Senior Research
HONORS PROJECTS AND SENIOR THESES FOR RECOGNITION
Many Religion majors have researched and written year-long theses in their senior year. These were Honors Theses until 2009-10, and starting 2010-11 have been called senior theses for recognition. A copy of each of these theses is found in the Archives of the Denison University Library.
2010-2011
- Lizzie Litwak, “Market Religion: Problems, Consequences, and Solutions”
- Claire Navarro, “The Exclusivity of Humanity versus the Inclusivity of the Divine”
- Saachi Sood, “Changing Forms, Changing Gods, Changing Religiosities: The Evolution of Shiva in Form and Faith in Medieval South India”
- Eleanor Swensson, “Prophetic Voice, Social Criticism, and Communal Energizing”
- Dawn Michele Walters, “From Hand-Holding to Hymen-Breaking: Evangelical Notions of Gender, Dating, and Marriage”
2009-2010
- John Downs, “With What Shall We Contend? Ephesians 6:12 and the Reality of Spiritual Warfare”
- Mary Kaitlin Hardy, “Martin Buber’s I and Thou through the Lens of the Holocaust, Education, and Psychotherapy”
- Elizabeth Anne Hypes, “American Providence: An Exploration of the Creation, Development and Corruption of Civil Religion within the United States of America”
- Margaret Jaus, “Morality and the Market: A Dialogue on Economics and Religion”
- Michelle Kailey, “Christianity and Consumerism: The Role of the American Church”
- Gregory E. Kendrick, Jr., “Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church”
- AnnaMeeker, “The Development of Liberation Theology in El Salvador”
- Amy Novak, “A Theology of Eco-Justice for Our Time”
- Lillian Schlosser, “The Tension between the Bible and Feminism: Scripture Through the Eyes of Fiorenza, Daly, Trible and the Third-World”
2008-2009
- Alyse Akhbari, “Religion, Leadership, and the Political Jesus in Post-9/11 America”
- Amanda Conley, “The Market, Social Justice, and the Christian Tradition”
- Kellyann Conners, “Religion and the Social Construction of Reality: Where is the Political Jesus Today?”
- Megan Pike, “Religious Entrepreneurship and the Commodification of Christianity”
- Katherine St. Clair, Katherine, “Testing the Limits of Papal Authority”
- Heather Snook, “They Came Together with the Best of Intentions: Exploring the Tensions of Mormon Feminism and the Lives of Mormon Women in the LDS Church”
2007-2008
- Claire Anderson, “Different Christian Theological Responses to Oppression: A Comparison of the Theologies of Gustavo Gutierrez, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Desmond Tutu”
- David Harman, “Obedience to Christ: Bonhoeffer’s Answer . . . Our Question”
- Nicole Nord, “The American Empire and the Case of Nicaragua”
2006-2007
- Elizabeth Leigh Dance, “Religion in the Public Sphere: The Religious Right and Right Religion”
- Stephanie Catherine Dixon, “How Does Religion Affect the Social Order? A Study of the Impact of Liberation Theology on the Catholic Church in El Salvador”
- Rebecca Grimm, “Re-Imagine Modern Jewish Theology: A Closer Look at Post-Holocaust Judaism”
- Laura Naomi Pippenger, “From a Wealth of Gospel to a Gospel of Wealth: Poverty to Prosperity”
- Tracy Paige Riggle, “Desmond M. Tutu and James H. Cone: Theological Standpoints on Racial Injustice”
- John Derek Wagner, “The Theology of Poverty”
2005-2006
- Lauren Caryer, “Proactive Peace: Christian Responses to American Empire”
- Lauren Alissa Clark, “The Rhetoric of the War on Terror: George W. Bush’s Transformation of the Jeremiad”
- Leigh Rogers, “Secular Messages in Religious Settings: A Theological Critique of Rod Parsley’s Political Agenda”
- Lisa Starr Sobel, “American Reform Judaism: Evolution of the Movement in Comparison with the Local History of Reform Judaism in Louisville, Kentucky”
2004-2005
- Carlyn Marie Love, “The Role of the Church in Contemporary America”
- Gretchen Elizabeth Roeck, “The Problem of Being at Ease in Zion”
- Amanda Vajskop, “Hijacking the Holy: Reclaiming the Female Voice in Christianity”
2003-2004
- Christopher Byrnes, “Catholic Church Dynamics in the World Church: An Exploration of Catholic Identity”
- Stephen Grosse, “Theology for Ecology: Building a Relationship with the Earth”
- Meghan Henning, “Sojourners, Alone in these Worlds: The Plight of the Psychologically Estranged in First Peter”
- Sarah Pyle, “Claiming a Space of Empowerment: Exploring Hispanic Feminist Theology and the Struggle towards Justice and Liberation”
- Erin Rice, “Overcoming Institutionalized Systems of Oppression: The Rise of Latin American Liberation Theology in Honduras”
2002-2003
- William Gregory Holden, “How Good and Pleasant it is When Brothers Dwell in Unity: Biological and Spiritual Brotherhood in the Bible”
- Matthew Lehrer, “Martin and Malcolm in Tandem”
- Daniel Rohrer, “Beyond Pacifism: A Theological Dialogue between Reinhold Niebuhr, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer”
- Sarah Smith, “Melchizedek as a Type for Hospitality”
2001-2002
- James Boyd, “ Cultivating Contemporary Spiritual Awareness and the Theology of Paul Tillich”
- Michael DeCesare, “The Catholic Dilemma: Can the Church Reclaim Sex from the Treat of Desacralization?”
