2014 Senior Thesis Topics

Africana Studies

• Marlon Bascombe, The Relationship Between Class and Race at Elite Colleges
• Nanyamka-Keyane Fleming, Understanding the Other Woman: An Analysis of Black Female Portrayal in Legal Television
• “J.R.” Jennifer Roberts, Queer(y)ing the Rainbow Nation: Exploring the Sociocultural Implications of South Africa's Civil Union Act on Black Lesbians
   

Asian Studies

• Juana Gonzalez, A Look into Ethnic Korean Identity in Japan: A Brief History of Japanese and Korean Events and Analysis of Zainichi Film GO
• Trang (Tracy) Le, Cruel Story of Youth: A Look at Japan’s Isolated Youths through Film
   

Biochemistry/Molecular Biology

• Niko Wagner, Designing an Expression Plasmid for Tyramine-β Hydroxylase Related Protein
• Jennifer Baxter and Helen Farrell, Detection and Identification of Endogenous Electron Shuttles in Dissimilatory Metal Reducing Bacteria
• Kelly Jenkins, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Health
• Gina Goldberg and Rob Hayden, Piscidin Binding to Bacterial DNA: A Novel Mechanism of Action
• Michael Bianco and Holly Turula, Generation of a cDNA Library from Full-Length mRNA Transcripts of Ichthyphthirius multifiliis
• Kim Bogardus, Pore Formation and Membrane-Binding Effects of Piscidins 1 and 3 in Bacterial Membrane Mimics
• Tori Bogen, Examining the Mechanism of Pore Formation of Piscidin 1 in Cancer Cell Membrane Mimics
• Luis Santos, Modeling the Biosynthesis Pathway of Octopamine
• Jeremy Brendle, Thermodynamic Investigations of Piscidins 1 and 3 Bound to Cell Membrane Mimics
   

Biology

• Claire Barton, The Effects of Perinatal Exposure to Bisphenol A on Adiposity in Mice
• David Borczuck, Determining the composition of murine gut microbiota throughout varying stages of obesity
• Andraya Cole, The Effects of Metformin on Weight, Hyperglycemia and Hyperinsulinemia in db/db Mice
• Margaret Doolin and Matt Peterfreund, Temperature-induced seasonal polyphenism in the orange sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme)
• Felipe Garcia, Relationship between the Giant Madagascar Hissing-Cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa, and the mite, Gromphadorholaelaps schaeferi 
• Aaron Geiduschek, Construction of conditional Snf2 allele to control intergenic SRG1 transcription and SER3 repression in S. cerevisiae
• Katheryn Goldman,  An Exploration of Ascorbic Acid Synthesis in  Drosophila melanogaster and  Manduca sexta
• Rachel Green, Assessment of the microbial assemblage composition in sediments of Green Lake using next generation sequencing
• Allison Hall and Graham Boyd, Type 1 diabetes control through immune system manipulation
• Danielle Haswell and Matt Vail, Exploring a Bug’s Life; Learning and Memory in Manduca sexta
• Halley Hayman, Trap Crops: testing the efficacy of intercropping as a non-chemical form of pest management in a greenhouse environment
• Victoria Hull, The effect of Alliaria petiolata on macroinvertebrate detritivore communities at Hamilton College
• Salome Kuchuckhidze, The ecology of Lyme disease: effect of Japanese barberry and Amur honeysuckle microenvironment on black-legged tick distribution
• Jessica Li, Exploring mitochondrial dynamics of Tetrahymena thermophila
• Daniel Lichtenauer, Characterization of a sub-chemocline microbial biofilm in Green Lake (Fayetteville, NY)
• Hannah Lyons and Emma Taccardi, Determining the occurrence of apoptosis in the endocardial tubes of the chick embryo
• Abigail Martin and Julia Gelissen, Investigating the Hygiene Hypothesis Using an Intestinal Helminth and a Streptozotocin Model of Type I Diabetes in Mice
• Madison Molho and Kristen Insardi, The effect of exercise on the rate of wound healing and scar tissue development in male mice
• Ashley Perritt, An Exploration of Tyramine β-Hydroxylase-Related Protein Function
• Doug Santoro, The Effects of Invasive Garlic Mustard on Soil Nematode Communities in Hamilton College Forests
• Panos Tamvakologos,  Genetic screen for mutations in  PAF1 that are defective for SER3 transcription 
• Jill Tokarczyk and Alice Grant, Apoptosis in mice placenta
• Joe Wagner, Molecular Characterization of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis
• Don Wells, Selection of Suppressors of Histone H3K122A Mutant
• Emily Winters, Effects of Japanese barberry and Amur honeysuckle on tick host distribution and Borrelia burgdorferi incidence in ticks
• Sam Zimmerman, Developing a new pipeline to reassemble the genome of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis

