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Many of the religion theses that have been awarded honors in major study can be accessed in , and are linked individually below. Others with honors indicated are available in hard copy in the Allen Reading Room of the Penrose Library.

Class of 2024

• Joe Wogsland, “Manifestations of Belittled and Ignored “Agency”: A Look at the Influence 19th-Century Indian Intellectuals had on the Systemization of Hinduism and Religion as Categories of Thought”

Class of 2023

• August Miller (December 2022 grad)

Class of 2022

Class of 2021

Class of 2020

• Joel Barton, “‘Incoherence’ as Identity Capital in Modern-day Turkey”
• Daniel Bassler, “No Man’s Land: Jewish and Christian Conflicts with Messianic Judaism”
• Graham Dean, “Storytime: Ry艒kan in Modern Japanese Children’s Stories”
• Sam Geschickter, “Religious Discourse, Kant’s Influence, and the U.S. Financial System”
• Madi Hofbauer, “Ain’t Nothing But a Jew Thang: Representing Judaism in Hip Hop”

Class of 2019

• Emma Gregoire, “Where There’s A Feminist Will, There’s a Rabbinic Way: Jewish-Feminist Inclusion in Jewish Bioethics”

Class of 2018

• Andrew Bainton, “Breaking Binaries: On Kanye West, Religion, and American Culture”
• Kerr Ivan Cirilo (double major with Art), “Veiled Mediations: Postmodernism, Globalization and Veiled Muslim Women in Film”
• Zachary Collins, “Underlying Concerns Behind Conservative Christians’ Arguments Against Marriage Equality”
• David Mah, “Spirituality without Religion: A Critical Analysis of The End of Faith and Waking Up by Sam Harris”
• Madaline Stevens (double major with English), “The Role of Fantasy in the Study of Religion: How the House of Night Series Portrays Wicca and its Importance within the Academic Study of Religion”

Class of 2017

• Caroline Burnett, “‘Creeping Shari’a’: The Presence of Islamic Law in United States Courts”
• Zander Guzy-Sprague, “Set in Stone: A Site-Specific Analysis of the Relationship between Monarchs and Monastics in the A艣okan Edicts on the Girnar Rock”
• Spencer Thomas, “Buddhist Women and The Existence of the Female Body Within Theravada Buddhism”
• Elizabeth Thomson, “Collaborative Complexity – Cohesion of Fragmented Pluralities of ‘Religion’”

Class of 2016

• Brian Acosta, “The Ground Zero Mosque and Islamophobia in the U.S. since 9/11”

Class of 2015

• Alissa Becerril (Double Major: BBMB), “‘For We Walk by Faith and not by Sight’: Seventh-Day Adventist Scientists and the Evolution-Creation Debate”

Class of 2014

• Luis Alba Sanchez, “La Virgen de mil Impressiones (The Virgin of a Thousand Impressions): Problematizing the Virgin of Guadalupe in a Pluralistic Society”
• Anna Hawkins, “The Jewish Sole: Untying the Meaning of Bare Feet in Judaism”
• Kaitlyn McCraw, “Starhawk’s The Fifth Sacred Thing: A Vision of a Reclaim(ed) Future”
• Sean McNulty, “The Office of Student Missions at Walla Walla University: A Preliminary Ethnographic Sketch”
• Benjamin Roberson, “Judaism as a Christian Idea: Images of Judaism in Early Modern England and the Sabbatian Revolution”

Class of 2013

• Caroline Carr, “The Purity Movement: Pursuing Purity through Community and God”
• Hadley Mowe, “Freedom within Boundaries: Negotiating Buddhism and Power in the Washington State Penitentiary”
• Claire Matsunami, “The Jewish Defense League and Violent Religio-Nationalism”
• Rachel Quednau, “Jesus Walks: Black Liberation through Hip-Hop”

Class of 2012 

• Adriel Borshansky, “Women from the Diaspora and of the Wall: An Ethnography on Jewish Ritual Innovation” (Honors)
• Molly Johnson, “Balancing Islam and Politics: the Muslim Brotherhood and its Contemporary Freedom and Justice Party”
• Noah Lerner, “Radio Waves, Social Justice, and a Captive Audience: the Rise and Fall of the Radio Prophet”
• Doyle McCarthy, “Pathways to Salvation: the Search for a Catholic Theology of Religious Pluralism in the Aftermath of Dominus Iesus”
• Michael Nelson, “‘My Fates Freeze me’: An Examination of the Influence of American Civil Religion and George W. Bush's Faith on the Development of the War on Terror”
• Kate Potter (Double Major-Geology), “Two Servants of God: An Analysis of Religious Discourse in Non-Violent Movements During the Struggle for Indian Autonomy”
• Evan Randall, “Steeped in Spirituality: An Exploration of Religious Appropriation, Societal Perception, and their Role in Tea Marketing in the U.S.”
• Michael Rogers, “The Neglect of Spirituality in Medical Practice: An Analysis of How Medical Practitioners Can Improve Treatment of Christian Science and Jehovah's Witness Patients”

