2025 Senior Thesis Topics

 

American Studies

• Andrew Chronis, The American Identity Pilgrimage: Exploring the Landmarks that Shape Our Nation’s Identity
• Jake Dale, The Comanche and the Horse: Power, Identity, and Image on the Southern Plains
• Owen Luft, EPLURIBUSUNUM: Visualizing American Identity and History
• Chase White, History of Energy and Power: Climate Change and Energy in the Context of Indigenous Communities

Anthropology

• Lane Barsh, Forever Becoming: Wellness Rituals, Neoliberal Demands, and the Pursuit of the Future Self
• Shraddha Datta, Using Technology in Liberal Arts: Navigating the “Real World” at Hamilton College
• Elena Dickison, Doing Something': Race, Performance, and Activism in an Elite College Setting
• Sophie Gamble, Marketing U: Selling Hamilton in a Neoliberal Context
• Kritika Ghimire, Global Education, Local Inequality: How Nepali Students Learn to Leave
• Willa Karr, Being a Good Friend: Neoliberal Expectations and the Search for Authentic Connection at Hamilton College
• Cecilia Nourie, Making Time: Notions of ‘Self’ in the Commodification of Home and Heritage through Online ‘Aesthetic’ Culture
• Grace Park, Our Daily Rice Cake: A Comparative Ethnography of Faith, Belonging, and Generational Tension in Korean American Churches
• Roselin Pineda, After Hours: Deconstructing “Safe Spaces” in Collegiate Fun
• Charlotte Quinn, The Language of Gender & Sexuality: An Ethnographic Study of Division III Collegiate Softball
• Nicole Soret, Social, Social, Social: Narratives of Migration and the Conception of the "Bad" Migrant in Jackson Heights, NY
• Shan Worrell, A Synopsis of Black Women Seniors at Hamilton College as they Narrate their Experiences in Higher Education
• Harriet Xu, The Presentation and Performance of Self Through Clothing Choice

Archaeology

• Angela Escalante Zarco, Fragments of Trade: Ceramic Insights from a Historical Central New York Household
• Brandon Yam, Seeing Spaces and Between: A Social Syntax Analysis of Household Strata at 5MT123

Art

2025 Senior Art Thesis Show Website

GRADATION, on display May 8 through May 24, 2025, at the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art.

Exhibiting seniors: Eliza Behrke, Dulany Bloom, Caroline Chapman, Catherine Iven, Sawyer Kron, Alya MacDonald, Maia Macek, Brianna Padilla, Whitney Riley, Lauryn Socha, Em Van Ecko, George Wieser, Renyi (Miley) Xu, Allison Yanco, Chenyue (Cynthia) Yang

Also on display, Just keep digging, an independent study thesis exhibition by Julie Ying.

Art History

• Sara Fischer, Antisemitic Imagery in the Age of Social Media
• Gabby Johnson, Curation and Colonialism: Exhibitions of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada
• Alexander Levine, “The Signature of One Artist, the Work of One Wrist”: Creativity and Conversation in Helen Frankenthaler’s Later Work
• Sylvie Najarian, Then and Now: Design-Build Architecture
• Hadley Noonan, Reclaiming Rose Valland: The Jeu de Paume’s Unlikely Spy
• Taylor Scatliffe, From Scientific Object to Artistic Subject: The Black Female Body in Dissection and Sculpture

Biochemistry/Molecular Biology

• John Carbone, Further Exploring Fluoropyridyl Ethers as Leaving Groups in Photoredox-Catalyzed Radical Allylation Reactions
• Caroline Chapman, Effects of Different Carbon Sources on T. thermophila Growth
• Jeffrey Cheng, Optimized Reaction Conditions for Amide Bond Formation in the Synthesis of a Fibrin-Targeted Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging Probe
• Chrissy Crespo, TLR2/7 Agonist CL413 Enhances Influenza A Vaccine Response in Mice
• *Marissa Duffy, Ab10 Identification in Native Species of Zea mays
• *Owen Dzierzgowski, Ab10 Identification in North American Maize Landraces via FISH Microscopy and PCR
• Kayli Franco, Tethering Cse4 via LexA-LexO to Create a Synthetic Kinetochore
• Lainey Groll, From Pond to Proteome, Comparing Protein Expression and Composition of Reproductive Structures in Frogs and Toads
• Madison Hopkins, Direct Amide Bond Formation Catalyzed by the Spore Peptidoglycan Biosynthetic Enzyme SwsB
• Ryan Howard, Investigating Permanent Decrease in pH in T. thermophila Food Vacuoles
• Layla Jarrahy, Ciliate Macronuclei Shape Analysis and Evolutionary History
• Dasomie Kim, Macrocyclization of Peptide Pharmaceuticals via Ultrasound-Assisted Disulfide Bond Formation at Infinite Dilution Condition
• Joe Kubofcik, Synthesis of Fluorescent Probes Targeting Somatostatin Receptor II for In Vivo Macrophage Imaging in Carotid Plaque
• Zach Lucchini, Progress Toward the Purification and Characterization of the Germinant Glycosidase CwlJ
• Abbie Morin, The Role of Retinal Determination Genes During Retinoblastoma Formation
• *Michael Ngaw, Investigating Maize’s Abnormal Chromosome 10 Kinesin Proteins and Their Efficacy at Segregating a Whole Chromosome in Yeast
• Ryan Rahman, Ultrasound-Assisted Cyclization of Cardioactive Peptides
• Isis Riviere, Unlocking the Potential of Biomass, Optimizing 5-HMF Oxidation to FDCA via Bimetallic Catalysis
• Amy Shanahan, From Pond to Proteome, Comparing Protein Expression and Composition of Reproductive Structures in Frogs and Toads
• Jacob Spafford, Stereochemistry of Photoredox-Catalyzed Radical Allylation Reaction
• Will Strutton, The Synthesis and In Silico Analysis of Pyridinyl Indoles Displaying Antimicrobial Activity
• Katie Wetmore, Investigating the Metal and pH Dependence of the Sporulation Enzyme SwsB Using a Minimal Peptidoglycan Substrate
• Jayme Wilde, Progress Toward the Purification and Characterization of the Germinant Glycosidase CwlJ
• *Sean Zhang, Ab10 Identification in Native Species of Zea mays

