Completed MA Theses

Keni Martinez

Defended MA thesis in November 2021

Thesis Title: "Tackling Intimate Partner Violence During the COVID-19 Lockdowns: A Qualitative Analysis of the Academic Literature and Popular Media"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Candan Duran-Aydintug (Chair)
Dr. Maren Scull
Dr. Jenny Vermilya

Charlie Myers

Defended MA thesis in November 2021

Thesis Title: "21st Century Sex Work: The Insights of Sex Workers in the Digital Age"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Candan Duran-Aydintug (Chair)
Dr. Maren Scull
Dr. Edelina Burciaga

Summer Eberhardt

Defended MA thesis in July 2021

Thesis Title: "Protecting Children's, "Natural Modesty": A Content Analysis of Opposition to Comprehensive Sex Education"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Jennifer Reich (Chair)
Dr. Esther Sullivan
Dr. Keith Guzik

Graham Craig

Defended MA thesis in May 2021

Thesis Title: "Renegotiating Neurotypical Romance"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Jennifer Reich (Chair)
Dr. Jenny Vermilya
Dr. Keith Guzik

Photo of Beza Taddess

 

Beza Taddess

Defended MA thesis in May 2021

Thesis Title: “Stressed and Segregated: Intersectional Occupational Segregation and Stress Among Working Women”

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Adam Lippert (Chair)
Dr. Teresa M. Cooney
Dr. Edelina Burciaga
Photo of Courtney Lange

Courtney Lange

Defended MA thesis in May 2021

Thesis Title: “An Experiment on Interrogation Styles Informed by the Misinformation Effect”

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Keith Guzik (Chair)
Dr. Kari Alexander
Dr. Sarah Moody

Leanne D. Thomas defended MA thesis in November 2020

Thesis Title:  “Examining Gender Differences in The Effect
of Parenthood on Engagement in Physical Activity”

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Kari Alexander (Chair)
Dr. Teresa Cooney
Dr. Jenny Vermilya

Kristin Minzenmayer defended MA thesis on November 2020

Thesis Title: “The Value & Reward System of Private-Sector
Stem Companies: Lessons From Female Engineers & IT Professionals”

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Jennifer Reich (Chair)
Dr. Teresa Cooney
Dr. Keith Guzik

Kyle R. Conrad defended MA thesis on November 2019

Thesis Title: “The Perfect Choice: Opportunity, Segregation,
and Achievement in a Racially Divided School District”

Thesis Committe:
Dr. Edelina Burciaga
Dr. Jennifer Reich
Dr. Esther Sullivan

Clayton Buck defended MA thesis in April 2020
 

Thesis Title: “Associations Among State-Level Structural Stigma,
Prevalence of Prep Use, and Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior Among
Men Who Have Sex with Men”
 

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Adam Lippert (Chair)
Dr. Jennifer Reich
Dr. Jimi Adams (HBS)

Mais Al-Nima defended MA thesis
April 2020

Thesis Title: “Neither Here Nor Here: Liminal Space and
The Queer Muslim Subject”

Committee Members:
Dr. Esther Sullivan (Chair)
Dr. Stacey Bosick
Dr. Jennifer Reich

Evyn Taylor defended MA thesis in October 2019

Thesis Title: "Racial Disparities in Uterine Cancer Mortality"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Adam Lippert (Chair)
Dr. Kari Alexander
Dr. Edelina Burciaga

Danielle Maestas defended MA thesis in October 2019

Thesis Title: "The Intersection of Race, Gender, and
Work-Family Burden on Diabetes Management Practices"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Adam Lippert (Chair)
Dr. Kari Alexander
Dr. Edelina Burciaga
Beth Benn and Thesis Chair Dr. Reich

Beth Benn defended MA thesis in April 2019

Thesis Title: "Growing Pains: Young Adults' Experiences Living
with Inflammatory Bowel Disease"

Thesis Committee
Dr. Jennifer Reich (Chair)
Dr. Stacey Bosick
Dr. Keith Guzik
Photo of Rebecca Minasian with Thesis Chair Dr. Bosick

