The Senior Honors Project is an opportunity to build on the knowledge acquired in one's major (or minor) and to explore in depth an issue, question, or creative challenge that is of special interest.
The Westover Honors Senior Thesis Project is a demonstration of the Fellow's
(1) understanding of the tools (methods, theories, and models) of a discipline and ability to use these tools
(2) ability to develop an informed, well-reasoned and creative response to a question or problem, and
(3) ability to effectively communicate the results of the project, both orally and in writing.
Class of 2008 Senior Thesis Projects
Scott Decker: “Small Business Success: What Works and What Fails”
Doug Haigh: “Lemur Cat Feeding Habits”
Leslie Harris: “From Section 504 to 4.0: The Effect of Lynchburg College Support Services on the Cumulative GPAs of Students in the Class of 2010 with Documented Disabilities”
Amber Huffman: “Does Your Reputation Precede You? Drug Use at a Small Liberal Arts College."
Andrew Kramer: "Helping or Hurting: Unites States Foreign Aid Policy towards Third World Countries during the Early Cold War"
Karaugh Kochanowski: "The 2001 Argentine Debt Crisis: Social Effects on Class and Gender"
Daniel Marsh: “Perceived Random Leader Selection in Work Groups”
Rachel Moore: “Is There Really a Difference? A Gendered Comparison of Babe Ruth World Series Tournaments”
Mary Mohay: “Effects of Resistance Training on Physiological Responses in Adults 50 Years or Older”
Jennie Moran: “Recognition of Dear Enemies in Male Betta Splendens”
Crystal Moorman: "Chaotic Tumbling of Hyperion” (Saturn Moon)
Kellie Parks: “Coping with a Child’s Death from Chronic Disease”
Dana Sliva: "Her Breast is Fit For Pearls: Eroticism and Resistance to Classification in Emily Dickinson's Poetry" (completed fall 2007)
Morgan Smith: “Strategic Therapy: A Study of the Efficacy of a Virginia Agency Operating under the Auspices of Strategic Therapy”
Dyanna Sorvillo: “Making It Musical: Structure and Story in Rodgers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals”
Heather Wilkinson: “Acute and Sub-Chronic Effects of echinancea pupurea on Serum Estrogen and Progesterone Levels and Corresponding Immune Responses”
Jessica Womack: “The Effect of Consistent Operating Room Physician and Nurse Staffing on Employee Satisfaction”
Kyle Zawadzki: “Perceptions Regarding Latin American Immigrants: The Protestant and Catholic Religious Communities in Lynchburg and Lynchburg College”
The Senior Honors Project may take one of two forms. Ordinarily, it is a research project, culminating in a written thesis. Occasionally, the project will instead be built around a performance of some sort, such as a play production, musical recital, or artistic presentation; such projects must include significant scholarly research associated with the performance materials.
Most thesis defenses are now held in the Daura Gallery where the formality and beauty of the décor adds dignity to the proceedings, which become more accessible to the campus in general. Thesis writers get some practice in their presenting skills by participating in the student-scholar showcase in late March. The fourteen theses still in the works for this year span many disciplines.