Recent Projects
Each year several of our students are awarded grants to pursue individual or group research projects of extraordinary quality. Grants for up to $5,000 have allowed students to, in some cases, travel the world, while others have done their work in the Chicago-land area. Regardless of destination, this research opportunity has dramatically enriched their academic experience at North Central.
Students recently awarded independent or group research grants include:
2012 - 2013 Individual and Group Research Projects
Michele Dobbs
Finding Another Side of the Story: Coming to an Understanding of Britain's Perspective of the American Revolution (Developing an International Context for U.S. History)
Amber Dvorak
Jingle Lizard: An Undergraduate 3D Animated Short
Fiona Ian
The Construction and Reflection of Hong Kong Identity through the Contemporary Film Her Fatal Ways and Television Program Inbound Troubles
Anna McGreal
Neo-Totemism and the Anti-Whaling Campaign
Julie Mussared
Strange Foreigner, A Study of Japanese Interactions with Tourists
Meghan Pickett
Students versus Counselors: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Prominent Stressors and Outreach Programming from the Perspective of British Undergraduates and University Counselors
Kelly Rasmussen
The Disneyization of the Future: Idyllic Visions of the U.S. in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland
Tiffany Tindell
German Fascination with the American Indian: From Karl May and the Nineteenth Century to the Present
Ian Wright
Those Who are Hidden: A Documentation of Landscape and Identity in Iceland
Tyler Ward
Study of Contemporary Wesleyan Societies in Britain
2011 - 2012 Individual and Group Research Projects
Jessica Coffey
The Journey Up: A Study of Secularization and its Impact on Christianity and Young Adults in the U.K.
Katherine Hoekstra
Act Local, Think Global: Integration into the Chinese Market
Carly Johnston
Identity Management in the Hashemite Kingdom: An Analysis of Coping Mechanisms Utilized by Expatriates Living in Jordan
Haley Kirk
How in situ and ex situ Conservation Programs in the Maya Highlands Contribute to Crop Diversity Preservation and Community Development
Colin Loeffler
Richard in the Present: Staging Disability in the Twenty-first Century
Giuseppe Pellicano
Left, Left, Left, Right, Left
Brittnea Roozen
Tuning in to the RTLM: The Effect of Incendiary Media Propaganda in Eliciting Radical Behavior
Emma Rothenfluh
Cultural Analysis of Thai Children's Books
Michelle Ruffatti
Natural and Restored Wetlands
Alana Kay Shuma
Petticoats, Parlors and Politics: How Mary Todd Lincoln Intertwined Domestic Duties and Politics
Louis Waldmeir
Regional German Beer Culture: Contemporary Concerns in a Changing Tradition
2010 - 2011 Individual and Group Research Projects
Jessica Berger
Art Arrangement and Intimacy: The Dichotomy of Private and Public Museums in the United States
Veronica Blue
A Curriculum of Excellence: Scotland's Education Reform and its Implications on Primary Literacy Instruction
Michelle Branigan
The Enthesial Architecture of the Human Foot: An Analysis of the Force-bearing Tissues at the Tibialis Anterior Tendon Enthesis
P. Tyler Buchenot
Using Interactive Media to Chronicle a D-Term Experience
Andrew DuBois
Exploring the Effects of YAK1 on Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Saccharomyces Bayanus Growth Rates
Suzan (Rima) Gungor
The Effect of Gene Sharp’s Nonviolent Methodology on Freedom Movements using the Lithuanian Model
Madison Henry
The Enthesial Architecture of the Human Foot: An Analysis of the Achilles Tendon Enthesis
Edvard Joseph
Happiness Matters: A Case Study of the Impact of Gross National Happiness on Governmental Policy in the Kingdom of Bhutan
Megan King
A Study on Change in Spanish Accounting Education
