Virtual Commons offers open access copies of Commonwealth and Departmental Honors Program theses and projects completed by undergraduate students who have submitted them electronically since 2013. The authors of these documents retain copyright to the intellectual property these works represent in their current form.
Theses/Projects from 2018
Rubik’s Cube: The Invisible Solve, Allen Charest
Searching for Identity: Connecting Students to Young Adult Literature in the Classroom Through Language, Samantha Correia
Cruel and Unusual: The Eighth Amendment and the Overuse of Solitary Confinement in American Corrections, Brandon Craig
Together but Separate: Uncovering School Segregation in 2018, Eliza Davern
You Are Included: The Effectiveness of Diversity and Representation of Ethnic Minorities in TV Advertising, Eric DeBenedictis
More Than Meets the Eye: Challenges Men Face with Personal, Private, and Public Silence When Seeking Help Academically, Danielle Dupuis
How do Mindfulness Practitioners Describe Pausing?: A Qualitative Interview Study, Benjamin G. Feldman
The Novel Mystique: Depictions of Women in Novels of the 1950s, Sarah Fender
A Psychoanalytic Reading of Haruki Murakami’s “The Little Green Monster,” “All God’s Children Can Dance,” and “TV People”, Sara Ferreira
The Role of Instructional Gesture in Learning Science Concepts in Undergraduate Students, Andrea J. Fogarty
Does International Law Change State Behavior?, Brett Franzie
A Smithian Perspective on Aristotle's Virtuous Friend, Meagan Fraser
Facebook: Friend or Foe? Exploring the Relationship Between Social Media Use, Social Comparison, Self-Esteem and Affect, Elizabeth F. Gallinari
Human Factors and the Road to Single Pilot Operations, Michael Gearhart
The Restoration of UNIX: Emulating UNIX version 1.0 on a 16-bit DEC PDP 11/20, John J. Gilmore Jr.
Understanding Educators’ Perceptions of Mindfulness on Students’ Academic Skills, Behavior, and Overall Well-Being, Sara E. Gottfried
The Impact of Proposition 2-½ Overrides: Does a Town’s Approval or Rejection Impact Property Values?, Rebecca Guerrier
The Future of Racial Classifications: Exploring Race in the Critical Dystopia, Meghan Hartnett
Vengeance is Ours: Safe Spaces and Critical Empathy in Horror Films, David S. Hooker
Psychological and Demographic Differences of BDSM Practitioners, Sabrina Jefferson
“No Happy Woman Writes”: An Analysis of Novels of Seduction and Domestic Fiction in Early American Literature, Janene Johnson
On the Toughness of Some Johnson Solids, Sean Koval
Comparing Ratios of Depression Between Female to Male MCI Patients and the General Population, Abbie Levinson
Why do you Want to be a Teacher? Getting to the Bottom of the Teacher Retention Problem, Jamie MacDonald
Exploring Dynamical Systems: Number of Cycle and Cycle Lengths, Christine Marcotte
Fighting for Their Lives: Why the Marginalized Irish from the 1840s-1910 Dominated American Prizefighting, Owen Marshall
Marriage in Victorian England, Cheryl Ann McDonnell
How America Permitted the Great Recession, Robert A. Moss III
Exploring the Proportion of Prime Numbers in Quadratic Extensions of the Integers, Jamie Nelson
Welcome to the Real World: A Skeptical Examination of Working Class Life, Ryan O'Connor
Public Perceptions of Police Interactions With Juveniles, Jillian Orr
Holding Pattern: An Analysis of Heathrow Airport’s Capacity Quandary, Dudley G. Oscar
“Racial Repercussions of The British Imperial Curriculum:” Misperceptions of the Natives in George Orwell’s Burmese Days, Cyi Gyi Paradis
Finding Alien Worlds: Studying Exoplanets from Bridgewater State University, Maria Patrone
Using Clay Models to Measure Seasonal Predation on Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders, Emma Perry
Sneakily Feminist: A Gilmore Girls Analysis, Katelen Pick
Cold War in the Classroom: Effects of the Onset of the Cold War on Public Education, Amanda Pineo
Decibel Levels and Employee Perceptions of Noise Levels in Child Care Facilities, Emily K. Pope
Conceptualizing Allyship as an Actionable Construct in Higher Education, Shannon Radford
Cultural Combinations in Japanese Art: The False Dichotomy of Buddhism and Shintō, Danae Reaves-Bey Browne
Adapting to College Life: An Ethnographic Study of the Linguistic Challenges Faced by Domestic Black Immigrant Students at Bridgewater State University, Johnson (Carter) Remy
A Form of Flesh and Blood: Wordsworth’s Synthesis of Science and Poetry, Kevin Reynolds
The Key to Cryptography: The RSA Algorithm, Clifton Paul Robinson
Differentiated Reading Instruction: Strategies to Reach All Students, Jennifer Rogerson
Unvarnished Inhumanity: America’s Factory Farm Industry, Caitlin Rowley
An Analysis of Regional Airlines’ Response to the Pilot Shortage and How It Impacts Collegiate Pilots, Jared Samost
Human Female Longevity, Evolution of Menopause, and the Importance of Grandmothers, Sofiya Shreyer
Examining The Varied Impacts of Economic Globalization: A Comparative Analysis of Four American States, Marina Smoske
A Biomechanical Examination of the Lower Extremities in High Heeled Shoes, Ann Sylvia