Senior Independent Study Theses from 2023
No One Is an Island: Towards a Geocritical Perspective of Identity via Japanese Culture and Literature, Zachary Filippi
Department: Religious Studies; English
Religion in North Korea, Hyunmin Kim
Department: Religious Studies
A Puzzle That’ll Never Be Complete: A Multi-Generational Memoir of Four Generations of Black Women, and Our Experiences in the Black Church, Yakeria S. Lamar
Department: Religious Studies
"Lord, You Make Me Worthy": How Women Priests View Excommunication and Work toward an Inclusive Catholicism, Alysha V. Matson
Department: Religious Studies
This Is Not About The Body: Deprioritizing A Corporeal Study of The Hijra, Alex C. Padfield
Department: Religious Studies
Les Mourides: Perceptions of Religious Authority and Political Decision-Making, Henry Pellegrin
Department: Global and International Studies; Religious Studies
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
GOP Jesus and Trump: an Exploration of the Usage of Evangelical Christianity by Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, Fiona Erin Rebbecca Schieve
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2022
On The Basis Of Biological Sex: Examining The Social Impacts Of The Maintenance Of The Two-Sex System In Sports, Camille Carr
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Perspectives: Understanding Conflict In New Religious Movements Through Epistolary Voices And Their Entanglements, Rebekah Emily Trunnell
Department: English; Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2021
Conversations on the Christian to Buddhist Conversion Experience: Framed by Lewis Rambo’s 1993 Conversion Model, Lauren Brown
Department: Religious Studies
Paradoxical Descriptions of Divine Beings, Tiago Garcia
Department: English; Religious Studies
Those Who Choose: A New Conceptual Model for the Origin of Religious Schisms, Benjamin R. Hassan
Department: Religious Studies
Survive or Thrive? A Study of American Church Success During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Max Thomas Moller
Department: Religious Studies
도시를 떠나 산지를 향해: Mountain Temple Complexes as an Expression of Korean Buddhism, Anthony Eanraig Riggs
Department: Archaeology; Religious Studies
Implications of Buddhist Monk’s and Olympic Pentathlete’s Diet on Performance in their Respective Fields, Kelsey Anne Stone
Department: Biology; Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2020
Sacred Space in a Mundane Place, Reinier B. DesCoteaux
Department: Religious Studies
What are My Rites?: Exploring Tahara as a Ritual Process in Judaism, Kaitlyn Khayat
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Religious Studies
Being Moved by the Wild: A Study of Wilderness Spirituality and the Outdoors as a Tool for Retention and Recruitment in Quaker Communities, Elise Marie Nikolich
Department: Religious Studies
The Genuine Option: What Religious Studies is Missing Concerning William James, Peter F. Schopen III
Department: Philosophy; Religious Studies
Understanding, Supporting, and Rationalizing the State of Israel: An Examination of Educational Tools for Reform Youth, Hannah R. Sullivan
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2019
"Who Do You Know Here?” A Qualitative and Comparative Study of the LGBTQ+ Community and Their Safety in Religious Spaces, Connor Ferreri
Department: Religious Studies
E Unibus Pluram: Investigating the Differences in Political Participation Among the Religiously Unaffiliated in the US, Emma Folkenroth
Department: Political Science; Religious Studies
Mothering Without Ownership, Gabrielle Girard
Department: Religious Studies
Dr. George S. Benson and the National Education Program: An Analysis of Films from 1948 to 1972, Cullen Wayman King
Department: History; Religious Studies
What Does God Have To Do With It? : A study of the impact Protestant Christianity had on United States foreign policy during the Cold War., Garrett Layde
Department: Religious Studies; Political Science
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2018
When Sex Ed Pretends to be Secular: The Influence of Christianity in Secular Abstinence Education, Samuel D. Bauman
Department: Religious Studies
“Everybody Worships”: Religious and Para-Religious Presences and Interactions in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Nan Denette
Department: Religious Studies; English
Religion, Animals and Healing: Viewing the Horse through Islam, Christianity, and Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Emily Huxtable
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2017
The Big Man and The Big House: The Influence of Protestantism on the Danish and American Prison Systems, Elizabeth C. Brewington
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Mediating Religious Tensions in France: An Examination of Discriminatory Laïc Policies in the 21st Century, Theadora E. Kwan
Department: French and Francophone Studies; Religious Studies
Neuroscience & the Religious Mind: A Materialist Critique of Neurotheology, Adam John McDonough
Department: Philosophy; Religious Studies
Interconnection of All: Advaita Vedanta and Mahayana Teachings on Unity, Aziza Moore
Department: Religious Studies
The Role of New National Monuments on the American Religious Understanding of Land, Herbert Sizek
