The Honors Thesis is the culmination of a University Honors Program student’s time at LMU and the Honors Program. This collection gathers these works for posterity.
Guidelines for Honors Seniors
For uniformity of presentation, your thesis submission should include a thesis cover sheet. A template for this sheet is available as a public Google Doc:
Access the template with a web browser, choose File > Make a Copy… to create your own editable copy of the file, then enter the information that is specific to your thesis. Append this to your uploaded submission.
When submitting your Honors thesis information:
- Submission will require that you have an LMU Digital Commons account (which is distinct from your overall LMU credentials)—you will see an option to sign up when you click on the button. Treat your profile seriously and professionally: it is your permanent presence in the LMU Digital Commons.
- Include your thesis advisor as a co-author on the work. You may include additional co-authors if you have more than one mentor.
- The “Date of Completion” field is, in general, the end of the semester in which you finish your work and get it graded.
- The “Degree Type” field is where you can specify whether your work must be accessed from within campus. “Honors Thesis” makes your work part of the library’s public collection; “Honors Thesis—Campus Access” will only allow your thesis to be downloaded from a computer within the LMU network.
- When your thesis work is complete, please click on the submission button below to begin the process of adding your work to this collection. Your Honors Thesis requirement is not considered fulfilled until the final version of your thesis has been uploaded to this site.
- If your final thesis work is not in a form that can be uploaded to this site, please contact Dr. Hawley Almstedt, Research Advisor of the University Honors Program, to determine an alternative mechanism for accessing your work.
- The information you enter can be revised after submission. Please contact Dr. Almstedt as well to request changes.
Signed Permission Letter
The signed permission letter allows the Hannon Library to distribute your work to the web at large, as opposed to just making it available within the campus network. This permission letter is specifies the level of sharing that you permit, ranging from Internet-wide distribution to archival only (i.e., no distribution).
The permission letter is available as this Adobe Sign PDF. Fill out and sign the form, and it will then go to your thesis advisor. After your advisor fills out their portion, a link to the final version will be emailed to you. Please upload that final version to your HNRS 4000 Brightspace page.
Submit Your Honors Thesis InformationHonors Theses 2011
Academic Cheaters: Associations of Evolved Motivations, Psychopathy and Cooperative and Self-Serving Cheating, Nathan Mitch
Microfinance: Successful Past, Uncertain Future, Linda Moore
A Call to Ordination: A Scholarly Critique of the Magisterial Arguments Against the Ordination of Women, Meghan O'Rourke
Mathematical Model of Glucose-dependent Bursting in Pancreatic Beta Cells, Kayla Pietruszka
The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Development Economics: A Case Study of Cambodia, Evan Snively
Periphrastic Causatives within Second Language Acquisition: An Analysis of L2 English and L2 Spanish, Lauren F. Wilkins
Dirty Laundry: A Full-Length Play, Amanda Zeitler
Honors Theses 2010
To Grandmother's House We Go, Nick Appelbaum
Influence of Fatty Acid Additives on the Tribological Performance of Sunflower Oil, Patrick Michael Baumgart
Senior Thesis, Kristen Bretney
Identity Factors and Identity Self-Esteem in College vs. Non-College Emerging Adults, Vincent Brouwers
Media Habits of College Students: The Impact of Viewpoint Media on Today's Youngest Voters, Danielle Corkhill
