Capstone Day is a Scripps tradition and permanent feature on the spring calendar. On this special day the entire Scripps community comes together in celebration of the senior class’ accomplishments.
Its centerpiece, the Mary Wig Johnson Senior Forum, is intended to foster collaboration among students and faculty across the disciplines and to enhance the intellectual life of the College.
Attentive to the diversity of student interest and accomplishment, the Forum will be held both in-person and virtually with live Q & A
Scripps College Capstone Day 2023
All Capstone Sessions and Athletics Posters on Alumni Field
Athletics Posters in Outdoor Classroom #2
View the Senior thesis Art exhibition in Williamson Gallery until 5:00 p.m.
Speaker and TA check-in; treats, coffee, tea; afternoon snacks in Outdoor Classroom #1
A Sessions - 9:45-10:45 a.m.
A1: Media Studies
Outdoor Classroom #3
Classroom #3 Zoom link
Moderator: Kim-Trang Tran
Capstone TA: Hannah Cohen
Alia Biswas: “The Burden of Artificiality: Always the Servant, Never the Patron.” Media Studies
Mena Dolinh: “I’ll Find You in the Future: The Vietnam War, Technological Remembrance, and the Refugee Body.” Media Studies, Asian American Studies.
Emma Duggleby: “Welcome to Zion Martian Park.” Media Studies and Environmental Analysis
A2: Writing and Rhetoric
Outdoor Classroom #5
Classroom #5 Zoom link
Moderator: Kim Drake
Capstone TA: Elianna Schmike
Clare Martin: “The Chatbot Challenge: ChatGPT’s Role in the Liberal Arts.” Writing & Rhetoric
Jack Friedman: “The Ways I’m A Fraud.” Writing and Rhetoric
Claire Benjamin: “Joy: An Exploration.” Writing and Rhetoric, Physics
Amelie Lee: “How to grow up: Lessons from loss Fraud.” Writing and Rhetoric, Politics Minor
A3:
Economics and Mathematical Economics
Outdoor Classroom #6
Classroom #6 Zoom link
Moderator: Patrick Van Horn
Capstone TA: Kia Kellenberger
Claudia Chin: “Heaven? Is It Worth It? The Effect of Belief on Religious Participation and Signaling.” Mathematical Economics, Music Minor
Zoe Schmitt: “The Impact of 2005-2017 HOV Lane Incentives on Hybrid Electric Vehicle Adoption.” Mathematical Economics
Katie Eu: “Conspicuous Wellness: How Acquired Identities Affect Conspicuous Consumption.” Economics & Sociology
Kayla Solomon: “Counties as Catalysts for Change: Exploring the Economic Costs of Child Maltreatment though its Connection to Incarceration.” Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, with Psychology Minor
A4:
Environmental Analysis and Environmental Policy
Outdoor Classroom #7
Classroom #7 Zoom link
Moderator:
Capstone TA: Abigail Oswald
Isabel Evans: “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: Environmental Education Curriculum at Federal Indian Schools as a Conduit for Colonial Violence and the Native Resistance and Resilience with which it was Met.” Environmental Analysis, English & Philosophy
Anna Reitman: “Variation in Soil-mediated Drought Response Traits Between Sympatric Species of Mimulus.” Environmental Analysis
Chanah Haigh: “Concrete Everywhere: A Project Based Analysis of the Unequal Distribution of Warehouses in Fontana.” Environmental Analysis, English Minor
Isabella Brusco: “The Prison Industrial Complex: A Microcosm of Environmental Justice as a Human Rights Issue.” Environmental Policy, Legal Studies Minor
A5: Anthropology and STS
Outdoor Classroom #9
Classroom #9 Zoom link
Moderator: Lara Deeb
Capstone TA: Cara Allen
Emily Radner: “Reframing Type One Diabetes Care: Everyday Practices at Bearskin Meadow Diabetes Camp.” Anthropology
Georgia Bates: “The Yak is Back: Creating Community on the Digital Bathroom Stall. Anthropology