Biology

• Regan Arnold, Modeling Retinoblastoma: Exploring Rbf1’s Role in Eye Development Using Drosophila melanogaster
• Emily Bennett, The effect of bacterial load on sickness behaviors in American crows
• Eileen Bussiere, The Effects of Habitat Type on Predation-Induced Fear in Small Mammal Communities
• Megan Case, Exploration of Microcystin-Related Gene Expression in Freshwater Environments
• Tessa Cole, Hi-C Resolved Pangenomics of Purple Sulfur Bacteria in Green Lake
• Luke Ehrenfreund, Seasonal Variation in Sperm Allocation and Spermatophore Characteristics in Male Redback Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)
• Teagan Graham and Gabriella (Ella) Heftved, Testosterone, inbreeding, and age effects on disease mortality of American Crows
• Miranda Gregory, Histological Analysis of Oviductal Morphology in Two Species of Lithobates
• Lilianna Gross and Abigail DeLena, Crowbot™: Investigating behavioral responses in American crows through robotic decoys
• Faith Hollyer, Identifying nutrient inputs to Oriskany Creek from agriculture and sewage
• Lisa Ito-Bagshaw, Michael LaPorte, Rebecca Munoz, Zaara Rehman, and Izabo Ramos, Fertilization mode shapes the evolution of novel flagellar structures in amphibians
• Catherine Iven and Maya Gustavson, The effects of forest composition on rodent seed selection and activity levels
• Carina Jones, Investigating the Transgenerational Effects of Lead (Pb) Exposure on Drosophila melanogaster
• Benjamin LaBranche and Lucie Steig, The effect of pH on phenol oxidase and peroxidase activity in salt marsh soils: Testing the efficacy of enhanced olivine weathering
• Alya MacDonald and Viola (Violet) Cue, Dynamics of the Green Lake Redoxcline: Oxic Methanogenesis and Reactive Oxygen Species
• *Abby Marzec and *Shayna Polsky, Synthetic Reconstitution of Meiotic Drive in Ab10 Zea mays using LexA-LexO Tethering System in Yeast
• Maggie Mieczkowski, Lead-Induced Retinal Degeneration in Drosophila melanogaster
• Paige O’Hara, Tethering Cse4 via LexA-LexO to Create a Synthetic Kinetochore
• Zach Orluk and Jordan Chan, Assessing migratory strategies and their effect on American Crow cognition
• Brianna Padilla, Quantifying Particulate Phosphorus at Various Depths in Phosphorus-Limited Green Lake
• Trang Pham, Spatial scale of underground freshwater gene flow in the amphipod, G. duebeni
• Megan Rai and Bea Lefranc, Investigating the Role of Kinesins in Chromosome Segregation
• Erin Rayhill, Photosynthetic Pigments and Particulate Matter in the Stratified Waters of the Meromictic Green Lake
• Olivia Rendon Paolo, Assessing Tetrahymena thermophila Cell Viability
• Jocelyn Rivera, The Effect of Intestinal Parasites on the Cognitive Abilities of American Crows
• Sarah Roth, Salamander Spermatophore Phenology
• Taylor Santulli, Electroactive Microbial Community Enrichment in Green Lake
• Carter Segal and New Nee Sar, Assessing Kinesin-Driven Acentric Plasmid Inheritance in Budding Yeast Utilizing Fluorescence Microscopy
• Zachary Smith, Investigating Glycogen Metabolism and the Effects of Starvation in Tetrahymena thermophila
• Emma Tansky, Assessing Associative Learning in American Crows through a Touchscreen Operant Chamber
• Jennie Weisbrot, Cloning Eyeless and Twin of Eyeless Enhancer Sequences
• Julie Ying, Microbial H+ -PPase transcription rates in diverse energy environments
• Lucy Zullo, The effect of inbreeding on the cognitive function of American crows

* “Mechanisms, Machinery, and Dynamics of Chromosome Segregation in Zea mays,” a paper co-authored by Marissa Duffy, Michael Ngaw, Shawn Zhang, and Owen Dzierzgowski, along with biology majors Shayna Polsky and Abby Marzec, and Associate Professor of Biology Natalie Nannas, was published in December 2024 in the journal Genes. Research presented in the paper was completed as part of the students’ senior thesis work.

Chemistry

• Taylor Bartels, Characterization of PaaA and PaaB Activity in Pantocin A Biosynthesis toward Structural Determination of Key Species
• Christophe Boivin, Enhancing CO2 Electrocatalysis by Cobalt Phthalocyanine through Electrostatic Interactions with Cationic ROMP Copolymers
• Amanda Browne, Rational Design of Pyridine:Phenol Co-polymers Immobilized in CoPc for the Electrocatalytic CO2RR
• Lauren Hanna, Reaction Optimization for Green Synthesis of Cardioactive Peptide
• Nestor Martinez, Benchmarking Electrocatalytic Polymers for the CO2RRc
• Andreas Matejka, Using MOF-303 to Filter Synthetic Dyes from Water
• Ian Vogelsang, The Design of Materials for the Facilitation of Electrochemical Reactions
• Allie Yanco, Post-Annealing Immersion of Terbium Metal-Organic Frameworks in Silica Glass
• Daniel Zheng, Developing a Photoredox-Catalyzed Radical Allenylation Mechanism

Chinese

• Harisen Davis, Fashioning Identity: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Clothing and Self-Expression in Detroit and Taiwan
• Edward (Eddie) Gamble, Beyond State-Sponsored Narratives: Migrant Worker Essentialization in Independent Media
• Delaney Grace, A Close Reading of The Joy Luck Club (1993): How is Chinese-American Culture and Experiences Portrayed in American Film?
• Edward (Eddie) Ha, The Transition of Chinese Consumption Habits (1980-2020)
• Norbu Lhendup, A Critical Reading of Shanghai Noon: The Asian Stereotype in Hollywood Cinema
• Devin Outhavong, Bridging the Gap: Exploring the Role of Confidence, Motivation, and Socioeconomic Factors in English Learning in China and Taiwan
• Angela Zheng, From Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation to The Untamed: The Adaptation and Reception of Danmei Literature in Film and Television