Department: Religious Studies
“Points of Convergence”: Between and Within Emic and Etic Perspectives of Religion and Culture Through the Analysis of Heathenry and Neoshamanism(s), Harrison Uhall
Department: Religious Studies
The Lost Connection Between Evangelicalism and Women in the Three Great Movements of the Twentieth Century: Prohibition, Women's Suffrage and African American Civil Rights, Clare A. Zanger
Department: History; Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2016
The Factors That Influence Religious Preferences in Young Adults: Neuroscience, Psychology Sociology and the Environment, Kelli W. Baxstrom
Department: Religious Studies
Cochineal: Connecting Chemistry and Religious Studies through the World of Art, Amanda Carmichael
Department: Chemistry; Religious Studies
Planting A Better Future: North American Church Efforts to Create Food Justice, Hilary Coady
Department: Religious Studies
George Harrison As He Is, Samuel H. Easterday
Department: Religious Studies
The Scholar, the Teacher, the Saint: The Life, Work, and Nonviolent Philosophy of James M. Lawson, Jr., Kristen Estabrook
Department: History; Religious Studies
From Coexistence to Cooperation, Thomas A. Granowitz
Department: Religious Studies
A Classroom, a Con Game, and a Churchlike Revival: Poetry Slam and its Heritage of Sacred Performance, Caira A. Lee
Department: Religious Studies
Is Parochial School a Good Fit for You? A Case Study Examining Motives and Reasons Behind Parents Picking Private School for Their Children, Franny M. McHale
Department: Religious Studies
Making It Personal: How the Islamic State Targets the Alienated, Andi M. Shackleton
Department: Religious Studies
The Elephant in the Room, The Fetus in the Womb: Disability Rights Activists’ Perspectives on Prenatal Genetic Testing and Selective Termination of Down syndrome, Evangeline Maria Smith
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Being Asian, Becoming American: The Life and Practice of Religion in East Asian Immigrant Communities, Whitney A. Spaulding
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2015
What Would Jesus Cover? An Examination of the Moral Failures of the United States Health Care System, Eleanor P. Bacon
Department: Religious Studies
Religion in Relationships: Observing Young Adults Religious Identities within Social Relationships, Cathy Z. Gwaltney
Department: Religious Studies
Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: An Investigation into Interdependence as a Basis for Collaborative Ethical Engagement, Demitra Nicole Hart
Department: Religious Studies
My Tattoos Are My Story: An Exploration of the Self and Body Modification, Emma J. Kahn
Department: Philosophy; Religious Studies
Profane or Profound?: An Examination of Satirized Religion in British and American Culture through the works of South Park and Monty Python, Susannah Montgomery
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Supreme Mathematics: A Comparative Study of Black Muslim Movements in America, Amjad Moore
Department: Religious Studies
The Temptations of Faith, Ellen Sandin
Department: Religious Studies
The Identity of Lilith: How Writers Shape and Use the Identity of Spirits in Modern America, William S. Schell
Department: Religious Studies
On Being: An Exploration of Wholeness Through Literature, Bridget Schmidt
Department: Religious Studies
Analyzing Christianity's Eco-Conscience: A Study of God and the Environment, Emily H. Stevens
Department: Religious Studies
On the Effects of Guru Avatars as Forces Encouraging Social Welfare Activism, Will Turner
Department: Religious Studies
Turkey's New Islam: A Study of Religious and Political Identity in the Kemalist Political State, Nathaniel D. Weaver
Department: History; Religious Studies
The Influence of Christianity and Chinese Culture on Chinese Christian Married Couples in Northeast Ohio, Mone S. Zafra
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2014
Religiously Influenced Interstate Conflict: The Role of Religiosity and Perceived Loss in International Relations, Aaron Brown
Department: Political Science; Religious Studies
How Inclusive Nationalism Implemented by the State can Prevent an Increase in Religious Polarization, Erin T. Bruening
Department: Political Science; Religious Studies
Keeping the Dream There: A Study of Narratives on the Palestinian Right to Return, Emily K. Cherney
Department: Communication Studies; Religious Studies
Coffee Shop Spirituality on the Internet: Strategies of Epistemology at Work in Digital Religion, Carl William D. Freeman
Department: Religious Studies
Our Father Who Art in Georgia: Case Studies of the Family and Christian Mythology in Southern Gothic Short Fiction, Eleanor K. Godbey
Department: English; Religious Studies
Molecular Biology of a Miracle: Conceptualization of Medicine Through the Amish-Religious Lens and Antimicrobial Properties of Burdock Burn Wound Treatment, Caroline H. Gormley
Department: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Religious Studies
Interfaith Dialogue: Engaging Children, Abigail M. Harris-Ridker
Department: Religious Studies
Restorative Reintegration: Restorative Justice and the Applications and Implications for Child Soldier Reintegration, Carolyn Elizabeth Hockey
