Honors Theses are submitted to the University of Richmond in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the distinction of Honors within particular disciplines. The nature of each thesis depends upon the norms of the particular academic discipline and/or department. Most are open access; some have been embargoed or are restricted indefinitely per the request of the author. If you are an author and would like to change the availability of your work, please contact
.Theses from 2022
Patterns of Invasion by the Emerging Wavyleaf Basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius) Invasion Based on Microsatellite Genetic Markers, Daniel P. Larson
Blurred Realities: AIDS Plays as Activism, Maya Lieberman
Il complesso allontanamento di Boccaccio dal Cristianesimo e dal Giudizio, Olivia Jane Lomax
Investigating the Relationship between Classroom Sense of Belonging, Friendship Quality, and Peer Victimization., Addi Mansini
Demographic Disparities in College Students’ Psychological Adjustment During COVID-19, Anna Marston
Focus on Hyperfocus: How ADHD Symptoms Impact Difficulty with Disengagement and Inattention, Cameron McKendrick
Bystanders Without an Excuse: On the Moral Duty to Revolt, Meghna Melkote
Understanding Racial Bias Toward Physicians: The Role of Patients’ Preference for Hierarchy, Charlotte Moynihan
Quasar Luminosity Correlations, Sydney Mutchnick
Barriers to Care, Depressive Symptoms, and Moderating Factors among Patients with ESRD, Amarachukwu O. Nwangwu
Does civic engagement predict moral behaviors? A test of moral theories, Ally Osterberg
Coercion or Influence? Ethical Strategies Leaders Should Use to Increase COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake, Olivia Podber
The Effect of Early Cross-race Socialization on Black Lives Matter Attitudes, Elizabeth Popovich
Grieving Experiences of Undergraduate College Students, Alexia V. Rehling
Halogen Bonding: A Computational Chemistry Investigation of the Interaction between Thyroid Hormone and Deiodinase, William Rice
The Effects of Effort-Based Rewards on Emotional Resilience: A post-hoc analysis of cholinergic function, Kelly Saverino
Perceptions of Microaggressions and Support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) and All Lives Matter (ALM), Kayla Schiltz
Developing Provably Robust Explanation Methods for Image Classifiers, André Shannon
Recessionary Effects on Transfer Fees in European Professional Football, Pierce Snyder
Estimation of pure B power in polarized CMB data via Gibbs sampling., Joseph Sterling
Moctezuma and the Emergence of Sixteenth-Century New Spain’s Historical Dialogue., Charlie Tabor
Adolescent Author’s Notes: School, Family, and Social Identities in On the Come Up, We Contain Multitudes, The Poet X, and Octavian Nothing, Sejong Lee Takenaka
Synthesis and Study of Unsymmetrical Bidentate Bis(phosphino)pyrrole Ligands and Their Transition Metal Complexes, Julia F. Vidlak
Stigma and Anxiety as Barriers to Help-Seeking Among University of Richmond Students, Allison Walters
Anatomical Structure of the Petiolar Pulvinus of Euphorbia hypericifolia (Euphorbiaceae), Meredith Wang
The Effect of the Black Lives Matter Movement On American Attitudes, Isabelle Warren
Does ADHD Strengthen the Relationship Between Depression/Anxiety and Avoidance?, Ryan Wigginton
The Socioeconomic & Environmental Factors Influencing Prevalence of Zoonotic Pathogens in Rats: A Meta-Analysis, Katelyn Wing
Economic Predictors of Democratic Backsliding: A Comparison of Populist and Non-Populist Leaders, Jacob Winter
Environmental Repercussions of the Strange Fruit: The Implications of our Enslavement on Modern Black Experiences with Nature, Indya Woodfolk
Hometown Diversity and Race Essentialism: The Role of Interracial Friendship Quality, Junming Zhang
What Does “Avoidance Mode” Feel Like? The Association Between Avoidance Awareness and Negative Affect in the Moment, Mamie Ziegler
Theses from 2021
The Effect of Color Morph on Behavior Interactions in Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), Taylor M. Aliferis
The Ethics of Collegiate Coaching and Eating Disorders, Alexandra Beran
The effect of Ce3+ on Pseudomonas Putida motility and biofilm formation, Emily Marie Breaux
Authors of Identity: Negotiating Press and Personhood in the Jewish South, 1893-1899, Rowan Cai
Stereochemical Control in Suzuki Cross Coupling Reactions of Acyclic (Z)-beta-haloacroleins, William Carrick
Redstockings Remembered: Class-Consciousness, Whiteness, and the Women’s Liberation Movement, 1960-1980, Maggie Castelli
BERT Argues: How Attention Informs Argument Mining, Ting Chen
Neurobiological and anxiety-like behavioral outcomes of perinatal lead exposure in male and female rats, Allison Choe
