Student Feature: Research Project

From Left to Right: James Stumpf (Political Science), Amy Grimes (History & Government-Adolescent Education), Caitlyn Ebert (History), Diarra Ndiaye (Political Science), Kadeem Johnson (Political Science), Bonnie Humpherys (Political Science), Amber Zielinski (Political Science), Arthur Cruz (Political Science) Cassandra Sakelos (Political Science), and Fuad Abdul (Political Science).
 Not pictured, Eli Cobti (Political Science)

Eleven students who are completing coursework in the History & Political Science Department are currently working on their senior thesis research projects.  The research project is a program requirement and also fulfills Daemen's requirement for a Research and Presentation course. This dedicated group of students are working on a broad range of topics that will make original contributions to the disciplines of History and Political Science.  This year's thesis class includes nine Political Science majors, one History & Government-Adolescent Education major, and one History major. 

The Political Science students are researching topics ranging from the impact of fiscal stress on local municipalities to international terrorism. Two Political Science majors, Fuad and Cassandra (Cassie), are respectively engaging in theory-building and testing by exploring the strategic and ideological motivations for state-sponsored terrorism and the impact of democratization and political party influence on the political capacity of the Mexican government to effectively deal with drug cartels. Diarra's research question explores the transformation of religious practices into a problem of child exploitation in the urban centers of the African nation of Senegal. Amber's senior project applies principles of public policy making and agenda-denial to explore corporate the influence on U.S. policy's non-response to global climate-change. Arthur's paper evaluates the politics of immigration policy reform in the U.S. from 1986, with an emphasis on Mexican immigration in particular. James surveyed and interviewed local officials in order to assess the causes and impact of fiscal stress on local municipalities in Erie County. Eli is examining the connection between corporate influence and the public funding of sports stadiums. Bonnie employs content and discourse analysis to to examine how President Obama is deliberately crafting a public narrative of his own multi-racial identity. Kadeem is engaging with political party theory to evaluate the Republican Party's outreach to racial minorities to enhance electoral competitiveness at the national level.

Two of our seniors are researching historical topics. Amy, a History & Government-Adolescent Education major, is using archival resources to research the creation of a regional branch of the Progressive Education Association (PEA) and the role of Adelle Land in its formation and mission. Caitlyn, a History major, is writing her thesis on the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR) and the role of this group in advocating for repeal.

Oral Presentations of the final research project are scheduled for November 26 and December 3, 2013, between 4:00 and 7:00 pm.  This year's thesis class is taught by Dr. Lisa Parshall and Dr. Penny Messinger.  Presentations are open to the public and all members of the Daemen community, so come and join us!