Self-Designed Majors Honors Papers

Moments of Freedom: Revolutionary Art from China, South Africa and Tunisia

Ikram Lakhdhar — Fri, 31 May 2013 07:33:23 PDT

Parade: Explorations in Cross-Narrative Creative Writing

Shannon Keating — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:23:42 PDT

The Myths of Muslim Women Liberation: Why Islamists Resist the Western Concept of Universal Women’s Rights

Justine O'Sullivan — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:23:38 PDT

Sex Education Reform and its Effect on Argentine Society

Alyssa Grabfield — Tue, 31 May 2011 11:19:55 PDT

A Partial History of Connecticut College

Lilah Raptopoulos — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:39:41 PDT

Pollution and Public Health in a Shrinking World: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations as a Paradigm for Emergent Needs in Environmental and Public Health Policy

Leland Stillman — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:40:16 PDT

Environmental factors play a major part in human health. Environmental pollutants are often as poisonous to humans as the environment. Presently, much time and energy is dedicated to keeping pollution apart from human society, with varying success. But as global population densities rise, current levels of pollution will become inviable due to public health concerns. An emergent example of this is in the concentration of livestock operations. Recent changes in the structure of U.S. hog farming have resulted in an industry-wide shift from small or medium production farms to high capacity, “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFO). These operations have become the subject of intense debate due to air and water pollution, including odor, that can be nuisances or outright public health threats to their communities. In addition, the quantities of animal wastes produced and seasonally sequestered by these operations can be accidentally released via natural processes like floods, often with catastrophic results. Finally, the animals live in conditions of high stress and poor hygiene that are conducive to disease and so most operations therefore feed their animals antibiotics on a regular basis. Recent studies have found increased incidence of antibiotic resistance resulting from this chronic application of antibiotics. Current regulations have failed to resolve these problems, and in 2003 the American Public Health Association issued a call for a moratorium on CAFO construction. The purpose of this paper is to explore economic and legal solutions to this harmful shift in industry structure.

Understanding Video Games

Nicholas Cameron Edwards — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:04:46 PDT

In this thesis, I attempt to offer an introduction to the medium of video games. I begin with the seemingly simple, but actually quite impossible, task of defining games, drawing upon, but ultimately rejecting, a number of proposed definitions. I then attempt to explain the complicated nature of the medium and its equally complicated relationships to other media in light of Roland Barthes' theory of the Death of the Author, and I conclude that games are fundamentally new and worthwhile. Having made the abstract argument that the medium is capable of producing art, I acknowledge Roger Ebert's point that it has not yet done so, and explore the obstacles preventing game art. Drawing upon the theories of Raph Koster and Jason Rohrer, I propose a revised philosophy of game-making that seeks to unlock art in a new and unique form. I conclude by pointing out the multitude of other questions that I have left unanswered, and with the belief that these questions are worthy of critical attention.