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.
2023
Synthesis and characterization of hydroxy-functionalized copper indium disulfide quantum dots, Julia Schexnayder
Archaeological Photography: The United Kingdom, Madeline Scholten
Interactive Learning with Plankton: Constructing Kiosks for the SEA Discovery Center, Sierra Schuster
Single Sex Education in a Gender Fluid World, Stella Sisson
By the Campfire: How Representation in Video Games Can Be Improved, Hunter Smith
Fingerless Xbox Controller, Brooke Snow
Waiting in Lines Across the World: An Analysis of Lines in the Amusement Industry, Adam Sorg
all patched up!: a collection of poetry and prose detailing life and personal journey, Lukas Spring
Developmental intervention with CBD on BDNF levels and prosocial behavior in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder, Jenika Staben and Josh Kaplan
Developmental intervention with CBD on BDNF levels and prosocial behavior in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder, Jenika Staben and Josh Kaplan
Time as a Line: Helping Children Make Abstract Ideas Concrete, Rachel Mae Stenner
Inversed Research: A study about how psychology research impacts researchers themselves, Ayanna Stewart
Rethinking the American National Narratives: Finding a way forward with our past and with hope, Emma Stiff
The Evolution of Spanish Nationalism, Anna Sutherland
Fusion Dance: Exploring Identity and Social Possibilities, Katie Taylor
Anaerobic Digestion at Western Washington University, Sienna Taylor
Hyacinth and Humanity: The Modernization of a Myth, Jace Thompson
An Endless Cycle: Borges and the Reciprocal Nature of Artistic Inspiration and Expression, Alessandro Tomasi
The Effects of Trigger Point Dry Needling on Neck Pain in Adults: A Review, Grace Truesdale
Burnt Out: A Graphic Novel, Amaya Udager
Biological Oscillator Synchronization with the Cellular Potts Model, Rose Una
Evaluating Domain Specific LLM Performance Within Economics Using the Novel EconQA Dataset, Tate Van Patten
Social Impact of COVID-19 in India and Among Asian Indians in the United States, Rajeswari Venkatesh
Overwintering Eagle Demographics on the Nooksack River, Collette Webb
Common Threads: Centuries of Folklore Told Through Tapestry, Audrey Wheelock
Frankenpop, Elliott Windrope
Ponies And Their Eternal Fascism: A Draft, Malachi Wonder
Linguae Biologiae: Biomedical Terminology and its Real World Applications, Sydney Wong
Using Mineral Magnetism to Characterize Compositions of Fe-Ti Oxide Phases of the Sulphur Creek Lava Flow (Kulshan), Elika Zilis
2022
A Field Guide to Jezero Crater, Mars, Lee Adair
Learning by Trowel and Error, Kayla Alvarado-Hogan
Gifted Genes: An Investigation of College Student Perceptions of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Kits, Kate Amos
'Wokespeak' Woes, Natalie Anderson
Wrestling with Restoration: How We Can Restore an Ever-Changing Planet, Anna Arensmeyer
Dark Patterns: How Interaction Design Turned to Deception, Ian Bansenauer
Travel in Southeast Asia, Adah Barenburg
Connections: Youth Suicide Prevention and Awareness, Catherine Baxter
Exploring Methods of Collecting Accessibility Feedback, Selah Bellscheidt
Why Art and Design Matters, Leah J. Berkowitz
Questioning Complacency: An Analysis of Sustainability to Foster Innovation, Alexandra M. Bierman
The Vampire Tapes, Emily Bishop
Kingdom of Fear: A Dark Fantasy Novel, Katie Borley
The Cross and the Coat Hanger: Catholics for a Free Choice and the Rise of a Religious Movement, Claire Elizabeth Brady
The Utopian Range - Short Climate Fiction, Kai Broach
The Myth of Meritocracy: Factors Explaining Belief in Meritocracy Within the United States, Kaley Burg
WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE? What a Disciplinary Archipelago Says about Political Scholarship and Academia as a Whole, Warren Burroughs
