Recent Honors Theses

2017

Biological Anthropology

Sarah Burke
Investigation of Pigmentation Associated Polymorphisms in a Novel Indigenous American Population
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham) 
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Megan Harrison  
Protection from Intrauterine Growth Restriction at High Altitude: Genetic Variation at IL-1β in Aymara Andeans
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Lauren Heinonen
The Effects of Climate on Human Nasal Morphology and Genetics
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Eman Hijab
Maternal Stress Effects Across Non-Primate and Primate Models
(Advisor: Jacinta Beehner) 

Nichole Lohrke
African Deinothere Isotopic Paleoecology: Developing a Diet and Habitat Proxy for an Extinct Proboscidean
(Advisor: John Kingston)

Lillian Shipp
Does Drinking Alcohol Help or Hurt Bone? Investigating the Effects of Alcohol Consumption in Ovariectomized Mice as a Model for Postmenopausal Women
(Advisor: Maureen Devlin)
Honorable mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award 

Sociocultural Anthropology

Zachary Arrington
On the Architechtonics of Social Change: Control and resistance in the Chilean student movement
(Advisor: Alaina Lemon)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Asma Baban 
God & Books: A Study of Iraqi Refugees in Greater Detroit and their Relationship with Religion and Education
(Advisor: Andrew Shryock)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Oscar Calinescu
Welcome to my Town: performance and creativity among Animal Crossing bloggers on Tumblr
(Advisor: Alaina Lemon)

Hannah Marcovitch
Discretionary Foods and Relational Eating: A Bioethnography of Nutrition Science and Daily Sustenance in Mexico City
(Advisor: Liz Roberts)

Anthropological Archaeology

Andrew Fiasco
Stone Tool Use in Metallurgical Societies: A Diachronic Approach to Lithic Technology at Pecica-Șanțul Mare
(Advisor: John O'Shea, and Amy Nicodemus)

Briana Gladhill  
From Crescents to Points: Changes in Lithic Technology at Melikane Rock Shelter, Lesotho
(Advisor: Brian Stewart)

Olivia Mason
“Sike Lazars” and “Sondry Folke:” A Comparative Study of Mortuary Treatment at Two Medieval English Cemeteries
(Advisor: Carla Sinopoli, and Graduate Student Mentor: Jess Beck)

Brianna Mayer
Status and Identity on a Smallholder Caribbean Plantation: An Archaeological Perspective
(Advisor: Robin Beck, and Graduate Student Mentor: Travis Williams) 
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award and Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Sociocultural Anthropology

Katarina Alajbegovic
Welcome to the Big Land: Experiences of Land, Power, and Identity through Land Claims in Labrador
(Advisor: Barbra Meek)
Honorable mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Anna Forringer-Beal 
(In)Visible Genders: How Central American Women Navigate Agency and Control during Undocumented Migration
(Advisor: Jason De León)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award and Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Polina Hristova 
The Tattooed Honduran: Agency, Personhood, and Resistance in the Transnational Movement of Honduran Migrants
(Advisor: Jason De León)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Anika Huq
The Medicalization of Childbirth Practices in Khon Kaen, Thailand
(Advisor: Elisha Renne)

Alexandra Newton 
Of Hustlers & Housekeepers: Private Security Work in Bucharest, Romania
(Advisor: Krisztina Fehevary)
Winner of the Anthropology Chair's Special Award for Contributions to Anthropology and the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Amber Young 
Caregiving and Commitment: Stories of Finding Value Through Raising a Child with a Disability
(Advisor: Holly Peters-Golden)

Anthropological Archaeology

Taylour Boboltz 
Walpole Island Wampum: an interdisciplinary approach to understanding wampum in the Great Lakes
(Advisor: Robin Beck)

Daniel Fivenson
Bronze Age Settlement Distribution in Hunedoara County, Romania: The Role of Metal in Increasing Social Complexity
(Advisor: John O’Shea, and Graduate Student Mentor: Colin Quinn)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Biological Anthropology

Sarah Cunningham 
Rural to Urban Migration and Female Adolescent Stress in Mali
(Advisor: Beverly Strassmann)

