A highlight of the undergraduate Honors program is the required senior honors project. Honors projects involve an intensive exploration of a topic that is related to the student’s major and is studied within the context of the Christian faith. These projects demonstrate one way in which SPU students engage the culture in order to change the world.
Current honors projects are now included in this series. Past completed honors projects are included in the permanent collection at the SPU Library.
Honors Projects from 2026
Testing the Christian University Belonging Scale: Revision from target population feedback., Jasmine Bowles
Working Out Your Self-Image: Strength, Self-Esteem, and Human Flourishing, Kingston K. Christie
Her Body Broken: Wrestling and Reconciling with Judges 19 Through a Feminist Lens, Elisabeth Edmonds
Shaping Emergent Competitive and Cooperative Behaviors in Multi-Agent General-Sum Games, Ethan F. Erickson
The Importance of Socialization: Family, School, Peer, and Media Influence on White Identity Development, Miandria Erickson
Optimizing Gated RNNs, Joshua Paul Fechete
Slouching Towards Inefficiency? The Cardiometabolic and Cognitive Costs of Poor Posture, Ava Mae Fitzenrider
"Certain" Unalienable Rights: Christian Nationalism and Beliefs About Freedom of Speech, Emily J. Haan
CHARACTERIZING A POTENTIAL CBP/P300 HISTONE ACETYLTRANSFERASE HOMOLOG IN TARDIGRADE GERMLINE SPECIFICATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Brittney Michelle Hartshorn
It's (Not) Raining Men: Exploring the Themes Surrounding Low Male Presence in Pediatric Nursing, Marcin Janczak
[De/Re]construct: On the Communion of Nature and the Divine, Rhiannon E. Kuns
Activated Dorsomedial Hypothalamic astrocytes regulate feeding behavior, Bella M. Lisenby
Whiny Women: How Medical Gaslighting Becomes Medical Trauma, Neena Marcus
Behind the Bar: Empathy Burnout's Impact on Lawyers' Job Competency, Eva L. Newkirk
FROM STORY TO STAGE: A Journey in Pursuit of Virtuous Leadership and Artistic Intentionality Through Student Directing a Full Play Production at University Level Theatre, Josephine L. Partridge
Ever-Present: Exposing The Complex Emotions We Try To Hide, Madison Porter
POLITICAL, LEGAL & ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION 1441 & ITS RESULTING IRAQ WAR, Anika Elyse Segall
Ammonihah's Allegory of Damnation: "Fire and Brimstone" in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants, Ella Bethany Sessions
IDENTIFYING MODULATORS OF STABLE KLRG1+IL7Ra+ MEMORY CD8+ T-CELLS, Christina Ocampo Valdez
Music Therapy for the Treatment of Body Image Dissatisfaction: Implications for Future Practice, Elizabeth Hope Vance
FLUID IDENTITIES: USING SEATTLE'S DIVERSE WATER NARRATIVES TO SHAPE CULTURAL VALUES AND ADAPTIVE CONSERVATION STRATEGIES, Brooke J. Vanden Berg
Another Group Project? Exploring the Motivations and Design of the Undergraduate Business Group Project, Hannah Venable
Fabrication Of Two-Dimensional Optoelectrical Devices, Holly Walworth
Beyond Brain Drain: H-1B Visas, Innovation, and Human Flourishing, Joel Wong
Honors Projects from 2025
SILLY LITTLE ROMANCE BOOKS: ANALYZING THE VALUE AND FUNCTION OF THE POPULAR ROMANCE GENRE, McKenzie Chan
Problematizing a Hegemonic English: An Assessment of Language Use and Diversity in a Nation of Immigrant Communities, Charlotte Choat
From Answering Questions to Replacing Staff: Analyzing the Effect and Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence on the Structure of Organizations, Caleb J. Cissna
Maybe It Really Is Those Damn Phones, Sarah F. Garvin
Assessing the Efficiency of Methotrexate (MTX) as an Antiviral Drug Against gammaherpes Virus Replication, Yennifer A. Gaspar Garcia
Guidelines for the Creation and Implementation of a School-Based Vision Program for the Greater Seattle Area, Suzanna P. Gill
Lower Cross Syndrome in Female Rowers, Mary M. Goodhew
Sex, Skulls, and Selection: An Exploration of Blakely Island's Deer Population and Their Ecology Through Genetic Sex Differentiation of Juvenile Crania, Blair P. Graves
Effects of cerebral tumor necrosis factor alpha on systemic glucose homeostasis in obese mice, Gabriela Griepp
Neuroinflammation in the Ventral Tegmental Area of Chronically Stressed Rats, Marie M. Hafez
DON’T TAKE ST. ANSELM FOR A MARRIAGE THERAPIST: THE UTILITY OF SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT THEOLOGY IN LIGHT OF FEMINIST CRITIQUES, Abigail Elizabeth Livengood
Distribution and Habitat Use of Sounders Gray Whales from 1990 to 2023, Sara N. Mach
Allelopathy of Western Red Cedar, Douglas Fir, and Western Hemlock on seed germination, Lainey E. Mendoza Ms.
