College Honors Program
The College Honors Program brings together academically accomplished and highly motivated students to pursue multidisciplinary studies in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. This highly selective and challenging program is composed of sophomores, juniors, and seniors from any major, and incorporates special seminars, an honors colloquium and a thesis.
The College Honors Program, established in 1962, is one of the oldest programs providing distinctive educational opportunities at Holy Cross culminating in the senior honors thesis, and the intellectual excitement of a multidisciplinary classroom, where students from all majors address significant matters with faculty who are experts in integrative teaching and scholarship.
Theses from 2024
Accessing Pyrido[1,2-α]pyrimidines through Click Chemistry, Omar Afifi
The Making of Modern Pop Genre, George Caldwell
Moving Towards Inclusive Perceptions of Disability: A Case Study of Holy Cross Students’ Community Engagement Experience with L’Arche, Catherine Cannamela
Latin in Video Game Music: the Persisting Importance of Classics in Video Gaming, Sophie Cassarino
Organismal Effects of Tire Dust Exposure on Nematostella vectensis, Hannah Cavanaugh-Gouvea
Model Minorities or No-No Boys? Urban Politics, Crime, and Education Activism in Asian American Seattle, 1970-1989, Adam S. Cooper
A Study of Operating Frequency of Light of a Semiconductor Laser in an Extended Optical Cavity System, Kieran Corcoran
Effect of Feedback on Cognitive Control in Athletes and Non-athletes, Lauren Drillock
Youth Interest in Reusable Menstrual Hygiene Products: An Opportunity for Improving Menstruation Management, Makenna R. Eccles
Experimental Realization of the Pulse Sequencing Method for Measuring Charge Transfer Collision Cross Sections, Elia Fisher
Synthetic Studies of Cyclocurcumin, Ayden Fleming
“The Prince of Darkness”: The Genesis of Anti-Masonic Excitement in New York’s Burned-Over District, Robert Janes
From Relocation to Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of Japanese American College Attainment Post-Internment, Caitlin Kawamura
(Un)Spicing the American Melting Pot: The Commodification of Cultural Appetites, Seduction of Tropicalization, and Reclamation of the Latina Body in the Literature of Magical Feminism, Jannette Kazlauskas
Le japonisme au 19ème siècle en France/Japonisme in 19th Century France, Maya Krzywda
“Neither Here nor There”: Formal Alterity in Vietnamese American Narratives from 1997-Present, Anna Lee
Broadway Theatre and the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Pre-Shutdown Longevity Impacted Production Success, Emmeline A. Lignowski
Streaming’s Sonic Revolution — The Impact of Streaming Services on the Music Industry: Evidence from Spotify, Nicholas Lupone
The Fear of too Much Justice? Limiting the Equal Protection Clause in the Post-Civil Rights Era, Liam Martin
Investigating the function and evolution of two putative de novo evolved genes essential for Drosophila melanogaster fertility, Kerry McDermott
She Has Green Eyes & Trauma: Problematic Depictions of Mental Illness in Young Adult Novels, Diane G. McDonough
Stability or Opportunity? A Cross-Regional Analysis of Elections in Hegemonic Authoritarian Regimes, Aidan McGahey
Lightness and Exactitude in Andrea Palladio's Redentore, Audrey McGrail
Building Loyalty: Hezbollah’s Hybrid Nature of Social Services & Military Warfare in an Unstable Lebanon, Rea Nassif
Title IX on the Hill, Riley Peck
Belonging on the Hill: BIPOC Student Experiences with DEI Initiatives at Holy Cross, Jailanny Pena
Rhetorical Punishment: The U.S. Incarceration System, Shanil Perez Lantigua
Violence on Stage and in the Streets: Women Reflect on the Troubles in 1980’s Northern Irish Theatre, Natalia Powers
Electrochemical Analysis of Self-Assembled Monolayers of Thiols on Gold, Emma Robinson
Breakin’ Down Flow State: An Analysis of The Flow State Within Breakdancing, James Rogus
Scaling of red sea urchin (Mesocentrotus fransiscanus) spines, Sarah Synan
Immigrant Narratives: Exploring the Discrepancies Between Better Lives, Meaningful Lives, Happiness, and Meaning, Deysi Lupe Tirado Rosillo
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) to Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA): More than a New Acronym?, Catherine Yackira
Theses from 2023
Machiavelli on Necessity: Expansion, Founding, and Renewal, Kevin Akalski
Constructing the Social Self: Painting with Data, Brooke Bailey
How Catholic are Milton’s Angels? An Analysis of Angelic Substance and Hierarchy in Paradise Lost in the Light of Catholic Angelology, Christian Alexander Barkman
Body Stigma and Food Insecurity: How the Cultural Attitude Towards Weight Amplifies Hunger and Perpetuates Disordered Eating Pathology, Emily Mason Bouzan
The Creation and Removal of Iron and Manganese Oxides on Terracotta Surfaces, Charles Cassidy
In-Solution Detection of Chalcogen Bonding, Henry Ware Cavanaugh
“Tell Your People I’m Coming to Your Funeral”: Older Adult Relationships as Contextualized by the Assisted Living Setting, Olivia Curnen
Limitation and Creativity: A Rock Album Inspired by Mathematical Constraints, Mark Czerwinski
Reinvest in US: Reimagine the Role of Police in the U.S., Jamil Davis
Brotherly Nations? Russia, Ukraine, and a Crisis of Identity, Teresa J. Esquivel
Rhythm and Verse: Reimagining the Massachusetts K-12 English Language Arts Curriculum, Brianna Fisher
