Recent Senior Projects

Class of 2019

• Lauren Bruneau "Leaving the Academic World: Experiences of Retired Professors"
• Harrison Hoffman "Small College, Small vapes, Big Habits: An Investigation of the Factors that Drive Smoking and vaping throughout College at a small Midwestern University"
• Grace Gibson "Gender Attitudes in Contact Improvisation"
• Samantha Headington "Effigy Mounds Aerial Photography Project"
• Emily Linder "The Tipping Point Perceptions of Stress Among Undergraduate Students"

Class of 2018

• Jay Puffer "Geophysical Investigations at Site 13AM18a, Allamakee County, Iowa"
• Nicole Weber "The Social Experience of Anxiety"
• Madeline Knutson "Native American Representations in Northeast Iowa "
• Alison Gau "How the Concept of Motherhood is Shaped by Breastfeeding in the United States "

Class of 2017

• Maxwell Rooney "Down the Hill and Back Again: An Examination of Possible Causes of Lower Cervical Spine Deformation in Central Mexico"
• Cailin Higgins "Technology, Religion and Ethics Within the U.S. Healthcare System"
• Joy Gnade "Food Labels and Personal Values"
• Evie Iralu "Fear as a Way of Life:The Risk of Sexual Violence and Women’s Coping Strategies"

Class of 2016

• Amerman, Rachel. "Cross-Cultural Integration: The Relationship Between International and Domestic Students at Luther College"
• Anderson, Brittany. "Global Epidemics and Local Solutions: An Examination of the Ebola Outbreaks of 2014-2015 in Sierra Leone and 2000-2001 in Uganda"
• Kemp, Max. "The Disappeared Ones: Confronting the Memory of Pinochet's Chile"
• Kinley, Taylor. "Reflections of Social Change: Hmong Refugees and Their Story Cloths"
  
• Melby, Cole. "Effective Models of Healthcare Intervention: Anthropological Approaches Giving 'Teeth' to Community-Based Public Health Initiatives"
• Orngard, Solveig. "Finding Sanctuary in Song: Anthropological Perspectives of Healing through Community Singing in Decorah"
  
• Stenson, Tia. "Identity Beyond the Grave: A Study of Ethnicity in Winneshiek County, Iowa Cemeteries"
• Wolter, Katie. "Against Consumer Culture: Anarchism and the Gift Economy"

Class of 2015

• Burreson, Noelle. "Swearing and Religion: An Ethnographic Study of Swearing Among Luther College Students"
• Rowse, Hannah. "Hippy Feet: An Analysis of the Barefoot Lifestyle in American Society"
• Williams, Kelsey. "Going Green: Luther College's Impact on the Shopping Habits of Students"
• Zylstra, Annie. "Radical Inhabitance: Recreating Resilient Human Culture in the Midst of Global Ecological Crisis"

Class of 2014

• Broner, Matthias. "Ethnography by Design: An Analysis of Anthropology Fostering Creativity"
• Cleven, Phil. "A Metric Analysis of Stone Axe Efficiency"
• Gove, Katharyn. "Symbols in Banquet Rituals: 'Private' Events at the Hotel Winneshiek"
• Henderson, Alec. "The Archived Self: Translation of Offline Identity to Online Social Networking Sites"
• Landgraf Jess. "Organized Atheism Creating Community" (Honors)
• Mastel, Maia. "Influences on Nursing Home Selections"
• McMullan. Delaney, "An Anthropology of Art: The Palestinian Art of the Israeli Security Fence"
• Morehead, Kathryn. "Malone Terrace: 13AM6"
• Stippich, Lisa. "Cultural Patrimony: Legal and Ethical Perspectives"
• Urspringer, Ashley. "Disciplined to Forgive: An Amish Model for Raising Children Equipped with Grace" 
• Waites, Andrew. "Corporate Social Responsibility: How Companies Obtain Social License and How Their Efforts Affect Local Populations"
• Wetzel, Perran. "The Evolution of Homo Sapiens: How Geographical Variation May Determine Our Next Stage in Evolution"

Class of 2013

• Hodapp, Rachel. "Female Circumcision: The Sociocultural Influences among the Maasai Tribe in Northern Tanzania"
• Kampa, Benjamin. "Plant vs. Animals: A Comparison of Nettle and Sinew Native American Bowstrings"
• Koivunen, Lynda. "Repatriation and the Scientific Study of Native American Remains"
• Kubicek, Cassandra. "Inside the World of Autism: Exploring What Autism Means for Those Diagnosed and the World Around Them"
• Lehmann, Kirk. "More than the Java Jive: Coffeehouses in Decorah"
• Myott, Hannah. "Human Endurance Running Capabilities and their Effect on Human Evolution"
• Nagel, Clare. "Understanding and Managing Reproductive Trends Among Non-Majority Muslim Population"
• Ramos, Emily. "So Close, So Far: Cell Phones in the Making of Our Relationships"
• Rouse, Erin. ""Sluts Die First": Gender and Mortality in Horror Films"
• Walter, Julia. "Belief and Healing During the Black Death"
• Webb, Sarah. "Exploring Egalitarian Relationships: Availability of Male Contraceptives Allow Women and Men to Share Reproductive Responsibility"