- Joshua DeVine, “Breakthrough and Be ‘Touched by an Angel’: The Secularization of Message and Meaning in Contemporary Christian Television”
- Tara Ellison, “Goddess of Ten Thousand names: Transformation of Isis”
- Amber Neal, “Norms of Exclusion and Exclusion of Norms”
- Emily Peecook, “The Many Faces of Hagar”
- Robert Ross, “Walter Brueggemann and the Prophetic Tradition: The Prophet on the College Campus”
- Kristen Shell, “Spousal Abuse in the Church? Religious Ideologies, Biblical Interpretations, and their Implications for Marriage”
1999-2000
- Rebecca Auld, “Responsibility to the Forgotten”
- Sean D. Boyle, “Here, We Are All Liberation Theologians: Liberation Theology and the Zapatistas of Chiapas, Mexico”
- Matthew Leo Eanet, “With Roots in Heaven: A Rediscovery of Abraham Joshua Herschel”
- Sarah Marie Howard, “El Testimonio de Rigoberta Menchu: Sincretismo, Delegitimacion, y Liberacion en Guatemala”
- Joel Norton, “Rethinking Christianity in Order to Truly Welcome Gays and Lesbians into the Religion”
- Kelly Rae Riggle, “The Discovery of the Corporate Self and the Subsequent Search for New Economic and Religious Paradigms”
- Rebekah Taylor, “”Centering Tactics of Identity and Inclusion: City as Center of Reconciliatory Church Mission”
1990s
1998-99
Kristen Bardou, “The Power of Language: An Examination of Social Reality”
Robert Bell, “Transforming the ‘Wall of Separation’: A Constitutional Analysis in Favor of School Voucher Implementation”
Kelly Carpenter, “Public Theology in Our Society”
Julia Clough, “A Test of the Models of God as Mother, Lover and Friend”
Tara Kocheran, “In the Name of Relation: A Theological Critique of Physical and Sexual Abuse in the Home”
Kevin Lee, “Divine Sexuality: A Sexual Ethic of Social Justice”
Cara Morey, “Sacrificing Our Families at the Altar: Delivering the Extended Family from its Demise”
Elizabeth Nutting, “The Resistance Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Exploration of Development from a Standpoint of Continuity”
Carrie Walsh, “How Does One Respond to a Religiously Pluralistic World? The Christian Viewpoint in Theological, Institutional, and Local Terms”
Kristin Williams, “Puritan Sexual Ethics: A Reevaluation of Historical and Literary Context”
1997-98
Nicole Braden, “The Jubilee Year: Tradition Past and Present”
1996-97
John Costin, “Diagnosis: Suffering from Metaphors RX: The Sacred Answer”
Natalie Dodson, “Revisioning the Church for the Twenty-First Century”
Jamie Falik, “Visions of Justice: An Inquiry into the Social Implications of Millennialism”
Darcy Popovic, “Trauma and Healing: Child Abuse in the Christian Tradition: The Redemption of the Innocent”
Leanne Watson, “The Journey toward Wholeness: A New Vision of Holistic-Biomedical Health”
1995-96
- Amy Ard, “Under One Roof Metaphorical Theology: God as Family”
- Stephanie Elsener, “Liberation Theology & Me”
- Andrew Hulse, “Healing Soul: Constructing an Animal Theology of Liberation”
- George Rem Johannsen, “Ezekiel the Shaman”
- Rene Losey, “Christian People, Raise Your Song: A Hymnology of Liberation”
- Megan O’Bryan, “A Dialogical Approach to the Relationship Between Religion and Psychology”
- Grant Potts, “Toward a Framework for Doing Neopagan Theology”
- Mark Russell, “Eschaton, System, and Process: Public Theology in Moltmann, Tillich and Cobb”
1993-94