Chemical Physics

• Christopher Whiting, Early work toward a transition metal-catalyzed transannular hydroamination synthesis of pyrrolizidine alkaloids
   

Chemistry

• Peter Campbell, Excitation and Emission Dynamics in Upconverting Lanthanide-Doped Nanophosphors
• Jill Chipman, Spin Networks of Polyoxometalate – Organic Hybrids
• Philip Conkling, Polyoxotungstates and –molybdates: Introduction of LindqvistGadolinium(III) Complexes
• Gabrielle Fleming, Radical-Mediated Ring Expansion via Nickel Catalyzed Suzuki Coupling at 2° Alkyl Halides
• Cam Ha, Synthesis of Cryptomaldamide and Derivatives: Towards the Enhancement of their Anticancer Activity
• Tara Hansen, Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) Peptidomimetics as Anticancer Agents
• Shakil Hossain, Carbon Linkers for the Alpha-Fetoprotein Peptidomimetics
• Hannah Jaiven, Luminescence Behavior of Sol-Gel-Derived Hybrid Materials Resulting from Covalent Grafting of a Chromophore Unit to Different Organically Modified Alkoxysilanes
• Leah Krause, A Study of the Trajectories of InfluenzaNeuraminidase Binding using MM/GBSA FreeEnergy Calculations
• Daniel Mermelstein, Investigation of Oseltamivir Binding Kinetics to N1 Influenza Neuraminidase
• Clare O’Grady, The development, implementation, and assessment of a molecular docking laboratory exercise in Chem 125 and 270
• Christopher Richardson, Explorations Toward a Tandem Dowd Beckwith Ring Expansion and Subsequent Suzuki Cross Coupling
• Duy Vo, Radical-driven Suzuki Cross Coupling of an Alkyl Halide, Olefin, and Vinyl Boronic Acid
• Kaitlyn Weinert-Stein, A straightforward approach for construction of indolizidines via transannular hydroamination
   

Chinese

• John Angarola, The Origins of Modern Chinese Identity: An Analysis of Hu Shi and Lu Xun’s Interpretations of Ibsen
• Alexandra Crivelli, The Relationship between Gao Xingjian’s Plays and Chinese Society in the 1980’s
• Sarah Dempsey, Interpreting Plastic Surgery Consumption Among Chinese Women as a Manifestation of Internalized Racism
• Robert Howe, The Appropriation of Chinese Culture through Western Tattoos
• Michelle Lee, Western Perspective on Chinese Medicine
• Daniel Mesa, The Development of Economic Relations Between China and Latin America. Is Latin America too dependent on China?
• Amanda Ng, The Representation of the Female Identity in Chinese Popular Music
• Joseph Roy, What is the Chinese Dream?
• Graham Sadler, South China Sea Sovereignty Disputes
• Mitchell Scher, Development and Current State of the Chinese Space Industry
• Melissa Segura, Gender Discrimination in Chinese TV advertisements
• Isabelle Tan, The euphoric rise of luxury consumption in China and its influence on the economy, society and culture
• Kim Wang, Linguistic Purism in the Chinese and French Language
   

