Senior Independent Study Theses from 2023
Black and Red Markers on White Boards: Applying John Ogbu's Cultural-Ecological Theory of Minority Student Experiences to Higher Education, Geoffrey Allen
Department: Chinese Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Reality Television’s Vision of Class: A Deep Dive into Class Performance in Windy City Rehab, Gillian Rhiannon Ashley
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Establishing Mixedness: Exploring the Role School Plays in Multiracial Identity Formation, Langston Bealum
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Creating a Caring Community: An Examination of Mutual Aid Networks, Abigail Beard
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Towards a New Political Sovereignty: A Case Study of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird Citizen-Science Project, Sam C. Boudreau
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Asian by Birth, American by Circumstance: How Transcultural East-Asian Adoptees in the U.S. Create Multi-Cultural Identities & the Toll of the Covid-19 Anti-Asian Hate Crisis in Altering Identity Conception, Maud Bulman
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
"Footsteps in the dark:" An Analysis of Identity Salience in Queer Christian College Students, Allison M. Cunningham
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
In the Spotlight or In the Wings? Looking at African American Culture and History in Museums, Anailah Funchess
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“Newgenics”: A Comparison Study of Parents of Children with Down Syndrome in Denmark and The United States, Lauren Ganson
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Sexless in the City: Performances of Masculinity by Involuntarily Celibate Men in Online Forums, Dana Giffen
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Summer Camp as a Social Institution of Change: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Summer Camp as a Total Institution that Cultivates and Fosters Self-Discovery and Personal Growth/Change Among Counselors, Conor J. Greene
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Ink Exchange: A Study of Traditional Japanese Tattoos Migration from Japan to America, Samantha Harrison
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Examining Influences Behind Perceptions of Inequality in Education: Meritocracy Through Multicultural Perspectives, Alicia Krielaart
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Becoming a National Park Ranger: An Ethnographic Research Study Examining How Rangers From the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Conceptualize Their Role in Nature and the Park’s Preservation for Visitors, Abby Kushner Benson
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Socio-Cultural and Biomechanical Impacts of Throwing Velocity for Professional Baseball Pitchers, Steven Leicht
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Eat Your Heart Out: The Role of Food in the Health and Livelihood of a Free-Meal Site Community, Brianna Lyman
Department: Biology; Sociology and Anthropology
Together, We Can Everything: The Social Outcomes of Cohousing Communities in Denmark, Alice K. Markey
Department: Environmental Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
"Does this spark joy?": Aesthetics, Gender, and Ideals in Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kayla E. Stevens
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Why Athletes Lose Money: Examining Social Factors That Cause Male Professional Basketball Players to Go Broke, Paige Wells
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Somewhere In Between: Examining Mixed-Race Beauty Politics in The United States, Chloe Dawn Wright
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
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
Clifton Canidae: An Anthropological And Sculptural Exploration, Sydney D. Clifton Ms
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Art and Art History
Biopolitics And Immunitary Paradigm: Understanding College Of Wooster Students Opinion Towards The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sky Crain
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Identity Crisis: The Internet As An Alternative Source Of Sex And Reproductive Health Information For LGBTQ+ Individuals, Ruth Dahlhausen
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Right To Healthcare In Practice: Affordable Health Clinics & Spanish-Speaking Patients, Nicholas J. Harling
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
You Can’t Build A Canoe Online: Activism And Identity In Indigenous Taiwan, Adam King Hinden
Department: Chinese Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Meat Your Vegetables: An Exploration Into Food Sustainability On A Small Liberal Arts Campus, Audrey R. Holder
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“Orange Is The New Mistreatment?”: An Analysis Of Knowledge And Perceptions Of Incarcerated Women And Their Mistreatment Through (Non)Viewing Of Orange Is The New Black, Nikki M. E. Hoseus
Department: Communication Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Paleolithicc: Understanding The Woman Of Willendorf Through Contemporary Fat Studies, Shelby HL Jones
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Ganesh On My Christmas Tree: A Look At How Immigration To The Us Affects Generations, Anika Grace Teredesai Karp
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Why Is K-Pop So Popular?: A Study Of K-Pop Fandom, Abby M. Krizan
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Follow Your Arrow Wherever It Points: How Fandom Forms And How Fandom Interprets Gender Dynamics Through Kacey Musgraves, Noah Levy
Department: Communication Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
The First-Generation College Student Experience: How Financial Disparities Impact Success Rates Among Students, Riley Leann Maas
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Exploring The Black Entrepreneur In America: The Relationship Between Black Business And Society, Khaylen M. Mahdi
