The Honors Thesis is a research project for which eligible students apply during their junior year and complete in their senior year. Colby departments and programs that have an honors program establish the requirements for the project and its final format. Each student, upon completion of the thesis, has the opportunity to publish their project in Digital Commons so that it may be made available to the Colby community and to the world at large.
Honors Theses from 2015
"Trying to Resurrect People": Musical Theater and Theater for Social Change in Witness Uganda, Emilie Jensen
La (re)imaginación de una ruta milenaria: El Camino de Santiago en el modelaje de una espiritualidad moderna, Benjamin Lester
The Central Hankel Transform, Matthew J. Levine
Quantization of Analysis, Kelvin K. Lui
Quantum Effects in Gravity: The Ambiguous Vacuum, Kelvin K. Lui
The Stimulatory Effects of Acute Ethanol Exposure on the Innate Immune System of Zebrafish (Danio rerio), Paul C. Macklis
Announcement effects of convertible debt: Do firm and market characteristics affect the magnitude of abnormal stock returns?, Charles N. Madden
School Gardens: Cultivating a Child’s Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, and Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer
Mathematical modeling of Emiliania huxleyi and a host-specific virus, Julia Middleton
Nurturing Environmental Literacy at Colby College: Higher Education and the Environmental Crisis, Molly Nash
Market Microstructure and Abnormal Returns: An Analysis of NYSE and SGX Securities, Alex Ng
Bridging The Divide: The Religious and the Secular at Colby College, James O'Leary
Inequality and Involvement: Participatory Trends in the Politics of a Rural Maine Town, Shelby O'Neill
Demographics as Destiny: Modeling Population Change and Party Strategies on the Electoral Map, 2016-2040, Sam Parker
L’IDENTITÉ LIBANAISE DANS LA MÉMOIRE LITTÉRAIRE DE LA GUERRE CIVILE, Sarah J. Rockford
An Investigation of BAG3 Knockdown and its Effects on the Cytotoxicity of Laromustine, Colin Sheehan
Investigating the Endogeneity of Risk Attitudes: Experimental Evidence Involving Cooperation and Competition, Erik Solli
The Influence of Normative Feedback on Stigma of Mental Health, Carly A. Taylor
Bhabha's Hybridity and Kenyan Development: A Close Look at Banking, Land and Health, Hannah F. Tuttle and Hannah Tuttle
Generation of 2-Adamantylidenecarbene from a Phenanthrene-Based Precursor, Christine E. Wamsley
Along the Cliffs of Bray, Elizabeth J. Woodbury
Innovation and Productivity: Evidence from China, Jingying Xu
A Personalized Chatterbot Based on Facebook Update, Jinghui Yu and Bruce Maxwell
Drivers and Barriers to Financial Inclusion in Peru: a Demand-side Approach, Maria Zeta-Valladolid
Honors Theses from 2014
Macroinvertebrate Community Structure and Feeding Dynamics in Three Forested Headwater Streams in Central Maine, Emily R. Arsenault
The Effects of the Indonesian Financial Crisis On Children’s Later Life Outcomes, Lori T. Ayanian
Deformation mechanisms in mylonites at Fletcher Peak, Washington County, ME, Ariana S. Boyd
The Fluvial Sequence of a Latest Changhsingian, Pre-PT Extinction River Complex, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Tara Chizinski
Structural Characterization of the Major Guanosine-Guanosine Cross-Link Formed by Epichlorohydrin, Edward Chuang
Optimization of a Chemical Genetic Screen to Identify Druggable Targets in U138 Cells Treated with Laromustine, Kathryn Coe
Women Writing about Mental Illness: Historical and Literary Patterns of Labeling Women Deviant, Cecelia Conroy
The Economic Impact of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment along the New York and Pennsylvania Border, Brendan Cosgrove
Quantumness and Coherence in Photosynthesis, Brian Doolittle
Variations in Intra- and Interspecific Response to Mobbing Calls by the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), Katerina M. Faust
The Impact of Dams on Nitrogen Cycling in the Messalonskee Stream, Rebecca K. Forgrave
Moon Jellies, Christina Garbarino
Borderline Depravity: The Impact of U.S. Immigration Policy on Human Smuggling at the Mexican Border, Chloe J. Gilroy
La puerta a Europa: Percepciones de la inmigración en Andalucía, Kristin Glasheen
Conservation Choices in the Face of Sea-Level Rise, Meagan K. Hennessey
The Talbot Effect, Malia Kawamura
What’s Gender Got to Do With It?: The Effects of Women’s Decision-‐Making Power in Morocco, Shannon Hume Kooser
La Identidad de Los Carabineros de Chile: The Evolving Identity of Chile's National Police Force and the 1973 Military Coup, Jeffrey O. Lamson
The Relationships between Local Food and Food Security in Maine, Erin Love
In Search of Murmurings (Full Score), Luke Martin
Generational Dream: First Generation American Citizens and Their Relationship to the American Dream, Anna A. Mintz
Deformation Mechanisms in the Metasedimentary Rocks Within the Kellyland Fault Zone, Washington County, Maine, Morgan E. Monz
Influence of the Sea Surface Microlayer on Ozone Deposition Velocity, Kathryn Moore
Illusion of Control: The Struggle for History and Humanity, Samantha R. Nystrom
Adaptive Co-management in the Face of Environmental Change: Invasive Green Crabs and the Soft-shell Clam Fishery in Maine, Grace O’Connor
Learning By Playing: Evaluating Backward Induction, Alexandra Ojerholm
An Economic Impact Analysis of the Belgrade Lakes Watershed, Lucy G. O'Keeffe
The Chinese Social Enterprise: A Global Phenomenon with Chinese Characteristics, Amanda Jingtong O'Malley
The Social Media Tango, Anne E. Papadellis Ms.
