Honors senior thesis, revisited

Posted on: June 3, 2026; Updated on: June 3, 2026
By Valerie Weingart, weingarv@mailbox.sc.edu

To highlight the ongoing impact of the South Carolina Honors College senior thesis, we reached out to some of our featured alumni. You might recognize these alumni from recent stories and announcements (and if you don’t, we’ve linked their stories here, too). Read on to discover how their theses are still relevant to their lives and careers and to learn more about their current intellectual curiosities.

Jump to featured alumni

Juan Alvarado (‘24 elementary education)

Senior thesis: Adapting to the Post-Pandemic Classroom: A Case Study Analyzing the Academic Performance of a Magnet Elementary School During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession?

My thesis relates closely to my current profession as an elementary school teacher. I teach third grade, and many of my students began school around the time the pandemic started. Because of that, technology has become much more central in the classroom. It is no longer seen as a distraction but as an important instructional tool.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

I would focus more on the quality of reading education in rural elementary schools in the Midlands, using SC READY reading scores. I grew up in Columbia and attended urban schools, so I have seen how educational quality can vary depending on the community a school is situated in. After graduating from USC, I moved to Fairfield County and began teaching at a rural elementary school. The shift from interning in the capital city to teaching in a small rural community with a population of less than 300 was a big change for me. However, I quickly learned that Fairfield County School District (FCSD) works hard to recruit and retain quality teachers. If I were researching this topic now, I would focus on the importance of early reading instruction and advocate for the University of South Carolina to send more interns to rural districts like FCSD.

Bryarly Bishop (‘12 European studies)

Senior thesis: A Study in Podcast Producing, Directing, and Editing

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession?

My thesis focused on producing, directing and editing. I've continued to do all three, though my focus has expanded from audio only to the audiovisual. I've produced and directed multiple music videos that are still live on my YouTube channel, and my first short film will be premiering this year. Since writing my thesis, I’ve also gotten on the other side of the mic as a SAG-AFTRA actor. You can listen to my work on the award-winning dramatic horror podcast, “We’re Alive,” written and directed by KC Wayland, where I play a character named Dot. As an actor, I believe the experience in directing and editing has given me a better understanding of what may be most effective from moment to moment.

I count myself very lucky that my thesis directly relates to the career I've been pursuing ever since. The main takeaway, for me, was an in-depth understanding of the importance of preparation in creative projects. Flying by the seat of your pants is fun, but less effective than dialing in your vision for every note of the production. Secondly, a good team is essential. My recording engineer on the project, Sean Burns, was instrumental to our success. We're still in touch today.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

If I were transported back in time, I imagine I would do the same senior thesis again, though perhaps I would narrow my focus onto one production and polish it more instead of splitting my attentions. If I were a student again, at the age and point in my career I am now, I would like to do a sort of auteur-style attempt at a short film. I recently attended an exhibition that focused on the pre-production of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, and found myself considering what I would have done differently. Who knows — maybe I'll make my own Frankenstein adaptation one day!

Jeanne Britton (‘99 English)

Senior thesis: Oscar Wilde’s literary criticism in a collection of essays called Intentions

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession?

Yes! I’m a curator in the rare books library at USC, after getting a Ph.D. in comparative literature and teaching at other universities. I work in literary history and publish in literary studies, mostly related to eighteenth and early nineteenth century literature and culture. I also serve as a committee member for Honors thesis projects, which certainly makes my experience of writing a thesis relevant. More specifically, though, Wilde’s essays have come up again because he makes a comment about an artist I’m working on — Giovanni Battista Piranesi, whose complete works are at USC — and his possible influence on John Keats. In a recent article about Piranesi, I cite Wilde’s essay and use the same book that I used for my Honors thesis.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

Something that uses rare books. There are endless research topics in our collections I would’ve liked to explore — historical marginalia, early periodicals or book illustration — but I didn’t know undergraduates could use rare books when I was a student.

Christopher Carter (‘21 mechanical engineering)

Senior thesis: The Design, Construction, and Testing of a Vacuum Furnace Fixture for Holding Metallic Seals During Heat Treatment

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or your current profession?

Following the completion of my Honors thesis and graduation from USC, my next degree, a master’s in mechanical engineering at MIT, was similarly focused on heat treatments for metal parts. Though the specific applications and project details varied significantly, many parallels remain.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

As a mechanical engineering major at USC, the choices for my Honors senior thesis had been partially predetermined based on my engineering senior design project, which itself was based on the company or faculty sponsors for the class. Following some time as an undergraduate researcher in the metal additive manufacturing lab at USC, my work in the field of metal 3D printing has continued towards founding a company in that field. In that spirit, any senior thesis I now write would surely be related to the topic of metal 3D printing whether it be the optimization of printing parameters or the design of a new type of printing device.

Jamie Hammill (‘83 elementary education)

Senior thesis: Mepkin Abbey

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession? If not, what was a significant takeaway from the thesis-writing process?