Communication

• Patrick Bedard, Driving Change in Consumer Attitudes: Agenda Setting Theory and CSR Reporting in the Automotive Industry
• Erica Berg, 8 to 10 on Thursdays: Emerging Narratives in a Bereavement Support Group at Hamilton College
• Sabrina Debrosse, Are We There Yet: Conditions of Cross-Cultural Communication in Higher Education
• Danielle Feigin, “Live From New York:” It's My Thesis!
• Alex Gioia, Examination of Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Laura Herlihy, Political Internet Memes: How Binders Full of Women and Big Bird Can Impact an Election
• Tara Huggins, “I Can’t, I’m Busy:” Communicating Busyness in Interpersonal Relationships
• Nayantara Joshi, No Risk, No Reward: The Encouragement of Risk-Taking Amongst Friends
• Sarah Lasker, More than a Benchwarmer: Examining Communication from Players on the Bench to Players in the Game
• Morgan Markman, The Role of Communication in Developing Hamilton College Students' Religious Identity
• Megan McCareins, Africa: Framed by Online Travel Magazines
• Chelsea Merritt, Interpreting Texts: Decoding Computer-Mediated Messages in Romantic Relationships
• Jessica Moulite, Admitted, but not Accepted: An Examination of Inclusion and Exclusion at Hamilton College
• Andrew Nichols, The Persuasive Power of Music in Advertising
• Leo Nizzi, It’s More Than Just a Sport: A Study on the Influence and Cultural Implications of Soccer
• Marta Pisera, These Pants Aren't Made For Fat Women": Digital Crisis Communication
• Elaine Tam, A Power Struggle Through Sexualization in K-Pop
• Ben Yudysky, If At First You Don’t Succeed, Would You Talk About It? An Investigation of Communicative Behaviors Following Failure
   

Comparative Literature

• Scott Etkin, City and Psychology in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
• Kimberly Hughes, Sword and Scabbard: An Exploration of Gender Roles and Relations in Arthurian Legend
• Lauren Lanzotti, Candles, Heat, and Halos: The Literal “Enlightenment” in Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina
• Margaret Rosenbaum, Novel Abstraction
   

Creative Writing

• Carolyn Anderson, Westbrook
• Bradford Child, Tidewater
• Shannon Cuthbert, Growing Season
• Sarah Destin,  The Awkward Years 
• Annelise Driscoll,  Perfect Heaven Space 
• Nicolas Geisler, Dave Is Dead 
• Sam Gold, Stories
• Rory Keating, Stories
• Lisa Labate, I Love the Words Dear Violet
• Meg Lee, Carnival
• Joe Legault, Impermanence
•  Nathan Livingston  , Music Lessons
• Joe Michaels, Panacea in Panama: Midnight Abroad in Significant Democratic Republics
• Will Newman, Fledge
• Nick Pappageorge, Absurdity, Vice, and Everything Nice
• Sarah Sgro, The Future of Eggs
• Kina Viola, We Are All Transplants
   

Dance

• Mike Reyes and McKenzie Foster, One More Time
   

East Asian Languages and Literatures

• Robert Cowell, Examining the Influence of Daoist Thought in Modern China: A Look at Idioms from the Daodejing
• Ellen Esterhay, Neoclassical Realist Perspectives on the Sino-Russian Relationship
• Lucas Hulleberg, Solving Film and Music Piracy Issues in China
• Prianka Imanudin, Exploring Chinese People’s Happiness through their Consumption Trends
• Brendan Mullin, An analysis of China’s Economic Stability Based on the 2011 Wenzhou Credit Crisis
• Paul Scarinci, Can The United States Stop Selling Arms To Taiwan
• Samuel Silverman, How Has the Chinese Automobile Sector Caught Up to the Rest of the World?
• Mai Tran, Chinese People’s Acceptance of Homosexuality
• Melissa Yang, The Role of Women in Jin Yong’s Martial Arts Films
   