Beyond Our Conscience: A Proposal for an Improved Model of Self-Forgiveness, Kelsey M. Park
The Effect of Azo Textile Dyes on Gross Primary Production and Community Respiration in an Artificial Environment, Theresa L. Petzoldt
Failures of Chivalry and Love in Chretien de Troyes, Adele Priestley
Feminicidios en Cd. Juárez: Sombras del evanescente olvido; luces de lucha, fuerza y resistencia, Amber Ramirez
Do Unexpected FIFA World Cup Match Results Impact the Stock Market?, Brandan Rivard
Dante’s Inferno in the Modern World: A Study of Religiosity in a World of Religious Apathy, Kristen N. Robinson
Solidifying Citizenship: Ethnonationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Morality, Joshua Rothenberg
The Historical Ecology of Sharks in New England, Elizabeth R. Schell
Was Housing to Blame? A DSGE Analysis of the Great Recession, Justin Swansburg
A New Balance: National Security and Privacy in a Post 9-11 World, Russell B. Wilson
The Role of Underutilized Fish in New England's Seafood System, Taylor Witkin
Honors Theses from 2013
Can the Stock Market Predict FDA Approvals for New Drug Applications?, Thomas D. Abe
Les Contes de fées oubliés: vision d'un monde plus égal, Deborah Amato
The Eichler-Selberg Trace Formula for Level-One Hecke Operators, Alex Barron
Metallic Mineral Mining in Maine, Kaitlyn Bernard
The American Rifled Musket: Technical Revolution or Tactical Redundancy?, Alexandre F. Caillot
Omona!: Gender Representation in Three Gender-Bending Korean Dramas, Eleni Choephel
A Monte Carlo Simulation Study of the Performance of Hypothesis Tests Under Assumption Violations, Gareth Cleveland
Remapping Nature: Motherhood, Autonomy, and Anti-Mining Activism in Íntag, Ecuador, Ellicott K. Dandy
Aiding or Abetting? An Analysis of Medical Humanitarian Aid in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, Claire Dunn
Investigating the effects of BAG3 knockdown on the cytotoxicity of the anticancer drug Laromustine, Kayla Gross
Investigating the Interaction of Zinc-Finger Peptides and Nicked DNA Using Phage Display, Rachel Maria Guerra
Life on the Edge: Biotic and Abiotic Production of Hydrogen Production Along the Chemical Gradient, Carly Elise Hallowell
Development of a Standard and Functional Tactical Emergency Medical Curriculum -- TEMS Medic, Benjamin Hannon
The Wanderer's Journey, Jay Holman
Managing the Global Marine Aquarium Trade, Sarah Holmes
An Unexpected Verdict: Exploring the Economic Implications of an Expanding Chinese Presence in Dakar's Informal Market, Georgina Hurst
Classroom Peer Effects in Higher Education: Evidence from Colby College, Peter C. Jones
The Macroeconomic Effect of Currency Union Dissolution: Evidence from the Narrative, Marcus Josefsson
Conservation Easement Policies Across New England, Virginia A. Keesler
Massive Quiescent Disk Galaxies in the CANDELS Survey, Aurora Y. Kesseli
The Value of Truth: The Elijah Parish Lovejoy Story and an Examination of the Idea of “Truth” in Journalism, Eliza R. Larson
Political Priming: The Effect of Contextual Factors on Word Recognition and Recall, Adam LaViolet
Factors Influencing National Park Establishment: Cases to Inform the Maine Woods, Larissa N. Lee
Green Light over the Drop Zone: American Army and Marine Paratroopers in World War II, Audrey Lomax
When the Walls Talk: Political Graffiti at la Universidad Nacional in Bogotá, Colombia, Abbott Grey Matthews
The Aesthetic of Failure: Authenticity, Effort, and Imperfection in American Contemporary Dance, Delaney McDonough
L’Autre de Montaigne: vers une vision tolérante de nos perceptions, Brita L. Midness
Investigating the Role of Epibiotic Bacteria in Defense Against Chytridiomycosis in the Green Frog, Lithobates clamitans, Sarah Nalven
The Post-Crisis Relevance of Inflation Targeting, Rebecca Newman
Prenatal Choline Supplementation and MK-801 Toxicity: Protecting Memory and Preventing Neurodegeneration, Chelsea Nickerson
From the Slums of Shaolin to the Bard of Avon: The Homosocial Bond in Shakespeare and Hip Hop, Camilla Ostrow