Cinema and Media Studies

• Andrew Hadden, The Impact of AI-Generated Film on Media and Creativity
• Jane Jeong, Little Forest(s): A comparative analysis on conceptions of community
• Kenneth Rix, AI and the Evolution of ACG and Deep Fakes: Technological Transformations and Global Concerns

Honors presentation

• Trevor Wilkes, Nostalgic Horror: Violence and Spectatorship in the Internet Era -- A Video Essay

Classics

• Andrew Brennan, The Power of the People: How the Plebeians effected change in the Roman Republic
• Tate Burgin, Vergil’s Characterization of Aeneas in The Aeneid
• Angela Escalante Zarco, The Gorgon Reclaimed: Tracing the Cultural and Symbolic Evolution of Medusa from Classical Antiquity to Contemporary Feminist Narratives
• Adele Sales, The Mirror and the Voice: Narcissus and Echo in the Digital Age
• Jonathan Shi, Medical Knowledge in Antiquity: Empirical vs “Divination” interventions Juxtaposed 

Computer Science

• Ahmed Abdelrehim, Maheen Masoud, and Ivan Wu, Irish Tune Composer Recognition
• Sam Anaevune, Abigail Bernardeau, Jamie Duncan, Ingrid Mast, and Andreas Matejka, Lighthouse Grant Management
• Ally Berkowitz and Andrew Hadden, Math Policy Tracker
• Shraddha Datta, Iris Izydorczak, Julian Kimball, and Ilsaa Siddiqui, Mapping Greater India
• Grace Johnson, Will Cho, Jun Cho, and Connor Whynott, Software for Visualizing, Analyzing, and Classifying Spectrum Data
• Bryce Molnar, Hadrian Fratarcangeli, Mia Chervenkova, and Alexis Ortiz, Digital Edition and Analysis of the Apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans
• Tyler Rodenberger, Luke Struthers, Michael Stewart, and Sydney Eriksson, Electron Spin Resonance Experiments
• Jude Rouhana, Edward Rosenbaum, Pandelis Margaronis, and Kien Tran, Velocity-Based Training System for Hamilton Athletics
• Eddie Trenk, Jacob Mair, Ryhory Hatavets, and Ahn Truong, Automation and Dashboard for Jupyter Server Management in Education
• Gianna Verdi, Alex Herr, Carl Brinkman, and Nisha Stills ’26, Class Management System for Kirkland Art Center
• Kerry Wang, Jayden Federoff, David Batbayer, and Jacob Helnzer ’26, Software for Optimizing Pre-Health Course Planning
• Cooper Xu, Brian Tran, Ryan Connors, and Teja Singh, Historical Parliamentary Proceedings and Acts of Parliament

Creative Writing

• Shadé Ball, Just Another Black Girl
• Jessica Campuzano, Space Girls
• Asha Cook, Babylon, Beloved
• Eva Evans, Dandelions and Darkness
• Ally Feisel, Last Night Is Waiting for You 
• Adelaide Gifford, The Atlast Moth
• Charlie James, From, Eden
• Emma Kerkman, De Terra Ad Infinitum
• Zoe Neely, In the Heart of the Flood
• Alexander Ruffer, The Eyes of Silver
• Mariano Russo, Your Friends Die in Rainbow Six Siege
• Jaedyn Thomes, From, Eden
• Zhaowuji Zhou, Mayflies

Honors theses

• Santiago Chamorro, SNUFFED
• Alison Isko, Fishing
• Alexandra Kropaneva, Blood Binder
• Katlynn Leon, Welcome to the Community
• Hunter Wisneski, Untitled

Data Science

Honors presentation

Adam Koplik, Managing Commodity Risk: Simulating Corn and Soybean Meal Prices for Smarter Hedging

Economics

Honors presentations

• Robert Aronson, Ws and Donations: Examining how Athletic Success Impacts Giving at Division One Schools
• Anoushka Aswin, Analyzing the Impact of Natural Disasters on U.S. Political Polarization
• Dean Atassi, Suboptimal Asset Allocation: Demographic Determinants and Predictive Modeling of U.S. Households’ Portfolio Inefficiencies
• Gaizka Barrondo Cherigny, Invisible Chemicals, Visible Consequences: Uncovering the Effects of PFAS Regulation on U.S. Population Cholesterol Levels
• Henry Boehm, Stealing Bases & Fans: The Impact of the 2023 MLB Rule Changes on Attendance, Game Duration, & Offensive Statistics
• Ao (Frank) Cheng, Impact of Legalized Sports Betting on Bankruptcy Rates
• Jeffrey Cheng, The entry of WellNow Urgent Care clinics and its differential effect on reported health outcomes
• Tia Cole, Medicaid Expansion and Preventive Health Care Utilization Among Women: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act
• Emanuel Fitsum, Exploring the Relationship Between Relative Income and Happiness Across Life Stages
• Alexandra Glogoff, Penalty or Power Play: Examining the Influence of Income Tax Rates on NHL Free Agent Salaries
• Charlie Haberstock, Did COVID-19 Magnify a Collective Preference for Naturally Habitable Places?  A Study of Post-Pandemic Migration to High-Amenity U.S. Counties
• Abigail Hagan, Generosity Across Generations: Examining the Influence of Age and Perceived Need  on Intergenerational Giving in the Dictator Game
• Autumn Halfpenny, Does Bilingualism on Resumes Affect Callback Rates?
• Brian Healy, Private Equity in U.S. Hospitals: Examining the Impact on Access to Care and Financial Performance
• Wilson Jiang, Work on Your Terms? Autonomy, Satisfaction, and Well-Being in Nonstandard Employment
• Gabriella Kaggwa, Mines, Markets, and Margins: Analyzing the Socioeconomic Impacts of Mineral Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Tommy Kantrowitz, The Cost of Origin: Analyzing Transfer Premiums by Nationality
• Akay Kaya, Steering the Market: Common Ownership and Competition in the Automotive Industry
• Maxwell Lee, Network Centrality and Rent Price Capitalization Along the Washington D.C. Metro: Silver Line Phase I as a Case Study
• Norbu Lhendup, Measuring National Success: A Look into Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness
• Angie Liu, The Secret to Public Sector Success: Understanding Cross-Country Variation in SOE Performance
• Alex Merkowitz, Examining the Effects of Renewable Energy Buildout on Unemployment and Economic Growth Across U.S. Counties
• Andreas Molnar, Foul Play? Examining Commonality and Favoritism in Soccer Referees
• William Neault, Can Children's Mental Health be Improved by Changes in Physical Education Time Requirements?
• Hailey O’Donnell, Too Close for Comfort? The Effects of Proximity on Views of Nuclear Energy
• Felix Pu, Storm Signals: How Hurricanes Reshape U.S. Inflation Expectations and Their Uncertainty Across Demographics
• Anoushka Saraf, Impact of the Aspirational Districts Program on Learning Outcomes in India
• Kate Solowey, The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Mothers Versus Fathers
• Andrew Swanson, Using Adolescent Marijuana Use and Alcohol and Marijuana Use to Predict Behavioral Problems and Labor Market Outcomes
• Chuhan (Evelyn) Wang, The Impact of Route Overlap in Airline Mergers on Ticket Prices: A Case Study of the American Airlines & US Airways Merger (2013)
• Jennie Weisbrot, Pharma Takes A Dive: Comparing Patent Cliffs of Biologics and Small Molecules
• Chenyue (Cynthia) Yang, Museums and Mental Health: Estimating the Effects of Art Museum Presence on Depression Among Older Adults Using a Historical Panel (1982–1993)
• Simon Zhang, Beyond the Frontmen? How Provincial Leadership Team Characteristics Shape China's Local Economic Growth
• Via Zhou, The Impact of Merit-Based Incentive Payment System on Patient Satisfaction

