Senior Thesis Presentations 2024
All Geneva School students complete a thesis in their senior year. With the help of their teacher and a faculty mentor, each senior studies a contemporary issue, learning all they can about its history, and situating it within the greater conversation about what is good. Then, with their particular audience in mind, they explain what they have learned and propose a way forward. It should be noted that the oration, as well as the student’s answers to audience members’ questions, represent the student’s own understanding and do not necessarily reflect the position of the school or the student’s mentor.
In order to succeed in the thesis process, seniors must commit to growing in a number of skills and habits: careful research, clear and organized writing, judicious time management, humble response to criticism, tenacious commitment to truth. In one sense, what they take on in the senior thesis is not new. By the time they reach this milestone, Geneva students have had many opportunities to practice logical thinking and public speaking. They understand that to make a good argument requires them to consider an idea in a reasoned way, to take a clear and specific stand, and to go to great lengths to understand and refute opposing viewpoints.
But the senior thesis is different, and not just because it is a more public, more sustained argument than any the student has made before. The thesis process teaches students how important it is to back up their claims with reasoning and evidence, as well as to consider what counts for evidence in different contexts and with different people. More importantly, it teaches them that when it comes to complex issues, it takes more than evidence and logic to change someone’s mind. Finally, the process is meant to remind the seniors that real insight about issues of human flourishing requires an understanding of what humans are for–and of what their Creator requires of them.
Although our seniors will readily admit that they still have much more to learn about their topics, they are, nevertheless, doing something noteworthy in presenting and defending their thesis: they are trying to change our minds. By drawing our attention toward an issue that matters to them, they are making a contribution that goes beyond the academic. They are attempting to persuade us to act in a way that will secure the common good. In other words, they are engaging in deliberative speech, which Aristotle saw as the highest form of rhetoric.
By going through the process of preparing and presenting their thesis, each senior is making strides toward being the “good person, speaking well” that defines the ideal orator.
| The Geneva School Senior Thesis Presentations 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, May 7, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Alysandra Thigpen | Don't Blow It: Investing in Wind Energy to Reach a Clean and Renewable Energy Future |
| 9:35 am | Mercia Steinborn | No Man Is an Island: Helping Autistic Adults Find Community in the Church |
| 10:40 am | Sophia Rona | Vouching for Choice: Why the Government Should Grant the Use of School Vouchers |
| 11:40 am | Liv Liguori | A Voice in the Conversation: How Literature Leads to Human Flourishing |
| 1:20 pm | Lily Frakes | Secure Attachment—No Borax, No Glue: Why Showing Up Is an Ingredient You Can't Replace |
| 2:20 pm | Noah Reid | Geeks and Gurus: Why Studying Just the West Is Not Enough |
| Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Ford Robbins | Small League, Big Money: Why NIL and the Transfer Portal Threaten College Sports |
| 9:25 am | Augustine Jho | ABC, 123, and RGB: The Importance of Visual Arts in Education |
| 10:20 am | Joshua Cox | Missing Reflections of God: How Skepticism of Film Is Blinding Christians to the Beauty of the Medium |
| 11:10 am | Aidan Vollenweider | Paradise Lost: The Rejuvenating Benefits of the Sabbath |
| 12:00 pm | Kaitlyn Moyer | Crossing the Line: The Cost of Being an Undocumented Immigrant in the American Workforce |
| 1:40 pm | Joshua Craichy | Liturgical Lullabies: How Spiritual Practices Can Hinder Our Spiritual Growth |
| 2:30 pm | Sarah Paul | Touch Grass: Why Today's Children Need Exposure to the Great Outdoors |
| Thursday, May 9, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Sofia Lopez | Alter Your Wardrobe, Not Your Offspring: Unveiling How IVF, CRISPR, and Genetic Editing Are Changing the Modern Family |
| 9:35 am | Oliver Clark | Fighting for Florida's Flora and Fauna: Conserving Land to Keep Florida Fascinating |
| 10:40 am | Nathan Kim | The Rise of a New Currency: Why Bitcoin Should Replace the U.S. Dollar |
| 11:40 am | Brie Duplechain | "I Just Chugged a Coffee and I Could Fall Asleep": The Teen Sleep Epidemic and What Schools Can Do about It |
| 1:20 pm | Ella Raesly | The Case for Compassionate Capitalism: Embracing Free Market Economics and Rejecting the Welfare State |
| 2:20 pm | Luke Raffenaud | The Price of Life: Why American Prescription Drugs Need to Be Cheaper |
| Friday, May 10, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Lydia Faith | The Class You'll Actually Use after High School: The Need for Financially Literate Teens |
| 9:30 am | Jingling Zhang | The Renewal of Tears: Why Churches Should Return to Lamentation as a Form of Worship |
| 10:30 am | Jedidiah Flood | Mute God: How the Copyright Status of the Bible Is Crippling Global Missions |
| 11:25 am | Greta Hsieh | From the Mata Atlantica to the Paradise Garden: The Issue of Pernambuco Conservation |
| 1:00 pm | Anthony Gilas | It Isn't Greek to Me: Why High Schools Should Teach Greco-Roman Studies |
| 1:55 pm | Erin Murray | Food Insecurity in America: What to Do about a Leading Nation’s Hunger Crisis |
| Monday, May 13, 2024 | ||
| 9:35 am | Pippa Maughan | A Hamburger in Every Hand and a Heartache in Every Bite: The Harmful Effects of the American Diet on Human Health |
| 1:20 pm | Gracie Solis | Prozac, Baker Acts, and the Attack on Normalcy: A Root-Cause Analysis of America’s Mental Health Epidemic |
| 2:20 pm | Riley Shiflett | Renewable Revolution: The Path Forward for Fossil Fuel Reduction |
| Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | ||
| 9:35 am | Campbell Hendrix | Saving Sunday Morning: The Staggering Downswing of American Church Attendance |
| 1:20 pm | Zechariah Zhong | ChatGPT and the Thinking Machine: Charting the Border between Human and Artificial Creativity |
| 2:20 pm | Brady Silvia | Lifting the Limits: How Steroids and Creatine Can Transform Sports Performance |
| Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Bella Buot | Criminal or Critical Condition: The Incarceration of the Neglected |
| 9:25 am | Kaden Smith | Arsenal of Democracy Again: American Support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War |
| 10:20 am | Emma Ragsdale | Sound Foundations: Why Students Are Struggling to Read and What We Should Do about It |
| 11:10 am | Savannah Mathias | Learning to Design for Learning: How Built Environments Affect Students |
| 12:00 pm | Catherine Quinn | Are Parents the Problem? The Debate over What Should Be Allowed in Video Games |
| 1:40 pm | Jason Zirbel | The Prodigal Son Returns: Rediscovering Christian Classical Education in the Modern Era |
| 2:30 pm | Ricky Walters | The Bard's Labour's Lost: The Importance of Shakespeare in Modern Education |
| Thursday, May 16, 2024 | ||
| 8:35 am | Katherine Classe | Tilting the Playing Field: Why Women's Sports Should Not Be an Option for Male Athletes |
| 9:35 am | Jack Hamilton | A Debt Problem: How the United States Can Face Its Deficit Spending |
| 11:40 am | Infinity Ellis | Caring for Our Kids: The Need for Schools to Step Up and Prioritize Mental Well-Being |
| 1:20 pm | Taber Johnson | The Fentanyl Crisis: What Is to Be Done? |
| 2:20 pm | Owen Endras | AI, Doom or Boom: Learning to Harness the Power of AI for Our Next Industrial Revolution |
