Theses are the culmination of honor students independent research under the guidance of faculty members and are representative of Union College's commitment to giving students the tools necessary for life-long learning.
Theses/Dissertations from 2016
L' Obscurite' manifestee (A Manifested Obscurity), Roswald Morales
Love Shouldn't Hurt: Akrasia as an Explanation for the Perpetration of Domestic Violence, Elizabeth Murad
Computing the (Un)computable: A Computationally-Augmented Perspective on the Yasukuni Shrine Controversy, Ryan Muther
War and Women Wielding Power: Lessons from Burundi, Liberia, and Chad, Emily Myers
The Influence of a Second Object on the Responses of Target Selective Descending Neurons in the Dragonfly, Randy Nguyen
Unveiling Laïcité: Secularism Algerian Muslims and the Headscarf Affair in Modern France, Coleen Nugent
Evaluation of Cell-Permeable Analogs of Trehalose fro the Preservation of Mammalian Cells, Molly O'Brien
Baby Cribs in Prison Cells: Assessing Opinions About Prison Nursery Programs by Humanizing Incarcerated Mothers, Erin Ostheimer
The Many Lives of Gregory Marnes: Rephrasing the Historical Narrative Through Historians and Fiction, Christina Pastore
Modern Interpretations of Ancient Roman Mosaics, Emily Pastore
De-Shelving Woolf: A Poetic Response to the Life and Work of Virginia, Cara Peterhansel
Effect of Deictic Gestures on Direction-Giving in Virtual Humans, Anthony Pham
The Argentine Body (An All-Meat Diet): A Study of Body Politics and Eating Disorders in Cordoba, Rani Plotkin
German and the European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack
Les reincarnations de Carmen: La creation d'un mythe, Mary Kathryn Pope
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Care Choices a Home-based Palliative Care Program, Katherine Pouliot
Sustainable Agriculture: How France Promotes Sustainability, Jordan Pulling
The Effect of Color in Advertising Among Low and High Self-Monitors, Anne Reardon
Statelessness and Human Trafficking: A Case Study of Haitian-Dominicans, Anabel Reyes-Ovalles
Union College Smokers: Hurting Themselves But Helping Others? Mixed Research on the Relationship Between Smoking and Volunteering, Cameron Robertson
Voter Identification Laws: In the Name of Reform or Suppression?, Melissa Rodriguez
Approaching Humans For Help: A Study of Human-Robot Proxemics, Eric Rose
Detection and Depletion of Digital Cameras: An Exploration into Protecting Personal Privacy in the Modern World, Jessica Sanford
Environmental Education in New York State, Laura Schad
Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Pollution of the Hudson River: Social Policy and Health Considerations, Laura Schad
Suburban Space and the City of Rome: Liminality Fluidity and Differentiation, Henry Scherck
Diverging Approach: Railroad Regulation, the Staggers Act and Path Dependence, Henry Strangford Scherck
Modeling Pulsar Trajectories Through a Galatic Potential to Determine Birth Locations, Brent Shapiro-Albert
Responses of Dragonfly Visual Neurons MDT3 and DIT3 to Near-Hit Looming Stimuli, Benjamin Goodman Shapiro
The Expression of Pain in Children: An Autism Spectrum Disorder Perspective, Aileen Shaughnessy
Information Encoded by Dragonfly Visual Neurons MDT3 and DIT3 in Response to Looming Stimuli, Cara Slugaski
Point Mutations of the Putative Follitropin Receptor Caveolin Interaction Motif Do Not Disrupt Receptor Function, Stanley Soroka
The Effects of Early Confidence Interval Training on User Efficacy in a P300 Brain-Computer Interface Spelling Task, Adam Starkman
Culture of Conflict: Watching the End of the 1960s American Counterculture Through Documentaries About Rock Music, Matt Steinberg
Automated Household Tracking System, James Triola
Sino-African Relations in the 21st Century: Consistency and Complexity, Josh Tryon
Faithlessly or Faithless Lie?: The Name Symbolism Conundrum in Sedgwick's Hope Leslie, Erin Wade
Cantor's Infinity, Michael Warrener
Constraining Cosmological Parameters Using the Correlation Function, Michael Warrener
Tanzanian Art: Attracting Tourism and Constructing A Packaged African Image, Ben Washburn
Lesbia A Voice from the Unheard, Jullisa Webb
Yellow Window into the Soul: Creative Explorations of Surrealism, Elora Weil
Pay for Play: O'Bannon v. NCAA and Legal Change in Collegiate Sports, Ryan Whelpley
In and Out Line Monitoring System For Volleyball, Kelley White
Making It: The Role of School-Based Intervention in Shaping Educational Aspirations Expectations and Achievement Among High School Students, Maeve Williams
13C Composition in Bryophyte Primary Sugars as an Indicator of Water Availability, Olivia Hope Williamson
Through the Kaleidoscope: Reimagining Cuba in the American Mind, Quisqueya Witbeck