Darci Curwen-Garber 
Type 2 Diabetic Health in the Homeless Population of Washtenaw County
(Advisor: Maureen Devlin)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Ingrid Lundeen 
Scaling relationships among pelvic and sacral articular surfaces in hominoid primates
(Advisor: Laura MacLatchy)
Winner of the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Caroline Parins-Fukuchi 
Investigating the Evolution of Gestational Immunity in Mammals: A Phylogenetic Approach
(Advisor: John Mitani)

Kritika Rajan 
Social and ecological factors affecting the timing of den graduation in the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
(Advisor: John Mitani)

Jennifer Washabaugh 
Scaling relationships and functional morphology of hominoid metapodials
(Advisor: Laura MacLatchy)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award and Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Daniel Whorf 
Andean and Tibetan High-Altitude Adaptation EGLN1 Functioning and Genetic Diversity
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Sociocultural Anthropology

Indira Bhattacharjee 
The Path towards Unity: An examination of integration and first-generation Bangladeshi women in Bologna, Italy
(Advisor: Damani Partridge)

Nathaniel Costin 
What we talk about when we don’t talk about death: an ethnography of palliative care in the hospital
(Advisor: Holly Peters-Golden)

Andrea Dantus 
Objects of Acculturation: Exploring identity on the path to citizenship in the lives of three Latina women
(Advisor: Jason De León, and Graduate Student Mentor: Amelia Frank-Vitale)

Amy Mackens 
Abductions of Empowerment: The Employment of Feminism in Viral Video Advertising
(Advisor: Yasmin Moll, and Jason De León)

Talya Nakash 
Onchocerciasis in Nangodi, Ghana: Health Interventions and Community Narratives
(Advisor: Elisha Renne)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Ann Soliman 
Factors Related to Late-Stage Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Marrakech, Morocco
(Advisor: Elisha Renne)
Winner of the Marshall Sahlins Social Science Award from the LSA Honors Program

Gregory Sollish 
“Let Me Text You”: Texting, Language, and Communication in the College Setting
(Advisor: Michael Lempert, and Jason De León)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Anthropological Archaeology

Helen Argiroff-Flood 
Female Figurines of Seleucia on the Tigris: Cultural Representations in Domestic and Ceremonial Spaces
(Advisor: Joyce Marcus, and Graduate Student Mentor: Ashley Lemke)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Cameryn Clark 
Collecting Greenland Inuit Culture: A Naturalist in an Anthropologist’s World  
(Advisor: Carla Sinopoli)
Winner of the Terrence J. McDonald Prize for Archival Research from the LSA Honors Program

Katherine Kinkopf
A Bioarchaeological Approach to Looting: Differential Fragmentation and Social Implications at the Periphery of Kush
(Advisor: Geoff Emberling, and Graduate Student Mentor: Jess Beck)

Clara Reini 
Evaluating Feasting on the Hopewell Periphery
(Advisor: Robin Beck, and Graduate Student Mentor: Alice Wright)

Claire Talbert 
Sharing Archaeology with the Public
(Advisor: Jason De León, and Graduate Student Mentor: Alice Wright)

Biological Anthropology

Ali Cohen 
Is Dental Development an Important Feature of Mammal Life History?
(Advisor: B. Holly Smith, and Laura MacLatchy)

Katarina Evans 
Role of Natural Selection in Cold Adaptations of Homo Sapiens
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Jenna Isherwood 
Genetic Responses to Life at High Altitude: Arterial Oxygen Saturation in Peruvian Quechua
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Hollie Kicinski
The Effects of Caloric Restriction on Physical Activity, Energy Expenditure, and Weight Loss in Obese Adults
(Advisor: Maureen Devlin)

Rachel Stokes 
Understanding the Bruce Effect: Pregnancy Termination as an Adaptive Strategy?
(Advisor: Jacinta Beehner, and Graduate Student Mentor: Aaron Sandel)

Linguistic Anthropology

Alyssa Slayton 
Constructing Criticism: a “close reading” of talk about literary texts
(Advisor: Michael Lempert)
Winner of the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Sociocultural Anthropology

