The Pell Scholars Honors Program was created to serve as an interdisciplinary honors program that focuses on international relations and public policy. It was created to honor the life and work of former United States Senator Claiborne Pell (RI-D, Ret.).
A senior thesis is required in many of the university's disciplines. All senior theses are gathered here.
Submissions from 2023
Female Lawyers Don’t Need Pity; They Need a Paycheck, Meagan S. Bilodeau
Exposing ENDO: Labor Abuse and Exploitation on Contractual Workers in the Philippines, Olivia M. Fisher
When Scrolling Turns into Shopping: How Influencers Advertise to Consumers on TikTok, Amanda E. Graves
The Negative Impacts of Border Patrol On The Mental Health of Migrants, Breyana M. Newton
Submissions from 2022
Girl-Next-Door to Girlboss: Taylor Swift’s Online Evolution from Puerile Pop Star to Poignant Political Influence, Clare G. Daly
Climate Without Context: Why Climate Change Journalism is Losing its Effect, Amanda L. Valentine
Submissions from 2021
Blue Jay Call Profile in Disparate Environments, Daniel A. Gesualdi
"Living in the After": Examining How "Grey's Anatomy" Portrays Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Emily A. Grant
Maria Cosway, Grand Manner Portraits, and Myth in Eighteenth-Century British Art: A Case Study on "Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire as Diana", Isabella Margi
Robert Adam Interiors and Wakehurst's Yellow Drawing Room: Imported Period Rooms in the United States, Isabella Margi
Submissions from 2020
Happily Ever After? How Disney Princesses Represent Gender Role Stereotypes in Animated and Live Action Films, Kaitlyn M. Brown
Finding the Women in the Words: Examining the Framing of Female Victims in Homicide Reporting, Isabelle Gillibrand
Her Voice on Air: How Irish Radio Made Strides for Women's Rights, Emilie R. Hines
Another Likable Serial Killer: Fans' Representation of "You"'s Joe Goldberg through Memes, Carlisle Lynch
More Man Than a Horse? BoJack Horseman and its Subversion of Sitcom Conventions in Search of Realism, Bradley Simpson
Submissions from 2019
A Different Master of War: The Influence of the Folk Music Revival on the Antiwar Movement during the Vietnam Era, Isabelle Gillibrand
The Forgotten Sins of Robert E. Lee: How a Confederate Icon Became an American Icon, Jennifer Page
A Portrait of Freedom: A Bakhtinian Interpretation of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, Bryan J. Richardson
Submissions from 2018
Misrepresented and Unheard: The "Latino Rebels", Blanca V. Guzman
The Pain in Spain: Examining Andalusia's Youth Unemployment Crisis, Bianca D. Lennon
Trash Talk: The Effects of Plastic Pollution on Seabirds in Narragansett Bay, Erin A. O'Neill
Riding the Wave of Microplastics in Bermuda, Molly E. Riihiluoma
Submissions from 2017
Indoctrination over Objectivity? Examining Breitbart's Framing of Candidates and Social Issues in the 2016 Election, Marrissa S. Ballard
Cold Upset: How the American 1980 Olympic Hockey Victory Restored Patriotism in America, Samuel L. Chernakoff
Barriers to Higher Education: Underrepresented Minorities' Access to UCI, Kimberly Dennin
Gender in Black and White: Examining Interracial Relationships in ShondaLand, Caitlin V. Downing
A Happy Marriage of Inconvenience: The Power of Adrienne de La Fayette over her Destiny in Eighteenth-Century France, Brittany I. Fox
Fighting against Bullfighting: Tackling Spain's Bloody Tradition, Genevieve Hoyt
Poor little Rich Girl, What Does She Know About Misery? : The Significance and Symbolism of Rose in James Cameron's Titanic, Matthew Levine
Johnson’s War: How Vietnam Tarnished a Presidency, Patrick Lyons