Economics

• Eamon Anderson, The determinants of option overhang in publicly traded companies
• Nicholas Arney, Conspicuous consumption and education
• Shannon Burke, Differences in educational attainment between public and private high schools
• Robby Cowell, Financial development, regulation, and the income distribution
• Claeson Dillon, Business and bureaucrats: The relationship between stock returns and state politics
• Mao Ding, External debt and economic growth
• Carolina Geiger, Inequality and growth: How does inequality exacerbate or alleviate conditions that affect economic growth?
• Rujun Han, Do Google search volumes influence markets’ rewards to risk exposure?
• Isaac Handley-Miner, What makes college students happy?: A subjective well-being analysis
• Tara Hansen, Variations in health outcomes and health behaviors across U.S. states
• John Kennedy, Regional determinants of U.S. urban development
•  Lane Lerner , Insider Intent and the Long-Run Performance of Firms Post Initial Public Offering
•  Max Milder , Educational inequality and income distribution: A cross country analysis
•  Taylor Morris, Structural and cyclical unemployment: Is skill mismatch keeping America unemployed?
•  Brendan Mullin, Household portfolio decisions in China
•   Jacob Schneider, The effect of Super Bowl losses on the mental health and life satisfaction of fans
•  Max Schnidman , The role of virtue in the economics of happiness
•  Melissa Yow, The factors driving US hospital expenditures: An inpatient case study
   

English

• *Timothy Driscoll, “The work for which thou wast foretold”: Terrorism and Divine Sanction in Milton’s Samson Agonistes
• *Madison Forsander, A Beautiful Trap: The marriage market, the male gaze, and the performance of beauty in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth
• *Grace Parker-Zielinski, “Gatherers of Flowers” and Introductions to “Greatness and Variety”: Anthologists’ Roles in the Formation and Interpretation of the Canon
• *Abigail Saks, Color Theory in Tess of the D’Urbervilles: The Elicitation of Sympathy through a Verbal Palette

* Honors presentation
 

Environmental Studies

• Larkin Bernardi, A Hydro-chemical and Isotopic Analysis of Oneida Lake as it Pertains to the Invasion of the Zebra Mussel
• Martha Geyer, Wilderness in a New Age: The Effects of GPS and Mobile Phones on Experiencing Nature
• Alice Henry, The Effect of Windthrow on Forest Insect Diversity and Bird Feeding
• Heather Krieger, Food Literacy for Food Justice: How is Food Taught in Schools?
• Trey Milam, Hydrofracking: What it means for Water Resources in the Appalachian Basin
• Morgan Osborn, An Investigation of Honeybee Health in Central NY: Landscape Diversity and Neonicotinoid Presence
• Colyer Woolston, A Study of Macroinvertebrate Diversity in the Oriskany Creek
• Claire Zurlo, Grassroots Initiatives to Alleviate Food Insecurity and Hunger
   

Hispanic Studies

• Bianca Buonaguro, Voces recuperadas: interpretaciones feministas de la Guerra Civil española en La plaza del diamante y La voz dormida
• Sarah Kerr, La crisis de las humanidades en la educación universitaria: lo que podemos aprender de los “studia humanitatis” del siglo XV
• Sarah L. Ohanesian, La identidad y la masculinidad en la narrativa de Rosario Ferré
• Marta K. Pisera, Madres e hijas: Aculturación e identidad en Real Women Have Curves y Spanglish
• Kara Robinson, Progreso, civilizaciones e imperio en History of the Conquest of Peru de William H. Prescott

History

• *John Boudreau, Savages and Indians: European Perceptions of Native Americans in the Canadian Fur Trade, 1754-1819
• *Julia Grace Brimelow, The Nationalist Thought of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
• *Anderson Tuggle, “A Bloodless Revolution”: The Transition from Divided Monarchies to a Unified Democracy in the Princely States of Rajasthan, 1926-1956