Fine Arts Thesis, Carly Correa
Energy Availability and Bone Mineral Density in Dancers, Runners, and Controls, Maria Frye
International Financial Reporting Standards and the United States: The Controversial Convergence, Tyler Galbraith
Request and Relationship: The Problem of Petitionary Prayer in the Christian Tradition, Katherine Lash
THE OBAMANID: A study of the Classical Epic and its Application to the Modern Age, Molly Lower
Synthesis of Ketodiesters to Explore the Photodecarbonylation Reaction, Marlon Maducdoc
Rhetoric Value of Costuming Within Irish Theatre Set Between 1855 And 1916, Katherine Marie Manning
Cognitive Frame Switching of Biracial Asian American/Caucasian Individuals, Allison McFarland
Said, Friedman, and the Arab Stereotype: Orientalism in Post-9/11 Journalism, Heather Moline
The Historical Approach to Class Field Theory, Daniel R. Moore
Mind Manipulation: The Morality of Marketing, Ohemaah A. Ntiamoah
Blessed Are You Among Women: Two Murderers and the Mother of Jesus, Jessica Obenberger
Financial Realism and Lifestyle Expectations of Emerging Adults, Janelle N. Ruiz
Forming Effective Client Relationships Within the Realm of Accounting, Lisa M. Sequeira
Inhibition of Aβ42 aggregation using peptides from combinatorial libraries and organic compounds, Elelta Z. Shiferraw
Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis of gene expression changes observed in the TRAMP mouse model of prostate cancer upon treatment with green tea catechins, Stephen Vincent Speicher
An Education: Memoirs of an Asian American Girl Looking for (Self) Representation, Lara Torii
The Efficiency of Corn Based Ethanol in the United States, Michael J. Wither
Honors Theses 2009
For Theirs is a Kin-Dom of Heaven: Intersections of Mujerista Theology and Latinos' Experiences with HIV, Isabel Arrastia
A Traitor Revisited: Judas Iscariot from the Bible to Film, Oscar Salas Borboa
Fading Lights, Craig Cerniglia
Does Cin5p Control the Early Transcriptional Response to Cold Shock in Saccharomyces cerevisiae?, Kevin C. Entzminger
Sin Agua No Hay Democracia: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Earthquake Management Across Governments, Gena Gammie
Creating a New Teaching Tradition, Amy Guion
Mathematical Modeling of the Transcriptional Network Controlling the Cold Shock Response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Stephanie Kuelbs
Expert Systems and the Implementation Process, Timothy Lui
Theological Aesthetics: The Case for a Piece of Bread and Some Fruit, Marisa Moonilal
Rangzen, Jennifer Lynn Neczypor
Rethinking Larry Bell: A Critical Look at a Peripheral Figure, Heather Prandini
Toyota Motor Corporation acquires Ford Motor Company, Nikhil Puri
Cobb Street Market, Sarah Terry
Hermeneutical Circles and Self-Referential Authority: Narrative Identity and the Nation of Israel, Sean K. Tierney
Just Youths: Looking at Criminal Justice Systems for Juveniles, Vivian Denise Valencia
Procedural Fairness in Simple Bargaining Games, Nikki Yamauchi
Honors Theses 2008
A Heraldic Theory of Authorship: Le Morte Darthur, Natalia Aivazova
Social Responsibility in Emerging Adulthood, Marian C. Alonso
Identifying Soil Bacteria and Biochemical Pathways in the Ballona Wetlands for the Bioremediation of Organic Pollutants, Wesley T. Citti
Restructing Introductory Biology Laboratory to Implement Active Learning, Cameron James Escovedo
The Fiery Night, Robert Kane
Playwrighting Portfolio, Dan Kelly
Mental Health Care: Toward a New Vocabulary, Dale Kotchka-Smith
An Engineer in World War II: The Memoirs of Harry L. Krause, Ellen E. Krause
Love Hurts, Arya S. Lacieste
The Modernization of a Religion: Tibetan Buddhism in the 21st Century, Natalie Machida
Single and Fabulous? An Analysis of the Representation of the Single Career Woman in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Sex and the City, Meagan McDonald
