Class of 2023 Honors Thesis Papers
Welcome to the Public Policy honors thesis page. The projects presented here are the result of a year-long process begun by our honors students in January of 2022. These students have produced 20 projects that cover topics as diverse from The Cannibalization of Lottery Revenues through the Expansion of Online Sports Betting to An Undeniable Link: The Impacts of Immigration Policy on the American Agricultural Industry. Students have done everything from interviewing policy experts, crunched databases, and analyzed Tweets. The result is an important array of studies that are both though provoking and intellectually rich. We recognize their hard work and dedication, and thank their thesis advisors for helping students complete their projects.
Peter Connolly – The Battle for Chips: Semiconductors Crucial Role in AI Development and its Implications for U.S.-China Strategic Competition
Nicholas Datto – A Net Negative: the Impact of Internet Access on Voter Turnout in U.S. Elections
Devan Desai – Unequal Burdens: Ethnic and Racial Differences in Low Back Pain Management and Treatment
Sabene Figueroa – The Mental Healthcare Access Crisis Among the Homeless Population
Kyle Gray – Negotiating with “Terrorists”: When is Diplomacy an Effective Way to End a Conflict?
Alex Hoffman – Securing the Right to Work: The History of Job Guarantee Programs and Lessons for the United States
Finn Hossfeld – Using Media to Understand Public Discourse on Carbon Capture, Storage, and Utilization Technology: A Qualitative Frame Analysis of US Media Coverage of the Petra Nova Project
Gautam Iyer – Remembering… and Forgetting: What Durham Communities Decide to Remember About Themselves, and How They Do It
Dan King – An Undeniable Link: The Impacts of Immigration Policy on the American Agricultural Industry
Payton Little – The Health Policy Puzzle of Gender Affirming Care: Healthcare Policies In North Carolina as a Case Study
Leah Markbreiter – Social Connectedness, Altruism, and Vaccine Behavior: Improving Policy for Future Pandemics
Mary Monti – No Such Thing as a Textbook Case: Comparing Interstate Differences in High School Government Textbooks
Vaneesha Patel – Planning for Better Communities: Exploring the Relationship Between New Urbanism in Citys’ Comprehensive Plans and Social Capital
Taalin RaoShah – Cheaper & Cleaner? A Case Study of Boston’s Community Choice Electricity
Leah Roffman – Exploring the Distribution of Utility-scale Renewables and Anti-renewable Sentiments Across Communities in the US
Hailey Ross – The Impact of Pay-as-You-Throw Programs on Compost Contamination Rates in Colorado
Jonathan Schachter – The Cannibalization of Lottery Revenues through the Expansion of Online Sports Betting
Tri Truong – The Birth of a New China: How the U.S. – China Trade War Affected the Economy and Foreign Policies of Vietnam in 2016 – 2020
Neha Vangipurapu – A Comprehensive Analysis of Hindu American Politics and its connections to Indian Hindutva
Past Honors Thesis