Curriculum: Senior Thesis
The major in Sociology culminates in a year-long senior thesis. When you enroll in one of our courses, you buy into the framework that we have defined. This is the case even if you disagree and argue against that framework and the arguments we make within it. In your senior thesis, we buy into your framework. You undertake a piece of independent research that we view as a "masterwork," the completion of your apprenticeship. Our task is to facilitate the work you want to accomplish. In addition to meeting with your primary advisor, either individually or as a group, we also meet several times a semester as a Department, with the entire Faculty and all of our senior majors. These meetings give students the opportunity to make more formal presentations of their work, beginning with a problem formulation and culminating with a presentation of their completed theses.
Recent Senior Theses in Sociology
| LAST NAME | FIRST NAME | GRAD YEAR | TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hughes | Maisy | 2013 | Insanity in the Age of Conformity: Expressive Individualism in the Public Sphere |
| Ikeda | Daniel | 2013 | Instrumental Activism at the End of Life: Theorizing the Role of American Culture in the Provision of Aggressive Medical Care |
| Liu | Lisa | 2013 | To "Act White": Negotiating Race and Biculturalism in Public Schools |
| Ngai | Angelo | 2013 | Cultural Roots of the Rule of Law: Exploring the Possibility of Confucian Legal Order |
| Riccio | Michael | 2013 | The New Racism and Punishment: "Facing the Facts" of Cultural Difference |
| Sacks | Susanna | 2013 | A Carnival of One’s Own: Contemporary Rap and the Commercial Appropriate of the Neoliberal Canivalesque |
| Sobocinski | Victoria | 2013 | Making Her Fit the Mold: The Representation of Modern Presidential Candidate-Spouses |
| Webb | Kellan | 2013 | American Exceptionalism and Conditions for Change: The Universal Health Care Debate |
| Hermanto | Juliaty | 2012 | Doing Time or Wasting Time?: An Analysis Of the Accessibility of Prison Programs in State and Federal Correctional Facilities |
| Martin-Kirkland | Kahmai A. | 2012 | Don’t Tax Me Bro: The Tea Party and the Paradox of Class |
| Fuentes | Lucas | 2011 | Introducing Culture to the Study of School Effects: A Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis |
| Grad | Isobel | 2011 | Aesop's Cookbook: Diet Books as Contemporary Myth |
| Gregg | Thomas | 2011 | Unbounded Space: A Look At Internal Collaboration at NASA |
| Hulleberg | Anders | 2011 | Classroom Structure and Student Achievement: A Theory and Case Study |
| Rao | Sameer | 2011 | “Joke’s on You!”: Stand-up Comedy Performance and the Management of Hecklers |
| Shelton | Nathan | 2011 | The Social Character of Belief |
| Dutton | Zachary | 2010 | The Downside of Restorative Justice and Why Punishment Matters: A Theoretical Discussion in a Postmodern Context |
| Sanchez | David | 2010 | Normative Consent: A Critique of Power in Williamson's Transaction Cost Economics |
| Johnston | Tiffany | 2009 | When Children Have Children: The Narrative of Urban Teenage Parents |
| Koide-Gasser | Naomi | 2009 | Authenticity |
| McDowell | Benjamin | 2009 | The Effects of Athletic Injuries on Academic Performance |
| Natani | Yotaro | 2009 | Mobilization of Loyalty: A Study of Political Support for Modernization in Japan |
| Orlansky | Emily | 2009 | Beauty Is in the Mouth of the Beholder: Advice Networks at Haverford College |
| Din | Deirdre | 2008 | Structural Differentiation within Athletics |
| Eubank | Julianne | 2008 | Failures to Sacrifice: The Isolation of the United States Imperialist Effort from the American Public |
| Israel | Shayna | 2008 | Using Creative Umbrellas: Identity Group Conflict, Miscommunication, and the Need for an Intellectual Community at BMC |
| Koehler | Johann | 2008 | Advocating a Reiterative Drug Crackdown: Philadelphia's Operation Safe Streets, Open Air Drug Markets, and a Policy Alternative |
| McCoy | Alexandra | 2008 | The Road to Higher Education: A New Look at the Formation of Educational Aspirations |
| McWilliam | Halley | 2008 | A Contemporary Analysis of Cultural Expression As Seen Through Clothing, Women, Identity and the Structure that Wears Them All: Fashion |
| Moore | Jesse | 2008 | The Maxsa Model: A New Organizational Paradigm |
| Moser | Alexander Simon | 2008 | Deviance and Piracy: A Strain Theory Account of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing |
| Panek | Ray | 2008 | 'Roid Rage' for the Information Age: A Study on Internet Based Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Subculture and Users |
| Petersen | Kelly | 2008 | Charitable Giving of Alumni: Social Embeddedness, Activities, and Giving |
| Williams | Sonia | 2008 | Cognitive Dissonance: On Categorization, Rationalization, and the Place of Breaking Points in the Performance Narrative |