Environmental Studies

Capstone Presentations

• Alexandra M. Bailey, The Arctic Popularity Contest: Coverage of Charismatic Animals in Scientific and Popular Articles
• Amelia B. Brown, Clearing the Air: An Equity Analysis of Air Quality Monitor Distribution in Southern California
• Heather G. Doyle, “Pow(d)er to the People”: Exclusivity and Accessibility in the Colorado Ski Industry
• Aidan M. Held, The Environmental Implications of Planned Obsolescence and Right to Repair
• Benjamin H. LaBranche, Sea-Level Rise in Boston: Who is affected and how does data impact funding for coastal resilience projects?
• Teghan Q. Michelson, Burning Inequality: How Socioeconomic factors shape wildfire vulnerability disparities in Southern California
• Wendy Ortega-Quezada, Toxic Transparency: Improving Public Access to Air Pollution and TRI 1:00 Data in Houston, Texas
• Zaara S. Rehman, Variations in Representation: Ocean Acidification Data Disparities Between the Global North and South
• Ella N. Scott, Data Centers and Urban Planning: Understanding the Environmental and Social Impacts of Data Storage in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
• Brendan S. Stewart, Public park accessibility trends in Dallas County, Texas
• Sasha Youn, Equity in Solarity: A Comparative Analysis of Communities With and Without Solar Farms

Capstone Panel Presentations

Panel 1

• Mattie Buneta, Queer Environmental Data Justice
• Jordan Chan, Racist Perceptions of Bushmeat: How Science and Conservation Perpetuates Stereotypes
• Eve Rudin, Diversity in Citizen Science: A Push for Demographic-Based Participation Strategies in Anticipation of a Worsening Climate Crisis

Panel 2

• Meliya Soller, Flooded with Injustices: Procedural Environmental Justice and the FEMA Flood Mapping Process
• Betsy Gross, Rethinking Green Progress: Procedural Injustice in The Rezoning and Development of the Gowanus Canal
• Luke Peplowski, Techno-Optimistic and AI Expansion

Panel 3

• Anna Hoover, Land, Justice, and Sovereignty: Addressing the Legal Obstacles to Meaningful Tribal Co-Stewardship
• Emily Younkin, The Path Home: Returning to Indigenous Methodologies and Epistemologies in Bison Restoration Efforts
• Jade Joyce, Nature, Peer Reviewed: Colonial Reason and the Ethical Debris of Global Climate Science

Thesis Research

• Austin Cipriano, Warming up to heat pumps: Navigating barriers to heat pump adoption in New York State households
• Charlotte Clark, Ashes to Ashes: Analyzing peri-urban forest dynamics and the carbon costs of the Emerald Ash Borer infestation
• Sarah DeSanto, B*ck this! Investigating the effect of European buckthorn on the pathogenesis of Borrelia burgdorferi
• Calvin Doherty, From field to stream: Exploring the impacts of land use on surface water quality in Sauquoit Creek, NY
• Scott Levy, Interscalar wormholes: Supermarkets, local foods, and a politics of scale
• Elise Mizerak, Degrowth: An urbanist, civic republican approach
• Bella Ocava, Put down the tote bag: Building a real relationship with the environment
• Quinn Perkins, Measuring soil carbon from agriculture to forest: A case study of Hamilton College’s reforestation initiative
• Becca Perry, Appetite for community: Understanding how small-scale, local farmers build vital relationships within Central New York
• Ethan Tarini, Hiding people not yet here: The absence of pro- and anti-natalism in climate mitigation
• Anna Yankee, Scaling sustainability: Collaborative approaches and multidimensional scopes of responsibility at Starbucks and Forno Brisa

French and Francophone Studies

Senior Independent Research Projects

• Luke Hayes, Le rôle du véhicule dans la quête postcoloniale
• Katie Wetmore, Une présence maternelle dans la société phallogocentrique

Geosciences

• Audrey Alix, Changes in Land Cover and Surface Temperature in the Utica, NY area
• Adeera Batlay, Tephrochronological analysis of the Plio-Pleistocene Chemeron Formation, Baringo Basin, Kenya: Refining stratigraphy and constraining chronology of vertebrate fossil sites
• Amelia Brown, Heavy Metal Contamination from Coin Corrosion in Freshwater Systems: A Case Study of Wakulla Springs, Florida
• Patrick Dicus, What’s in our water? Quantifying and analyzing dissolved ions and their possible sources in Oriskany Creek.
• Stella Essenmacher, Characterizing Ground Deformation at Whakaari/White Island from 2016-2024
• Andrew Federicks, Determining seasonal variability in the Omo-Turkana Basin from the Pleistocene to modern using ostracod stable isotope analysis
• Connor Grand, Developing a SWAT+ Model for the Oriskany Creek Basin in Upstate New York
• Charlie Haberstock, Evaluating Strain at the ancient San Andreas
• Abby Lonnegren, Potential Unrecognized Neoarchean Metamorphism in the East Pilbara Terrane: Insights from Monazite Uranium-Lead Geochronology
• Katie Moses, Identifying Predation Preferences on Freshwater Gastropods Using a New Quantification Methodology
• Tripp Peters, Constraining the Timing of Paleoarchean Doming in the East Pilbara Terrane: a Structural Study of the Wilina Pluton
• Jay Pratt, The River Bank: Heavy Metal Pollution from Coins and Impacts to Freshwater Molluscan Communities
• Xavier Schlemmer, Growing Pains of an Adolescent Earth: How did the Northeast Margin of the Shaw Dome, Western Australia, deform during emplacement?
• Claire S. Williams, Geologic mapping and kinematics of the Androscoggin Riverlands Shear Zone

