Honors Program Theses
The University Honors Program is an intellectually stimulating and socially nurturing community of students of exceptional academic achievement. Every honors student has the opportunity to complete undergraduate research during their time at UNI by writing a thesis. Students work with faculty members in their major or area of interest to develop and conduct a study during either their Junior or Senior year. To go to the Honors Program page, click here.
From this page, you can browse our Honors Program Theses by academic department or by the year of completion Some theses and dissertations are not eligible for open access.
Browse Honors Program Theses by academic department:
College of Business Administration
- Accounting
- Economics
- Finance
- Management
- Marketing and Entrepreneurship
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Educational Psychology, Foundations, and Leadership Studies
- Health, Recreation, and Community Services
- Kinesiology
- Special Education
- School of Kinesiology, Allied Health and Human Services
- Teaching
- Art
- Biology
- Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Communication and Media
- Computer Science
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Languages and Literatures
- Mathematics
- Philosophy and World Religions
- Physics
- Theatre
- School of Music
- Science Education Program
- Geography
- History
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Social Work
- Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
- School of Applied Human Sciences
College of Education
College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Browse Honors Program Theses by year of completion:
Submissions from 2024
The Relationship Between Athletes' Competitive State Anxiety and Self-Confidence and Coaches' Behaviors, Derek Anderson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
“Our Hands are Tied”: How State Educational Diversity Laws Affect Iowa Public Educators and How Educators Respond, Lydia Berns-Schweingruber Open Access Honors Program Thesis 2024 Award
Variability of Water Quality in Relation to Farming Along the Raccoon River in West Des Moines, Iowa, Kelly Biscoglia Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Thing with Feathers for Orchestra, Treyton Blaser Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Balancing Progress and Ethics: Exploring the Science and Ethics of Gene Editing: Literature Review, Jackson Burgess Open Access Honors Program Thesis
A Literature Review of Factors Contributing to Archaeal Diversity, Anna R. Carmen Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Changing Demographics in a Rural Iowa High School: A Case Study of the Experiences of Emergent Bilinguals, Lindsay Carter Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Crafting a Traveling Icon: The Role of Mobile Carillons in Honoring Tradition, Emily S. Clouser Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"Sit Still, Look Pretty to Survive": An Analysis of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Bryleigh Sharon De Jong Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Using GIS To Evaluate Habitat Connectivity Among The Pollinator Conservation Reserve Program Pollinator Habitat (CP-42) Restorations In Northeast Iowa, Ethan D. Dickey Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Unreliable Narrators; Origins and Impacts, Lauren Fetzer Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Using Fiddler Crab Species to Identify Coastal Biomes Around the Perimeter of the Atlantic Ocean, Amber Finke Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Beyond the Classroom: Do the Iowa Civic Virtues Standards Achieve Their Goals?, Damien Foster Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Housing Affordability: An Examination of Factors in Black Hawk County Impacting Housing Affordability for UNI Graduates, Mason DeLaine Fritz Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Adoption and Perception of Pharmacogenomics: A Literature Review, Anna C. Girten Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The Impact of COVID-19 on the IT Services Industry, Shekynah AnneMarie Haworth Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Characterization of Zebra Calcite to Better Understand Wind Cave National Park as an Extraterrestrial Analog, Jenna Heinen Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Reexamination of College Students’ Behaviors and Knowledge of Recycling, Ella Hilbrant Open Access Honors Program Thesis
¿Tengo el derecho a votar?: Un análisis de las leyes del acceso lingüístico y los impactos de recursos multilingües de votación en la participación de votantes hispanos en Iowa y Michigan, Madeline L. Hinz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Impact of Sentiment on Iowa Farmland Values by Agricultural District, Skyler Kelly Open Access Honors Program Thesis
It’s Not All About Winning and Losing: Increasing Fan Experience in Collegiate Basketball, Lydia Kernen Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Language Barriers in the U.S. Legal System for Primarily Spanish Speakers: Attorney Perspectives and Potential Solutions for True Equal Access, Emma F. Kizer Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"I Failed My Brother": How Online Radicalization Affects the Family Unit, Serenity Dawn Kollasch Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Small Business Burnout: Reversing the Entrepreneurial Exit, Adele Kuruppu Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Impact of High School Climate and Bullying on Depression and Anxiety in Emerging Adulthood, Tyler K. D. Larson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Integrating Music in PK-12 Classrooms to Impact Behavior, Improve Academics, and Support Developmental Milestones in Children, Emily Grace Manis Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Proportional Reasoning: Understanding Student Thinking with Direct and Inverse Proportions, Emma Marshall Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Effect of Gender-Based Occupational Segregation on Women's Earnings in the United States and Canada, Jadyn Grace Milius Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Gender Socialization and Social Media in College Students' Fear of Crime, Ashlyn C. Miller Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Role of FLO11 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Colonization of the Lepidopteran Gastrointestinal Tract, Kayla Jeanette Minor Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Why Would I Read When the Game is On?: Reasons Adults Give for Reading or Not, Emmy C. Nelson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Gender and Student Motivation in Domestic and Foreign Language Study, Macey Overturf Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Comparing In-Person and Remote Language Assessments for Adults with Communication Disorders: Clinical Applications for Speech-Language Pathologists, Lauren Rotherham Honors Program Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
The Effects of Exercise in Cognitive Function in Older Ad, Josephine Sagan Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Little Miss Sure Shot: Essays on a Young Woman Journalist's Search for Fulfillment, Mallory Schmitz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Confronting CTE: A Blog Dedicated to Increasing Awareness in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Caden Shea Open Access Honors Program Thesis
A Comparison Between Two Schools Implementing Trauma-Informed Classroom Management, Maddie Steffen Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Exploration of Affine Functions, Katelyn Jo Stirling Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Orthographic Influences on the Production of French Nasal Vowels by English-Speaking Learners of French, Claire Evelyn Tow Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Equity in Harmony: Music Teacher Preparedness and Perceptions of Multilingual Learners In The Midwest, McKenzie Vick Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Editing the Tri5 Gene of Fusarium graminearum Using CRISPR/Cas9, Madelyn Rae Waters Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Death and Grief in 21st Century America: A Literature Review on Bereavement & Attitudes Toward Death, Jordan Whitney Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Submissions from 2023
New Policy Opens Trade with India for Pork Producers in the U.S., Morgan Marie Aitchison Open Access Honors Program Thesis
"Variety": A Look at Several Genres, Ryan Dean Carlin Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Effects of Living On Campus Versus Off Campus on Student Engagement, Megan Carlson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Her Story, Her Right: Narrative as a Basic Human Right, Karlee M. Colby Open Access Honors Program Thesis
A Literature Review of the Connection Between Infant Early Intervention and Childhood Executive Functioning, Nola Miriam Conner Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Evaluation Of Methods To Analyze Microbial Composition In Soils, Joseph Correa Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Horror of Darwinism: The Evolution of the Monster in Film and Popular Culture, Ava Deitrich Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Sinking Into My Skin: An Exploration of the Mind and Body Through Multigenre Creative Writing, Ana Elizabeth Eagan Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Language Development and Poverty: Considerations and Applications for Speech-Language Pathologists, Samantha Lynn Ehler Open Access Honors Program Thesis 2023 Award
Monitoring Archaeal Persistence in Cultivation, Payton Hall Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Art Teaching and American Society: An Exploration of How Art Makes Us Think and Why America Needs It Right Now, Julie Marie Hammerand Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Competencies Acquired in the Psychology Major, Jake Harrington Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Exposure, Adaptation and Expectations: How They Affect Perception of Foreign Accented Speech, Isabella Huddleston Open Access Honors Program Thesis
How Economic Distribution Impacts Human Rights on an International Level: A Case Study in Africa and the Balkans, Lindsey G. Ingraham Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Carpet Hell: A Backrooms Story, A Creative Exploration of The Backrooms and Liminal Space Horror, Christian Dean Jauron Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
The Power of Homeownership, Esha Sanjiv Jayswal Honors Program Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
The Sacrifice of Artistry for a Convenient Society, Riley Jermier Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Not ‘Real Rape’: Recognizing and Supporting Victims of Sexual Coercion, Chloe Johnson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Diffusion of Carbon Nanoparticles Intercalated into Layered Materials, Madelyn Johnson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Nature-Based Education: Expanding the Walls of the Classroom, Halle Louise Kilburg Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Investigation into a Potential DNA Polymerase of Thermomyces lanuginosus, Kameron J. Kruger Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Effectiveness of Dry Cupping on Low Back Pain: A Validation Case Study, Sierra Kuhlers Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Data Ethics and the Dilemma Created by Turing's Learning Machines, Jacob Kuhn Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Prevalence and Knowledge of Proper Treatment of People Living with Dementia in Physical Therapy, Eric Robert Melrose Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Common Creativity: Conversations with Artists and Nonartists, Will Nachazel Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Bioactive Secondary Metabolites in Cave Dwelling Fungi, Jade Nuehring Open Access Honors Program Thesis
How Hypermasculinity and Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA) Relate to Rape Proclivity in College Males, Cora Lynn Patterson Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Exploring the Microbial Composition of Moonmilk in Wind Cave National Park, Emma Pellegrino Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Senatorial Behavior in Recent Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings, Alex Perrin Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Better Solutions to Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Access: Giving Away Vaccines Rather than Vaccine Formulas, Tristen Prouse Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Neurodiversity and the Field of Speech Language Pathology: A Literary Review of the History, Common Practices, and Misconceptions, Wren Anne Repko Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Dose-Response Effects of Creatine Supplementation on Cognitive Function in Healthy Young Adults, Elizabeth Lizzy Lea Richardson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Un-Swung Heroes: Highlighting Women Instrumentalists’ Contributions to Jazz Repertoire, Alayna Ringsby Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
A Snapshot of War: First World War Postcards from the Cedar Falls Historical Society, James Alexander Schmitt Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Effect of Gibberellic Acid Concentration on Gentiana andrewsii Germination, Laura Spies Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The Impact of Exercise on Mental Health: The Use of Exercise as Prevention and Treatment for Mental Health Disorders, Abigail Stivers Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Reversing the Entry: Generation Z's Outlook on Accounting, Andrew Straube Honors Program Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Alcohol: The Permitted Drug in Our Society, Madison TenHulzen Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Breaking the Marble Ceiling: The Construction of Athena in Greek Thought, Elizabeth Tulley Open Access Honors Program Thesis 2023 Award
Secondary Traumatic Stress: Therapists’ Past Trauma and Workplace Interventions, Morgan Wickman Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Investigation of Unexpected Purple Substance Extracted from Newsprint Paper, Raquel Wilhelm Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Identification of a DNA Polymerase Alpha Gene Sequence in Thermomyces lanuginosus Fungus, Nathan Williams Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Admittance Processes in Gifted Education and Their Influence on Equity, Rachel Wohlgemuth Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Submissions from 2022
Analysis of phylogenetic-based variation in enamel thickness in vertebrate teeth, Carly Jewel Baker Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Changes in brain oxygenation of rugby players before and after head trauma, Megan Benmore Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Assessing and meeting the mental health needs of student athletes - A case study of the University of Northern Iowa, Samantha Bennett Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Best practice for treatment and prevention of ankle sprains in ballet dancers, Sara Bergin Open Access Honors Program Thesis
College-age students' attitudes toward essential oils, alternative medicines, and modern medicine, Taylor Nicole Brown Open Access Honors Program Thesis
How exercise affects the musculoskeletal system in the biological sexes: A literature review, Lauren Connolly Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Selective mutism in immigrant children, Lauren Cummings Open Access Honors Program Thesis
The effects of acute aerobic exercise on motor cortex activation and piano performance, Maya Deuso Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Blough dairy farm comprehensive safety & training manual, Riley Elaine Elenz Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Graduate student knowledge and skill development in infant feeding: Effectiveness of high-emotion simulator training, Emmalee Fannon Honors Program Thesis (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Water depth selection by Iowa wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) during seasonal activity periods, Jessica Haugen Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)
Young adult Holocaust literature: How is the Holocaust depicted and what is appropriate to teach?, Madison Hilbert Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Influence of the CPA credential on the life satisfaction of University of Northern Iowa accounting alumni, Derek Richard Koppes Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Communication in mass media surrounding public health crises: A comparative analysis, Megan Grace Kramer Open Access Honors Program Thesis
Optimization of micro-ct protocols for non-destructive identification of ligament ultrastructure in the zebrafish, Danio rerio, Spenser Jared Richard Larson Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)