Marina Riad: “Desalination and Development: Locating the Missing Masses in Dakar’s Water Network. ” STS and French, Media Studies Minor
B Sessions – 11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
B1: Politics, IR, and FGSS
Outdoor Classroom #3
Classroom #3 Zoom link
Moderator: Nancy Neiman
Capstone TA: Hannah Cohen
Lucia Stein: “Abortion and Nation: The Opposing Trajectories of Abortion Rights in Ireland and the United States.” Politics, American Studies Minor
Julia Cox: “Too ‘Blonde’: Fashion, Femininity, and the Female Lawyer in Film.” Politics and Film Studies, Philosophy Minor
Abigail Pugh: “For Solidarity, Not the State: The Erasure [and Power] of Filipino and Chicano Solidarity Organizing in the 1965 Delano Grape Strike.” Asian American Studies and Politics
Isa Hoffman: “Queer Bedtime Stories.” FGSS and Politics
B2: Writing and Rhetoric
Outdoor Classroom #5
Classroom #5 Zoom link
Moderator: Glenn Simshaw
Capstone TA: Eliana Schimke
Hezekiah Smithstein: “My Backyard Garden.” Writing and Rhetoric, Environmental Analysis
Molly Yeselson: “From Prison Zooms to Hospital Rooms: Unmasking the Positives of Remote Education.” Writing and Rhetoric
Seerat Sandhu: “‘Sorry, Not Sorry’: An Administrative Response Towards the International Students at Scripps.” Economics, Writing & Rhetoric
Annika Johnson: “Of Monsters and Men: Deconstructing Patriarchal Monsters While Redefining
“Family” in Seville”, Writing & Rhetoric, Spanish Minor
B3: Economics
Outdoor Classroom #6
Classroom #6 Zoom link
Moderator: Patrick Van Horn
Capstone TA: Georgia Bates
Hannah Fowler: “Uncovering the Effects of the Freedman’s Bank Failure on Personal Property: An Analysis of Newly Obtained Data from Kentucky and Georgia.” Economics
Isabel Dhillon: “The Impact of Prison Closures on Local Economies.” Economics
Elaine Yang: “A Study on Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank and the Ready-Made Garment Industry: The Effects of Rising Industrialization on the Reliance of Microfinance.” Economics
Lucy Bloomstran: “Why Have There Been No Rich Women Artists? Examining the Gender Price Discount in the Contemporary Auction Market for Early 20th Century Mexican Avant-Garde Art.”
Economics
B4: Philosophy
Outdoor Classroom #7
Classroom #7 Zoom link
Moderator: Rivka Weinberg
Capstone TA: Abigail Oswald
Ishta Nabakka: Engaging with Others: Understanding, Responding to, and Preventing Dehumanization Among the Unhoused.” Philosophy and Humanities: Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture
Chigozie Obiegbu: “Hermeneutical Injustice and Dynamic Nominalism.” Hermeneutical Injustice and Dynamic Nominalism
Grace Sauers: Dementia and the Fragility of Self: Navigating Ethical Considerations in Medical Decision-Making.” Philosophy (Bioethics), Politics Minor
B5: Environmental Analysis
Outdoor Classroom #9
Classroom #9 Zoom link
Moderator: Colin Robins
Capstone TA: Carah Allen
Paola Giron-Carson: “Quantifying Pomona College’s Tree Carbon Storage.” Environmental Analysis
Medha Gelli: “Environmental Issues with Carbon Capture Storage in the Central Valley.”
Environmental Analysis policy track, Data Science Minor
12:00-1:30 Lunch
Malott Commons – Lunch includes chocolate bread pudding!
C1: Psychology and Legal Studies
Outdoor Classroom #3
Classroom #3 Zoom link
Moderator: Jennifer Ma
Capstone TA: Kia Kellenberger
C Sessions – 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Jocelyn Chang: “Effects of Child Sleep, Maternal Sleep, and Covid-19 Related Stressors on Maternal Stress.” Psychology
Isabel Dhillon: “Measuring the Influence of Personal Narrative in Changing Perceptions of Prisoners.”
