Kate Hunter-McPeake
Kate’s project will explore the origins of the ancient Persian civilization with a focus on its dramatic transition from tribal society to dominant empire during the seventh and sixth centuries BCE. In order to better understand the influence of the declining Mesopotamian and Elamite civilizations on the emerging Persian empire, she will travel to the Iran National Museum in Tehran and renowned archaeological sites including Persepolis and Susa in order to examine archaeological and art historical evidence from the period. Kate will also engage in intensive study of the Persian […]
Kevin Kuanyun Huang
Kevin intends to uncover theories of history prevalent in ancient China through an examination of the representation of known historical figures in the literature from the Eastern Zhou through the Han dynasties (circa 771 – 86 BCE). Focusing particularly on Zhuangzi, a compilation of philosophical treatises whose historicity has been conventionally discredited, as well as Shiji, the first comprehensive history of China, Kevin will examine the interplay between ideology, history and legend in the treatment of historical figures in these classical Chinese texts. In addition to using traditional empirical methods […]
Elizabeth Nicole Wilcut
Elizabeth plans to design, construct and test a prototype of a low temperature refrigerator, in order to demonstrate an efficient and simple method for cooling to temperatures below 1 Kelvin. Currently, dilution refrigerators are used to achieve such low temperatures, a technology that is complicated, expensive and experimentally demanding. By pioneering the use of a refrigerator that uses a flowing electrical current through superconductor junctions, Elizabeth’s prototype will improve on the cooling power of some preliminary electronic refrigerators by more than four orders of magnitude and create a technology that […]
Charles W. Houston
To better understand the relationship between Native Californians and museology, Charles will visit five nationally known museums that house Native Californian cultural possessions, in order to research the techniques and methods employed in cataloging, storing and caring for Native Californian possessions. He will then critically analyze the data he collects, in order to explore the racialization of museum practices vis–vis indigenous possessions and to recommend more culturally sensitive methods for archiving them. He intends to submit the results of his study as his Native American Studies Senior Honors Thesis. Charles […]
Scott Leon Washington
Scott’s project examines the crystallization of the “one-drop rule” in the United States between 1890 and 1936: a relatively unique principle of racial classification which defines as “black” anyone with even the slightest trace of black or African ancestry. Over the summer Scott will be visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Harlem, and, in order to investigate the internal workings of the United States Census Bureau, he will be conducting research at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In addition to explaining some of the more distinctive features of […]
Simmie L. Foster
Simmie’s research project is situated at the intersection of cell biology, immunology and molecular biology in the important field of bacterial pathogenesis. Understanding the interaction of intracellular pathogens with mammalian systems is critical for preventing and treating a number of diseases that pose a major challenge to the biomedical community. Specifically, Simmie will focus on the way in which a protein produced by a particular intracellular pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, is degraded in the cytosol of the host cell. By illuminating the complexity of the host-parasite interaction in this instance, Simmie’s […]
Ki Won Yoon
Ki Won’s project involves an investigation of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). CMBR travels to us over cosmic distances, beginning its journey a short time after the Big Bang, the birth of the Universe. In essence, it is a snapshot of the aftermath of creation. Specifically, Ki Won will study the polarization characteristics of CMBR, using a polarization-capable radio telescope being built at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Ki Won will develop a detailed plan for the use of the telescope to detect CMBR polarization, write software to automate the […]
Peter B. Brownell
Through a combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative field research, Peter’s Interdisciplinary Studies Field Major Senior Honors Thesis will investigate the effects of the 1996 Immigration and Welfare Reform Acts on the flows of undocumented migration between Mexico and the United States. Focusing particularly on the differential impact of this legislation on women and families, Peter will be testing his hypothesis that the new laws favor single people over families, men over women, and working-age people over children and the elderly, with the overall impact of encouraging cyclical migration rather […]
Miruna Andrea Stanica
Miruna will research the representations of Gypsy identity in writings at two historical moments: first, the works produced by European non-Gypsy writers in the period from roughly 1770-1870, and second, the emerging work of Gypsy artists in Europe after 1989. Her study will examine how the nineteenth century development and current modifications of the concepts of nation-state, nationalism and national identity have affected the ways Gypsy identity–based neither on a common territory, a standardized language, or a normative set of institutions–is constituted. In addition to undertaking a comparative study of […]
Melissa M. Adams
Through a series of carefully designed experiments with Kangaroo Rats (Dipotomys mirriami), Melissa’s Cognitive Science Senior Honors Thesis will test her hypothesis that these rodents’ capacity to perform “transitive inference” tasks constitutes true reasoning and relies on the same neural structures as less abstract forms of reasoning. A long history of philosophical thought views human reason as unique in and apart from nature. In contrast, evolutionary theory suggests that our reasoning abilities are based on the requirements of the natural environment in which they evolved and, furthermore, that there should […]