Class of 2011

• Katie Bates, “What is a Child's Best Interest: The Conflict Between Parents' Religious Beliefs and the State”
• Chris Fleming, “(Re)Reading the Writing on the Wall: An Analysis of Jain Literature and Imperial Epigraphy in Medieval India”
• Andrew Matschiner, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it in heaven: Locating Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. in Twentieth Century Liberal Protestantism” (Honors)
• Faith Tucker, “Untouchable Faith: The Christian Dalit Perspective of the Caste System in India”

Class of 2010

• Michela Corcorran, “Reading Amina Wadud: Gender, Race and Liberative Theory in Islam” (Honors)
• Hailey Flanigan, “Gai Jatra”
• Colin Gibson, “Chasing Zen: Authenticity and Authentication in the Transmission of Japanese Buddhism to the West”
• Brennan Jorgensen, “The Language of God: Abraham Abulafia and Ecstatic Kabbalah” (Honors)
• Divneet Kaur, “A Social History of Sakhis: Re-imagining a Prophet Through Sikh Hagiography”
• Autumn McCarten, “ Wahdat al-wujud vs. Wahatal-Shuhud: How Philosophy Effects Ritual and Societal Practices in the Chishti and Naqshbandi Orders”
• Bridget Snow, “Biblical Imagery in Modernist Form: Religiosity in the Work of Marc Chagall” (Honors)

Class of 2009

• Michael Anderson, “The Divine Marriage of Goddess and God in Wiccan Art”
• Rand Biersdorff, “The Hinge of Salvation: Philosophy, Flesh and Practice in Feminist and Womanist Theologies” (Honors)
• Matthew William Duncan, “Magical Amulet Obsession in Thai Buddhist Society: not right, not wrong”
• Nicholas Gottschall, “Orientalist Orientals and Accusatory Academics: Examining Religiosity and History in the Bodhgaya Conflicts” (Honors)
• Cole Rathjen, “In Search of the Absolute: Kant and Anti-Climacus on the Possibility and Necessity of Grounding One’s Freedom in the Unconditioned” (Honors)

Class of 2008

• Zoe Black, “The Kaifeng Jews: The History of an Isolated Religious Minority in China”
• Eric Chalfant, “Seeds of Evolution: The Diversity of Contemporary Atheism” (Honors)
• Beth Anne Davis, “The Deliverance Ritual: A Study of Spirit Possession in Ghana's Charismatic Christian Churches”
• Joseph Farnes, “Christologia Instabilis: Christology and Instability in LGBT Theology” (Honors)
• Meryl Farrar (Graduation pending)
• Luke Hagel, “Soka Gakkai International-USA: Reverting to a More Utilitarian Approach”
• Dana Johnson, “‘Hindu-Buddhists’ of the Himalayas: Reconceptualizing Syncretism in the History of Religions” (Honors)
• Miranda Levy, “The Role of Seventh-Day Adventism at Walla Walla General Hospital”
• Aaron Rose (May, 2009 graduate), “Nietzsche’s Critique of Christianity: Toward a Constructive Understanding of his Metaphysics and Morality”

Class of 2007

• Ajay Abraham, “The Awaited Messiah: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the Shi’i Mahdi”
• Jonathan Buchner (May, 2009 Graduate), “A Preliminary Examination of the 4D Fundamental Synoptic Solution”
• Michael Cates, “Beyond Liberal or Constantinian Politics: Stanley Hauerwas’ Vision of the University” (Honors)
• Elliot Knapp, “Leading the Way: the Relationship between Textualized Personal Religious Experience and the Formation of Cumulative Tradition in Three Taoist Classics” (Honors)
• Jessica Marks, “Viewing Us through the Eyes of the Other: Religious Change, Ethnic Buddhists and Convert Buddhists Within American and Sikkimese Tibetan Traditions” (Honors)
• Laura Nelson, “The Many Faces of Christ: An Investigation in Feminist Theological Methodology Through Examining Feminist and Womanist Christology” (Honors)
• Emily Penoyar, “Mount Graham: Toward an Understanding of the Position of the Apaches”
• Seanacey Pierce, “Jigozkuzoshi: Exploring the Buddhist Conception of Hell through the Art of Scroll Making”
• Carly Rue, “Going Out To or Undergoing the Word of God: Comparing the Religious Thought of Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas by Way of their Philosophies of Relation”
• Brian Shaheed, “Wahab and the Sufis”
• Emily Smith, “Islam in Latin America: A History of Relocation, Assimilation and Revival” (Honors)
• Joshua Smith, “Prophet of the Kingdom: A Fresh Appraisal of Gustavo Gutiérrez and the Theology of Liberation”

