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 2010
The “Lunatic Fringe” -- Barry Goldwater and the Conservative Revolution of the 1960s --, Nicholas L. Bromley
Shakespeare and Homoeroticism: A Study of Cross-dressing, Society, and Film, Leigh Bullion
Shakespeare and Homoeroticism: A Study of Cross-dressing, Society, and Film, Leigh Bullion
American Catholics in the Age of Obama: Identities, Politics, Dialogue, Amanda R. Burgess
Hiding, Jean M. Burnet
Lithium- and Oxygen- Isotope Profiles of a Mid-Atlantic Ridge Oceanic Core Complex: The Atlantis Massif, 30°N, Ellen J. Crapster-Pregont
Determinants of Credit Ratings for U.S. Private Colleges and Universities, Robin A. Daley
Beneath the dark and equivocal and symbolical archways of midnight:' An Exploration of Twilight as a Narrative Device in Three Faulkner Novels, Alison B. Madison Davis
Central Bank Independence and Fiscal Dominance, Roberto Delhy Nolivos
Development of a Spectral 2-D Fast Fourier Transform Analysis for Sand Ripple Morphology Interpretation, Christopher M. Englert
Family Ties: Mainstream Environmentalists' Understanding of Radical Environmentalism in America, Zachary W. Ezor
When You are Gone, and Reason Gone with You': The Rhetoric of Love and Gender in John Donne’s Songs and Sonnets, Francesca R. Gentile
Fast: The Stories of a Team, Katrina J. Gravel
The role of TaABF1 in abscisic acid-mediated suppression of 𝒶-amylase gene expression in cereal grains, Lauren J. Harris
Right On Poole, Dana L. Himmelstein
External Sensory Organ Expression of D-Pax2 is Activated by Two Temporally Distinct Enhancers, Seth A. Johnson
The wheat bZIP factor, TaABF1, mediates ABA-induced gene expression in bombarded barley aleurone layers, Benjamin R. Keyser
The Impacts of Land Use and Development Patterns on Water Quality of the Belgrade Lakes, Ian M. McCullough
Stopgap: Short Stories, Eric T. McDowell
Foreign Direct Investment in Ethiopia: Determinants and Effects, Mesay Melese
The differential roles of D-Pax2 variants in regulating Drosophila eye and bristle development, Colin J. O’Shea
Patterns of Apoptotic Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Cleavage Induced by Laromustine and its Analogs, Adam N. Paine
Continuity of FDI: Determinants and Effects on Growth, Loredana Popescu
The Purely Reflected Self, William A. Price
On Perfect Friendship: An Outline and a Guide to Aristotle's Philosophy of Friendship, Kristen Psaty
Assessing Genetic Differentiation Among Populations of the Invasive Plant Impatiens glandulifera in Maine, Jordan R. Schoonover
The Metaphysics of Modality, Kevin P. Smith
Realistic Fantasy: A Study of the Effects of the Women's Movement on Harlequin American Romance Novels, Samantha G. Smith
Migration, Food and Cultural Production Across Changing Afro-Ecuadorian Geographies, Amelia J. Swinton
The Budworm and the Mill: The Spruce Budworm Epidemic and the Evolving Forest Products Industry in Maine from 1975-1985, Steven A. Tatko
Revitalizing the Signaling Power of Class Rank at Colby College, Nicholas Van Niel
Therapeutic Discourse and the American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship with Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey
The Emerging Civil Society in China and Its Impact on Democratization, Haolu Wang
No, I’m really, really bad at math: Competition for self-verification, Alexandra E. Wesnousky
Honors Theses from 2009
Janeiteism: An Exploration of the Pleasures of Jane Austen in Contemporary Popular Culture, Cynthia C. Anderson-Bauer
Keys and Orchards: Memory and the Palestinian Diaspora, 1948-Present, Daniela Andreevska
The Effect of Religious Participation and Permanent Income on Suicide Risk: Micro--Level Analysis, Ivan Balbuzanov
Family Plots, Michael P. Barrett
Breaking the Cycle: The Rise of Contentiousness in Judicial Nominations, Patrick Morrow Boland
Places that Slip, Elly K. Bookman
Calamities: A Quintet of Short Stories, Kat R. Brzozowski
Black Lung Trust, John P. Campbell
The Dust Between Two Fires: Civilian Militias in Ayacucho, Peru and Middle Magdalena, Catherine S. Coffman
Carnivores and Other Consumers: A Quartet of Short Stories, Elana Cogliano
Estimation of Population Reduction and Gene Flow in the Rare Orchid Isotria medeoloides, Philip Crystal
Cyclicality of State Budgeting: A Political-Economy Analysis., Ian W. Cummins
Beneath the Surface: The Struggle to Accommodate the Complexity of Personal Experience in Postmodern Art and Poetry, Charlotte K. Cutter
Gendering the Counterinsurgency: Violence Against Women During the Guatemalan Civil War, Sarah K. deLiefde
