Arizona State University honor students work to defend thesis before graduation

With graduation right around the corner, students in Arizona State University's Barrett, the Honors College are working hard to defend their thesis projects.

BY MIKE SACKLEY

Apr 15, 2016, 5:35 AM

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Sarah Syed, a student in Barrett Honors College, speaks about her thesis “Indigenous Islam." (Photo: Casey Weinstein)

(Photo: Casey Weinstein)

PHOENIX — It’s crunch time for senior year students enrolled in Arizona State University’s Barrett, the Honors College.

Students planning to graduate in May will be presenting their thesis projects to faculty committees throughout the month of April. They must defend their projects to faculty, who will ask students questions following a presentation.

Just like with any class, students need to pass their thesis defense.

Dr. Peggy Nelson, Barrett vice dean, said students will work on these projects for up to two years at a time.

“It’s a culminating experience for them to do this thesis or creative project,” Nelson said.

This past Tuesday, honors students were recognized as part of the Celebrating Honors Symposium. Students had the chance to present their projects to the wider community.

Nelson said there is a wide range of projects this year, from research about self-identifying as leaders to an app on smartphones that can track NBA player statistics and information.

“The product, if you will, is different across the board,” Nelson said. “The process, though, is really very similar because of (the students) intense work with faculty on the project.”

Each student is assigned a faculty adviser that helps them with the thesis project.

One student, senior Sierra Morris, said she worked with Dr. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz on research about the identification of sex trafficking victims.

“There isn’t really training that happens in medical schools or in health professions programs, graduate level programs, regarding sex trafficking awareness (or) how a patient might present if they’re being trafficked,” Morris said.

She successfully defended her project to faculty Wednesday. Morris, a global health major, had been working on the research for a year-and-a-half.

“(This research) could inform future trainings (and) development of policies at facilities,” Morris said.

Nelson said Barrett honors students have quite a bit on their plate, from a thesis project, to other classes, to jobs, but they handle it well.

“The students are very, very committed,” Nelson said. “We’re creating, over and over again, a set of graduates that are going to be leaders.”