Honors Theses and Independent Research
Anthropology majors have many opportunities to pursue independent research under the guidance of faculty advisers and to present their findings to audiences within the University and beyond.
The department’s Undergraduate Research Grant has, since 2009, provided funding for students to pursue original research, and many grantees write honor’s theses or independent studies based on the data they collected through their funded research project.
The Advanced Topic Seminar is also an ideal avenue for students to pursue independent research in the course of fulfilling their anthropology major requirements.
Students must apply for admission to the honors program in the spring of their junior year. More information may be found on the honors program page.
Past Honors Theses
2024
London Chastain, “A Song for the Lilacs After War: A Semi-Academic, Semi-Poetic Exploration of Land's Memory”
Luo Siyang, "Pandemic Echoes: Chinese Nationalism and the Transnational Student's Dilemma"
Chunyang Zhang, "Dancing with the Intangible: State Management of Cultural Heritage in China"
2023
Samantha Becker, “Sovereign Dreams: The Impact of Religion on Bermudian Culture, Politics and National Identity”
2022
Nisha Arya, “From Gift-Giver to Recipient: India's Failed Vaccine Diplomacy and Quest for Global Status”
Anna Givens, "Landscapes of Layered Trauma: Politics and Prisons in the Adirondacks"
Wanqing Zhou, "What Do You Mean by 'Love': Intimacy, Commodification and Community among Chinese K-pop Fans"
2021
Ahn-Tho Antoinette Nguyen,“’Không có gì bằng cơm với cá. Không có gì bằng má với con.’Shaping Việt Kiều Motherhood in America”
Anna Remus, “Inclusive Ideals and Competing Claims at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Public Market”
2019
Angela Benson, "Caste-ing Off the Chains: Dalit Catholicism and Liberation in the Development State"
Farida el Hefni, "'I Am From There': Longing for An Intangible Homeland and the Construction of Palestinian Identity in Diaspora"
2018
Madeline Bove, "Yachak Rumi, Piedra Sagrada, Sacred Rock: A Rock, 'Translation-Projects' and the Ontological Turn"
Nicholas Contento, "Coalescing for Change: The Politics of Upstate New York Lead Coalitions"
Perry DeMarche, "'Not-so-Nomadic' Nomads: Cultural Commodification and Authenticity Among Former Nomads in Morocco"
Amelia Kelly, "Masculinity in Crisis: Street Harassment and the Performance of Masculinity in Morocco"
Natalie Ziegler, "Affected: Moralit and Medicalization in the Rust Belt Opioid Epidemic"
2017
Danielle Douglas, "'Say it in a hidden way': A Culture of Self-Censorship and Subversion Among Journalists in Morocco"
Anna Metcalf, "Death of a Dream: Race, Colonialism, and the Politics of Space on University Campuses in South Africa"
Joseph Orman, "'The Wild West of Weed': Activism, Business, and Changing Legislation at the Protestival"
Kara Rubio, "Is History a Risk Factor? An Ethnographic Study of the Suicide Epidemic on Guam"
Yael Schiller, "The 'Big Trip' and a New Sense of Self: The Jewish Religious Israeli Woman's Backpacking Experience"
2016
Lisle Coleman, "'My Anger Cannot Be Operated': Perspectives from a Tibetan Buddhist Nun on Suffering, Gender, and Social Change"
Naomi Everhart, "Mustaches and Makeup: Gender Performance at a Cultural Crossroads"
2015
Katherine Wegman, "The People on the Floor: Health, Community, and Informality Among the New South Africa's Urban Poor"
2014
Katie Cross, "Respect, Responsibility, and the Researcher: An Examination of Native American Gender Categorization in Anthropology"
Jessica Nielsen, "The Politics of Youth Mobilization and Intervention in Coloured Townships of Cape Town, South Africa"
2013
Paige Hammond, “Who Owns the Female Body? Exploring Cross-Cultural Tensions Over Women’s Bodies”