Class of 2012

• Bottem, Katelyn. "Breaking the Development Barriers: Women's Empowerment through Microfinance"
• Clark, Alex. "Cultural Influences in the Academic Success for African American Students at Luther College"
• Harper, Meredith. "Shipwreck Archaeology"
• Hill, Michaela. “The Contra Dance: A Cultural and Functional Analysis of the Reemerging Country Dance Phenomenon”
• Irish, Mark. “Lithic Raw Material Sourcing and Exchange Patterns at the Late Prehistoric Hartley Fort Site”
• Jackson, Jorie. "Gentrification, the View from Above and Below: A Case Study on Detroit"
• Johnson, Brittany. "American Southwest Puebloan Policy and the Impact of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act"
• Kline, Molly. "Children and Nutritional Growth: The Effects of the Industrial Revolution (850-1850 BC)"
• Lynch, Ellen. "Reconstructing Cultural Change in Ancient Societies: Romanization of Gaul"
• Nielson, Kristy. "Unraveling the Debate about Whether Language Conditions Culture or Culture Conditions Language"
• Rieffer, Amy. "Analysis of Exchange Networks in Iron Age Levant: A Study Based on Pottery Diffusion"
• Rosell, Aaron. "Goods and Services: Yanomami Implications on Preconception, Exchange, and the Anthropological Ethic"
• Sancken, Alison. "Children on a Journey: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth in the United States"
• Stockberger, Ashley. "The Mystery Cult of the Great Gods at Samothrace"
• Thompson, Sonja. “Where Does One Draw the Line When Doing Participant Observation? Participant Observation as Anthropological Method via the Readings of Tobias Schneebaum's Professional and Personal Life”

Class of 2011

• Johnson, Kia. "Maasai Traditional Medicine: Preserving Traditional Knowledge" (Honors)
• Anderson, Molly. "Human Rights Abuse in the Changing Culture of Dubai, United Arab Emirates"
• Ashok, Aparna. "Active Compassion: The Journey to Making an Anthropological Documentary"
• Baumann, Lauren. "An Analysis of Language Development Theories"
• Campbell, Timothy. "The Head, the Heart, and the Hands: An Ethnographic Exploration of Relationships Between Administration and Employees in Community Aid, a Rural Nonprofit Organization"
• Christianson, Mara. "American Culture: Its Effect on Women through the Media"
• Crowns, Catherine. "Punk and Riot Grrrl: Youths Trying to Change Culture"
• Horner, Kimberly. "Modern Love Stories: Exploring Hook-Up Culture and Perceptions of Love Among Young Adults"
• Hruby, Dustin. "More Than a Hobby: Disc Golf in Decorah"
• Klompenhower, Ryan. "13WH8: A Look at the Chronology through the Analysis of Identifiable Projectile Points and Patterns of Lithic Raw Material Usage"
• Kruse, Adam. "Increasing the Understanding of Fatherlessness in the United States"
• Mannerberg, Nathan. "The Hay Market: Forging Community, Spanning Age and Social Strata"
• Morris, Anna. "The Art of Death: As Seen in Today's World and that of the Aztec and Mayan People"
• Nowosatka, Brian. "NAGPRA: Revisiting a Legal Understanding and Its Implications on the Future of Repatriation"
• Ryan, Rebekah. "Retaining Traditions, Embracing Innovations: The Presentation of American Indian Identity in Female Contest Powwow"
• Hall, Sylvie. "Maasai Traditional Medicine: Preserving Traditional Knowledge" (Honors)
• Hecht, David. "Acknowledging Spiritual Realities: Ecological Knowledge, Cultural Connections, and Spiritual Agency in Dai Theravada Buddhism"
• Willis, Rebekka. "Free Current: Off the Grid in Decorah, Iowa"

Class of 2010

• Darus, Stephanie. "Snitching: The Importance of Loyalty in Contemporary African American Communities"
• Hanssen, Sara. "Holistic Healing: Importance of the Traditional for Warriors Suffering in Post-apartheid South Africa"
• Wolf, Jilian. "A Place Apart: An Anthropological Look at Christian Summer Camps"