Department: Political Science; Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Space Oddity: An Exploration of Religious Success in Emergent UFO Religions, Celetia Liang
Department: Religious Studies
Finding the Cross in a World Without God, Seth A. Michael
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Not Your Grandmother's Pro-Life Movement: The Changing Face of the American Pro-Life Movement, Abigail E. Rodenfels
Department: Religious Studies
But the Heart is Still Indian: Hindutva and the Imagined Nation in Post-Partition Hindi Cinema, Rachel A. Rothenberg
Department: History; Religious Studies
“…In the Breaking of the Bread”: An Analysis of Food Culture and Ritual at The Abbey of Gethsemani, Matthew Stouffer
Department: Religious Studies
“Stimulating” Church Growth? How Economic Growth Impacts Growth of Christianity in Post-Reform Urban China —Evidence from Household Survey, Zilu Wang
Department: Economics; Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2013
Pray the Gay Away: An Examination of Masculinity in the Ex-Gay Movement, Christina Bowerman
Department: Religious Studies; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The Role of Normativity and Discourses of Authenticity in Religious Studies, Daniel Iwaniec
Department: Religious Studies
Spirosony: Music and Spirituality, the Practice of Presence - A Case Study in Gregorian Chant and Human Manifestations of Spirituality through Music, Jordan Alexander Key
Department: Religious Studies
Science and Religion' or 'Scieligion'?: the Relationship Between Science and Religion and the Possibilities of the Integration of the Two, Patrick Lai-Fang
Department: Religious Studies
Hospitality, Homosexuality, and Hazel-Nut Hurling: a Comparison of Genesis 19 Between Judaism and Islam Through Midrash and Tafsir, Grace E. Miller
Department: Religious Studies
People and Plants in a Rust Belt City: a Critical Analysis of Urban Agriculture in Cleveland, Ohio Using a Sustainable Development Framework, Erika Takeo
Department: Religious Studies
Gay, Asian, and Religious: the Search For Religious Community By Queer Asian Americans, Celeste Tannenbaum
Department: Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2012
The New Buffalo: the Effects of Exchange on North American Indigenous Tradition, Kathryn I. Brady
Department: Religious Studies
Finding Peace Through Religious Difference: Healing the Wounds of Violent Conflict Through Interfaith Dialogue, Kristen J.E. Connors
Department: International Relations; Religious Studies
Now I Walk in Beauty: A Comparative Examination of Historical and Contemporary Native American Religious Traditions Through the Lakota and Shoshone-Bannock Sun Dances, Jessie Felling
Department: Religious Studies
Seen and Unseen Face of God: An Artist's Exploration of Patua Art and Religion, Julia Murphy
Department: Art and Art History; Religious Studies
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2011
Nun Yo' Business: How American Women Religious Responded to the Apostolic Visitation, Emily Ludlow Auth
Department: Religious Studies
From Goddess to Dragons, Rta to Ren: Water Through the Lenses of Hinduism and Chinese Religions, Christine Evans
Department: Religious Studies
Sharing Food From the Master's Table: Working Towards Feminist Solidarity Through Bible Study, Abigail Heimach
Department: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Religious Studies
Kali the Bloodthirsty, Lilith the Vengeful: a Compartative Analysis to Determine Goddess Stature, Houstin Phyllis Hoskins
Department: Religious Studies
Faith, Politics, and the State: the Impact of Antagonistic Rhetoric By the U.S.' Christian Right and India's Hindu Nationalism, Linda Kuster
Department: Political Science; Religious Studies
The United Methodist System of Itinerancy, and their Congregations' Understanding of It, Michael Law
Department: Religious Studies
How Should Pope John Paul II Be Remembered? a Study of the Legacy of the Pope John Paul II, Justin R. Lizik
Department: Religious Studies
In the Forests of North America They Dream of India: A Cultural Exploration of Postmodern Americans as Buddhist Pilgrims, Noreen Lucic
Department: Religious Studies
The Quest Through Emerging Adulthood: A Look at the Influence Travel has on Emerging Adults, Rena A. Starr
Department: Religious Studies
Ain't I a True Woman?: a Foucauldian Exploration of Agency Within the True Woman Movement, Laura Stricklen
Department: Religious Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2010
Batman, Superman, and Spiderman: A Cross Cultural Study of Hero Mythology, Carly Amster
Department: Religious Studies
Batman, Superman, and Spiderman: a Cross Cultural Study of Hero Mythology, Carly Amster
Department: Religious Studies
When the Arahats Go Marching in: A Brief Historiography of the Study of Tibetan and Japanese Religions as They Were Impacted by the Introduction of Buddhism, Gregory Carlisle
Department: Religious Studies
Renegotiating the Role of Religion in the Public Sphere: Evidence of a New Phase in the Evolution of French Society, Britta Nicole Harman
Department: French and Francophone Studies; Religious Studies
Buddhism in the Tibetan Diaspora: Framing Culture and Adapting Tradition, Nicholas Charles Christopher Janus
Department: Religious Studies