Radon Potential and Uranium Redistribution in the Lucerine and Gouldsboro Granites, Maine, Matthew Peter Worthington
La Paisana Jacinta: el programa que causa la risa para algunas y el sufrimiento para otros, Rachel Wyman
The Philadelphia Catto: Bridging the Racial Gap in the City of Brotherly Love, Rachel Wyman
PIXE Analysis of Aerosol Soil Artificial Turf and Running Track Samples, Joshua Yoskowitz
Theses/Dissertations from 2015
Maritime Piracy in the Indian Ocean, Ross Aaron
United States Nuclear Testing at the Nevada Test Site: An Environmental Justice Perspective, Jill Ackermann
Adjustable Prostetic Insert for Residual Limb Fluctuations, Mary Arnold
Expression and Purification of the metacaspase protein Scp3 from the fungus S. commune, Travis Barker
The Role of Women in Punk, Katherine Barner
A Comparative Overview of Factory Farming to Insect Farming And the Business Potential of Small-Scaled Insect Farms, Ram Nath Batta
The American Health Care System, Health Care Reform, and the Effects of the Affordable Care Act, Adam Becker
The Effect of Circadian Rhythm on Cortisol and Perceived Stress Correlations, Adam Bender
Tracking Pollution in New York Streams Using Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes, Michelle Berube
Using zircon geochronology and apatite tephra fingerprinting to understand the origin of ignimbrites in Dominica, Sarah Brehm
Kinetic Modeling of Catalytic Aerogels, Yi Cao
Binocular Inputs to Neurons That Code Prey Moventments in the Dragonfly Central Nervous System, Victoria Carr
New Routes to Clean Water: Copper Oxide Nanomaterials for Bacterial Remediation, Alexander Cavert
The Affordable Care Act Dependent Health Insurance Mandate's Effect on the Life Satisfaction of Young Adults, Kirti Chakote
Phase Transitions of Confined 2-Decanol: The Effect of Annealing Temperature, Alexander Clain
What's "Really Real": David Foster Wallace and the Pursuit of Sincerity in Infinite Jest, Henry Clayton
Framing Fracking: The Environmental and Social Implications of Hyraulic Fracturing, Lindsay Cohen
Whole-rock geochemistry and petrography of the Morne aux Diables volcanic center,Dominica, Emily Crampe
Power Without Agents? A Theoretical Analysis of Power in a Complex and Globalized World, Davis Cutter
The Design and Construction of a Portable Solar Energy Conversion System, Ian Davies
What It Is To Be Conscious: Exploring the Plasibility of Consciousness in Deep Learning Computers, Peter Davis
Madagascar: Passé, Présent, et Futur, Liz Devine
Developing a Parametric Downconversion Apparatus for Single-Photon Experiments in Quantum Optics, Stephen Dilorio
Optimizations for Rendering Realistic Lens Flares in Polynomial Optics, Stephen Dilorio
The Design of an Optimized Patient-Specific In Vivo Spinal Fusion Cage Using Additive Manufacturing, Gorman Donnelly
The Rise and Fall of the Friends of Irish Freedom: How America Shaped Irish American Nationalism in the Twentieth Century, Shanon Delia Douglass
Classifying System Call Traces using Anomalous Detection, William Doyle
Targeted Online Advertisements: Effectiveness as a Function of Need-for-Cognition, Katherine Dorothy Drebin
19th Century European Art, John Famulare
The Art Looting Investigation Unit: Finding Their Place in World War Two History, MaryKate Farber
Choice of Café Locations in San Francisco, Benjamin Ferri
How Advancements in Aerodynamics Improves the Performance of Formula 1 Racecars, Joshua Fields
“Listen to Many”: Intersectionality, Tragedy, and William Shakespeare, Anna Flores
The Effects of Sports Fanship on Impression Formation, Holden French
An Analysis of the Benefits and Detriments to Lifting or Maintaing the U.S. Crude Oil Export Ban, Dan Friedman
Remote Sensing Of The Invasive Water Chestnut (Trapa natans), Madeline Frieze
La nature des relations françaises : Du sexe à l’amour au mariage, Rachel Frisch
The Effect of Existential Concerns on Evaluations of Dating Websites, Rachel Frisch
A Closer Look at Immigrants' Wage Differential in the U.S.: Analysis Correcting the Sample Selection Problem, Mitsuki Fukuda
Investigating the Impact of Marijuana Legalization on Income, Education, and Depression, Wayne Fu
Does Digital Engagement Predict Enrollment: An Analysis of Applicants’ Behavior on Union College’s Website, Christopher Garibaldi
Trapped In The Wrong Body: An Anthropological Look at Transgenderism in the United States Reflected Through The Life of One Individual, Emmalena Gold
Affordable Care Act Through the Lens of Foreign Healthcare Systems, Alex Goldsmith
Secure Electronic Voting System, Nicholas Goodrich
Online Dating and Relationships On Campus: Gender, Religion, and Parental Marital Status Influencing Expectations and Experiences, Carla Gottlich