Kathryn Becker 
Inside the Bubble: The Role of Nurses and Child Life Specialists in Constructing Pediatric Cancer
(Advisor: Holly Peters-Golden)

Justin Creeden
The Arts of Medicine 
(Advisor: )

Sarah Fellbaum 
Vamos Evolucionando: The Effects of Political and Economic Change on Young Men’s Dress in Havana, Cuba
(Advisor: Ruth Behar)

Emily Fite 
“Worthy” Women: Interrogating Gender Responsive Alternatives to Incarceration
(Advisor: Megan Sweeney)

Julia Hickey 
Documenting the “Undocumented”: An Ethnography of the DACA Process from Southern Michigan
(Advisor: Jason De León)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award and the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Geoffrey Marino
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Patchwork of Ambiguity
(Advisor: Liz Roberts)

Clare Toeniskoetter 
Hospitality Exchange: Overcoming safety, trust, and gender concerns in the Couchsurfing Community
(Advisor: Andrew Shryock, and Graduate Student Mentor: Kelly Kirby)

Murphy Van Sparrentak 
It Doesn’t Matter if You’re a Citizen: Emic Perspectives on Border Patrol and Security from a Southern Arizona Border Town
(Advisor: Jason De León)

Courtney Weber 
Fabulous Friday Leftovers: Soup Kitchens and the Politics of Charity
(Advisor: Maureen Devlin, Stuart Kirsch, and Graduate Student Mentor: Adriana Chira)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award, the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award, and the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award from the LSA Honors Program

Anthropological Archaeology

Hillary Abraham 
Household Burials and Community Organization at Çatalhöyük, Turkey
(Advisor: Henry Wright)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award

Stephanie Berger 
Treating Bones: The Intersection of Archaeology and Conservation
(Advisor: Carla Sinopoli)

Leah Burgin 
Managing Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary: Analyzing Access to and Preservation of Lake Huron’s Underwater Heritage
(Advisor: Bradley Taylor, and John O'Shea)
Winner of the Gerald Ford Public Service Award from the LSA Honors Program

Rachel Cohen 
Household Wealth in Elamite Susa: Archaeogical Evidence from the Second Millennium BCE
(Advisor: Henry Wright)

Lauren Kreinbrink 
Environment and Empire: Exploring Environmentally Sustainable Agricultural Practices within the Roman Empire
(Advisor: Laura Motta)

Biological Anthropology

Lisa Barrett 
Tolerance and social cognition in campus and off-campus fox squirrels (Sciurus niger): A case of self-domestication?
(Advisor: John Mitani)

Nicole Carbone 
Maternal Depletion, Sibship Size, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Low Birth Weight
(Advisor: Beverly Strassmann)

Megan Cole 
Intergroup encounters in Honduran mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata)
(Advisor: Jacinta Beehner)

Samantha Patterson 
The comparative method in evolutionary biology: the effects of intraspecific variation and data quality
(Advisor: John Mitani)

Sociocultural Anthropology

Anisha Chadha 
The Social Life of Speed
(Advisor: Holly Peters-Golden)
Winner of the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Julia Field 
Perceptions of Blight: Organizations Respond to Detroit’s Deteriorating Landscape
(Advisor: Andrew Shryock)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Honors Research Poster Award and winner of the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Kristin Harden 
Finding a Voice: The Abortion Debate on a College Campus
(Advisor: Liz Roberts)

Sarah Hodin 
Mothers Know Best: Women’s Birthing Experiences in East Africa and Implications for Maternal and Child Health
(Advisor: Elisha Renne, and Graduate Student Mentor: Kelly Kirby)

Bradley Iott 
Of Culture and the Clinic: A Study of Culture and Healthcare in Nizamuddin Basti
(Advisor: Thomas Fricke)

Mackenzie McDonald Wilkins 
Ripples of Modernity: Language Shift and Resistance in the Valley of Etla
(Advisor: David Frye, and Barbra Meek)
Honorable Mention for the Department of Anthropology Excellence in Honors Research and Academic Achievement Award

Anna Schwiebert 
Could a nurse robot cry?: Nurses’ perspectives on medical robots
(Advisor: Jennifer Robertson)

