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 2023
Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Using Ruthenium and Amines, Sydney Moise
Generative Beauty: How Engaging with Beauty Sparks Transformation, Rebecca Byrd Musser
Vietnam’s GDP: Re-assessing Growth Rate and Identifying an Alternative Indicator, My Linh D. Nguyen
Hold the Phone: The Relationship Between Visual Cues and Gender Schematic Language in Supreme Court Oral Argument, Kaitlyn O’Leary
The Project That Claire, uh I Mean the Student Completed: Relative Clauses and Repair Disfluencies, Claire O’Shaughnessy
Development of a Mathematical Model for Rickettsia parkeri in Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick), Rachel Pak
Analysis of Wild Rodent Gut Microbiota as a Function of Exposure to Ticks and Tick-borne Pathogens, Joshua Pandian
Socialist Legality on Trial: The Purge of the Ukrainian NKVD, 1938-1943, Reide Petty
Seed bank dynamics and germination under differential light regimes of the emerging invasive species wavyleaf basketgrass ( Oplismenus undulatifolius), Dominique Hong-Duc Pham
Bryophytes of Goochland County, Virginia, Mikayla Quinn
Characterization of Panagrolaimus namibiensis n. sp. (Rhabditida: Panagrolaimidae), an Anhydrobiotic Nematode from the Namib Desert of Namibia, Christopher Rawson
“Nails Done, Hair Done, Everything Did!”: Consumption and the Creation of Black Feminine Selves, Simone Reid
The Role of Cerium(III) in Bacterial Growth and the Microbial Transformation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Shruti Sathish
A Tale of Two Venues: Lobbying the Affordable Care Act, Megan Schmitz
Breaking Into Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center: A Lesson in (Non) Quantitative Research, Mackenzie Seward
A Necessary Evil: A Leadership Analysis of Major League Baseball’s Best Managers, Samuel Shapiro
Reflections: A Meditation on Ballet and Pain, Claire Madeline Silverman
Synthesis and Characterization of Rhenium 2,2′-pyridylnaphthyridine Metal Complexes, Benjamin F. Solomon
The Influence of Motivation to Control Prejudice on Facial Processing Flexibility in Individuals who Identify as Biracial, Chloë Steckart
Maladaptive Social Cognitions and Peer Victimization in Elementary-Aged Students, Katelyn Szarko
Diaryl Oxazoles as Cleavable Linkers for Drug Discovery Platforms, Elizabeth Taggart
Role of cdx4 and sp5l in zebrafish development, Wesley Tsai
Elementary School Parent Perceptions of “Critical Race Theory” in the Curriculum, Helen Wallace
Physiological, temporal, and environmental determinants of forage fish caloric content in the Gulf of Mexico, Rebecca R. Walsh
The Parental Labor Gap: The Impact of Daycare Access on the Parental Labor Force during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Acacia Wyckoff
Theses from 2022
Postcolonial Pakistan in Mohsin Hamid’s Novels: Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Reda Ansar
Effectiveness of Photoactivated Chemotherapy on Glioblastoma, Than Thar Aye
The Gamification of Well-Being, Matthew Barnes
Characterization of MEMO1 interactions with Estrogen Receptor alpha and c-Src, Catherine A. Bayas
Towards Asymmetric Mannich Reactions and Alkylation of Indoles, Bianco Bicalho
Crime Pays: How Black Americans Became Central to the Carceral State, Will Brooks
Individual Differences in Processing of Garden-Path Sentences: The Role of Obsessive- Compulsive Personality Traits, Antonio Cardoso
Assessing the Efficacy of CITES Restrictions on Malagasy Rosewood, Nicholas Cargill
Testing the Influence of Arginine Methylation on Ded1’s Protein-Protein Interactions, Andrew Cook
Designing Democracy: A Normative and Empirical Analysis of Redistricting Reform, Morgan Deckert
The Emotional Mechanisms of Altruism Born of Suffering, Mia Dini
Examining the evolutionary trajectories of the ADH1B*2 and ADH1B *3 alleles in modern human populations, Elizabeth Z. Duan
Parents in the Pandemic: Comparison of Employment Changes and Effect of Covid School Closures on Working Parents, Katharine Encinas
Investigation of the Effects of Resveratrol and Epigallocatechin Gallate on Woodsmoke-Induced Inflammation, Sarenna Naomi Enright
Do Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives Cause More Harm Than Good?: Extending Research to the Domain of LGBTQ+ Discrimination, Lindsay Everhart
The Effect of Rhetoric on Progressive Health Care Reform Policies’ Public Perception, Megan Geher
Reactive oxygen species and cysteine modulation of inwardly rectifying potassium channels, Jean Patrick M. Gonzales
Towards the Synthesis of 2,3-dihydroisoxazoles from Ketones and N-benzyl Nitrones, Ramsey Goodner
An Evaluation of the Other Race Effect through the Attentional Blink, Sophia A. Hardten
The Cut Off Price of Taking the Vaccine, Sipeng He
Falling for Moses: The Role of Stroop Inhibition and Language Expertise, Isabella Holmgren
Friendship in a Pandemic: Test of an Experimental Intervention to Boost the Protective Effect of Friendship Quality, Hyewon Hong
Calls to Action Impact: Consumer Behavior and Attitudes Regarding Factory Farming, Haley Huamani
Peoples’ Perception of Race-Based Microaggressions as a Function of Their Background and Beliefs, Emily Huesman
Noble Pagans and Satanic Saracens: Literary Portrayals of Islam in Medieval Italy and Iberia., John Spencer Jones
The Paradox of the UN: A Council of, by, and for the Permanent Five, Sandeep Kumar
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