Maxim Gorky’s Illusionary Reformation of Human Nature and the Rise of the Soviet Citizen: Socialist Realism as a Constructive Force in Mother, Alysia Gayle Meyer
Can You Hear A Pen Drop? A Study of Classroom Acoustics and Aural Experience, Henry P. Moe
BLOOD AND METTLE: THE EFFECTS OF CIVIL UNREST ON ECONOMIC MOBILITY, Nathan D. Parks
Beyond the Exam Score: An Examination of the Kenyan Education System, Its Reforms, Inefficiencies, and Impact on Individuals and Society at Large, Olivia M. Pederson
Lighting up the Cell: Developing a Luminescent Lanthanide Probe for Detecting RNAs, Jonathan Savell
Changing The Narrative: A Meta-Analysis of Narrative Therapy and It's Changes Since Inception, Elijah J. Shriner
Sexy in Scrubs: How the Media and Cultural Perception of Nurses Leads to Sexual Harassment and Violence in the Workplace, Elizabeth S. Stehle
The Sound of Music: Why do humans find enrichment in music while non-human primates do not?, Sonetta Im Ty
Honors Projects from 2024
Music Creation: A look into the process and products of organizing and performing a concert of arrangements and original musical works, Cameron Beers
The Effect of Defendant Gender in Violent Crime Sentencing: An Analysis of Federal Crime Sentences, Emily Blue
Starbucks Workers United and the Future of American Labor Activism, Sophia Drake Braymen
"Can you just speak normal?": How language summer camps affect White children's participation in the linguistically, culturally, and racially diverse United States, Mary M. Bruggeman
Demystifying the "Social Media Algorithm": The Legacy of Surveillance Advertising and Platformization, Garrett Crites
“The Hero of My Own Life”: The Purpose of the Fictional Self in the Life Writings of Mary Wollstonecraft and Charles Dickens, Jessica M. Day
Defining Healthy Love: A Narrative Review of Purity Culture's Impact on Healing from Sexual Assault, Gloria L. Diehl
“I’m not your friend”: Content type influence on parasocial relationship formation on YouTube, Sage E. Driscoll
Salmon mislabeling rates uncovered in restaurants and grocery stores in Seattle, Jewel L. Garcia and Jewel L. Garcia
Tied Together With Ticketmaster: Analyzing The Exclusive Contracts Of Ticketmaster Through The Lens of Antitrust Scholars, Jenna Gillam
Analysis of Green Data Center Efforts and Energy Usage, Dillon J. Goicoechea
An Anglican-Episcopal Theology of Desire & Prayer Book Liturgical Asceticism, Kyler F. Granados
Human Health and Outdoor Lighting: A Multidisciplinary Systematic Review of Current Research, Kellie Joy Grover
The Translingual College Classroom: Repurposing Essays for Inclusivity and Practicality, Maxwell P. Hayden
EARTH/UNEARTH [on the Nature of G-d and Creation], Macs Herdrich
Resilience in Refugee Youth: A Review of Contributing Factors and Potential Barriers, Anna J. Kreisman
A Survey of Practical Haskell: Parsing, Interpreting, and Testing, Parker Landon
Deciphering Authority: The Balance of Powers in Local Government, Rayna Martin
The Perpetual Foreigner: Modeling Cycles of Asian American Discrimination, Philip Min
Rwandan High School Students' Productive ideas About How the Sun Affects Earth's Climate, Esther Mutesi
Intimacy Without The Chance Of Heartbreak For Richer, For Poorer, In Sickness & In Health, Cynthia Nguyen
Past Experiences and Current Attitudes: Is Everything Connected?, Miranda Oddy
