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Religious Studies Department

Senior Thesis Guidelines

for Students in Religious Studies  
at ΢Ȧ College

A senior thesis is an ambitious, yearlong undertaking that can be an amazing and intellectually rewarding experience. The process of writing a thesis is an opportunity to take further control over your own learning and to work more independently while being closely mentored by a faculty member. During one’s senior year, the fall is occupied with reading and research, and then the spring is devoted to writing and rewriting. Students elect to produce a multi-chapter paper, with each chapter being approximately as long as regular research papers (i.e. 15-20 pages). Students who complete an honors thesis present their work at the end of their senior year.

Thesis Guidelines PDF

Past Thesis Topics

Callahan Mainzer “Playing the Devil’s Advocate: A Reflection on Portraying Multiple Truths Through a Documentary Film”

Xiaoyan Guo “The Material Culture of Chinese Temples: Food and Merchandise at Longhua Temple, Shanghai”

Luke Deuterman “The Scenes Shift and Change: Reading the Novel as Magic in William S. Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night

Carolina Garcia “The Intersection of Religion and Sports”

Elizabeth Levy “We Spend Our Years as a Tale That is Told”: Antisemitism and the Construction of Jewish Identity in France from the 12th Century to the Present 

Henry Brefka "Burning Gabriel's Wings: Exploring the Soul’s Movement towards God through the Masnavi of Jalal al-Din Rumi" 

Dylan Adelman "Charmed: A Study of Practical Benefits in Japanese Religion" 

Zoe Katzen "Self on Skin: Spiritual Tattoos and Transformation in New Age Religion" 

Monica Jabobs "Reaching the Core: Self-Identity Formations in New Age Sufism" 

Victoria Strang "The Rise of New Atheism as a Response to 9/11"