An Honors Senior Project is required for graduation through the WWU Honors College. The Senior Project serves as a “capstone” experience, synthesizing what students have done in their entire education, including but not limited to their work in the major and in Honors.
The term, Senior Project, is vague, and for a reason. The term “Senior Thesis” is easily available, but it is one the WWU Honors College deliberately has avoided. While the project must be “product oriented,” i.e., there must be something tangible at the end of the process, it may be a long paper, that is a thesis, but it may also take several other forms, e.g., a recital, a painting, an album, a bound book, all of which have been quite successful senior projects.
2004
Science by Accident: Poems Inspired by Science, Ambert Stover
2003
An Investigation of Variables that Affect Foraging In the Leaf-Cutting Ant, Atta cephalotes (Formicidae), Kati Buckingham
Urban Hydrologic Design: Water Balance Analysis, Conservation Techniques, and Feasibility Study of Rainwater Harvesting at Boundary Bay Brewery, Bellingham, Washington, Kerri Cook and Alasia Heinritz
Aquatic and Riparian Effectiveness Monitoring Program, Johanna Gillham
Graphic Design as Environmental Advocate: A Project on Graphic Design and Electronic Waste, Kelsi Giswold
700 Inches on the Media, Leanne Josephson
Banking Services for Low-Income Consumers: Is Everyone Receiving their Fair Share?, Cristin Koegen
Suicidal Weasel.com: A Website Redesign, Darren Kovalchik
Increasing Expression Yields of Circularly-Permuted Myoglobins, Casey Kulla
Photojournalism Portfolio: Featuring images from Klipsun, The Planet and more!, Katie Kulla
Motives and the Psychological Contract: Relationships with Job Satisfaction and Self-Esteem, Trista J. (Trista Jean) Sandberg
Taking a Stand: Criticisms to British Policy by European Dissidents and the Settler Responses in Kenya during the Mau Mau Crisis, Courtney Scheskie
The Work of the People: A Liturgy for the Church, Taylor Swedberg
2002
What Now?: Students' Reactions to the Attacks of September 11, 2001, Lara Banjanin and Marc Eaton
What Happened to All the Affordable Housing?, Renee Barut
"Especiallly the Mulato Ones Like to Dance” Cuban Films and Discourses of Ethnic Difference, Shannon N. (Shannon Nicole) Budelman
Freie Meinungsäußerung und Rechtsextremisten in Deutschland, Carol Ebbert
On Police Use of Deadly Force and the Southwest Phenomenon, Zach Hays
A Pilot Study on Job Satisfaction and Conflict Resolution of Female Employees Working for Female Employers, Keanan B. (Keanan Breanne) Jacobson
Congress’s Goal of the Protection of Civil Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Facing the Challenge of a Narrowing Supreme Court, Amy M. (Amy Michelle) Kalman
America’s Public Diplomacy: An Experience at U.S. Embassy Moscow, Kendra Killmer
Geologic Modeling of Magnetic Data for Cypress Island, Washington, Ian Mynatt
Applications in Landscape Ecology: A Simple Rule-Based Simulation Approach to Modeling Windthrow Disturbance in Forests of the Western Cascades in Oregon, Brendan C. (Brendan Charles) Ward
2001
Sediment Analysis of Two Archaeological Sites in the Deception Pass Area, Fidalgo Island, Washington: A Geoarchaeological Approach, Shelby Anderson
A Strategy for Improved Expression of Permuted Myoglobins, Anna Buser
Life Through My Eyes, Heather Nicole Casler
A Study of Japanese-English Translation, Anne Cisney
Undocumented Migration from Mexico: Economic Incentives and the Effects of NAFTA, Annika Dahl
Maximization of Return on Capital Under the Life Insurance Risk-Based Capital Model, Brett Durbin
Ecosystem Factors Influencing the Success of Riparian Restoration in Whatcom County, Crystal Elliot
Women and Support Groups: Successful Approaches to Facilitation, Jennifer K. (Jennifer Karlisa) Grods
Topics in Extremal Graph Theory: Ramsey Numbers and the Turan Function, Damon J. (Damon John) Gulczynski
School Reform and the Metaphor of Redemption, Hollie R. Johnson
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Large Systems, Patrick B. (Patrick Brian) Kohl and David L. Patrick
Senior Project Internship: Inside a Public Television Documentary, Nate Lepley
Creating a High School European History Class, Brien McGuire
The Anglo-Irish Identity of Elizabeth Bowen, Kara Munce
Looking for My Voice in the Rutabaga Patch: Confessions of an Organic Writer, Anna Petersons
An Investigation into the Mechanistic Interplay between Th1 and Th2 Cells in Allergic Disease, Christine Marie Rose
Cornet Bay Revisited: Placing the Excavations Conducted at 45-IS-31b within a Regional Context, Ross E. (Ross Elliott) Smith
Protestant Dissent in Nazi Germany: The Confessing Church Struggle with Hitler's Government, Jenisa Story
Effects of Gender and Counter-stereotypical Major on Overall Impression and Ratings of Stereotypical Traits, Heather M. (Heather Michele) Thornton
Moons in Our Bellies: A Collection of Earth Poetry, Alyssa Von Lehman
