The academic year is wrapping up, which for many seniors means reminiscing around Athens, taking graduation pictures and soaking in every moment left of college. For Honors Tutorial College students and graduate students, this is when they are presenting their theses and dissertations, projects that consumed their last year of education.
According to Ohio University, every HTC student must complete a thesis or professional project by the end of their senior year to show an original contribution in their field upon graduation. Each student chooses a faculty mentor to serve as their thesis or project advisor to help them throughout the process.
All HTC seniors have vastly different projects that help them stand out in their desired career paths. Stan Yerrick is a senior studying political science, and their thesis project was about the intersection between those working in academia and involvement in political activism, specifically in the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.
“The thesis idea came from, actually, a protest that I was helping organize last May with Students for Justice in Palestine,” Yerrick said. “And that day during the protest, I saw faculty there, and I saw my professors and other professors there, and that began my research question … What were they risking by being there? What motivated them to be there?”
Anne Mathew, a senior studying neuroscience, is also in HTC. Her thesis analyzed data from worms and flies being sent to space to see how those organisms react to microgravity. Mathew has been intrigued with space biology since her first one-on-one tutorial class her freshman year with her faculty advisor.
“I learned a lot about astronaut cognition and how bodies change in space and how your brain changes in space, and I thought that was so fascinating,” Mathew said.
This month, HTC students have been presenting their theses to field experts who present feedback and grade the project, determining if a student can graduate. Both Yerrick and Mathew shared the fulfillment of finishing such a long project and presenting it in front of family, friends and mentors.
“I’ve been doing research since freshman year of college, so that’s been a very formative part of my college career, and being able to have one big final ending on Thursday when I present is very exciting,” Mathew said.
One main purpose of completing a thesis is to use that research in future career paths. Yerrick and Mathew will both attend graduate school after completing their undergrads, Yerrick at George Washington University and Mathew at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I definitely want to bring the stories I've learned into these new spaces that I'll be entering with my master's program,” Yerrick said. “And I hope to bring that humility that the scholars I interviewed possess into my research and not give up my own activist endeavors for the sake of objectivity.”
Not only do HTC undergrads present theses at the end of their senior years, but graduate students present master’s theses at the end of their respective programs.
Chris Guder is the subject librarian for education and the head of learning services at OU, and he is on the mentoring side of theses and dissertations. Guder assists master's and PhD students with their projects’ literature review sections to ensure they can effectively build their arguments.
Guder has also sat on five dissertation committees and shared how rewarding it is to learn from those students and provide research help.
“You're interacting with someone's huge point in their life, and it's this product that they've spent a lot of time getting ready for with their previous education,” Guder said. “I think it's really rewarding to be able to be a resource for them.
HTC and graduate students are all finishing up their education and presenting original research; to friends, family, professors, faculty advisors and the students themselves, this fulfilling experience will showcase the years of dedication and perseverance from fellow students.
