Sample Journal Article Topics
from Previous Semesters
English: An analysis of selfhood/agency and determinism (and the factors that affect them) in Saul Bellow’s novel “Augie March.”
American (and Film) Studies: A study of blackface and its continuing influence on modern film and television.
Chinese (and Art) History: An argument that Empress Wu played a pivotal role in transforming Chinese culture and art.
European History: An assessment of the various factors (religious, political, culture) that led Pope Urban II to endorse the First Crusade.
Jewish Studies, Art History: The nature of political censorship in Israel and its effects on Israeli artists, culture, and identity.
Art History: A study of representations of human sacrifice in Mesoamerican cultures and how those images have been (mis)interpreted by historians.
Religious Studies: An analysis of the role of humor in Zen Buddhism.
Philosophy: An analysis of the terms “authenticity” and “good faith” in the philosophy of Sartre, and how they’ve been interpreted by others.
History, Government and Politics, Linguistics: An argument that imposing English language education on India backfired by providing a means of common discourse to facilitate rebellion against the British Empire.
Art History, European History: An examination of the interplay between German nationalism and German landscape in the nineteenth century.
Classics: A contrast between the portrayal of Medea by Euripides and Seneca and what that ay say about the (changing) role of women in ancient Greece.
English: A comparison of Satan’s defense of rebellion in Milton’s Paradise Lost and the author’s own political views.
History, Government and Politics, Cultural Studies: An examination of politics and clothing in Iran since the 1970s: legal, religious, and social constraints on fashion studies and clothing as a form of rebellion.
Communications, Rhetorical Analysis: An analysis of what ads in current women’s magazines are really saying about body image and identity.
Communications, Rhetorical Analysis, Government and Politics: An interpretation of McCain’s campaign ads and analysis of how they may have contributed to his defeat.