Buenvivir - The Politics of Living Well, Jeremy Caldeira
The Author's Gauntlets: The Writing, Editing, and Publishing Process of a Novel, Robert Clifton
Effects of orthographic silent ‘l’ on preceding vowel duration, Sylvia Cohen
The Mountain In Our Backyard, Jordan Craft and Nathan Knoch
Holocaust Distortion and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Lyric Crane
The Secret Life of Diatoms: An Exploration of the Fascinating World of Diatoms through the Art of Printmaking, Zofia Danielson
10-50: Addiction and Confinement in Whatcom County, Kaitlyn Davidson
Measuring mtDNA in Drosophila, Lola Demurger
The Evolution of 'Homo'-nity: An A to Z from Erectus to Sapiens, Hailee Desrosier
Dust, Asher Didier
Honors Pathways and Curriculum Structure, Sebastian Doll
Bootstrapping the Likelihood Ratio Test To Determine Change Points, Lili Donovan
Paper Butterflies, Cali Dorszynski
Advancing Technology & Digital Lifestyles: Facilitating a Group Independent Study, Kailey Droz
The Interdisciplinary Study of Genetically Modified Salmon and Their Effects on the Environment and Indigenous Communities, Victoria Fair and Kaydee Mittleider
Adapting to Challenges: K-12 Education in the time of COVID, Connor Farrand
Untitled Novel on Indoctrination and Mentorship, Jacquelyn Ferris
Whump, A+ Parenting and Fantasy Racism: Trauma Narratives in Marvel Fanfiction, Sadie Fick
An Honest Man: Short Fiction, Hannah Fraley
Don't Judge Me: Declining Judicial Independence in Hungary and Poland, Jonathan Freeberg
Audience Accessibility- A Study into PAC Infrastructure Renovation, Ariana Gant
Terribly Timely Tariffs, Calvin Golliver
Fair Folk, Jamie M. Good
Dungeons and Disorders: Destigmatizing the Mental Health Conversation, Wren Hart
Pursuing Faith in Good Science: A Neuroscience Student's Argument for Including Science in Spirituality, Savannah A. Hastings
Breeding Sweet Corn for Vitamin A, Sam Herr and Dan Pollard
Fragments of a Soul, Angelina Hinojosa
Synthetic Development of Carbodiimide-Containing Polymers as Precursors to Guanidine-Based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Hayden Houck
VULNERABILITY, Tee Ing
Dean Winchester's Borderlands, Megan Jenkins
The effect of polyunsaturated aldehydes on zebrafish larvae heart rate and mortality, Soraya Jessa
Cannabigerol causes a CB1 receptor-dependent reduction in food consumption and weight gain, Jack Jones and Josh Kaplan
To Remember You By, Tesla Kawakami
White Lies Matter: The Evolution, Persistence, and Impact of Scientific Racism, Kim Keay
Physical properties of Brackett Emitters in the APOGEE DR17 Catalog, Elliott Khilfeh, Hunter Campbell, Kevin R. Covey, Marina Kounkel, and Richard Ballentyne
King of Swords, Hannah Kimble
Trouble Sitting Still Disorder: ADHD Through the Social Model of Disability, Rey Kistler
Software as a Tool not a Master, Dalton Leif Lange
Honors Peer Mentorship: A Guide to Sustaining Community in the Institution, Silvia Leija Rosas
Characterization of Carbon Fiber PEKK Thermoplastic Prepreg for Process Modeling, Tanner M. Leo
Extraction and Interpretation of Fatty Alcohols in the Chuckanut Formation, Ellis Lower
Blood Coagulation Factor IX: Purification, Isolation, Activation, Alex MacNeil
Indel Mapping, Lilu Martin
You, Me, and the Rise of the American Serial Killer, Keyana Marie McCain
Chemical and Physical Tailoring of Guanidine-based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Kate A. McConnell and Michael B. Larsen
Stonewalls and Statues: A Personal Exploration of Memorialization Culture within the United States, Petra McDonnell-Ingoglia
Audio Engineering, Sound Production, and Cultural Documentation Portfolio, Christian Michael McGovern
Queering The Birth Experience: Documenting Queer Individuals' Labor & Delivery Experiences, Caitlin Laura Jessica Millard