- Maria Feliberty, “Uncovering the Face of God the Healer: An Endeavor to Build a Theology of Wholeness”
- Ashley Goff, “The Destabilization of Christian Fundamentalist’s Paradigm for the Woman’s Role in the Family”
1992-93
- Michael Campbell, “From Pulpit to Pew to Political Action”
- Rebekka Litton, “United Methodist Clergywomen and Feminist Theology”
1989-90
- Cynthia Cameron, “The Issue of Justice and the Role of the Church in Liberation Theology and Evangelical Theology”
- Katherine Londos, “A Morality of Procreative Choice: An Historical Analysis and an Ethical Examination of Abortion”
1980s
1988-89
- Daniel Bibler, “Who Is Christ for Us Today? The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Consequences for the Modern Age”
1986-87
- Joseph Burke, “A Study in Christology”
- Jerry Carter, “The Role of the Black Church in the Struggle for Liberation in the Modern Black Community”
1985-86
- Andrea Sullivan, “An Analysis of the U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter, Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy”
1983-84
- Marcus Colwell, “God the Adventurer, God the Artisan”
- Ellen Fockler, “The Salt of the Earth: Tears of Sorrow and Joy: A Study of Latin American Liberation Theology”
- Kimberly Jenci, “Paternalism to Patient Participation: An Exploration of Movement towards New Models of Health Care”
- Gary Simpson, “The King and Us: The Significance of Martin Luther King, Jr., in the Development of Black Christian Thought”
1982-83
- Constance A. Rainer, “Ethical Issues in Biomedicine: A Case Study of Huntington’s Disease”
- Christi Sue Reed, “The Historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection”
- Andrea L. Ruehrwein, “Implications of Third World Liberation Theology on the First World”
1981-82
- Julie Ashworth, “Ultimacy in Secular Experience”
1970s & 1960s
1975-76
- William Brosend, “A Study in the Prphecy of Eight Century B.C. Israel”
1974-75
- Janet Frost, “A Systematic Series of Theological Essays”
- Jeffrey M. Goldsmith, “I and Thou Reconsidered: Theology’s Search for an Experiential Basis”
- Mary Ellen Trahan, “The Problem of Religious Knowledge: An Examination of the Relation between ‘Objective’ Knowledge and ‘Existential’ Knowledge”
1973-74
- Robert C. Fuller, “Teilhard and the Facilitation of Purposeful Human Existence”
- Wayne Campbell Peck, “A Study of the Use of the Word “KAIROS” in the Major Works of the New Testament Tradition”
1972-73
- David Paul Betz, “The New Testament Concept of Growth”
1971-72
- Megan Holdbrook, “The Christian Man’s Freedom under God in the Theology of Karl Barth”
1970-71
- Paul Holbrook, Jr., “”A Comparative Study of Mountains in Mythologies, with an Emphasis on the Term ‘717’ in the Old Testament”
- Cynthia Ann Javis, “But Suffering Something: A Study of Melville and his Clarel”
- David Miller, “The Problem of the Meaningless of Current Theological Language”
1968-69
- J. Victor Hanh, “The Ethical Thought of Paul Tillich as a Corrective to the ‘Situation Ethics’ of Joseph Fletcher: A Case Made for ‘General Rules’”
1967-68
- Paul B. Herrick, Jr., “A Study of Man in Romans”
- Paul P. Malashevitz, “The Concept of Man in the Mythology of Genesis 1-3 and the Gospel of John
1966-67
- Stephen Wade, “A Study of the Doctrine of Revelation in Tillich and Barth as the Concrete Horizon for Theological Symbolism”
1964-65
- Robert Stocker II, “The Growth of the Baptist Denomination in Ohio 1788-1900”