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.

2009 University Scholars Honors Projects

Daniel W. Armerding, Theatre. An Artistic Manifesto for Technical Theatre: Ruminations on Tech Directing “See Rock City”

Mackenzie Brister, Electrical Engineering. A “Greener” Seattle Pacific

Noël Brown, Psychology. Depression among Biracial Adolescents: Risk Factors and Suggestions for Positive Change

Christopher Robin Takashi Caldwell, English. “Different Qualities of Light, Different Songs”: The Mystery of Individuality in Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

Britt Carlson, Christian Theology and European Studies – Spanish. Affectionate Companions: Sarah and Jonathan Edwards

Andrew Carson, Political Science and Mathematics. Prudent Justice: A Theoretical Argument against the Death Penalty

Travis Drake, Political Science and English. Rhetorical Nuance: Machiavelli

Elise Eccles, Electrical Engineering. Within Reach: An Ideal Prosthetic Arm

Christye Laurel Estes, English. What Will Suffice: Essays on Asperger’s and My Little Brother

Andrew Huskamp, Educational Ministry. Teaching Hope: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Jillian Kaori Igarashi, English. To the American Sleepless

Katelyn Knutson, Biology. For the Beauty of the Study: A Comparative Look at Galenic Influence in Medicine

Amber Lundgren, Electrical Engineering. Dance of the Op Amp

May Marston, Visual Communications. The Beauty of Art: A Look at Gothic, Renaissance and Modern Notions of Beauty

Michelle Mayes, Latin American Studies – Spanish. Caminos Divididos: How the War in El Salvador Affected the Church

Alex R. McCrum, English. Stasis and the Seven Sisters, or Thucydides: in Space

Joshua Miles, English. Shifting Mosques and Fractured Cities: Complicating Spatial Narratives of Identity in the Fragmented Spaces of Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book

Taylor Morris, English. Exactly What You Would Have Expected": Humor and Social Superiority in Flannery O'Connor

Lauren Pattie, English. The Tears I Will Not Shed: A Return to Malory’s Morte D’Arthur

Kelsey Rote, Psychology and Sociology. Time and Companionship: How Female Escorts Manage Identity, Relationships, and Stigma

Andrew Smith, Philosophy. Chesterton the Philosopher: An Analytic Survey

Eva Sztajno, Political Science and European Studies – Europe. The Fall of Democracy: The Transition from the Weimar Republic to the Third Reich as Seen through the German Press

David Van Hofwegen, Political Science. The Moral Questions of Humanitarian Intervention

Benjamin Daniel Walker, Electrical Engineering. Properties of Baseball Bats: Influences on Performance and Historical Correlations

Zachary Ward, Global Health Management. Developing an Objective Impact Assessment for Health Care in Africa

Melissa Warren, Global Development. The Life Letter: An Original Play

Caitlin Wasley, Physics with Intercultural Applications and Theology. The Search for the Heart of God: Parallels in Sufi Islam and Christianity

Project Guidelines and Requirements (PDF)

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