, Mylo Apollo Parker-Emerson
Department: Philosophy
Letters from Heaven, Dylan M. Reynolds
Department: English; Philosophy
Beyond Bratwurst: Animal Ethics in Germany and the United States, Teagan Robinson
Department: German Studies; Philosophy
Know Thyself: A Study of Being Human, Giuliano Stefanutti
Department: Philosophy
“Dumb Brutes” or “Fellow-Critters”: Toward a More Virtuous Characterization of Nonhuman Animals, Daniel Sweat
Department: Philosophy; English
Modal Notions and Semantic, Boyu Wu
Department: Philosophy
Applying Gadamer: An Evaluation of Interpretations of the Confucian Analects by Different Schools Under the Light of Gadamerian Hermeneutics, Yifeng Xu
Department: East Asian Studies; Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2018
Wilderness Preservation in the Capitalocene: Valuing Wild Lands in an Instrumental World, Brandon Burkey
Department: Philosophy
Metaphor and Truth-Condition Semantics, Junyi Chen
Department: Philosophy
Understanding Human Well-Being, Junyi Chen
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Human Action Motivation : For Love of Thyself: The Egoist Approach to Navigating Motives Among Social Guise, Kevin B. Compliment
Department: Philosophy
The Good Life: An Analysis of Buddhist, Epicurean, and Ascetic Perspectives, Christopher Dukich
Department: Philosophy
Reclaiming Self-Love: Philosophy of Moral Worth, Colleen E. Gilfether
Department: Philosophy
Comedic Personal Narrative and the Self Awareness of Vice: Rethinking Virtue, Amy Hagedorn
Department: Philosophy
Folktales From Origin Valley, Elen-Kalliopi Halimou
Department: English; Philosophy
Does Law Affect Morality? An in Depth Analysis of the Effects of Injustice on Morality, Jaelan R.O. Harney
Department: Philosophy
A Sound of Drum and Bass: Hip Hop as Identity and Means to Ethical Growth through Aesthetic Value, Justin Konyn
Department: Philosophy
The Responsibility of For-profit Corporations: A Dilemma in Ethics and Rationality, Kayleigh Marks
Department: Philosophy
Walden, Wilderness, and Wrenches: The Radical Environmentalism of Henry David Thoreau and Edward Abbey, Alex Moore
Department: English; Philosophy
Political Conflict and Dialogue: Toward the Criteria for Reaching Understanding, Isaac Scher
Department: Philosophy
Pathways Through Democratic Disconnection: Rawls, Connolly, and Mouffe, Erik Severson
Department: Philosophy; Political Science
Affordable Care Act: Is it Enough?, Manogjna Vaddiraju
Department: Economics; Philosophy
Rules of Engagement: Ethical Considerations in Artistic Evaluation, Nicklaus Wilcher
Department: Philosophy
Capitalism and Socialism: A Dialectical and Philosophical Inquiry, Steve Xu
Department: Philosophy
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2017
Radical Adornments: Subversion Through Self-Presentation, Dorian I. Boye-Doe
Department: Philosophy
A Stroll Through Cantor's Paradise: Appraising the Semantics of Transfinite Numbers, Matthew R. Buranosky
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Problems of Irrationality: Self-Deception and Akrasia, Akiksha Chatterji
Department: Philosophy
Self-interpreting Animals: Understanding the Self and the Meanings of Life, Milo E. Davis
Department: Philosophy
Importing Ballet to Bhutan: An evaluation on Dance Value and Cultural Interaction, Leiden C. Doma
Department: Philosophy; Theatre and Dance
Islamic Ornamentation as a Test Case for Aesthetic Theory, Taylor Funderburk
Department: Philosophy
On Rationality and Morality: Three Kinds of Approaches, Emily A. Howerton
Department: Mathematics; Philosophy
Consent Ethics and the Harms of Rape, Cassandra L. Huye
Department: Philosophy