Hunger Games: Policies to Address Food Deserts in Rhode Island's Low Income Communities, Jessi McNeill
@ctress to @ctivist: Sophia Bush's Activism & Self-Branding Through Twitter, Katie Persechino
The Emmett Till Generation: The Birmingham Children's Crusade and the Renewed Civil Rights Movement, Rebecca Sherman
Miners, Moonshiners, and Men of the Mountains: The Effect of Violence in Central Appalachia Through the Reconstruction Era, Ellen E. Tuttle
"Something Must Be Done!": Edward VIII's Abdication and the Preservation of the British Monarchy, Allyse C. Zajac
Submissions from 2016
Thawing Out: The Role of the Arctic Council Service in a Melting Arctic, Taylor J. Enos
Impacts of Ecotourism in Costa Rica: A Sustainable Alternative to Conventional Tourism, Kimberly A. Kleszczynski
Burnt Offerings: How the City of Angels Engulfed Any and All Involved in the Rodney King Affair and Los Angeles Riots, Michael P. McNamara
Samuel Slater and the Development of Southern Worcester County, Massachusetts, Nicole C. Smith
It Wants to Get Inside of You: Interrogating Representations of Women in Possession Films, Ellena R. Sweet
Submissions from 2015
Mercy for Anne and a Rose for Lucrezia, Amanda Iacampo
Long Live the Evil Queen: Once Upon a Time's Evolved Villain, Frank S. Lombari
Submissions from 2014
Revamping the Vampire Heroine: Reshaping the Character of Bella Swan through Twilight Fan Fiction, Kaitlyn D. Boisvert
From Self-Sacrifice to Self-Preservation: The Changing Roles of Southern Women During America's Civil War, Jennifer E. Edine
The Judge’s Hold: A Struggle for Voice in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, Daniel R. Johnson
GoT Lost Behind the Scenes: Underexposed Television Producers in Magazines, Jordan King
Product of the Past: The Struggle Between the Lakota Sioux Nation and the United States Government, Brittany Lombardo
Morality and Nonviolent Protest: The Birmingham Campaign, Lindsey A. Mahn
Submissions from 2013
#PrettyLittleLiars: How Hashtags Drive The Social TV Phenomenon, Melanie Brozek
Is Snow White Still the Fairest of Them All? How Once Upon A Time Reinvents the Image of the Disney Princess, Hannah M. Gonneville
Explaining the Unexplainable: A New Cultural Outlook on H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, Erika L. Mutter
Sméagol Versus Gollum: The Bridge Between Fantasy and Reality: Applying Jungian Psychology to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Courtney C. Randall
Submissions from 2012
A Postmodern Sense of Nostalgia: Demonstrating Through a Textual Analysis of Twin Peaks How Cult Membership Can Be Inculcated., Nicholas G. Albanese
A Failing Correctional System: State Prison Overcrowding in the United States, Susan M. Campers
Juvenile Delinquency: An Investigation of Risk Factors and Solutions., Lauren Cardoso
How Blacks became Blue: The 1936 African American Voting Shift From the Party of Lincoln to the New Deal Coalition, Daphney Daniel
Reading Between the Lines of Slavery: Examining New England Runaway Ads for Evidence of an Afro-Yankee Culture, Lauren Landi
Mind the Gap: An Analysis of the Function of Love in the Works of Tom Stoppard and C.S. Lewis., Jacqueline C. Lawler
Darkness in the City of Light: The Great Roundup of 1942 & France’s Role in the Shoah., Benjamin T.C. Mead
The Prevention of Victory: How the U.S. Government Crippled Support for the Iraq War, Jacob M. Petrarca
Homelessness: Causes, Culture and Community Development as a Solution, Kaitlin Philipps
Twitter Technology Trampling Fashion Designs: The Effects of Twitter on the Fashion Industry., Margaret K. Reder
Development and Evaluation of a Mouse Neocortical Cells Neurodevelopment Assay to Assess the Effects of Pyrethroids, Stephanie I. Savino