Department: Business Economics; Communication Studies; Economics; Psychology; Sociology and Anthropology; Interdepartmental
The Impacts Of Childhood Parental Death Among College Aged Students, Jillian L. Ness
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Conjuring Authenticity: The Coven, Buckland Museum, And The Representation Of Magic Behind Glass, Ellen M. Nikirk
Department: History; Sociology and Anthropology
Play Like A Girl: Examining The Stigma Of Women’s Health And Menstruation In Athletics, Rachel M. Osterhouse
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Forming National Identity Through Commemoration: Representation Within Postage Stamps At The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, Kate Read
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Will You Accept This Rose?: The Representation Of Black Women On The Bachelorette Seasons 13 And 18, Saralee Renick
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Effects Of Second-Hand Trauma: A Look Into The Lived Experiences Of African American Students And Their Perception Of Police Officers Versus Campus Security, Aryana Rhodes
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Analyzing The Experiences Of Adult Children Language Brokers In Mexican Immigrant Families, Vanesa Rubio Toxtle
Department: Education; Sociology and Anthropology
Keep Students On The Field To Stay In The Classroom: The Effects Of Public School Funded And Regulated Extracurricular Activities On The School-To-Prison Pipeline., Sydney Pare Schuster
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Decision-Making in the Face of NFIP Policy Changes, Mohini Sharma
Department: Global and International Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
“No Matter Where You’re From, We’re Glad You’re Our Neighbor”: Enacting Justice Initiatives And Community Formation In Faith-Based Organizations, Jenna M. Smith
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Our Bodies, Our Work; An Ethnographic Study Of Tattoo Artists In Chicago, Gabriel C. Spalding III
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
A Love Letter To Myself: The Social And Cultural Experiences Of Sexual Assault Survivors On Small Liberal Arts College Campuses And Using Ethnographic Playwriting As Advocacy, Gabriella M. Sullivan
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Theatre and Dance
Building Youth Power To Transform Education: Exploring A Detroit Area Teenage Activist Organization, Harry Susalla
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
What Do College Students Know About Animal Trafficking?, Kennedy M. Tanner
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Puffins, The Charismatic Clowns Of The Sea: Examining The Relationship Between Community Identity And The Social Construction Of Animals, Megan Henry Tuennerman
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Mommy Issues: An Investigation Into How Social Systems Affect Single Mothers And The Adolescent Experience Of Their Children, Paige Gleason Williams
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Does Having A Birth Plan Impact Your Birth Experience? A Deeper Look Into Birth Plans, Birth Assistants/Attendants, And The Microbiome In Birth Experiences, Elijah Winfield
Department: Biology; Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2021
Narratives of Heritage: Gender, Representation, and Diversity at the First Ladies National Historic Site, Annelisea Brand
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Exploring Risk, Uncertainty, and Ambiguity under the lens of the Entrepreneurial Day Trader, Jerry L. Bronson
Department: Business Economics; Sociology and Anthropology
Liberté, Égalité, Paternité: Understanding the French anti-gay and anti-reproductive technology movement, La Manif pour tous, Elizabeth Cotton
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; French and Francophone Studies
Can Climate Fiction Novels Inspire Social Change? A Literary and Empirical Ecocritical Analysis, Claire Davidson
Department: English; Sociology and Anthropology
Music-making and Identity: Constructing and Collaborating on the Musicians' Self in Bluegrass Bands, Michael Dean
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
"Love is a Bulletproof Vest": Protest as an Exploration of Women’s Right to the City, Sarah Foley Duran
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“A Big Opportunity for Everyone to not Hide Those Beautiful Bodies”: Building Community Among Women of Color in the Body Positivity Movement on Instagram, Lilia Federico
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Defeating the COVID-19 Infodemic on Twitter: A SIP Agent-Based Model of Rumor Propagation and Truth Bot Intervention, Zhen Guo
Department: Computer Science; Sociology and Anthropology
Trying to “Do No Harm”: Empathy’s Relationship with Medical Education, Cydney Grace Hall
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Collecting as Seva and Decolonizing Display: Art Collectors in the Sikh American Diaspora, Saeed Husain
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“We Need Your Help”: The Rhetorical Construction of the Citizen Detective in True Crime Podcast Jensen and Holes: The Murder Squad, Amelia A. Kemp
Department: Communication Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Adding to the Narrative: Stories of the Holocaust through Portraiture and the Museum, Marloes Krabbe
Department: Art and Art History; Sociology and Anthropology
Birth Work, Reproductive Justice, and Communities of Care, Hannah Lindsay Lane-Davies
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Fabric and Flesh: A Tactile Exploration of Personhood and Becoming, Ella Lang
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Reconstructing Home and Family: An Analysis of the Family Life Experiences of Queer Central Americans Living in the United States., Cesar O. Lopez
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Socializing Sons: How Lesbian Parents Engage With Masculinity While Raising Their Sons, Laura Isabel Montoya
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Collective Memory and Community in the Sri Lankan Diaspora of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA, Anura Namachchivaya