Class of 2006

• Gareth Campbell, “A Devil Amidst Fallen Angels” (Honors)
• John Compton, “Realms of Practice: Religious Pluralism in the Mystical Philosophy of Ibn al-‘Arabi”
• Sandra Corpuz, “The Sacred Dimension of Alcoholics Anonymous”
• Luke Erichsen, “From Gentiles to Friends: Mormons in a Changing World” (Honors)
• Meghan Goss, “Buddhism in America: Americanization and Buddhist Fundamentalism”
• Will Hyman, “True Love Waits”
• Braden Lobingier (Double Major–Chemistry), “Canonizing the Buddha: Christian and Buddhist Interaction through Myth”
• Katharine Magid (Double Major–Spanish), “Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Conservative Discourse: A Literary Analysis of the Ex-Gay and Traditional Christian Marriage Movements” (Honors)
• Elisabeth (Lisa) Parrish, “Fundamental Assumptions: the Interaction of Western Essentialism with Tibetan and Sri Lankan Buddhism”
• Mariah K. Weston, “Bootstraps or Greenbacks: The Media’s Inaccurate Portrayal of Televangelists”

Class of 2005

• David Burge, “The Power of Christ Compels You: Exorcism, Mental Illness and Faith Healing in Comparative Catholic Traditions”
• Lindsey Chadwick (double major with Math), “Veganism and/with/as a Religion”
• Erica Greenberg, “The Marketing of Religion in America”
• Josh Karp, “The Role of Music in the African American Baptist Church”
• Caitlin McDermott, “Mormon Women: Why is their Highest Goal Only Motherhood?”
• Pepa Paniagua (IPM–Religion & Gender Studies), “Gender in the Presbyterian Church: Practice or Just Preaching? An Examination Into the Construction of Gender in Presbyterian Hymnals”

Class of 2004

• Matthew Maynard, “Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools”
• Thomas Nagy, “St. Joseph as a Metaphor for the Valentinian Demiurge”
• Nathan Roller, “Communit-e: An Examination of Beliefnet.com” (Honors)

Class of 2003

• Emily Courtney, “Unifying Spiritual Leadership: Filling the Void”
• Kevin Erickson (January, 2006 completion), “I am Relevant: Hipster Evangelicals and the Culture Industry”
• Kate Imwalle, “Feminism and Catholicism: Can a Positive Relationship Exist?”
• David Prins, “A Monk's Life: An Ethnographic Study of Theravadan Buddhist Monks and their Social Relevance in Sri Lanka”

Class of 2002

• Brook Elliott-Buettner (IPM in Religious Studies), “The Problem of Critical Historical Analysis of the New Testament”
• Meredith Gudger (IPM in Religious Studies), “Will They Be as One?  How Christians Answer the Question of Homosexuality”
• Megan Lillis (IPM in Religion), “Spiritual Sisters on a Mystical Path: Rabi’a Al-Adwiyya and Teresa of Avila” (Honors)
• Religion Major Instituted with the Class of 2003

Class of 2001

• David Jagernauth (IPM in Religion), “Abode of an Adulterous God: Myth, History and Mystery in the Buddhist Cult of God Skanda-Murugan and his Mistress Valli Amma at Kataragamma, Sri Lanka”
• Jill Jarvis (IPM in Religion), “Fighting for Freedom, and for the Love of God: Poetic Self-Representation and Acts of Female Resistance in the Therigatha and the Songs of Two Bhakti Saints” (Honors)

Class of 1998

• Erin Carlson (IPM in Religion), “Taking the Vaunted Middle Path: An Attempt at Balance in the Study of Women’s Religiosity”

Class of 1997

• Keri Bean (IPM in Religion), “Gender in Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism”
• Gavin Rickleffs (IPM in Religion and World Literature), “Alienation and Awakening: Exploring Gnostic Elements of Albert Camus' The Stranger”

Class of 1995

• Daniel Enriquez (IPM in Religion and Philosophy), “Grace and Knowledge in the Summa Theologica”