Jessica Pantel
The Wari Empire: Patterns of Violence through Skeletal Analysis of the Callejon de Huaylas Valley, Peru
Emily Rademaker
Following the Footsteps of Influence: Tracking the Research of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm with Modern Techniques
Megan Shoemate
Francophones at the Political Fault Line: A Discourse Analysis of Minority French Advocate Parties in Brussels
Edmund Sinnot
A Study of Viennese Cafés
2009 - 2010 Individual and Group Research Projects
Mallory Blanchard
Understanding Peruvian Work Related Values
Laura Constantine
An Assessment of the Trajectory of Tidal Marsh Development After Restoration
Rachel Garthe
A Pathway to Depression: The Effects of Self-Inefficacy and Peer Victimization on Scottish Children
Stephanie Kuersten
Comic Convention Subculture in the United States and France
Amanda Laesch
The Refugee Career and its Contingencies
Erin Martin, Stewart Charles, Garrett Lutz and Madeline Moton
Observing Legal Oral Arguments from Multiple Perspectives: A Relevant Experience through an Interdisciplinary Lens
Steve Oliveri
Community Radio and the Empowerment of the Kiberan Community
Allison Pawelczyk
Victim or Perpetrator?: Constructing an historical narrative through the public sphere in post-World War II Austria
Ryan Piers
Susan D. Moeller's 'Compassion Fatigue' preventing journalism methods and how they were applied when reporting on the LRA
Emily Rademaker
The Brand of Brothers: A Semiotic Ethnography of History and Fairy Tales in Modern German Culture
Alexis Smith
Iconography in Greece as an Interpretive Lens for Broader Social Issues
Weien Wang
Driven Before the Market We Drive: A Participant-Observation Study of the Low-Wage Worker in Urban China
Timothy Whitney
The Climate of Homelessness: How the design of a shelter is affected by different climates
2008 - 2009 Individual Research Projects
Jeffrey Cisowski
An Oral History of a Hitler Youth German Boy in the final days of World War Two
Julia Fornek
Pedagogical Impacts on the World of Technical Theatre, Singapore, and North Central College
Brigit Goudie
Tea for Two and Coffee Talk: Comparative Portraits of Colchester, Essex, England and Naperville, Illinois, USA, Seen through the Cultural Lens of Coffee Shops and Tea Shops
Michal Kaczorowski
An Analysis of Former German Democratic Republic Socialist Personality
Kathryn Kossak
The Effects of Hands-on Inquiry on Students' Interest and knowledge of Science
Priscilla Martinez
Tea for Two and Coffee Talk: Comparative Portraits of Colchester, Essex, England and Naperville, Illinois, USA, Seen through the Cultural Lens of Coffee Shops and Tea Shops
Brittany McNelly
The Effects of Hands-on Inquiry on Students' Interest and knowledge of Science
James Nebl
The Reintegration of Hong Kong in The People's Republic of China and the Effects Upon Democratization
Amy Rollins
A Deeper Look at the Kibera Slums Community Development Program
Weien Wang
Assimilation and Rejection: The Receipt of Western Medicine in Today's Urban China
Laurel White
Barack'n in the Satirical World: How the Election of Barack Obama Changed the Culture of Political Satire in America
2007 - 2008 Individual Research Projects
Amanda Bert
Frida Kahlo: Locating Gender and "The Self" in Self- Portraits
Kendel Brady
Opportunity and Success: A Study of German International Schools
Kimberly Brook
Teaching in Different Cultures
Claudia Chlebek
Measuring the Digital Divide: A Study of the Effect of Informational Communicating Technologies (ICT) on Economic Development in Poland
Jessica Cohen
The Feminization of Turkish Fairy Tales in a Contested Zone of Culture
Heather Farnum
The Evolution of the Influence of Variables on the Naturally High Antioxidative Activity of Plant Phenolic Compounds
Paul Finnegan