Psychology
Tanvi Krishnan: “Perceived Coronavirus Threat and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Expressive Suppression.” Psychology
Hannah Lak: “When Women Lead with Magic: The Impact of Gender on Perceptions of Charismatic Leadership.” Psychology
Jenna Nelson: “Kids in Court: Race, Emotion, and Child Witness Testimony.” Psychology, Legal Studies
Minor
Isha Singh: “Music Therapy: Structural Music Modulation on Reducing Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” Psychology
C2: Dance, Ancient Studies/Classics, and Humanities
Outdoor Classroom #5
Classroom #5 Zoom link
Moderators: David Roselli & Kevin Williamson
Capstone TA: Ruti Isimbi
Kesi Jackson: “Poppies Rest in Bountiful Dissolution.” Dance, Portuguese Minor
Anna Horne: “Markers of Community Dance and Their Employment in Current Modern and Contemporary Dance Spaces.” Dance
Mary Iris Allison: “A Wrath That Remembers: A Feminist Companion to the Agamemnon.”
Ancient Studies
Maya Lozinsky: “Baba Yaga: an Ecofeminist Analysis of the Witch of the Woods.” Humanities, Spanish Minor
C3: Biochemistry and Physics
Outdoor Classroom #6
Classroom #6 Zoom link
Moderator: Katie Purvis-Roberts
Capstone TA: Georgia Bates
Katie Hansen: “Biogeography of Special Metabolite Produced by Ant-Associated Bacteria.” Biochemistry
Carson McVay: “Determining if Artificial Neural Networks Trained to Classify MNIST Digits are Poised at Criticality.” Physics, Math Minor
Gabriella Seifert: “LASERS!!!” Physics
C4: Mathematics and Computer Science
Outdoor Classroom #7
Classroom #7 Zoom link
Moderator:
Capstone TA: Abigail Oswald
Hena Ahmed: “Advancing Methods in Infectious Disease Models: Incorporating Structural Causes.” Mathematics and Computer Science
Lily Natasha Wartman: “Knot Theory: Exploring the Relationship Between the Alexander Polynomial and Alexander Tribracket Knot Invariants.” Mathematics, Art Minor
Mariam Abu-Adas: “Partially Filled Latin Squares.” Mathematics
Kaia Smith: “A Temperature-Dependent Mathematical Model of Malaria.” Mathematics and Physics
C5: Biology
Outdoor Classroom #9
Classroom #9 Zoom link
Moderator:
Capstone TA: Kate Katen
Sofia Markiewicz: “Geographic and Environmental Patterns in Infection by Oyster Macroparasites Along the Georgia Coast.” Biology
Florence Pun: “Combatting Bacterial Infections: The Efficacy of Poly-gamma-glutamic Acid on the Prevention of Nasopharyngeal Infections among Individuals with Cleft Lip and Palate.” Biology
Charlotte Meigs: “Factors in Survival and Outcome of Costa Rican Wildlife Rehabilitation.” Biology
Juliette Rault-Wang: “Progressive Overload Training Does Not Affect Behavioral Performance or Muscle Stiffness in Mice with a Large Deletion to the PEVK Region in Titin.” Biology, French and Francophone Studies Minor
C6: Music
Balch Auditorium
Moderator: Anne Harley
Amelia Huchley: “Love, Hysteria, and Gender in Western Vocal Performance.” Music (voice performance)
Jeannette Hunker: “Excerpts from Jeannette Hunker’s Senior Recital.” Music (voice performance) & History
D Sessions – 2:45-3:45 p.m.