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Small Town Queers: The Intersections of Gender Identity and Regional Location, Hayden Ruairí Nolan
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Experience of Black Police Officers and an Examination of whether the Black Community Supports Them, Camryn Pollard
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
What Are Perfect Places, Anyway?: Exploring the New Zealand Government's Approach to Youth Suicide Prevention, Olivia C. Proe
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
New Space, No Place: Navigating Experiences in a Predominately White Higher Education Institution as Latinx Students, Priscilla Ramos Rico
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
"MIXED-ISH" Exploring the Racial Identity of Black/White Biracial College Students, Keonn Scott
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Artifacts of Culture: Encounters with Multivocal Objects in Margaret of Austria’s 16th-Century Library, Jonas Short
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Art and Art History
The Nurses and Mothering (NAM) Study: Intensive Mothering and the Dual Caregiving Role of Nurse Mothers in the Shadow of the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic, Sabina Beth Skolnick
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Reimagining Injustice Education: An Analysis of Pedagogy in Indigenous Museums, Tara Elizabeth Strauch
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Running with Responders: Exploring Anthropological Contributions to Disaster Response and An Ethnographic Study of First Response Culture, Diane Elise Tierney
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Global Ramifications of the Black Lives Matter movement, Perry E. Worthey
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Senior Independent Study Theses from 2020
Holding Hands with a Privatized Care Industry: The Paradoxical Relationship Between the Motives of Senior Care Workers and the Bureaucratic and Market-Oriented Structures in which They Are Embedded, Katherine H. Atwell
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
What Factors Affect the Perceptions of Higher Education Among the Hispanic Communities?” Do Hispanics Think That Higher Education Is a Reality or a Dream? and Why Do They Think So?, Fabio Barreto
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
A New Generation Rising Like the Sun, but Who Directs the Light?: An Analysis of the Sunrise Movement’s Meteoric Rise and Limited Scope, Benjamin J. Bridgman
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
A New Perspective on Poverty Alleviation: Evaluating Microfinance Programs Through Social Impact Indicators, Robert Driscoll
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“Sometimes You Want to Just Run Away”: Participation and Mobilization of the New Sanctuary Movement, Elyse Echegaray
Department: History; Sociology and Anthropology
Slender Waists and Coral Lips: An Examination of Gender Construction in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty Fairy Tales, Isadora M. Hetrick
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
A Hidden Curriculum: Understanding the Impact of Emotional Labor on Elementary School Teachers’ Self Identities, Stephanie Hilton
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
“All Bodies Are Good Bodies”: How Anti-Diet Culture Activists Use Instagram to Challenge Diet Culture Norms, Miranda James
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
The Continuation of Violence: Analyzing the Retraumatization of Incarcerated Survivors of Domestic Violence and Evaluating the Potential of a “Trauma-Informed” Prison Model, Eliana Kahn
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
What are My Rites?: Exploring Tahara as a Ritual Process in Judaism, Kaitlyn Khayat
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Religious Studies
Framing White Supremacy: The Creation of Collective Identity Over YouTube, Henry A. Mai
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Durkheim’s Day in Court: A Sociological Analysis of Supreme Court Cases Concerning Conditions of Confinement Under the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause, Elizabeth Main
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Parks for the People: A Comparative Analysis of Diversity Engagement between Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Yosemite National Park, Cameron Miller
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Hope and Struggle: Towards a Socialist Internationalism for the Rural Working Class, Robyn O. Newcomb
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Dream, Believe, Achieve: The Study of Mentoring and the Impact It Has on Student Athlete, Kylie Orr
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Gatekeeping in the Transgender Community, Kevin V. Ortiz
Department: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Sociology and Anthropology
Animals at the Fair: An Investigation Into Culturally Relevant Curriculum in Wooster City and Northwestern Elementary School Math Classrooms, Olivia R. Poindexter
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
An Ethnographic look at Organizational Culture within the Children's Defense Fund, Alyssa Noelle Rotte
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Lost in Excavation: A Study of Ancient Greek Burial Artefacts and How They Are Displayed in Museums in the Context of Their History, Nina Ruth Hooper Rusmore
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; Classical Studies
Wading Through the Gene Pool: Genetic Counseling and its Principles, Sidney Senita
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Is it Just a Language Exam? An Analysis of the Test D'Évaluation De Français as a Marker of Republican Integration, Margaret Maeve Simmering
Department: Sociology and Anthropology; French and Francophone Studies
AgriCulture: Selective Strategies One Cooperatives Uses as a Mediator for its Amish Growers, Elizabeth Stanis
Department: Sociology and Anthropology