reaping in the dark, Rae Perez
'I didn't know what sex was': Effects of Christian Youth Group Involvement on Women's Sexuality in Adulthood, Aubrey K. Rhoadarmer
Anion Binding and Sensing Using Cs124-Sensitized Luminescent Terbium Complexes, Alessandro Rizzi, Minhee Lee, Wade Grabow, Olivia Brooks, Helena Nguyen, Neal Yakelis, and Clarisse VanderFeltz
A Romantic Austen: The Discordant Feminist Discourse of Adapting Sense and Sensibility, Evan Teigland
Helping the Home Cook: How Unsupervised Machine Learning Can Prevent Food Waste, Ryan B. Watson
Honors Projects from 2023
How Alzheimer's Disease is Taking Over (Your Brain), Hoda AbouEich
IDENTITY AND BODY IMAGE: HOW BICULTURAL INFLUENCES AFFECT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE AND DISORDERED EATING IN KOREAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS, Abigail G. Brown
A QUEER HISTORY OF SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: RECONCILIATION AND RECOVERY IN ORAL HISTORY MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL COLLECTION CREATION, Rebecca Cavanaugh
grief web, Patricia M. FONG
"A Shadow of a Magnitude": The Parthenon Marbles Through the Eyes of Keats and Byron, Annie Griffin
Speaking as the Romans Do: Potential Effects of New Findings on Foreign Language Proficiency and Expatriate-HCN Relationships for Future Research, Annelise Hoover
Humanity in Animals: A Exploration of the Complexity of Elephants as Intellectual Beings, Xing Z. Huang
Using Deep Neural Networks to Classify Astronomical Images, Andrew D. Macpherson
WHAT OUR HEARTS CRAVE FOR: AN EXAMINATION OF THE PARADOXICAL ATTRACTION TO DANTE’S INFERNO, Ketzalt E. Marquez
Human Trafficking and Nutrition: Assessing the Effects of U.S. Public Policy on Food Security and the Malnourishment of Refugees, Moxie R. McCandless
Understanding the Beauty of Mathematics by Composing Claude Debussy's Syrinx into Mathematical Equations, Mackenzi Mehlberg
Exploring the Intersectionality Between Homelessness and Addiction: A Review, Antonia Miranda
A Community Centered by Love: A Linguistic Approach to the Theology of Paul's Instruction for the Corinthian Body, Cadence Moore
MORE THAN TEXT: EXAMINING EMBODIED PRACTICE IN THE CLASSROOM, Susan Nash
Flat Plate Solar Collector for a Tiny Home, Clarice Leslie Nicholas
Epidemiology of Island and Mainland Populations: How Does Culture Influence Health Risk Factors Of Non-Communicable, Chronic, and Metabolic Diseases?, Jake Thomas D. Palisoc
Creating Project Contrast: a Video Game exploring Consciousness and Qualia, Pierce Papke
Abort the Court? How abortion jurisprudence has highlighted questions surrounding the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, Junia E. Paulus
BASEBALL’S EVOLUTION IN THE 21ST CENTURY, AND HOW IT EXEMPLIFIES HUMAN RESPONSE TO CHANGE, Jonathan Sharpe
Survivor Accounts of Sexual Violence in the Holocaust and Rwandan Genocide: A Comparative History, Marisa Silva
The Students for Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College: The Case Against Affirmative Action from the Asian American Perspective, Annabelle Mae Sukin
Digital Masculinity: An Analysis of How Masculine Values are Manifested in Online Spaces, Catherine Thompson
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL STRESS-INDUCED RESPONSES OF DOGS DURING VETERINARY EXAMINATIONS, Jessica Ellen Vester