* Honors presentation
 

Music

• Nicholas Brewer, piano
• Hillary Peckham, piano
• William Robertson, composition
• Jacob Taylor, choral conducting

Neuroscience

• Lauren Brady, Improvement of Social Skills in a First Grader Using a Social Story: A Case Study
• Emily Brodsky, Uncovering the Science Behind Traumatic Brain Injury
• Taylor Friedman, A Mathematical Model of an Octopaminergic Neuron
• Liza Gergenti, The Role of Glutamate Receptors in a Rat Model of Schizophrenia
• Elliot Greenham, Covert Shifts in Attention Affect Pupil Dilation
• Victoria Harbour, Emotional Ethics: The Contribution of Emotion and Cognition to Moral Judgment
•   Sidika Kajtezovic , Do the Deaf See Better Than the Hearing? An Examination of Changes in Spatial Vigilance After Early Auditory Deprivation
• Mahima Karki, Understanding the Effect of Metformin on Genetic versus Food-Induced Obesity in Mice
• Daniel Lustberg, Losing Control: Neuroadaptation in the Dopamine Motive Circuit and the Development of Compulsive Behaviors
• Marla Marquez, The Effect of Neonatal Fenoterol Treatment on Neurodevelopment in Rats: A Potential Animal Model of Autism
•  Sarah Mehrotra , Cognitive Control Plus Math
• Samantha Otis, An Exploration of Glycolytic Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster S2 Cells
•  Emily Palen , Taste (and Then Find) the Rainbow: The Effects of Gustation on Visual Attention
•  Freymon Perez , A Rat Model of Schizophrenia
• Scott Pillette, Examining the Effects of Lead on a Synapse
•  Allison Reeder , The Effects of Lead on Calcium Levels in PC12 Cells
•  Emily Sherry, He Said She Said: The Differences in Language Processing Between Men And Women
•  Katherine Tomalonis , The Effects of Exercise on Behavior in the Rat Model of ADHD
   