Is Local Food in Your Future?: An Analysis of the Viability of the Local Food Movement, Jennifer A. Sliney
Chicago: A Movie Musical Mockery of the Media's Razzle Dazzle Image of Murder., Emily Sulock
Submissions from 2011
The Benefits of Fostering Reciprocal Relationships between Children with Autism and their Typically Developing Peers, Chelsea Bourn
Teaching Social Justice through the Lens of Multicultural Education, Alana Cimillo
The Canterbury Tales: Chaucer's Respectful Critique of Church Officials and Their Abuse of Power, Lauren Day
The Electrochemical Detection of Interleukin-8, Cancer Biomarker, Based on a Gold Nanoparticle Platform and its Political Implications, Jaimee Doucette
Melville and Women in Specific Relation to "Bartleby, the Scrivener", Kaitlin Eckert
The Implications of Male Circumcision on HIV Transmission, AliciaMarie Hurlburt
Green Decarbonylation of Aldehydes using Palladium (II) Acetate, Jessica Konopka
Modern-Day Slavery and Human Trafficking: An Overlooked Issue, Michelle Kuhl
The Effect of Franco in the Basque Nation, Kalyna Macko
Executions in America: How Constitutional Interpretation Has Restricted Capital Punishment, Andrea Paone
An Exploration of Pharmacognosy and its Potential in the Multi-Faceted Solution Required to Address HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, Alexandra Sassi
Submissions from 2010
The State in Disarray: US Oversight of Private Security Contractors, Rebecca A. Bernard
The Development of a Comprehensive Mechanism for Intracellular Calcium Oscillations: A Theoretical Approach and an Experimental Validation, Amanda A. Borges, Deanna Salter, Sandor Kadar, and Steven B. Symington
Screening Culture: Is Western Media to Blame for “Tainting” Traditional Third World Values?, Angelina M. Campbell
France as a Negative Influence on the Côte d’Ivoire: The Consequences of Foreign Interference, Courtney P. Conroy
Progressivism and the Executive Branch: Woodrow Wilson's Expansion of Presidential Power, Christopher F. Fisher
"Lord of the Flies": The Educational Value of Golding's Text, Erin M. Frank
Meaningful Meaninglessness: Albert Camus' Presentation of Absurdism as a Foundation for Goodness, Maria K. Genovese
"Persona Non Grata" A Tragicomic One-Act, Maria K. Genovese
"Clad in Their Country Gray": Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Morgan E. Glossbrenner
The Conflicts of Secularization and Islam in Turkey, Emily Jones
Shrouded Sins: An Exploration of Child Sex Trafficking in South Africa, Jennifer L. Kennedy
Differential Damages Sustained from Hurricane Ike on Varying Growth Forms of Coral at Distinct Locations off the Coast of South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands, Caitlyn A. Kenny
Now Was Then, Then Is Now: The Paradoxical World of Fahrenheit 451, Michael R. LaBrie
Norman Morrison Isham: Newport Restoration Foreshadows Modern Preservation, Alyssa Lozupone
Legal, Moral and Biological Implications of Poaching and Illegal Animal Trafficking on an International Scale, Meghan A. Pastor
Questioning Objectivity in Mainstream Broadcast Journalism: The Value of Subjectivity on "The View", Monika K. Raczkowski
Junior Mints and Their Bigger Than Bite-Size Role in Complicating Product Placement Assumptions, Stephanie Savage
Is Media Coverage of Steroids On The Verge Of Striking Out Baseball Stars?, Nicholas L. Silvestri
Leading Ladies?: Feminism and the Hollywood New Wave, Allison A. Smith
A Man Older Than His Years: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Last Days, Bryan Vieira
Submissions from 2009
Rhode Island's Greatest Natural Tragedy, Stephanie N. Blaine
The Injustice Of Justice: The Pursuit of a Harmonious, Just, and Merciful World, Robert W. Boyle