Senior Thesis Projects

Gender Studies Thesis/Capstone Projects

Allison Dopazo - 2019
Gendering Cybercrime
Primary Advisor: Pamela Butler
Willis Grant Recipient 2018

Molly Burton – 2018
Sex Work Policies & Human Trafficking
Primary Advisor: Christine Cervenak
Willis Grant Recipient 2017

Stephen Pete Freeman – 2018
Modeling Truth-to-Nature: Enlightenment Anatomy's Essentializing and Idealizing Tendencies
Primary Advisor: Heather Miner
Willis Grant Recipient 2016, 2017
Through Gendered Lenses Volume 9, 2018

Haley O’Connor – 2018
Evolving Trans Narratives: Jennifer Finney Boylan Paves the Way for Janet Mock
Primary Advisor: Jason Ruiz
Through Gendered Lenses Volume 9:2018

Celanire Flagg - 2017
Sexism in the System: How Increased Policing of U.S. Drug Crimes Hurts Women
Primary Advisor: Pamela Wynne Butler
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Abigail Ocobock

Moira Horn - 2017
La Fortaleza De La Mamá Chiapaneca: Maternal Identity and Wellbeing in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico
Primary Advisor: Vania Smith-Oka
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Abigail L. Palko
Willis Grant Recipient 2016

Gabrielle Marzke - 2017
"The Crisis in Our Nation": Rhetorical Construction of Responsible Parenthood and Reproduction in the Context of Indiana Social Services
Primary Advisor: Vania Smith-Oka
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Connie Mick
Willis Thesis Award 2017

Arielle Sims - 2017
Real Recognize Real? South Korean Music Culture as Appropriation or Exchange
Primary Advisor: Pamela Wojcik
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Perin Gurel
Willis Grant Recipient 2016

Abigail Bartels - 2016
My Strategy Brings All the Boys to the Yard: An analysis of the gender gap and its impact on the swing vote in United States presidential elections
Primary Advisor: Josh Kaplan
Willis Thesis Award 2016

Kristin Brennan - 2016
Real men Drink Sparkling: An Investigation into the Effects of Marketing and Society on the Wine Purchase and Consumption Decisions of Men in the United States
Primary Advisor: James Wilkie
Willis Grant Recipient 2015

Connor Hayes - 2016
Outing the Party: Irish Political Party Engagement in the 2015 Same-Sex Marriage Referendum
Primary Advisor: Sean McGraw

Kimberly Mai - 2016
The Gender Reorganization of Mexican Employment: The Masculinization of Teziutlan's Textile Maquilas
Primary Advisor: Abigail L. Palko
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Simeon Alder
Willis Grant Recipient 2014

Brett R. O'Connell - 2016
An Amicable Occupation: The Unique History and Culture of Maori Masculinities
Primary Advisor: Abigail L. Palko
Second Reader/Research Advisor: Gabriel A. Torres
Willis Grant Recipient 2016

Kayla O'Connor - 2016
Fitting into Fandom: Negotiating the Intersecting Identities of Female and Fan in the Supernatural Fandom
Primary Advisor: Darlene Hampton

Lex Lorenzo - 2015
Cultivation Theory and the Disney Princess Phenomenon
Primary Advisor: Susan Ohmer

Michelle Chatman – 2014
Gender Differences in Media Coverage of Young-Adult Stars: A Study of Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Other Celebrities
Primary Advisor: Elizabeth Aura McClintock

Natalie Perez – 2014
From Muscles to Musicals: How Young Men Navigate, Perform, or Temporarily Escape Notre Dame's 'Ideal' Masculinity

Molly Shank – 2014
'Agony or Pleasure': Sadomasochism and De-gendering as it Expresses Female Agency in Jamaica Kincaid's The Autobiography of My Mother
Primary Advisor: Abigail L. Palko
Willis Grant Recipient 2014

Jordyn Smith – 2013
Tranquilizing American back to Normalcy: The Popularization of Miltown after World War II and through out the Cold War
Primary Advisor: John Soares

Melissa Buddie – 2012
Student Perceptions of Peer Sexual Harassment: The 'Where' and the 'How' Matter More than the 'Who'
Primary Advisor: Jessica Collett

Jennifer Gast – 2012
Women's Representation in Government: A Comparative Analysis between British Parliament and American Congress
Primary Advisor: Ruth Abbey
Willis Grant Recipient 2011
Through Gendered Lenses Volume 3, 2012

Kyla Wargel – 2012
Mother and Father Speech Style as a Predictor of Insightfulness and Attachment
Primary Advisor: Julie Braungart-Rieker
Willis Thesis Award 2012

Kelly McGauley – 2011
Fairy Tale Fascinations with Victorian Governesses: The Seduction of Sympathizing with the Governess Figure in Nineteenth-Century Novels
Primary Advisor: Sara Maurer
Through Gendered Lenses Volume 2, 2011

Katie Ledwidge – 2010
'A race of devils': Illegitimacy in Frankenstein
Primary Advisor: Essaka Joshua

Melanie LeMay – 2010
The Place of Lesbian Narratives in Young Adult Fiction
Primary Advisor: Susan Harris

Mandy Lewis – 2010
Perceptions and Realities: Discerning the Relationship Between Mayan Women and the Roman Catholic Church
Primary Advisor: Susan M. St. Ville
Willis Grant Recipient 2008, 2009
Willis Thesis Award 2010

Samantha Williams – 2010
Home Birthing: A Divergence from the Alienation of the Technocratic Paradigm
Primary Advisor: James McKenna

Daniel A. Nolan IV – 2009
Out of the Closet and Into the Fire: Gay Teen Identity in a Heterosexist Society
Willis Thesis Award 2009

Stacey Williams – 2008
Objectivity and Gender in Science: Implications for Psychology
Primary Advisor: Krista Duttenhaver
Willis Thesis Award 2008

University of Notre Dame

College of Arts and Letters

Gender Studies

Senior Thesis Projects

Gender Studies Thesis/Capstone Projects