A Study of Changing Political Attitudes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
Brianna Hyslop
21st Century Travel Letters: Exploring Turkish and Tunisian Culture through Lady Mary's Model
Michelle LeDonne
Opera as Text: Reading Representations of the Female in Live Opera Performance
Sarah Martin
Defining Literacy: A Study of Literacy in London and Nairobi
Esther McCarty
Lost Lives: A Study of Transitional Homes for Human Trafficking Victims in Thailand
Sarah McCutsheon
English Education in Indonesia: A Qualitative Study of it's Purpose, Benefits and Drawbacks
Jessica Schmidt
The Effects of Islam on Curriculum and Instruction within Schools of Turkey and Tunisia
Kelsey Staudacher
The Face of Development: A Case Study of Burkinabe Women's Fight to Survive and Hope to Persevere
Kelsey Staudacher
The Politics of Development: A Case Study of the Collaboration Efforts of the International Fund for Agricultural Development North American Liaison Office, Washington DC
Laurel Write
British Perceptions of the 2008 Presidential Campaign in America
2007 - 2008 Group Research Projects
Jeff Cisowski, Tara Cobb, Heather Erickson, Sara Lovell, Carlos Robles, Sarah Sanderson, and Nicholas Warrens
Health Care Delivery in Guatemala: A Case Study
2006 - 2007 Individual Research Projects
Deanna Furlano
Measuring Science Interest and Acquisition of Process Skills Across Three Cultures
April Green
The Power Dynamics of Congressional Delegations: Congressional Leadership in Bipartisan States
Chelsea Lamont
Silent Voices: A Cultural Comparison between the Contexts of Holocaust Photography in the Construction of Victim Testimony
Melissa Matlock
Using Microcredit as a Tool to Alleviate Poverty: A Case Study in Virudhunagar, India
Megan O'Neil
Demystifying the Cattle Call: Multiple Perspectives on the Process of Regional Auditions
Cassandra Peterson
Relationship Between Gender and Science Interest Across three Cultures
2006 - 2007 Group Research Projects
Morgan Brown, Michelle Grabowski, Lindsey Howard, Rena Schergen, Pavel Solyak, Kelsey Staudacher, Jessica Stephen and Rolando Zambrano
Mayas in the Marketplace: Intersections of Tourism, Economic Development and Community
2005 - 2006 Individual Research Projects
Michelle Boik
A Neighborhood Tapestry: The Sights and Sounds of Chicago
Bridget Borsdorf
Social Activism through Music Festivals
Ana Campos
Higher Education in Spain and the United States
Amado Carrasco
Interpreting the Transmission of Flamenco Art
Claudia Chlebek
The Role and Importance of Motivation in the Acquisition of Foreign Languages in the European Countries of Poland and Spain
Heather Coakley
The First Week on Campus: Group Identity and the Effects of Leadership on the Success of New Student Programs
Kara Friel
Post-Colonial Border and Maritime Dispute: Spain and Morocco
Sylvia Hassert
Chinese Attitudes Towards Health and Illness
Debra Hayes
Conditions that Compel People to Explore Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment at the Huai Hua Red Cross Hospital for Difficult and Chronic Conditions in Southwestern China
Denise Homquist
How to End Hunger
Ebony Jones
American Students Studying Abroad in Costa Rica
Emily MacGruder
Spanish Press Coverage of the Muslim Population: Public Perceptions and Media Responses
Kara Reinhart
Changing Attitudes in Eastern Medicine: A Study of Taiwan
Carlota Rodelo
Higher Education Decisions for Latinas: The Dialogue between Latina Adolescents and their Parents
Rena Schergen
Mayan Traditional Dress in Xela, Guatemala and Its Significance in Pan-Mayanism
Peter Sipla
Regional Irish Dialects for Use in Theater
Kelsey Staudacher
Life of Orphans in SOS Children's Home Nairobi, Kenya
Derek Sturn
Exploration of Ireland for Theater
Rachael Young
What Makes a Mecca? A Tour of What Makes "Great Public Places" Great