German Studies

• Joe Cairns, Die Propaganda-Maschine: An Evaluation of Antisemitic Nazi Propaganda
• Lainey Groll, The Sedated Soul: Physical Illness and the Decay of Bourgeois Ideals in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain

Government

Honors theses

• Zach Booth, Pork, Positions, and Pressure: Legislative Bargaining Among Outsider Populists.
• Marissa Duffy, Reevaluating Foreign Aid in Nigeria and Botswana: Challenges with the World Bank's Classification and Graduation Process.
• Nikki Greenberg, How Do Senate Leaders Utilize Social Media to Accomplish Their Goals?
• Natalie Guterman, The Effect of Political Polarization on National Party Conventions
• Carter Hollins, The Political Power of Indigeneity: A Hawaiian Case Study
• Lena Klink, Atlanticism vs. Autonomy: Testing Theories of Integration to Analyze France and Germany’s Preferences for EU Defense Policy Cooperation.
• Hannah Lipskar, A Jewish and Democratic State: Religion’s Impact on Democratic Backsliding in Israel
• Daniel Lipson, Moral Responsibility, Political Obligation, and Legitimacy: A Defense of Michael Walzer’s Just War Theory

• Billy Marin, Same-sex Marriage and the Right in Latin America.

• Mia McGrath, Between Regions and Realities: Lessons from the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Stalled Trade Negotiations.
• Gabby Nakkab, Shifting the “Refugee Burden:” UNHCR as a Surrogate State in Lebanon.
• Ainsley Novack, Imperial Legacies: Policing in the Philippines
• Elizabeth Oakes, Lending for Leverage: Understanding China’s Lending Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Anna Richardson, Breaking the Safety Net: Understanding Negative Policy Feedback to Welfare in the U.S.

Hispanic Studies

Honors presentations

• Eleanor Bailey, El flamenco como un gesto de deseo
• Katie Bielinski, Palabra y agencia en Malinche, novela de Laura Esquivel
• Zachary Booth, Narrar el trauma: Evolución de la figura del veterano en la literatura post-Malvinas
• Eliza Glass, Capitalismo y poder estatal en Huasipungo: Una crítica desde la teoría de la dependencia
• Josh Harmon, Réquiem por un campesino español, El cuarto de atrás y Soldados de Salamina como lieux de mémoire
• Michael Ko, Memoria en la música: Charly García como creador de lugares de memoria
• Christie Lam, Cuando las calles hablan: El barrio como personaje en las películas In the Heights (2021) y West Side Story (1961 & 2021)
• Alexandra Orlando, Cuerpos descartables y misoginia narco: Cosificación y agencia femenina en María, llena eres de gracia (2004)
• Anna Peterson, Maternidad e identidad: La reescritura poética de la experiencia femenina bajo el franquismo
• Sam Pettengill, 'Detenerle parecía imposible': formas del control en la segunda parte de Don Quijote de la Mancha
• Anna Richardson, En su propia voz: la construcción de una nueva feminidad en los cuentos de Carme Riera y Marina Mayoral
• Eve Rudin, El espejo animal: reflejos y reflexiones de la marginalización femenina y queer. La literatura de Amparo Dávila, Guadalupe Nettel y Clyo Mendoza
• Sophia Viscarello, Un peregrinaje mágico: amor, dolor y la condición humana en Doce cuentos peregrinos
• Kathryn Woodruff, Hacia un futuro queer: Memoria histórica y novelas actuales de mujeres sáficas bajo el franquismo

History

• Carl Jacobs Brinkman, Right in ‘Grain’ Sight: Grain Trade in Medieval England Before the Twelfth Century
• Fiona Bristol, Expanding the Universal Brotherhood of Theosophy: A Woman at the Margins of a Marginal Movement
• Andy Chronis, Reform Without Resolve: Stranded Between History and Progress at Washington and Lee University
• Áine Cleary, With Freedom Comes Responsibility: The Newspaper Revolution and Nellie Bly
• Jake Dale, The 1980 Olympic Boycott and Its Impact on American Athletes through the Eyes of Mary Decker and Edwin Moses
• Jack Fried, Ethnic Germans in Utica, New York: A Cultural History of Immigration, Dissemination, and Rejection
• Hunter Hoogkamp, Go-To-Zero: The United States Military's Disastrous Withdrawal from Afghanistan
• Ben Ingram, Finding Success: A Business History of Mid-Late 19th-century English Photography, The Chromotype and Woodburytype
• Frank Jones, Before Loving v. Virginia (1967): Eugenics, Visual Culture, and the Struggle Over Interracial Marriage
• Naval Lappalainen, Between Utopia and Reality: Moisei Ginzburg's Organization of Contemporary Architects
• Kyle Miller, Constructing Newton: Religious Anecdote, Genius, and Piety in 19th-Century America
• Isabella Nadeau, “Trying for a Better World”: Nancy Astor and the Commodification of the New Woman and Social Welfare
• Sten Ohrstrom, Policy and the Promise of a Better Home: The Myrdals and the Social Architecture of Stockholm’s Barnrikehus, 1930–1940
• Kevin Ross, Contesting Spanish Identity: History and the Nation in the Work of Américo Castro and Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz from 1948 through 1971