Designing a Story: "Presidio" and Considerations in Production Design, Alix Milne
Database Management for Regulatory Bodies: A Case Study for Ballona Wetlands, Brennan Mitch
Identifying the Active Compounds in Uncaria Rhynchophylla that Inhibit the Aggregation of the Alzheimer's Protein, Aβ42, Theresa P.T. Nguyen
The Style of Awareness: The Rhetoric of Social and Political Issues in the Contemporary Fashion Magazine, Stephanie O'Toole
On Poetics, Scott Rowan and Jackie Mader
Polio in Twentieth-Century America: The Remaking of a Disease, Andrea S. Ryken
Modern Oncological Adevnoviral Gene Therapy Treatments, Stephen Sarmiento
The Hybrid Culture in Cusco, Peru: A Journey in Four Paintings, Jeanie Schuerman
Germline Stem Cells in Drosophila Melanogaster: The Effects of Aging, Bilal Shafi
The Volunteer's Dilemma: Rewarding the Volunteer, Christopher D. Villela
An Unbiased Selection for Functional β-Lactamase Signal Sequences, Jennifer Susan Woo
Senior Composition Recital, Ric Zimmerman
Honors Theses 2007
Using Oligopeptides to Prevent AB42 Aggregation, Michael J/ Baine
The RIAA, The Internet, and the Fall of the Music Industry, Daniel Paul Bowen
Presidential Impeachment: An Effective Mechanism for Promoting Responsible Leadership?, Matthew M. Delja
Writing the Wrongs: History and Power in Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, Jenny Frey
Night of Nueva Luna: Isabel Allende's Feminist Update of Arabian Nights in Eva Luna and Stories of Eva Luna, Maria Angelina Natalina Judnick
"Let Differences Reign": Colonialism, Despotism, and Multiplicity in Salman Rushdie's Midnight Children, Jennifer Lin Lower
Volunteer Tourism: An In-Depth Analysis, Ana Paula Martinez Underwood
A Synthesis of Bridged Ketones to Study the Photochemical Decarbonylation Reaction, Barrett Michael Warren Welch
An Assessment of Student Views on the Nature of Science Using CENS Inquiry-Based Data Module, Erin Aiko Yamauchi
Honors Theses 2006
Active Race Car Spoiler, Adam Baker, Katherine Corrigan, Greg Marcus, and Phillip Youngren
Ruth and Pilate: Embracing Gendered Embodiment in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Jennifer Bickett Hubbell
The Self-Assembly of Actin on Gelsolin According to a Specific Electron-Beam Patterned Substrate, Sarah Michelle Black
Seeming Contradiction: A Dialectic of Identity, Margaret Mary Bourque
Rated R for Sex and Violence: A Teaching Tool for Beginning Ancient Greek Students, Sarah Buser and Sanda Heinz
Criterion and the Canon, Raymond Crosby
Of It's Own Making: Victorian Society and the Rise of the Women's Sufferage Movement in 19th Century Britain, Kathleen Megan Cutsforth
The Good Life, Ronald Clark Duke III
Team B: Examination Room, Faustina Lee, John Beilstein, Cassandre Medrano, Laurence Michael, Graham Palmer, Jan Sanchez, and Nadhi Thekkek
Not Yet: A Novel, Mark J. Lehman
Tamagotchi Nation: How the Japanese Marketing System Drives its Popular Culture, James Malins
Examining Judicial Reform in the Developing World: A Case Study of Armenia, Aram Allen Nadjarian
The Latino Emergence: The Political Wave of the Future Political Post-Modern Los Angeles, The Latino Phenomenon, & its Effect on Angelinos, Justin James Nigro
Video Game Theory: A Peek at Japanese and American Societies through the Games They Make and Play, Dougherty J. Preuss
CAFTA: The Need for a More Effective Plan, Cristina Leigh Stanley
Our Time for Social Justice, Adrienne Tygenhof
The V-Squad, Daniel J. Walker
Young Adolescent Maturity Levels and their Deviant Behaviors, Kristina M. Yamamoto
The Harken Story, Matthew Zuvela
Honors Theses 2005
Climate Change and the Developing World, Christopher J. Beaven
The Invisible Immigrant: Acculturation, Identity, and the Second-Generation Black West Indian Immigrant, Maneka Deanna Brooks