2018 American Studies Senior Thesis Schedule

March 19 – April 11

March 19

Let ‘Er Buck: Cowgirls and Gender (In)Equality at the Rodeo – Sarah Jannarone 

One Long, Strange Trip: An Exploration into the Adventure that Inspired the 60s – Catherine Kelly

Serial Sentencing of America’s Mental Monster: The Criminal Justice System’s Capital Punishment of the ‘First’ Female Serial Killer – Grace O’Toole

The Price of Silence: An Analysis of the 2006 Duke University Lacrosse and 2012 Florida State University Football Sexual Assault Allegations – Claire Schansinger

March 26

Coloring the Canon: The Revisionist Work of Mickalene Thomas – Kelly Skeen

Under Attack and Under Wraps: The Unmentioned Role of Feminine Hygiene Products and Advertisements as Wartime Motivation in America during WWII – Alana McGovern

Reclaiming the Resistance: A History of the Standing Rock Sioux, the Oahe Dam, and the Dakota Access Pipeline – Harshita Gaba

Steel Beams, Myths, and Memes: Pushing 9/11 into Pop-Culture – Aidan Kenney

March 28

The Divided American Dream: Coming of Age in Small Town America – Jennifer Clifford

Forgetting Founders Day: How the Americanization of Georgetown University’s Catholic Identity Transformed a Campus Tradition – Richie Mullaney

Reunion and Disillusion: Confederate Memorials in Middle Tennessee – Jack Romine

Black Machismo: The Literary Deconstruction of Afro-Latino Masculinity – Luiggy Vidal

April 4

A Woman’s Place is in the [White House]: How the Smithsonian’s Traditional Narrative Disempowers the First Lady – Lily Tyndall

Creating this City on a Hilltop: Defining the University’s Role After the Civil War and 9/11 – Margaret Chaquette

We Made Lemonade: Black Women, Syncretic Religion, and Voodoo Aesthetics in American Culture – Ndeye Ndiaye

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?: Shaping Masculine Identity in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket –Bayard Bergmann 

April 9

“A Popish Army in Our Midst”: The Rise of Anti-Catholic Conspiracy Theories  – Andrew Wallender

Breaking the Forgotten Glass Ceiling: How Geraldine Ferraro Became the First Woman Vice Presidential Candidate – Martha Strautman

Heavenly Ejaculations: The Social Utility of Sex in Early American Puritan Culture – Megan Howell

“Find Your Full Whore Potential”: The Function of Digital Age Writing for Women and Femme Sex Workers – Cassidy Jensen

April 11

We’ve Been in Formation: Beyoncé’s Political Voice through Black Musical Resistance – Juliette Browne

Socially Active(ist) Capitalists: Corporate Ideology, Social Media, and Controversial Commercials in Super Bowl LI – Ryan Wolfe

Heeeeere’s Jonny: How Jon Stewart’s Disciples Restructured Late Night Talk Shows – Alexander Mitchell