Upasana Senapati 
Alcohol and Class-consciousness in Rural India
(Advisor: Liz Roberts, and Graduate Student Mentor: Charles Zuckerman)

Anthropological Archaeology

Katherine Blatchford
Human Sacrifice in Ancient Peru
(Advisor: Joyce Marcus)

Caroline Braden
Collecting Hopi Plaque Baskets: A Study of the Influences of External Consumer Dynamics and Collector Preferences
(Advisor: Ray Silverman)

Jillian Maguire
Ritual Space: A Comparison of Four Monuments from Middle/Late Neolithic Ireland and Southern England
(Advisor: Robert Whallon)

Marina Mayne
Faces of a False Face Mask: Understanding Authenticity in Museum Research and Display
(Advisor: Ray Silverman)

Victoria Moses
Status and Meat Consumption in Pompeii: Diet and its Social Implications through the Analysis of Ancient Primary Sources and Zooarchaeological Remains
(Advisor: Laura Motta, and Graduate Student Mentor: Emily Holt)
Winner of the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Biological Anthropology

Rihana Bokhari
Determining the Age-at-death of Dental Remains using Micro Computed Tomography
(Advisor: Milford Wolpoff)

William Brown
Human Visitation, Temperature, and their Effects upon Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Spatial Distribution and Behavior at the Detroit Zoo
(Advisor: John Mitani)

Christine Campbell
Low Levels of Inflammatory Acne in a Traditional African Population
(Advisor: Beverly Strassmann)

Tiara Forsyth
Patterns of Variation and Evidence for Positive Selection on MicroRNA Loci during Recent Human Evolution
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Amy Goldberg
Modeling a Sex Bias in the Admixture History of a Hybrid Population
(Advisor: Milford Wolpoff)

Grace Ignarri
Defining and Determining Tool Users in the Hominid Record
(Advisor: Milford Wolpoff)

Katya Mack
Rates of Neanderthal Introgression in Genic Versus Intergenic Regions of the Human Genome
(Advisor: Milford Wolpoff)

Cari Merritt 
Retail Therapy as an Adaptive Sexual Strategy: An Attractive Way to Cope?
(Advisor: Beverly Strassmann)

Douglas Nestorovski
Mechanism of Activation by Axonal Injury for a Conserved MAPKKK in Drosophila
(Advisor: Abigail Bigham)

Sociocultural Anthropology

Laura Biltz
Sorority Women and the Body Politic: Structuring the Self Image in a World of Maize and Blue
(Advisor: Andrei Markovits, Erik Mueggler, and Graduate Student Mentor: Charles Zuckerman)

Mary Birkett
Amateur Mascots on the Loose: The Pragmatics of Kawaii (Cute)
(Advisor: Jennifer Robertson)
Winner of the Marshall Sahlins Social Science Award from the LSA Honors Program

Julie Blaszczak
Understanding the Stigma of Sexual Minority Youth in Context
(Advisor: Holly Peters-Golden)

Kristina Felder
An American Tragedy: Social Factors Behind the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States
(Advisor: Gillian Feeley-Harnik)

Beth Jakubowski
This is Who I Am: Stories of Older Adults Returning to College
(Advisor: Thomas Fricke, and Graduate Student Mentor: Kelly Kirby)
Winner of the Virginia L. Voss Memorial Award for excellence in writing by senior Honors women in the category of academic writing from the LSA Honors Program

Melissa Masserang
Coping with Depression: Support, Stigma, and Deciding Whom to Tell
(Advisor: Elisha Renne)

Jennifer Morris
Things Learned—Things Exchanged: Reflections on Undergraduate Students’ Experience of a “Service-Learning” Trip to Kenya
(Advisor: Elisha Renne)

Nicole Mueller
A lo Cubano: An Ethnography of Mobility, Authenticity, and New Moral Tourism
(Advisor: Ruth Behar)

Kalila Smith
Body, Mind, and Frustration: Navigating Dance in the Context of Academia
(Advisor: Kelly Askew)

Aileen Xu
Discovering the Role and Identity of College Students in Public Health
(Advisor: Krisztina Fehervary)