Honors theses

• Lara Barreira, Networks of Health and Healthcare: Tracing Sickness in a 16th century Spanish Household
• John Donohue, Tea, Tomahawks, and Truth: Native American Imagery and Historical Memory of the Boston Tea Party
• Luke Hayes, All I Know Is What I Don’t Read In The Papers: Reconsidering William Dudley Pelley (1928-1939)
• Akay Kaya, The Bassigny Prophecy and the Enduring Power of Medieval French Millenarianism
• Nicole McDonough, Irish Family Memory: Narrating Systems of Support, Ethnicity, and Pedigree through Correspondence
• Rachel Navarro Santos Lion, To the winner, the potatoes: Brazilian National Identity in Literary Work
• Mikaella Tortusa, Digitizing Modernity from the Margins: The Making of a New Filipino Nationhood
• Maximilian Wohlfeld, Reporting Korea: The Black Press’ Fusion of Anti-Communism and Colored Internationalism During the Korean War (1950-1954)

Interdisciplinary Studies

Interdisciplinary Studies in Food Studies

• Sabina Feder, Stirring the Pot: Redefining Food Security Work in Utica

Interdisciplinary Studies in Italian Studies

• Emma Toes, Life Underneath the Paintbrush: An Analysis of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Human Dissections for Art

Interdisciplinary Studies in Digital Design

• Markos Lissarrague, Connecting to Nature Through Design

Interdisciplinary Studies in Technology Studies

• Alexander Levine, Friends and Enemies: TikTok and the Retreat of a Global Internet

Senior Fellowship in Environmental Studies and Sociology

• Clare Robinson, Renewable Energy and Agricultural Transitions: Navigating Rural Climate Action in New York and New Zealand

Japanese

• Chinkhuslen “David” Batbayar, Living in the Image of a Vending Machine: I Sold My Life For 10,000 Yen Per Year
• Santiago Chamorro, Shin’ichi Hoshi: The Voice of Dystopia
• Jayden Fedoroff, Changes in Speech Style Patterns and Politeness Strategies Among L2 Japanese Learners
• Meraly Morales, Cultural Exchange on Stage
• Devin Outhavong, Authenticity of First Person Pronoun (FPP) and Sentence Final Particle (SFP) in BL Manga
• Nguyen Vo, Idols Beyond Borders: A Comparative Study of J-POP and K-POP Through Appadurai’s Global Cultural Flows

Literature

• Rachael Araujo, The Whiteness of Law & the Threat of Appearing Too Black: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of The History of Mary Prince
• Emma DiGiacomo, Leopold Bloom and the Breaking of the Animal-Human Binary
• Giovanni Mendoza-Olivas, Worshipping Delusions
• Hadley Noonan, The French Translations of Ulysses
• James Peterson, Contradictory Worlds in Teju Cole’s Tremor
• Sam Pettengill, Poetry as Political Commentary in Blackstone and Jones
• Jianyi Wang, Achieving A Radical Selfhood: An Artist “Made Not Begotten”
• Toby Weissman, The Material Construction of Racial Capitalism in Faulkner’s Go Down, Moses

Honors presentations

• Rachel Budd, Prufrock, Reintegrated: Symbolic Redemption of “Prufrock” in Four Quartets

Mathematics and Statistics

Honors projects

• Hunter Allen, Bootstrapping without simulations: How the multinomial theorem can be applied in sampling with replacement frameworks.
• Will Cho, Deriving Optimal Backjack Strategy
• Allie Ennis, Abel Summability & Applications
• Layla Jarrahy, The Discrete Log Problem: Characterizing Boolean matrix behavior using circular matrices.
• Max Klivans, Pointed Quandle Coloring Quivers of Linkoids
• Hao Shen, D.I.N.T.: Double Income, No Taxes (The Banach Tarski Way)
• Will Swartz, Double Trouble: Twins and Cotwins in a Circulent Graph

Neuroscience

• Amirtha Bharathan and Erika Mendez, Effects of Puberty blocker and Hormone Replacement Therapy in a Male Rat Model
• Maeve Browne, Ella Crawford, and Caroline Grant, Investigating the Neural Circuitry of Amphetamine Reinstatement in Rats
• Elizabeth Carnright and Michelle Wu, Incoming Text from the ERN: You’ve Made a Mistake
• Michael Fasano, The Role of Miro1 in Axon Pathways from the Cortex
• Favour George-Ikechi, The Impact of Estradiol on Psychological Disorders Among College Students
• Jenny Gidicsin, Investigating the Role of Miro1 in Hippocampal Morphology and Long-Term Spatial Memory
• Lilah Hamill and Ali Joseph, An Investigation of the DREADD Mechanism Through c-fos Analysis
• Sophia Katz (with psychology major Georgia Brown), Influence of Reward on Holistic Strategy Use in Visuomotor Adaptation
• Addie Kujovsky, The Role of Parental Support in the Relationship Between Sibling Disability and Brain Development
• David Levine, Evaluating Retrograde and Non-Retrograde Cre-GFP Label in Neurons that Project to the Nucleus Accumbens.
• Abigail Lowder, Modeling Glioblastoma Angiogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster Larvae
• Gabriela Munoz Rojas, Microglial Activation in Miro1 Knockout Mice and its Role in Neurodegenerative Disease
• Hope Obolanle and Nate Parker, Uncovering the Role of the Dopamine System in Lead- Induced Hyperactivity in Drosophila melanogaster
• Thuy Pham, Examining Hypothalamic Hormone Expression in Miro1 Knockout Mice
• Charles Portoviejo, Evaluating the Impact of IL-6 in Self-Perceived Health and OCD Symptoms in Adult Participants
• Bailey Reese (with psychology major Deanna Durben), Neural Correlates of Explicit Strategy Use in Visuomotor Rotation
• Caroline Ross, Does Cronotype Affect Visual Search?
• Jonathan Shi (with psychology major Cecily Bua), The Impact of Scaffolding on Learning Complex Tasks
• Seth Tobin, Miro1 and its Role in Fear Memory
• Emma Toes (with psychology major Anna Zoccolillo), Does Error Processing Relate to Negative Affect and Right Wing Authoritarianism?
• Helen Xin, Lead Exposure Disrupts Developmental and Octopamine Signaling Pathways in Drosophila melanogaster Through Epigenetic Gene Silencing
   

