Senior Thesis

That cause you’re passionate about? That topic you can’t learn enough about? Start digging.

Carthage is one of the few schools in the country to require a senior thesis. This is your chance to apply everything you’ve learned over the previous three years. Your senior thesis can take the form of a research project, art exhibit, music recital, portfolio, or better yet, something no one has ever seen before — including you.

All students must complete a senior thesis in order to graduate, but don’t worry: Your faculty thesis advisor will guide you in your research, assist you with research techniques, and help you hone your presentation skills. It’s not going to be easy. But it is going to help you graduate challenged, curious, competent, and confident. According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, “capstone projects” like the senior thesis are among the 10 educational practices with the highest impact.

In case senior year feels too far off, here’s a list of past examples to get your thoughts bubbling:

ART

• Breaking Boundaries: Thematic Curation for a Changing World 
• Michelangelo’s Struggle: Gender Identity in Renaissance Italy
• Meaningful Symbols in Meaningless Sequence

BIOLOGY

• Polyvalency of Subcluster A2 Mycobacteriophages — The Role of Tail Fibers and their Amino Acid Sequences in Host Range Determination
• Molecular Regulators of Right Ventricular Angiogenesis in a Murine Model of Chronic Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension

COMMUNICATION

• Seriously Disturbed: Perpetuating Hegemony via Stereotypes in “Legally Blonde”
• Take Her Out to the Ballgame: Women Journalists in Major League Baseball
• Today’s Country Music: Themes and Effects

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• The Prison Environment and Prison Guards’ Home Life 
• A Meta-Analysis of the Three Strikes Law in the U.S. 

ECONOMICS

• Chinese Banking Structure and Monetary Policy: Soft Wallets Bring Hard Times
• From Swords to Plowshares: A Case Study of the Economic Impact of the Savannah River Site and the Viability of Nuclear Energy in the United States 

ENGLISH

• I Have Made His Glory Mine’: Tennyson’s Female Archetypes Fight Sexual Repression
• Longing for Gold in the Emerald Isle: a Psychoanalytic Exploration of Routine in James Joyce’s Dubliners

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

• The Effect of Watershed Urbanization on River Hydrology and Ecology: Assessing the Use of Population Density as an Estimate for Percent Impervious Cover 
• Managing Grassland Biofuel Cropping Systems for Plant Diversity and Productivity 

Geographic Information Science

• Boston: A City on the Rise — A History of Land Reclamation in the City of Boston, 1850-1910
• Water Quality of the Indian Creek Watershed, Iowa
• The Spread of the Brown Tail Moth in Harpswell, Maine

Geoscience

• The Iron Range: A Tale of Two Industries
• Climate Change Threatens Kenyan Tea Plantations
• Riparian Wetland Restoration Suitability Analysis for the Middle Mississippi River Floodplain, in Monroe County, Illinois

FRENCH

• “Le Rôle des écoles d’immersion au Canada: Une approche modernisée d’acquérir une langue seconde.” A study of how immersion schools in Canada effectively preserve the French Language and prepare students for the future 

HISTORY

• The Back Door to War Theory in the context of conspiracy scholarship in regards to the bombing of Pearl Harbor Carlson
• The ways in which the Beatles impacted class in Great Britain

JAPANESE

• The Personalities of the People of Osaka and Kyoto: Are They Friends or Enemies? (大阪の方々と京都の方々の個性：仲間か敵か？)
• The Success and Failure of Fast Food in Japan: With a Focus on iitoko-dori (日本におけるファストフードの成功と失敗 —「いいとこ取り」を中心としてー)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

• The Land Ethic and Wolves: The Ethics of Wolf Hunting
• Competency to Stand Trial: Does the Process Protect Individuals with an Intellectual Disability?”
• Deinstitutionalization and Homelessness: A Policy Review

Public Relations

• Battered Self Image: Modern Advertising Modes and the American Adolescent
• Likes and Tweets: Music Promotion and Social Media
• Brand Personality: A Theory of Advertising

PHYSICS

• Writing A Fluid Solver From First Principles
• The Effects of Limb Darkening on the Measurements of the Physical Properties of Exoplanets
• Principal Component Analysis of Diffuse Interstellar Band Carriers

PSYCHOLOGY

• The Effects of Music on Cortisol Levels in Adolescents: Implications for Treatment of Depression
• A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Psychomotor Development in HIV-Infected Infants

RELIGION

• The Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Torturous Journey Toward LGBTQIA Inclusivity 
• Why Muslim Women Veil: Dispelling Misconceptions 
• Tactical Use of the Belief in Hell

SOCIOLOGY

• The Impact of Foster Care on Children and Delinquency 
• Perception of Law Enforcement by Young Adults: A Review of Literature