A highlight of the University Scholars program is the required senior honors project.  Honors projects involve an intensive exploration of a topic that is related to the student’s major and is studied within the context of the Christian faith.  These projects demonstrate one way in which SPU students engage the culture in order to change the world.

All completed Honors Projects are catalogued and put into the permanent collection at the SPU library for public access.

University Scholars Honors Projects for 2007:

Kelly Almon, Art.  Is the Audience Receiving Your Message? Analysis of Responsiveness to Visual Stimuli as Related to Depressive Symptom

Alissa Baier, Communication.  The Five Essential Elements of International Journalism: A Research Review and Experiential Learning Exercise in Foreign Reporting.

Megan Boucher, English.  Shadowy Immortality: Art in Unamuno’s Abel Sanchez.

Wayne Brisbane, Biology.  Co-localization Observed between Lysosomes and Zinc in Lymnaea stagnalis Hemocytes.

Shannon Colacurcio, Business Administration.  Beyond the Bottom Line: Developing a Sustainable Business Model for Non-Profit Providers of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Morgan Deming, Economics.  Factors Influencing Demand for the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Game Cube.

Elizabeth Dong, Mathematics.  Computational Design Predictions of MHC Class I-like Ligands and the Immunoreceptor NKG2D using RosettaDesign.

Rachel Ellis, Biochemistry.  All This Curious Certainty:  A Collection of Biochemical Vignettes.    

Andrew Engstrom, Psychology.  Why You Should Marry a Trained Fighter: A Study of Conflict Management in Premarital Education.

Matt Fletcher, Physics.  Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Consequences for Divine Action.

Angela Garland, Psychology.  Big Changes for Little Lives: A Discussion of Orphanage Interventions in Developing Countries and its Applications to a Case Study of Ecuador.

Andrew Hays. Political Science & Philosophy.   Jus ad Bellum: Just War Theory and “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Paul Henderson, Political Science & Economics.  Achieving Success without Arrogance: An Exploration of Foreign Policy Theory as Applied to the United States and Uzbekistan.

Jared Hiebert, Biochemistry.  An Investigation of the Principle of Least Motion and the Counter-Ion Effect in the Birch Reduction.

Alicia Hoffer, History & Political Science.  Rule of Law and the Lakota Sioux: Treaties, Laws, and Agreements before the Battle of Wounded Knee.
 
Nicholas Jacobson, History & European Studies.  Nicholas of Cusa's Religio Una in Rituum Varietate:
An Image of Interreligious Dialogue in Late Medieval Europe.

Amanda Lengyel, English.  “Growth and the Overcoming of Obstacles are Inscribed on a Person’s Soul”: Grief and Healing in the Work of Banana Yoshimoto.

Melinda A. Miller, Textiles, Clothing and Interiors.  Interior Design and Wellbeing: Addressing the Needs of Russian Orphans in a Small Family Orphanage.

Aleya Mullett, Sociology.  Access to Clean Water in Africa: Understanding and Application.

Justin Peters, English.  “When Things are Gone They’re Gone. They Aint Comin Back”:  The New Western Vision of Cormac McCarthy.

Molly Petersen, History & European Studies. Consuming the Bloody Lamb: Eucharistic Themes in the Writings of the Beguines.

Shelley L. Shaver, Psychology. Understanding the Effects of Hypnotic Analgesia for Patients Suffering from Chronic Pain.

Jason Shaw, Mathematics & Chemical Physics. Correspondence between Classical and Quantum-Mechanical Position Measurements in the Stepped Square-Well Potential.

Melanna Smith, Anthropology.  Sheng: Creation of a Liminal Identity in Postcolonial Kenya.

Nathan Toliver, Classics.  From Renown to Rags and Back: Rediscovering Creech as the English Lucretius.

Pierce Wade, Classics & English.  Feathered Glory: The Bishops' Bible and its Curious Initial Letters.

Lindsey Willis, Food and Nutritional Sciences.  When the Food You Love Doesn't Love You Back: What We Really Know about IgE-Mediated Food Allergies.

Rachel Woodbrook, English & Latin. The Illustrious Virgin Cecilia: A Translation of Passio Sanctae Caeciliae from Medieval Latin to Modern English.

Janelle Zakrzewski, English.  Reading Race: Exploring Racial Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Stephanie Zimbelman, Biology.  The Relationships between Maximum Strength and Body Composition, Body Image, and Physical Activity in College-Aged Men and Women.

Download Project Guidelines & Requirements (PDF)

For more information about the University Scholars program, refer to the University Catalog. You may also contact Luke Reinsma, Director of University Scholars, at lreinsma@spu.edu or (206) 281-2093.