Thesis Defense Calendar
The following is a listing of the Ashbrook thesis defenses for the Spring 2026 semester. All defenses are open to the public and will be held in the Ashbrook Center (Schar 204) unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, March 26
6:30pm
Hannah McCrea (advised by Diane Bonfiglio)
On Dreams: Understanding the Meaning of Dreams Through a Psychological and Religious Lens
Tuesday, April 7
6:00pm
Zack Von Farowe (advised by Daniel Williams)
The Church as Alternative Polis: John Howard Yoder’s Vision for Christian Social Action
Monday, April 13
5:30pm
Sydney Vu (advised by Jeff Weidenhamer)
Why Are Red Cedar Trees Invasive?
Wednesday, April 15
6:30pm
Armand Silva (advised by Joe Griffith)
Coaching Performance Through Presence: Finishing What The Greeks Started
Monday, April 20
5:00pm
Abigail Farnsworth (advised by John Moser)
Mine Own Sweetheart: Anne Boleyn as Seductress or Lover in the Court of Henry VIII
Tuesday, April 21
4:00pm
Laci Roszell (advised by David West)
Piety and Power: The Use of Religion in Livy’s Accounts of Roman Leadership
Wednesday, April 22
4:30pm
Luke German (advised by Joe Griffith)
Finding Trust in America: A Review of the Federalist/Anti-Federalist Debate to Understand the Lack of Trust in Modern America
6:00pm
Cole Jenkins (advised by Adam Carrington)
To Others Later: Hip-Hop as Civil Rights and the American Mind
Thursday, April 23
7:00pm
Alyssa Shick (advised by Chris Burkett)
Bridging the Gap: Maximizing Visitor Understanding of History Museum Exhibits
Friday, April 24
6:00pm
Sidney Voss (advised by Chris Burkett)
Women’s Suffrage in American History
Monday, April 27
4:15pm
Rhyele Salser (advised by Adam Carrington)
Government Failures with the Opioid Crisis
5:30pm
David Maloney (advised by John Moser)
The Cost of Glory: How Shifting Conceptions of American Patriotism Has Impacted the Study, Preservation, and Memorialization of America’s Military Veterans
7:00pm
Zeb Westrick (advised by Rene Paddags)
The Battle for the Psyche: How C.S. Lewis’s Critique of Sigmund Freud Helped Shape His Understanding of Mythology and the Dialectic of Desire
Tuesday, April 28
3:30pm
Dylan Wynkoop (advised by Jason Stevens)
The President and the Emperor: A Character Study of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte
5:00pm
Teresa Overholser (advised by Joe Griffith)
Global Citizenship and the Task of Pedagogy in Kant
6:30pm
Robert Mouledoux (advised by David West)
A Freedomless Freedom: Antiochus III Megas and the War for Eleuthera
Wednesday, April 29
5:30pm
Ella Ives (advised by Mason Posner)
Using CRISPR/Cas9 Gene-Editing to Investigate the Influence of stx3a and tkta on Zebrafish Lens Development
7:00pm
Evie Pryor (advised by Adam Carrington)
Sex, Safety, Law, and Fairness in Female Athletics: Legal Precedent and the Implications of Little v. Hecox
Thursday, April 30
4:00pm
Oleksandra Bibik (advised by Diane Bonfiglio)
Soviet-Born Wounds in Ukraine: Holodomor Genocide and the Lingering Trauma of a Nation
5:30pm
Max Polianskyi (advised by Rene Paddags)
Whose Story Wins?: Soft Power, Strategic Narrative, and the Divergent International Responses to Russia’s 2014 and 2022 Invasions of Ukraine
7:00pm
Nora Bacon (advised by Jeff Sikkenga)
Teacher of Morals: John Quincy Adams on Shakespeare
Friday, May 1
4:30pm
Kayin McDonald (advised by Rob Wyllie)
Legitimacy Without Obligation: A Prudential Account of Political Authority
6:30pm
Maddie Christie (advised by Chris Burkett)
The Influence of Western Political Thought on American Commercial Agriculture
Monday, May 4
3:00pm
Reid Opel (advised by Chris Chartier)
Would Genderlessness Benefit Society?: Arguments for the Abolition of Gender
(This defense will be in Ronk Lecture Hall)
7:00pm
Braeden Geist (advised by Selvanayaki Kolandapalayam Shanmugam)
Great Midwest Athletic Tables (GMAT): Building a Dynamic Website for Performance Tracking and Visualization
Tuesday, May 5
4:30pm
Emma Maguire (advised by Chris Burkett)
The Effects of World War II on American Education: How the Aftermath of WWII Helped Reshape American Special Education
Wednesday, May 6
6:00pm
Austin Wells (advised by Adam Carrington)
Jesus and the Historicity of the Resurrection
Thursday, May 7
12:45pm
Dhiren Brickman (advised by Nik Lopatin)
Beyond the Game: The Economic and Social Impact of Sports Franchises on Cities
6:00pm
Noah Ford (advised by Chris Burkett)
America’s Justifications for War: The Early Republic and Modern Times
Friday, May 8
2:00pm
Anna Corbel (advised by Robert Wyllie)
L’Art de Vivre: An Essay on Leisure
The Analysis of France and Its Aesthetic Compared to the United States