My yearlong study of Mepkin Abbey was a formative experience that helped to reshape how I think about time, purpose and the relationship between work and contemplation. Immersing myself in the history and daily life of a Trappist monastery also required me to slow down, and it challenged me to engage with and respect a way of living that stands in quiet contrast to the fast pace and all‑consuming schedules of our modern lives. The historical dimension of this project also taught me the importance of stewardship and the value of leaving a legacy that extends well beyond any single generation. What began as a senior thesis ultimately became a lens through which I continue to reflect and shape my priorities and the example I strive to set for others.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

With personal family ties to the Village of Misenheimer (N.C.) dating to the late nineteenth century, I am interested in examining the convergence of three transformative forces which were central to American development during that era: transportation expansion, educational advancement and entrepreneurial enterprise. Misenheimer originated as the Gladstone railroad stop, a catalyst for regional tourism and economic activity that connected the community to broader commercial networks. This early transportation infrastructure intersected with the nearby Barringer Gold Mine, situating Misenheimer within North Carolina’s gold rush and broader economic aspiration. Soon thereafter, the establishment of the Mitchell Home School, later growing into Pfeiffer University, anchored the community in higher education and institutional permanence. So my study would explore how infrastructure, opportunity and intellectual investment collectively shaped the Village of Misenheimer’s foundation, transforming it into the purpose driven community which continues to be defined today by learning, progress and resilience.

Jeffrey “Buck” Jones (‘88 BARSC)

Senior thesis: A Study of Small Manufacturing Competitiveness

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession? If not, what was a significant takeaway from the thesis-writing process?

Absolutely not. But the process made me think about how to structure a study project (sending out questionnaires to targeted companies, analyzing the results, drawing conclusions) that proved invaluable in my professional career. Additionally, it was an opportunity to partner with my thesis director to “learn from an expert” about the subject matter.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

When I wrote my thesis in 1988 it was with an eye on starting my professional career. I wanted to work in the 1980s economy, preferably manufacturing management for a big multinational. But today, my topic would probably be something in which I could be a subject matter expert, so I would considerably narrow the topic to something I was passionate about. The 2026 version of me is obsessed with 21st century gay literature (perhaps doing a thematic comparison between André Aciman and Philippe Besson), or something more frivolous but thought provoking such as tracing the decline of civility in American society with the gradual erasure of uniforms for professionals and the blurring between the private and public persona.

Martha McCoy (‘17 biology)

Senior thesis: Genetic Variation in Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphatase in Colias meadii

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession? If not, what was a significant takeaway from the thesis-writing process?

My senior thesis involved specific research focused on gene variation in a butterfly species, so there's not a direct correlation between my senior thesis and my current work as a small animal veterinarian. However, I gained so much experience in the field of genetics, which I now apply on a regular basis. For example, many of the diseases we see in veterinary medicine have breed-associated risk. This experience also helped develop my ability to read and apply scientific literature.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

I think if I could do another senior thesis now, I would choose a zoonotic disease topic, such as leptospirosis or toxoplasmosis.

Nick Riley (‘12 chemistry and psychology)

Senior thesis: Understanding Beer: Investigating Taste Perception and its Basis in Chemical Composition

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or your current profession?

Yes! Well, in a way, yes. My thesis combined my chemistry and psychology majors to understand how molecular composition can translate to sensation and perception. I do not focus on the psychology world any more, nor am I involved with beer in any professional capacity, but the mass spectrometry I used to measure molecules for my senior thesis is now a key part of my daily life as a scientist and professor of chemistry at the University of Washington. My senior thesis helped me learn more about how liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), tandem mass spectrometry, and more broadly, chemical instrumentation, could be used to study biomolecules. I went on to earn my Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I specialized in mass spectrometry instrumentation. That expertise also led me to my postdoctoral work in 2022 Nobel Laurate Professor Carolyn Bertozzi's group at Stanford, where I used LC-MS to study glycosylated proteins. Fast forward to today, my group uses mass spectrometry every day to study how cell surfaces change in human disease progression, and many foundational lessons I learned about LC-MS appear in my senior thesis text! It is fun to think back to the learning I did in those SCHC days as I teach undergraduate courses and train graduate students in my research group.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

Given the opportunity for the thesis now, I would probably look to study the economic impacts of federal funding for STEM research on university, city and state ecosystems through the lens of USC, or perhaps at the scale of major flagship institutions across the country. The impressive return on investment of federal dollars to fund science is already resoundingly clear at the national scale, but I think it would be fascinating to provide some numbers and tangible examples of how these funds directly impact the communities connected to major research institutions like USC.

Jim Stuckey (‘89 journalism)

Senior thesis: I believe the senior thesis requirement was implemented after I graduated in December 1989, or perhaps they relieved some Honors College students from that requirement then due to the additional credit hour requirements of our respective majors. If I'm wrong about that, then I must have totally forgotten what my topic was!

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

If I could write a senior thesis now, I think I would write it on how choices by public policymakers affect economic disparities across generations, in hopes it would help reinforce the importance of voting in our elections!

Rachel Kathleen Strieber (‘21 multimedia journalism)

Senior thesis: Legal Research & Writing: An Undergraduate Pre-Law Course Design

Does your thesis topic relate to the work you’re currently doing or current profession?

Absolutely! Upon graduating from the SCHC in 2021, I attended law school at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. The first course I took in my first semester of law school was Legal Research & Writing I (of III). I fell in love with that course and legal writing, and I went on to receive awards for my performance in that course and serve as a teaching assistant for the advanced Legal Research & Writing courses in law school. My Honors thesis and Legal Research & Writing course experiences also inspired me to pursue editorial leadership for DePaul Law Review, and my article regarding EPA regulation of toxic torts was published in Volume 73. My Honors thesis ultimately inspired my passion for legal and creative writing, as well as my desire to teach law students in the future.

If you could write the senior thesis now, what would your topic be, and why?

If I could write a senior thesis now, I would dive further into my research regarding toxic “forever chemicals” (PFAS). As a current trial attorney representing injured and sick plaintiffs in civil court on a daily basis, I would love to expand my practice into representing individuals negatively impacted by forever chemicals and other environmental dangers affecting our lives every day.