Industrial Policy and Innovation in the 21st Century: Policy Lessons for US Strategic Industries from the East Asian Tigers, Riley F. Flint
Respecting a Person’s Dignity: Kantian Approaches to Morality, Carina Gregori Asadourian
HIV/AIDS: Science and Society. The Needs of AIDS Service Organizations and the Potential of APOBEC3G, Tianci Guan
The Influence of Surface Residues on the Structure and Activity of a Salt-Dependent Halophilic Enzyme, Michelle K. Haigbea
Perpetrators of the Holocaust in a Social Psychological Context: Contrasting Motivations, Amanda Hickey
The Trojan War on Roman Walls, Rebecca R. Kaczmarek
Classical Influences on Anti-Federalism in Late18th-Century America: An Analysis of References to The Roman Republic, “Cato,” and Caesar in the Anti-Federalist Papers, Anastasia Kaliabakos
Framing the American Abortion Debate: A Comparative and Longitudinal Study of Pro-Life and Pro-Choice Framing Techniques, Melanie Lytle
The Rise, the Resurgence, and Resilience of the Left in Latin America, Maria Valentina Maza Izarra
In the Shadow of Cyril of Alexandria: An Ecumenical Treatment of the Chalcedonian Schism, Christopher McCormack
Dog Days are Here: Canine LMSCs as a Novel Model System, Patrick Molluso
From Carbon Dioxide to Methane: Reframing the Fight Against Climate Change, Margaret O'Leary
Forging a Catholic Modernity: American Catholic Reactions to Anticlericalism in Mexico and Spain: 1920-1945, Evan Poellinger
The Progression of Affective Polarization on Twitter: Case Studies in U.S. Presidential Politics, David Pritchard
The Social Security Debate: Unemployment Insurance in the United States, Antonio Louis Ricco III
The Ambiguity of Probable Cause and its Contentious Application by Police, Dave Sainte-Luce
The Public Persona of Gaius Gracchus: Rhetoric, Legislation, and Precedent, Coleman Smith
Angels of Many Houses: Reconciling Domesticity in 19th-Century Victorian Literature, Amanda Vierra
Heroic (Im)maturity: Domestic Rupture and the Myth of Telemachus' Coming of Age, Mary Whitney
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child Development, Alysa Xie
“Dizzy Old Wizard” vs. “Sportsman and Hunter”: U.S. Press Views of Iranian Leadership During the Cold War, Ariana Zandi
Theses from 2022
Psychological Conceptualizations and Treatments of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Kaitlyn H. Bickerton
Parental Opioid Use and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Combatting Socioeconomic Barriers to Treatments and Interventions, Julie Brewer
The Syntax of Social Justice: Examining Post-Bellum Black Intellectual Thought & Classics, Mathew D. Cedeno
"Weak Women?": Plotting Women's Networks of Influence at Plimouth Colony in the Early Seventeenth Century, Helena Connell
Trickle-Down Central Banking: An Analysis of Quantitative Easing within the US Economy, Emily Curtis
Patriotism? Nicias, Alcibiades, and 1/6/21, Stephen Dierkes
Progress Towards Low Energy Charge Transfer Collision Experiments Using Pulse Sequencing, Alex DiResta
How Prison Systems Can Better Aid People with Substance Use Disorders, Avery Faires
Writing Dystopia: Zamyatin’s Writing Philosophy, Genre, and the Protagonist of We, Kelly A. Gallagher
The Witch in the Roman Imagination, Augusta Holyfield
Writing Home Beyond Domesticity: Elizabeth Bishop and Mascha Kaléko, Katie Knippler
Synthetic Studies on Diospongin B: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Natural Products, Pamela Kote
Cornel West: Self and Community, Rachel Mallett
Performance, Theatricality, and Identity in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Nina Masin-Moyer
Labor Unions in the United States, Argentina, and the United Kingdom: A Comparative Study, Jake Mozeleski
High Glucose Has Sex-Specific Effects on Amyloid-β Accumulation in Alzheimer's C. elegans Model, Monica Nakhla
Analysis of Equations of State for Neutron Star Modeling, Joseph E. Nyhan
The 1001 Nights: How Compilation, Translation, and Adaptation Influenced a Global Work of Literature, Mary Evelyn Quinlan
Vaccine Hesitancy: A Deep-Dive into the Decision-Making Processes around Vaccination, Matthew Robertson
Family Life During Covid-19, Ellen B. Rogers
Woven Words in the Iliad: Gender, Narrative, and Textile Production in the Scholia of the Venetus A Manuscript, Anne-Catherine Schaaf
Species Delimitation in the Pseudanophthalmus robustus Species Group Using DNA Barcoding, Frank Spano
Transforming Trees, Transcending Binaries: Gender in Augustan Poetry, Kendall Swanson
The Potential for Non-Addictive Analgesics to Address the Opioid Crisis, Emily Taylor
Allumination: Inquiries into an Understanding of Power, Oppression, and Connection, Hannah Thompson
Interactive Effects of Food Availability and Salinity on Phenotypic Plasticity of Echinarachnius parma Larvae, Isabelle Q. Uong
Language and Cognition: A Comparison of Spatial and Mathematical Cognition in Visual and Auditory Languages, Lauren Vitelli
Salty Enzymes: Protein Splicing Dependence on Salt Concentrations, Diana Wall
The End of the 7: Chinese Catholic Immigrants in Flushing, Xiani Zhu
Theses from 2021
Primaried from the Left: The Role of a Progressive Campaign Network in Congressional Primary Challenges, Grace C. Burke
Doppelgängers and Doubles in Literature: A Comparison of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Meghan E. Cooper
Anti-Anarchist Legislation and the Road to the 1919 Red Hysteria, Evan Crumb