Alana Valvo, “Evangelical Engagement in Modernity: The Reciprocity and Competition of American Evangelical Culture and American Secular Culture”
Anaise Williams, “Understanding Pregnancy in Northeastern Thailand: Negotiating Local Beliefs and Western Biomedicine”
2012
Mara Lynn Chinelli, “Witnessing Palestinian Life: Mimetics, Prosthetics, and Globalizing Local Political Voices”
Sorcha H. Dundas, “Green Business and American Dahl: Refugee Resettlement and Integration in Burlington, Vermont”
Alysha N. Edwards, “Knowledgeable Transactions: The Anthropology of Bureaucracy at the European Parliament”
Christine M. Rose, “Teaching a Lesson: Discourses of Empowerment and the Development of “Future Leaders” in Non-Governmental Education Initiatives in Africa”
2011
Margaret G. Ball, “Eagle and Condor in the Same Skies? A Paradoxical Sustainability Narrative in New York's Hydrofracking Debate”
Jessalyn Ballerano, “Contracted Birth: Limited Agency, Authoritative Knowledge and Modern Meanings of Choice in American Reproduction”
Victoria M. Massie, “(Re)Connection: Networking African American Identity in Genetic Ancestry Testing”
2010
Johanna K. Fischer, “Negotiating Disgrace: Masculinity and Afrikaner Nationalism in Post- Apartheid South Africa”
Rachel R. Odhner, “Reclaiming Food Systems via a Transnational Peasant Politics: A Genealogy of the Food Sovereignty Movement in Ecuador”
2009
Miriam E. Moody, “In the Negev, the Nation Will be Tested: Education and Identity Among the Negev Bedouin in Israel”
Devin M. Opotzner, “Prisoners of Our Own Device: Local Nomads, Backpackers and Global Tourism in Dahab, Egypt”
Here are some recent projects funded by the Undergraduate Anthropology Research Grant:
2021
Lila Balistrieri, "The Impact of Covid-19 on the Pet Food Industry"
2020
Shuchong Chen, "A neoliberal Labor Market?: Migrant Workers in the Informal Manufactural Sector in Shanghai"
Jingxuan Wang, "Ally vs. Co-Struggler: Asian American Activists' Identities and Political Organizing"
2019
Angela Benson, "Caste-ing Off the Chains: Dalit Catholicism and Liberation in the Development State"
2018
Laura Cowie-Haskell, "A Plant in Search of Nutrients: Experiencing the day of a Sub-Saharan Afrifan Migrant in Southern Morocco"
Perry Demarche, "'Not-so-Nomadic' Nomads: Cultural Commodification and Authenticity Among Former Nomads in Morocco"
2017
Josdeph Orman, "'The Wild West of Weed': Activism, Business, and Changing Legislation at the Protestival"
Nancy Vargas, "Ritual and Transnationalism among Mexican Migrants"
2016
Danielle Douglas, "'Say it in a hidden way': A Culture of Self-Censorship and Subversion Among Journalists in Morocco"
Madalina Ciocanu, "Transition and Transformation in the Punk Identity"
2015
Kate Cowie-Haskell
Katherine Wegman, "The People on the Floor: Health, Community, and Informality Among the New South Africa's Urban Poor"
2014
Alysha Alani, “Blessing and Burden: Negotiating the Hemodialysis Experience”
Jessica Nielsen, “The Development and Re-Integration of Youth in Post-Apartheid South Africa”
2013
Ramsey Ismail, “Precarious Japan: Youth Voices and the Grounds for New Subjectivities”
Anaise Williams, “Understanding Pregnancy in Northeastern Thailand: Negotiating Local Beliefs and Western Biomedicine”
2012
Sorcha H. Dundas, “Green Business and American Dahl: Refugee Resettlement and Integration in Burlington, Vermont”
Byron R. Miller, “T Shaped Employees: The Changing Nature of Employment and Hierarchy in Tech Workspaces”
2011
Margaret G. Ball, “Eagle and Condor in the Same Skies? A Paradoxical Sustainability Narrative in New York's Hydrofracking Debate”
Mara Lynn Chinelli, “Witnessing Palestinian Life: Mimetics, Prosthetics and Globalizing Local Political Voices”
2010
Daniel A. Brooks, “Canned Style: The Evolution of FUA and Meanings of Graffiti in 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳, New York” ()