D1: Politics and IR
Outdoor Classroom #3
Classroom #3 Zoom link
Moderator: Sumita Pahwa
Capstone TA: Nana Nyarkoah Amponsah
Madeline Levine: “The Russia-Ukraine War: The Second Cold War?” Political Science
Kathryn Parker: “The United States’ Stringent Sovereignty: How Foreign Policy Framing Prioritizes Security Over Human Rights.” Politics and Psychology
Andie Parry: “Regime Durability and Quasi-Rentierism: Strategies of the Jordanian Elite PostArab Spring.” Middle East and North Africa Studies, Political Studies
D2: History
Outdoor Classroom #5
Classroom #5 Zoom link
Moderator: Corey Tazzara
Capstone TA: Ruti Isimbi
Maya Elise Pal: “Picturing India: Artistic and Knowledge Production in the Impey Album.”
History D3: Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Spanish, and American Studies
Outdoor Classroom #6
Classroom #6 Zoom link
Moderator: Carmen Sanjuan Pastor & Cindy Forster
Capstone TA: Georgia Bates
Mica Barrett: “(Re)Constructing National Memory in Post-Dictatorial Chile through Patricio
Guzman’s ‘The Cordillera of Dreams’ (2019).” Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Guadalupe Lopez: “Feminicidios en México.” Spanish, Biology Minor
Katalina Rose Peterson: “We Can Do This / Juntos Sí Podemos: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Government-Sponsored Covid-19 Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in English and Spanish.”
Spanish and Linguistics
Sarah Weaver: “Topographies and Counter Topographies of Social Reproduction at People’s Park.” American Studies
Julia Thomason: “Patterns of Profit: Understanding the 2013 Chicago Public School Closures.”
American Studies
D4: Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, and Engineering & Design
Outdoor Classroom #7
Classroom #7 Zoom link
Moderator: Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert
Capstone TA: Abigail Oswald
Madeline Callan: “Expression of hTyr in Drosophila as a Novel Model of Parkinson’s Disease.”
Neuroscience
Julienne Ho: “Building a Safety Case for Mars Sample Return.” Engineering & Design
Violet Clark: “Investigation into the Stress-Related Localization of RNA Binding Protein Ssd1 to the Mitochondria in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.” Molecular Biology
D5: English and Creative Writing
Outdoor Classroom #9
Classroom #9 Zoom Link
Moderator: Tom Koenigs
Capstone TA: Kate Katen
Ingrid Bergill: “Social Sacrifice: The Women of Virginia Woolf.” English, Classical Studies
Isabel Evans: “Witness for Her”: The Vanderbilt Variant of ‘Further in Summer than the Birds’ and the Stakes of Transcribing Emily Dickinson’s Manuscripts for Publication.” English & Philosophy
Alana Stallings: “Guidebook on Making a House a Home.” English (creative writing), Media Studies Minor
Grace Lyde: “The Unwatched Pot.” English (creative writing)
Anna Jones: “An Exploration of Race, Intimacy, and Desire in a Five Part Short Story Collection.” English (creative writing), American Studies and Media Studies Minors
Isabel Evans: “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: Environmental Education Curriculum at Federal Indian Schools as a Conduit for Colonial Violence and the Native Resistance and Resilience with which It was Met.” Environmental Analysis, English & Philosophy
D6: Art
Williamson Gallery
Moderator: Aly Ogasian
Vivian Monteiro: “Visualizing Imaginary Places: from Margaret Cavendish to the Grass-Green World.” Art and Media Studies Dual Major
Sophie Mannes: “Mini Wardrobe Showroom.” Studio Art, Media Studies Minor
Olivia Wiebe: “Rabbit Hole.” Studio Art, Legal Studies
Charlotte Meigs: “Factors in Survival and Outcome of Costa Rican Wildlife Rehabilitation.” Art and Biology
Sophia Frye: “Women’s Work with Wool in Fairy Tales: From Baroque Text to Textile Craft.” Art and Italian Studies
Senior Athletes
Taylor Arakaki
Jessi Beyer
Mischa Brown
Lucy Bloomstran
Caroline DelVecchio
Isabel Dhillon
Bella Godes
Annie Johnson
Megan Maley
Athena Manthoulli
Carson McVay
Wendy Wambo Wendja
Olina Wong