Senior Symposium

The culmination of the American Studies Program is the completion and  presentation of the students' Senior project at the end of their Senior year.  Each May the Program hosts a Senior Symposium where each senior presents their research.   Each senior presents their research to an audience of faculty, cohort classmates, friends and even families fly in to celebrate their student's hard work!  This event is a highlight of the Program and a tremendous accomplishment for each student.  This year the event was held on May 16th.

2024 Senior Symposium 

Armaan Ajani

Advisor:  James Hornsten

Live Nation Entertainment's Implications for Antitrust Reform

Olivia Alexander

Advisor:  Bob Orsi and Philip Davis

"Raising Men and Women of Faith": Uncovering Religion's Role in Generation Joshua

Jane Clarke

Advisor:  Daniel Immerwahr

Playgrounds or Classrooms:  Visions of Global Engagement in US Literature, 1989-1941

Jordan Muhammad

Advisor:  Abigail Barefoot

Community Need and Involvement:  Fuel for Mutual Aid Organizing

Isabel Podolsky

Advisor:  Doug Kiel

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same:  Navigating Nostalgia and Reinvention in Upper Midwestern "Main Streets"

Lauren Walcott

Advisor:  Cynthia Coburn

How High School and Low-Poverty School Districts Support Low-Income Students Through Mental Health and Attendance Policy

Emily Zou

Advisor: Aaron Shaw

"Did Bro Just Grief the US Government?"  How Online Community Identities Create New Genres of Political Communication