Rebecca Minasian defended MA thesis in April 2019

Thesis Title: "Exploring Self-Efficiency Development Among
Paid Undergraduate Research Assistants"

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Stacey Bosick (Chair)
Dr. Edelina Burciaga
Dr. Lindsey Hamilton (Psychology)

Gracie Finnigan-Fox defended MA thesis in October 2018

Thesis Title: "Health at the Intersection of Work and Family
for American Mothers"

Thesis committee:
Dr. Teresa Cooney
Dr. Adam Lippert (Chair)
Dr. Kari Alexander
Photo of Shara Schroeder

Shara Schroeder defended MA thesis in July 2018

Thesis Title: "Perspectives on Assistance in Home
Health Care"

This study explored how patients’ needs (e.g., transportation,
home and personal care, food and medication access) after
hospital discharge are addressed using rational and relational
solutions. 

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Stacey Bosick (Chair)
Dr. Christine Jones
Dr. Jennifer Reich
Photo of Brendon Atkins

Brendon Atkins defended MA thesis in May 2018

Thesis Title: "Minority Stress and Health: The Health
Disparities of Sexual Minorities"

This study addressed the role of stigma and discrimination
in explaining poor health outcomes for sexual minorities.
The results suggest that stress has an influence in the
health disparities documented between sexual minorities
and heterosexual individuals.

Thesis Committee:
Dr. Edelina Burciaga (Chair)
Dr. Candan Duran-Aydintug
Dr. Kari Alexander

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed MA Projects

Jeanette Norman presented her MA Project on May 7, 2020

Project Title: “Comparing Student Achievement in Colorado Charter Schools by Charter Authorizer”

Drawing on her internship at the Advocates for Public Education Policy, Jeanette developed a research project that used two years of Colorado Department of Education school-level data to compare outcomes of charter schools based on whether the school was authorized and overseen by the local school board or Colorado’s Charter School Institute.

Project Committee:
Dr. Kari Alexander (Chair)
Dr. Teresa Cooney
Dr. Edelina Burciaga

 
Photo of Lorraine Dixon-Jones

Lorraine Dixon Jones presented her MA Project on November 21, 2019

Project Title:  “Using Collaborative Networks to Address Wicked Problems: The Case of Colfax Rapid Bus Transit in Denver, Colorado”  

This paper posits that collaborative networks can be an effective way of dealing with wicked problems, such as the implementation of the Colfax Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, particularly when they are formulated in ways that address the risks associated with collaborative inertia.

Project Committee:
Dr. Keith Guzik (Chair)
Dr. Esther Sullivan
Dr. Danielle Varda

 

Patrick Noonan defended his Sociology MA Project on November 19, 2018

Project Title - "Mi Comunidad No Está En Venta: Community Ownership, Not Capital Gains"

Project Committee:
Dr. Esther Sullivan (Chair)
Dr. Keith Guzik
Dr. Kari Alexander

 

Christina Gray presented her Sociology MA Project in the Spring 2018

Project Title - "Generational Sex Work and the Pathways into the Sex Trade"

An internship at a residential treatment program for women exiting the sex trade
provided access to data on their pathways to such work. This project examined
the extent of generational sex work in this facility’s sample, and how the experiences
and histories of generational sex workers differed from those of first-generation sex workers.

Project Committee:
Dr. Stacey Bosick (Chair)
Dr. Candan Duran-Aydintug
Dr. Keith Guzik

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Undergraduate Honors

SPRING 2019 HONORS

Mais Al-Nima - Summa Cum Laude - Project Title - Layer Upon Layer: Non-Heterosexual Identities Intersecting with Being Muslim-Arab

FALL 2018 HONORS

Brian Ball - Magna Cum Laude - Project Title - Social-Emotional Learning Through Skate Boarding: A Gateway to Self-Efficacy

Karim Kazemi - Cum Laude - Project Title - The Prevention Gift I Give to Myself: Individualized Risk and Sexual Autonomy in Medical Discourse of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis