Senior Thesis

The Senior Thesis represents the culmination of a Haverford student’s academic experience, and is one of the most important and rewarding ways that Haverford realizes its educational mission. It is an opportunity to do original research at levels usually reserved for graduate students, in partnership with faculty mentors. Haverford College is one of a very few institutions in the country that includes a Senior Thesis project as part of every student’s academic program.

Students become true scholars, and come to understand at a deep and practical level what it takes to create knowledge and to seek answers to challenging questions. In turn, they become more effective and influential agents for change in whatever field they choose.

What They Learned

A series exploring the thesis work of recent graduates. Read more on the Haverblog

What They Learned: Justin Brendel ’18
The religion major wrote his thesis on the digitization of the Bible—and whether or not that has consequences for Christians’ relationship to its content.
What They Learned: Katie Sullivan ’18
The biology major and neuroscience minor explored “the unknown” in her thesis, conducting research on the cutting edge of the field of glycobiology.
What They Learned: Alexandra Morrison ’18
The chemistry major and environmental studies minor wrote her thesis on the impact of oil spills on the marine environment.
What They Learned: Abby Cox ’18
For her thesis, the English major and Spanish minor examined the intersections of blackness and femininity in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.”
What They Learned: Lincoln Satterthwaite ’18
The chemistry major wrote his thesis on the chirality, or “handedness,” of molecules, which refers to their planar asymmetry.
What They Learned: Clara Abbott ’18
The English major with a concentration in gender and sexuality studies combined her interests in queer and performance studies for her thesis on “Belle Reprieve.”
What They Learned: Jessica Koshinski ’18
The chemistry major with a biochemistry concentration synthesized organic molecules to identify therapeutic treatments for pancreatic cancers.
What They Learned: Marco Rivas ’18
The chemistry major with a biochemistry concentration researched the connection between natural products and chemical innovation.
What They Learned: Isaac Krier ’18
The political science major combined educational, legal, and urban policy into an analysis of the relationship between courts and school-finance reform.
What They Learned: Benjamin Burke ’18
The chemistry major explored the complexities of bioinorganic chemistry to understand how some bacteria can evade the human immune system.