Philosophy

• Caroline Friedrichs, The Paradox of True Friendship
• Tinashe Manguwa, Ethics of Ambiguity
• Avery Mason, Faith and Reason: A Post-Rational Depiction of Religious Faith
• Hank Morgan, Virtuous Tribalism: How to Balance Morality and Practicality in Social Organization
• Carlos Pichardo, Natural Buddhism: The Dangers and Merits of Secular Readings of Buddhism
• Ashley Scheichet, Bridging Care and Justice: A Capabilities Approach to Ethical Educational Decision Making
• Stephen Socolow, Collaborative Instruction in Logic: How to Teach Formal Logic to First-Time Philosophy Students
• Christina Stoll, Curiosity, Agency, Creativity, and AI
• Olivia Strigh, How AI Influences Beliefs Through Cognitive Extension
• Jaden Valencia, In Defense of Private Language
• Ivan Wu, Two Accounts of the Principle of Alternate Possibilities and Their Problems
• Tilly Zwirn-Givnish, Run, Scream, Repeat: The Ethical Implications of Women’s Depictions in Slasher Films

Physics

• Peter Jones, Characterization of Heterodimer of Cr7Mn Using Custom Loop Gap Resonators
• Maya Kannan, Can we use NETMAP, an algebraic method for recovering the parameters of resonator networks, for electronic circuits?
• Nina Neumann ’26, Distance Distribution Modeling in Spin Systems Using DEER Spectroscopy
• Elizabeth Price, Get to the Chopper: Developing the Time of Flight System for the BL3 Neutron Lifetime Experiment
• Toby Weismann, Characterizing the Thermal Gradient Within Professor Collett's ESR Cryostat
• George Wieser, Building an Analog Synthesizer
• Daniel Zheng, DV-502 Thermal Evaporation System: Leak Detection and Thin Film Deposition

Psychology

• Naomi Andrew, Self-Compassion and Reactions to Imagining Being Confronted for Having Committed a Microaggression
• Charlie Archer, The lmprovement of Early lntervention Treatment in Schizophrenia
• Julian Arky, Eve Karmozyn, and Adele Sales, Whose to Blame? The Effect of Gender Similarity, Stereotypicality, and Perspective on Blame
• Omar Bargout, Coping With Fear: Fear-Based Quality of Life and Coping Behaviors During COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents
• Mad Bartlett, The Imposter Phenomenon and Disability in Post-secondary Education Adaptation
• Eliza Behrke and Katie O’Shea, Love Thyself: The Impact of Self-Compassion on Negative Affect and Depression Following Social Exclusion
• Annika Benn, Eva Pearlman, and Hannah Vogt, The Impact of Role Play for Children: Exploring Attention, Creativity, and Character Complexity
• Georgia Brown (with neuroscience major Sophia Katz), Influence of Reward on Holistic Strategy Use in Visuomotor Adaptation
• Cecily Bua (with neuroscience major Jonathan Shi), The Impact of Scaffolding on Learning Complex Tasks
• Virginia Davis, Childhood Emotional Neglect, Emotion Regulation, and the Role of Family Income
• Jamie Duncan, Ask Me Again After Immersion: The Impact of Language Immersion Experiences on the Moral Foreign Language Effec
• Deanna Durben (with neuroscience major Bailey Reese), Neural Correlates of Explicit Strategy Use in Visuomotor Rotation
• Anais Geronimo, Who Blames Victims of Rape? Exploring the Role of Self-Compassion, Perspective Taking, Perceived Vulnerability, and Gender
• Alex Glogoff, Examining Family Emotional Context as a Mediator between SES and Emotion Regulation in Adolescence
• Madison Goodman-Leong, Food for Thought: The Impact of Nutritional Supplements on Depression Treatment
• Abby Hagan, Do Your Parents Predict Your Friends?
• Melina Haskel and Olivia Todd, From College to Career: Predicting Outcomes of Alumni with ADHD Symptomatology
• David Hynes, Understanding Motivations for Substance Use in College Students with ADHD
• Hannah Ju, “This is Not Who I Am”: Reducing Defensive Responding with Self-Compassion
• Paige McKenzie, Cognitive Tug-of-War: How Attention Bias Toward Threat Mediates the Relationship Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Executive Function in Children Over Time
• Rachel Parajuli, The Psychology of Recidivism: How Attributions, Criminal Identity, and Self-Stigma Shape Reoffending
• Kirk Petrie, The Effect of Media Exposure on PTSD and Perceived Stress in Adolescents following Hurricane Irma: The Moderating Role of Gender
• Morgan Pettee, Gender Differences in Friendship Helping Behaviors
• Alyssa Samuels, Defending Emotion: The Effect of Attorney Anger and Authenticity on Jury Decisions
• Mady Schiro, When You Can’t Read the Vibe: How Cringey Behavior Affects Blame and Moral Character Judgments
• Diya Singh, An Influencer’s Influence: How Construed Framing Affects Moral Judgment of Sponsored Content
• Drew Stimson, Gaby Toppelberg, and Sophia Viscarello, Wait for It! Peer Influence on Self-Control in Children Ages 3-5
• Joey Tarlavsky, A Little Self Love: Awe, the Small Self, and Self-Compassion
• Makenna Thomas, The Perceived Competence of Female Attorneys Based on Appearance and lnternalized Misogyny
• Abby Weiss, The Use of Social Media For Friendship Fulfillment: How Age and Gender lmpact this Relationship
• Via Zhou, The Impact of Acculturation State on Internalizing Symptoms
• Anna Zoccolillo (with neuroscience major Emma Toes), Does Error Processing Relate to Negative Affect and Right Wing Authoritarianism?