Synthesis of modulators of the MEMO1 protein-protein interface, Joann Chongsaritsinsuk
Responsible Belief- An Interpersonal Approach, R J. Conk
A Rhetorical History of Black Studies: Black Power & Epistemology, Kayla Corbin
Overdose Prevention Sites Placement Informed by Simulation, Jing Dong
The Death Penalty: Attributability, Accountability, and the Capacity for Self-Correction, Julia Feron
Research Towards Understanding Hox Regulation by Cdx, Joshua M. Fisher
‘She is not a woman, but a metaphor’: Power, Gaze, and the Female Dancer in Modernist Poetry and Dance, Karen Fleming
Power and Performance: The Role of Witchcraft in the Leadership of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England, Sabrina Garcia
Speech and Sovereignty: A Kantian Defense of Freedom of Expression, Alec Greven
Geographic Differences in Cold Stress Recovery and Growth in an Invasive Forest Insect, Petra Hafker
Social Connectedness and Psychological Difficulties, Kelsey Hengerer
Understanding Model Reasoning in Automated Speech Processing Systems with LIME, Xiaodi Hu
On “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility”, Dan Jaques
Identity for Development: India’s Biometric ID Program and Access to Public and Private Services, Meher Kaur
Something Like A Romantic Comedy, Grace Kiernan
“Wild Solidarity”: Allen Ginsberg, Psychiatry, and the Poetic Self in Howl and Kaddish, Elizabeth Madison Gabrielle Kiser
Understanding Model Reasoning in Automated Speech Systems: Implementing a Prototype Explanation System Using the LIME Method, Vadim Kudlay
Adhering Homogeneous Molecular Electrocatalysts Entrapped in Micelles to Electrode Surfaces, Emily Kuhlmann
The Intracellular Journey and Life of Sodalis glossinidius, Katrina Kuhn
The Commercialization of Crime Solving: ethical implication of forensic genetic genealogy, Hannah Lee
Investigation of the Effects of Curcumin on Woodsmoke-Induced Inflammation, Melissa Lewis
Due Sistemi Universitari a confronto: L’Università degli Studi di Verona e la University of Richmond, Madison London
“There Is No More Sacred Place:” Healing and Faith in Chaplaincy and Religious Hospitals, Annalise Mangone
The Effects of Mental Illness Mindsets on Stigma and Support for those with Mental Illness, Allison R. Margolis
Committee Organization in the Virginia General Assembly, Genevieve Markee
Associations between college students’ social media use and psychological well-being during COVID-19: is gender a moderator?, Allyson R. Marrinan
TRAK proteins encode distinct MIRO-dependent and MIRO-independent mechanisms for associating with the mitochondrial outer membrane, Lili Mitchell
Would you follow the leader or follow the money?, Mekenzie Montgomery
A Differential Equations Model of Circulatory System Hemodynamics, Allison Newman
Autistic Personality Traits and Processing of Ironic Language, Jaclyn Opie
Cosmological Inflation in N-Dimensional Gaussian Random Fields with Algorithmic Data Compression, Connor A. Painter
The Importance of Leaders in the Time of COVID-19, Lindsay Pett
Determining Genetic Continuity in East Asians, Eberardo B. Raymundo
An Introduction to Obstacle Problems, Calvin Reedy
Virtue, Agency, and the Silence of Reasons, Abhi Kalpeshkumar Ruparelia
Discovering the wire: Dominance effects in the processing of polysemes in sentences, Gwynna Ryan
Fact-Checking of Claims from the English Wikipedia Using Evidence in the Wild, Aalok Sathe
Detecting Arginine Methylation of Yeast RNA Helicase Ded1 in vivo, Amanda M. Schmitt
How Does Transplantation Influence the Identity of Patients with End Stage Organ Disease?, Sydney Shah
Interactive Neuroscience: Designing and Implementing Web-Based Simulations to Teach Cognitive Neuroscience Concepts in an Online Classroom A Pilot Study, Kendall Stewart
Access Alone: The Unintentionality of the Diversification of Higher Education, Katherine Szeluga
Does Duration Matter?: Assessing the Role of Duration in Adverse Childhood Experiences, Miranda Thompson
Doing Good Better: The ‘Do Good’ App, Emily Trumble
The Case for the Moral Rationale of Diversity, Will Walker Jr.
Characterizing Heme-Induced Genes of Sodalis glossinidius, Katie Wall
Neurobiological Comparisons of Wild and Laboratory Rats (Rattus norvegicus): Considerations for Translational Biomedical Research, Sally Watanabe
Synthesizing Bis(phosphino)pyrrole Ligands and Their Complexes, Sophie Weinberg
Empire on Trial: The Rise and Fall of Republican Resistance in Early Augustan Rome, Spencer Yacos
Direct Allylation of Ketones with Trimethylsilyl Trifluoromethanesulfonate and Triethylamine, Hanyu Zhong
Synthesis of Modulators of the MEMO1 Protein- Phenazine Derivatives, Ruoxi Lucy Zhou
Theses from 2020
Associations Between Hookup Culture and Social Group, Ross Abrash