"Contentment in My Heart": Evangelical Women and Spiritual Journeys, Elizabeth A. Doran
Uncharted Dimensions of Media: A Map of the Social Implications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Caitlin Dufraine
Changes in Apoptotic Gene Expression Induced by DNA Cross-Linkers, Jordanne B. Dunn
Re-Imagined Communities: Global Climbing on Local Mountains, Eitan Green
Four Stories, Tucker L. Hancock
Jane Austen's Emma and the Progressive Plot: The Cloak of Virtue in the Marketplace, Emily L. Hansen
The Effects of Exogenous Insulin and Exercise on Glucose and Lactate Metabolism in the Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei, Kristen Marie Hitchcox
The Trouble with Treacle: Social Class and Wordplay in Lewis Carroll's Alice Books, Katja E. Jylkka
Mechanisms of Cytotoxicity of Diepoxybutane, Epichlorohydrin and 1-(Chloroethenyl)oxirane, Rebecca D. Kamins
Emerge in Costume and Smash, Peter J. Kirn
Bird of Paradise, Brianna N. Kondrat
The Effect of Glutamate on Neurite Outgrowth in Fiddler Crab (Uca pugilator) X-organ Cells, Ruth B. Langton
Romantic Representations: The intercultural translation of body and commodity in Orientalist discourse, Ellen J. London
Avoiding the Fog of Crisis: A Protocol for the Proper Domestic Use of the Military, Brian Lynch
Evaluation of Nocturnal Flight Calls as a Useful Tool in the Study of Avian Migration, Andrew C. McEvoy
Gender Specific Rules in Sport are based on an Outdated Idea of Femininity, Carlie Minichino
Break the Sky: an exploration of ethics with swords and superheroes, Kris Miranda
Tintinnabulation, A Collection of Poetry, Brookes W. Moody
The Blue Hour, Elizabeth K. O'Neill
The Long Game: Hamas, The IRA, and the Politics of Radicalization in Palestine and Northern Ireland, Dan O'Sullivan
Shedding Spectatorship: An Examination of Immersion in Experience in the Travel and Art Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, Lauren M. Pongan
The Effects of Eating Behaviors and Exercise Patterns on the Processing of Food and Exercise Related Stimuli, Carrie Potter
One Generation Consuming the Next: The Racial Critique of Consumerism in George Romero’s Zombie Films, Henry Powell
Diagnostics for Ultracold Plasma Experiments, Lauren Rand
Can Parallel Exchange Rates Forecast Commodity Prices?, John F. Roberts
Learning the Lay of Their Land: Data Recording by Maine Land Trusts, Patrick John Roche
Factors Influencing Conservation Success or Failure in Tiger Range States, Megan C. Saunders
Antibiotics, Herbs, and Magic: Health Practices in Contemporary St. Petersburg, Christine Shu
The Realization of Eisenstein's Excitation Factor: Grierson, Wiseman, and the Vietnam Documentaries of the 1960s and 1970s, Victoria A. Starr
The Metaphysical Underpinnings Contemporary Attitudes in Consumerism: An Pontification?, Jason Stigliano
The Second Oldest Profession: An Exploration of the Fall and Rise of Midwifery in America, Abigail K. Sussman
Negotiating Gender and Lyric Tradition in Two Nineteenth Century Cultures, Po Yin Wong
Emily Dickinson and Wu Zao: Negotiating Gender and Lyric Traditionin Two Nineteenth-Century Cultures, Po Yin Wong
Honors Theses from 2008
Competition or Community? Manifest and Unexpressed Functions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Sara Benjamin
Coalitions for victory: the necessity of alliance creation for progressive ballot initiative campaigns, Julie Bero
In the Absence of Family: How Ideas of the Substitute Family in Honduran Children's Homes Shape Perception of the Needs of at-risk youth, Stephanie Bowman
Moments of Strength: Iranian Women's Rights and the 1979 Revolution, Caroline M. Brooks
Effects of the anticancer agent Cloretazine on human apurinic endonuclease-1 activity, Jennifer L. Bushee
Effect of Observed Biological and Non-biological Movement on Human Action and Coordination, Walter L. Campbell
Historical Records of Stomatal Indicies in Quercus from the Southeastern U.S, Bradford M. Cantor
Investigating the Effects of Mifepristone (RU486) in the Behavioral, Hormonal and Central Responses to Acute Stress, Aynara Chávez Muñoz
Diffeomorphism invariance in general relativity, John P. Chung
Designing a Green Graduation at Colby College, Alaina J. Clark
A collection of short stories titled: 'Our Pompeii', Elizabeth O. Clark
The Selective Synthesis of Oxacalix[6]arenes and the Exploration of Azacalix[n]arenes, W. Christian Crannell
Self-destructive Behaviors of Adolescent Girls and Boys, Carolyn A. Curtis
The Effect of Orientation to Growing Season Sunlight on Stomatal Parameters of Q. rubra in the Belgrade Lakes Region, Central Maine, Rachel G. Daly