Public Policy

Honors presentations

• Nathan Cohen, Gearing up for the Future: Policies to Boost Cycling in Utica, NY
• Christian Colantonio, Policy Designed to Alleviate Income Inequality: Taxing the Dead to Lift the Living
• Timothy Colledge, When Reform Repeats Itself: Dissent, Precedent, and the Resistant Image in Tech Policy
• Virginia Davis, Addressing the Lack of Affordable Childcare in the United States
• Madeline Foss, (Agri)cultural Sustainability: Towards a More Sustainable Approach to Dairy Farming in New York State
• Spencer Goldberg, Balancing the Scale: Tackling the U.S. Obesity Epidemic through Policy
• Bryna Jekogian, Closing the Gap: Progressive Solutions for New York State’s Public School Finance System
• Jackson Raissas, The Little to No Accountability on Gun Manufacturers in the Wake of Mass Shootings
• Milo Trabulsky, Policy Analysis: Inadequacy of Climate Policy in the United States

Religious Studies

• Oumoul Diallo, Empowering Indonesian Muslim Women: The Role of Nahdlatul Ulama in Advancing Gender Equality
• Johnathan Nemetz, Where's Your Judaism?: Jewish Identity at a Liberal Arts Campus
• Kirk Petrie, The Lived Experience of Contemporary Christian Music

Honors Presentation

• Kirk Petrie, The Use of Sacred Music in Christian Worship in Central New York

Russian Studies

• Naval Lappalainen, Personality in Power: A Trait-Based Analysis of Putin’s Responses to Terrorism

Sociology

• Maximo Bratter, Orthodox Jewish Identity Maintenance, Boundary-Setting and Social Organization in a Miami Beach Enclave
• Maia Chakin, A Campus Divided?: Comparing Perspectives on Identity Politics at an Elite Liberal Arts Institution
• Irena Chen, Oops! I Might Really Need Help!: Socioeconomic Background and Learning How to Seek Help
• Bayley Dickinson, An Apple a Day Keeps the Copay Away: Cultural Health Capital and the Health Seeking Behaviors of the Privileged Poor at an Elite College
• Hana Dolan, Coloring Inside the Lines: Racial Identity in the World of PWIs
• Deanna Durben, Stigma Management Strategies in Autistic College Students
• Allie Ennis, Bridging Home and School: The Impact of Social Class on Parent-Teacher Interactions
• Tillie Germain, Can I Have A Hug? (Only If No One Is Watching)
• Sebastian Ghosh, Thunder Lizards: Unpacking the Dynamics of Startup Survival and Success in the Technology Industry
• Mia Horvath, Is Kamala Brat?: Gen-Z, Trust, and Pop Culture as an Agent of Political Mobilization
• Diego Inzunza, Spectrums: A Qualitative Analysis of Individual Experiences Across the Intersections of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Neurodivergence
• Katie Krebs, Masculinity On and O? the Court: Male College Athletes and the Performance of Gender
• Esme Leach, Shattering Stigma or Building Barriers: Understanding Mental Health Seeking Behavior at Hamilton College
• Niamh McDade Clay, What’s In a Label?: Identity Formation and Negotiation Among Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Feminists
• Edwin Mensah-Boateng, Exploring the Potential Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Levels of Support in One’s Network
• Jonathan Nemetz, Teaming Up: Adult Sports Leagues as Civic Infrastructure
• Emma Nordquist, Classed-Based Parenting Strategies and Advocacy Among Parents with Autistic Children
• Whitney Riley, (Un)common Threads: Appearance and Labelling Practices Amongst Lesbian College Students
• Rachel Shin, Artificial Intelligence and Physicians: Perspectives, Experiences, and Resistance to Changing Dynamics in the Healthcare System
• Julia Smith, ‘What’s the right thing to post?’: Collaboration and Constrainment in Reproductions of the Instagram Anorexia Recovery Subculture
• Lauryn Socha, Just Here for the Season: Precarity, Privilege, and Belonging in a Western Ski Town
• Sara Temple, UPHOLDING IDEOLOGICAL REALITIES: Assessing Political Influencers’ Rhetorical Strategies Surrounding the 2024 Election
• Rosalia Villa, Making Gender Work: How Non-Binary Employees Navigate Gender And Cisnormativity At Work
• Rongchen Wang, Gender Stereotypes in Job Applications: Intertwined Effects of Parental Warmth, Educational Achievement, And Gender
• Katt Withers, The Good Coach: An Investigation of How Moral Ideals, Gender, and Division Level Influence Collegiate Swim Coaches
• Angela Zheng, Someone Worth Fighting For? Family Dynamics and Romantic Autonomy Among Second-Generation Asian Americans

Theatre

• Jessica Campuzano, directing, adapted excerpt from act two of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Leslie De La Rosa, acting, playing the roles of Inez and Norca in Hamilton’s Mainstage production of Our Lady of 121^st Street by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• Sydney Evans, staged play directing, Touch the Moon by Arianna Rose
• David Li, written and staged play/devisement, Organic A Bomb presents: WAITING FOR Godot Grokked
• Maggie Marks, writing, staged reading, BREAK: a short play
• Kiara Nelson, scene design, Sizwe Banse is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona
• Rosey Pineda, staged play directing, The Penitent by Vincent Scarsella
• Trevor Wilkes, staged play design, The Penitent by Vincent Scarsella
• The Adventures of Beastie
  Eva Pearlman and Del Gonzales, thesis and devising
  Rosey Pineda, devising (with Jules Henderson ’26 and Collin Morales ’27)
• Beyond Borders, I Hear My Mother
  Meraly Morales, thesis and directing
  Joey Tarlavsky, thesis and design

• For a Limited Time Only (The Bread Play) by Daniel Prillaman
  Alyssa Samuels, thesis and directing

• Home by Ben Dudley
  Tristan Sollecito, thesis and directing

Women’s and Gender Studies

• Isa Cardoso, Songwriting for the Queer Liberation: On the Radical Potential of Music in the Lives of Queer People
• Phoebe Gray, Dear Grandma: Connecting, Conversing, and Communing across Generations
• Val Laurianti, Women in the Woods: How Senior Women Construct Identity through the Outdoors
• Abby Marzec, Disabling the “Good” Mom: The Making of Accessible Motherhoods

World Politics

Honors theses

• Zach Booth, Pork, Positions, and Pressure: Legislative Bargaining Among Outsider Populists
• Marissa Duffy, Reevaluating Foreign Aid in Nigeria and Botswana: Challenges with the World Bank’s Classification and Graduation Process
• Lena Klink, Atlanticism vs. Autonomy: Testing Theories of Integration to Analyze France and Germany’s Preferences for EU Defense Policy Cooperation
• Billy Marin, Same-sex Marriage and the Right in Latin America
• Mia McGrath, Between Regions and Realities: Lessons from the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Stalled Trade Negotiations
• Gabby Nakkab, Shifting the “Refugee Burden:” UNHCR as a Surrogate State in Lebanon
• Elizabeth Oakes, Lending for Leverage: Understanding China's Lending Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa