Iona College Thesis Day Celebrating Excellence in Student's Scholarly Study

By James Stillwaggon, PhD,
Director, Iona College Honors Program
Associate Professor, Education
Chair, Harassment and Discrimination Committee Iona College

New Rochelle, NY (March, 2013) Iona College Thesis Day was held on Thursday, February 14th to celebrate our students' love of scholarly engagement. All of our graduating seniors presented their research from a broad variety of disciplines spanning the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and business. In many cases, Thesis Day serves as a warm-up or practice run for our students who go on to present their research at professional academic conferences and develop their ideas for publication.

Our audience consisted of faculty, administration, fellow students, families and friends of the presenting student scholars, and for the first time this year, a group of high school seniors who are candidates for the incoming Honors class in the fall and finalists for a number of highly selective academic scholarships. These students traveled to Iona with their parents from as far away as Florida to see what they can expect from the Iona College Honors Program. From President Joseph E.  Nyre's opening remarks to the presentation of the Faculty of the Year award to Eric Moscato, the day was marked by a great sense of community. Dr. Nyre stated, “This day also represent our future of bright, hardworking, talented students guided by compassionate faculty with high expectations.”

As different as the various projects were, they all demonstrated a sense that good scholarly work responds to the needs of the community and the broader world in which ideas take shape.

Thesis Day 2013 Student Names and Projects

Moderator: Christina Carlson, Ph.D.

Kimberly Pastore, “Teacher Receptivity to the Common Core State Standards”

Advisor: Paul Beaudin, Ph.D.

Kara Nowakowski, “Literary Merit of ‘Young Adult’ Books and their Uses in Middle and High School English Classrooms”*

Advisor: Eileen Panetta, Ph.D.

Meghan Murphy, “The Technological and Social Skills of School-Aged Children”

Advisor: Dorothy Leone, M.Phil.

Moderator:  Thomas Castonguay, Ph.D.

Nousin Haque, “Effect of Ionic Nature and Strength on Neutral Lipid Membranes”

Advisor: Sunghee Lee, Ph.D.

Erin Morgan, “Characterization of Native and Model Proteins by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy"”

Advisor: Sunghee Lee, Ph.D.

Moderator:  Catherine Stratton, Ph.D.

Cristobal Orrantia, “Japanese Antimilitarism"

Advisor:  Yasuhiro Makimura, Ph.D.

Raymond Hunter, “Ideology in Empire Consolidation: A Study of the Inca”

Advisor: Catherine Stratton, Ph.D.

Moderator:  Nicholas Beutell, Ph.D.

Irick Baccari, "A Strategic Analysis of NCAA Conference Realignment Using The Miles & Snow Method"

Advisor: Nicholas Beutell, Ph.D.

Cody Siemeck, “Economic Recovery and Current Conditions in Iceland and the Decision of European Union Accession”

Advisor: Eric Moscato, MBA

Moderator: Scott Cleary, Ph.D.

Rachel Paquin, “’You’ve Probably Never Heard of It”: The Presentation of Authenticity within the Indie Music Scene of Williamsburg Brooklyn’

Advisor:  Marcus Aldredge, Ph.D.

Ranisha Singh, Existential Shakespeare in Postmodern Love: An Analysis of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet through Film and Text”

Advisor: Amy Stackhouse, Ph. D.

Moderator: Eric Moscato, MBA

Laura DeMarte, “Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain: Principles, Practices and Profitability”

Advisor: Frederica Rudell, Ph.D.

Brandon Crane, “The Financial Security of Individuals in (and Approaching) Retirement and the Impact of the Great Recession on Their Financial Position”

Advisor: Eric Moscato, MBA

Moderator:  Sunghee Lee, Ph.D.

Allyson Moffat, “Establishing Identity and Quality Testing Protocol for Botanicals Using FT-NIR-TLC Methods"

Advisor: Sunhgee Lee, Ph.D. 

Zuzanna Michalak, “Specific Anion  Effect on Water Permeability through a Droplet Interface Bilayer Membrane”

Advisor: Sunghee Lee, Ph.D. 

Moderator:  Teresa D’Aversa, PhD

Robert Gerletti, "Stress Induced Bacterial Resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana"

Advisor: Yourha Kang, Ph.D.

Andrew Hastings, “Analysis of Genetic Variation Among Populations of Phragmites Australie in the Western Long Island Sound”*

Advisor: Joseph Stabile, Ph.D.

Kayla Bourdeau, “The Effects of Interferon-beta on Oxidative Stress in Neurons”

Advisor:  Teresa D'Aversa, Ph.D.

Marcia Correa, "Determination of the Phosphorylation Sites on the Formin Bni1p During the Mating Response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae"

Advisor: Eric Muller, Ph.D. 

Moderator:  Michael Jordan, Ph.D.

Bridget McBrien, "The Use of Independent Commissions in the Redistricting Process."

Advisor: Robert Lacey, Ph.D.

Amanda Kelly, “Consociational Democracy and Democratization in Deeply Divided Societies: The Case of Nigeria”

Advisor: Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D.

Moderator:  William Egelman, Ph.D.

Lauren Kalma, “Values Communicated in the Walt Disney Company’s Animated Films”Advisor: William Egelman, Ph.D

Sinead Knightly, “An Analysis of the Effects of Federal Reserve Large Scale Asset Purchases 1 and 2”      

Advisor: Caitlin Greatrex, Ph.D.

Marinda Frazier, “Social Activism through Consumerism: Consumer Perceptions of the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility”

Advisor: Susan Rozensher, Ph.D.

Founded in 1940, Iona College is a four-year private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. It is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs.

For questions or more information please contact:
Dawn Insanalli
Public Relations Office
Iona College, 715 North Avenue, New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801
Office: (914) 637-2726
Fax: (914) 637-2711
dinsanalli@iona.edu