Surveying the Invasion of Smooth Cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, in Willapa Bay, Washington, Lee Wardle
2000
Tales From A College Intern: National Information Center For Ecology (NICE), Shannon Ashurst
State School Systems and Language Rights, Laura Mariko Cheifetz
Arts in Seattle, Jean Chemnick
A Support Group for Depression, Byron Czerniski
Satellite RNA of Tobacco Ringspot Virus, Jennifer J. (Jennifer Jeane) Gilberd
Water, Culture and Sewage: Sources and Solutions of River Pollution in Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico, Kirsten Harma
The Revitalization of an Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, The National Political Science Honor Society, Kiku Huckle
Reproductive Character Displacement and X-linkage of Cuticular Hydrocarbons in Chrysochus beetles, Hallie Kerins
The Forgotten Feast: A History of Tabernacles and Its Importance Today, Kirsten J. (Kristen Janelle) Korthuis
The Great Debate, Debate: The educational and societal benefits of academic debate, Ross Dudley McDonald
Carbon Sequestration Projects: A Short-term Mitigation to Global Climate Change, Maria McGarry
Statecraft through Economic Coercion: Applying the Conflict Expectations Model to China and Cuba, Heather Meade
The Effect of Antibacterial Agents Triclosan and N-alkyl on E. coli Viability, Heidi Nielsen
Working a Dream: The History, Development, and Coordination of “Will Act for Change”, Daisye Germaine Orr
Madjaristan: The Ottomans in Hungary 1520-1686, Matthew Pearsall
Ein Letzetes Mal: ein Einakter / One Last Time: A One-Act Play, Sean Puckett
Burning Characteristics of Big Leaf Maple, Red Alder, and Black Cottonwood Leaves, Elizabeth Ralston
The Crucible: How the Lima Hostages Crisis Illuminates Differences In Japanese and Peruvian Crisis Management, Elizabeth Smith
A Study Into The Retail Market Base &, Economic Viability of Downtown Bremerton, Chad Sparber
Life Is A Gift... So Enjoy It!: Strategies for Leading a Healthy, Balanced & Rewarding Life, Robert C. (Robert Charles) Stafford
The Origin of Tan Ashy Lenses in a Puget Sound Shell Midden: Results of Sediment Analysis, Stephanie VanBuskirk
King County Environmental Laboratory Internship Report, Kristen Weatherford
1999
Treated Canvas, Kimberly Baer
Christianity and War in the Early Middle Ages: A Brief Survey, Diego Bartholomew
A Business Plan for a Non-Profit Organization, Jeremy Blocher
Breast Cancer: Research and Treatment, Jessica Goodisman
Detecting Trade-Offs Between Fluency and Language, Sarah Hoffer
Minimizing Shirking Through Labor Policies, Sarah (Sarah Ann) Jackson
Obstacle or Opportunity: Journeys in the Odyssey, Heather Kaschmitter
Inhibition of Microbial Growth by Eelgrass Extracts, Emily E. (Emily Elizabeth) Lambert
An Internship in Otavalo, Ecuador, Travis Ning
The Effect of Ethnicity and Aggression on Value Judgments of Female Aggressors, Celia A. (Celia Alison) Palmer
Korean Life Under Japanese Rule: A Quest for Truth in History, Kevin Richins
Oprah Winfrey: Rescuing, Rewriting, and Wrecking Cultural Ideology, Sarah Rowe
The Word in Africa: Orality and Literacy in Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease, Matthew Taggart
CBE Auction Database: Its Creation, Explanation and Use, Jillian Wallach
1998
Making History: Travelers' Accounts of Early Modern Italy, Carrie (Carrie Mae) Alexander
Whatcom County Land Use Senior Project: Land Use Intern Journal, September 1997 to June 1998, Elizabeth S. (Elizabeth Sutton) Cullen
Gender and the Changing Character of the Washington State Legislature, Megan S. Farr
Media Blitz: Children and the Effects of Television Advertising, Erica (Erica Naomi) Friedman
People in the Park: Reconciling Residents, Tourism, and Conservation in Shey-Phoksundo National Park, Nepal, Juniper Garver-Hume
Double Mutant Analysis of Headless and Head Only in the Wasp Nasonia vitripennis., Amy Maule
"By Reason of Religious Training and Belief ... ": A History of Conscientious Objection and Religion during the Vietnam War, Karl D. (Karl Dwight) Nelson
The Changing Face of Memory and Self, Mark A. (Mark Anthony) Oakes
Symphonic Band Conducting Practicum, Allison Schmidtke
Peer Theater: Social Issues in Action, Shannon Simer
Mechanisms and Applications of Enzymatic Thermostability, Julia Whitford
Shakespeare and Celluloid, Leanne Zobrist
1997
“A Whole New Poetry Beginning Here”: Claiming Language for Survival in the Works of Adrienne Rich, Joy Harjo and Mitsuye Yamada, Christine Beyer
Better Teams Through Type, Jeremy Dwyer
An Analysis of Pre-settlement Biomass and Vegetation in Northwest Whatcom County, Washington, circa Late 19th Century., Jayme Anne Gordon
Channel Restructuring Along Crystal Springs: Creating Salmon Habitat on a Lowland Stream, Lua Olsen
Violence Against Women and the Problem of Male Power: The Personal is Political (is Social is Historical), Brian Ripley
The Relevance of Nature Photography in Environmental Work, Susan Sarratt