  Performance Studies 

•    Sarah “Dewi” Caswell, The Gamut: a chose-your-own adventure show
   

Psychology

• Maybelline Acquaye, Applied Behavior Modification Techniques: Positively Altering Stereotypy in Autism
• Sarah Emily Andrews, iLearn: The Effectiveness of Computer- and Tablet-based Games on Language Acquisition
•  Hannah Bacon , Discrepancies Between Parent and Child Perceptions of Relationship Quality and Psychological Outcomes
•  Martin Bawden ,  Behavioral Economics and Evolutionary Psychology: The Rationality of Seemingly Irrational Options 
•  Summer Bottini ,  Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Big? An Examination of the Mechanisms of Fat Talk 
•  Joshua Bridge ,  Modify Me?: A Study on the Relation of Attractiveness and Artificial Enhancement 
• Madison Brown, Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and Aggression: A Review of the Literature
• Erika L. Craven,  Athletics and Self-Regulation: Buffering Against Ego Depletion 
• Shannon Cuthbert, Emotional and Social Determinants of Active Defending and Passive Bullying Bystander Behavior 
• Katherine A. Delesalle, Does Defensive Self-Esteem Predict Attribution Style on an Academic Task?
• Jenn Durkee, Employing Social Stories to Increase Social Comfort and Ease Class-Year Transitions in a Middle School Boy: A Case Study
• Molly Ferguson, The Association Between Relationship Quality and Body Image in First-Year Athletes and Non-Athletes
• Jess Gutfleish, Coping with the Transition to College: Comparing Social Support from Friends and Family Members
• Laura Herlihy, Does Personality Predict Functional Matching and Persuasion in Social Marketing?
• Anne Hilburn, The Relation of Attachment to the Development and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
• Harsimran (Sim) Janjua, Who’s Your Daddy?: Paternal and Maternal Roles in Parent-Child Interaction and Theory of Mind
• Shamicka Jenkins Smith, Bilingualism and Development: How Ddoes Bilingualism Influence Education?
•  John Johnson , Rule-breaking, Testosterone, and Life History Theory: A Study
• Ashley King , Suppressing Thoughts About an Interaction Partner: Effects of Behavioral Confirmation
•  Hannah Kloeckner , Facilitating Communication in a Child with Delayed Speech Using PECS: A Case Study
• Eva Kramer, Instructing Students with Austism Spectrum Disorder in the General Education Classroom
•  Johanna Kreisbuch ,  Misery Loves Company: An Examination of the Contagion of Disclosure 
• Katherine Krusel, Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy Patients
•  Nicole LaPan , Using Functional Behavior Assessment and Differential Reinforcement to Decrease Problem Behavior in a Preschooler: A Case Study 
• Noah Levinson, Developmental Programming of Behavior: The Role of Endocrinology
•  Ryan Melone ,  Empathy versus Oneness as Motivators of Prosocial Behavior 
•  Jose Mendez,   Examining The Effect of Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Self-affirmation on Defensiveness to Threatening Health Information 
• Jonice Mendoza, Art and Autism: Which Environment is Best?
• Sarah L. Ohanesian,  Defensive Self-Esteem and Recall Biases for Criticism Following Ego Threat 
• Kerry Reilly,  The Loss Aversion Bias in Decision-Making: Variations Relating to ADHD Symptomatology 
• Evie Root,  Food for Thought: Is There a Relationship Between Going Gluten-free and Cognition? 
• Jennifer Rougeux, The Effects of Stress and Working Memory on Retrieval-Induced Forgetting 
• Chenara Seepersad, Is There a Relationship Between Stigma Consciousness and First Generation College Students’ Academic Performance and Social Adjustment to College?
• Michelle Shafer, A Critical Review of Art Therapy
• Kara Shannon, The Dark Side of Assistive Technology for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Emma Shafto Sisti, Minority Stress, Perceived Bicultural Competence, and Academic Achievement Among Ethnic Minority Students at Hamilton College
• Quan Wan, Do Music Chills Sharpen or Dull the Rest of the World?
• Evan Warnock, Space Matters: An Examination of Student and Faculty Perceptions of Learning Spaces at Hamilton College
• Ricardo A. Welch,  Effectiveness of Music Therapy For At-Risk Adolescents
• Ben Yudysky, Entrepreneurship: Individual Differences Shape a Common Process
   

Theatre

• Josh Bridge, director, The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang
• Minou Clark, Savannah Moon
• Kyra Jackson and Torian Pope, No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
• Anna Jastrzembski, Trans/Sexxx/Angel
• Lauren Lanzotti, Der Sandmann
   

Women’s Studies

• Cynthia Batista, Stark Differences: Translation of Female Characters from A Song of Ice and Fire to Game of Thrones
• Jennifer Kim, An Examination of Body Image and Eating Patterns Among College-Age Korean American Women
• Stephanie Lang, Jealousy, Manipulation, and Unhealthy Relationships: A Feminist Analysis of Emotional Abuse in Intimate Heterosexual College Relationships
• Jessica Moulite, The Smurfette Principle, The Magical Negro, and The Gay Conscience: The ‘Diversification of Primetime Television
• Sydney Proze, Are Mothers Still Expected to Feed the [White, Middle-Class, Nuclear] Family?: A Comparative Analysis of the Gendered Ideologies in Convenience Food Advertising
• Ashley Williams, Manufacturing Maternity: An Analysis of Institutional and Individual Employment of the Biomedical Paradigm in Constructing Pregnancy and Childbirth
• Shaha Zehra, (En)Lightened Advertising: A Content Analysis of Skin Lightening Commercials in India